《My Space-Time System》


 Chapter 1: The Champion

    <h4>Chapter 1: The Champion</h4>


    In a bedroom with sea-blue walls was a yStation 5 console, and a ck 2015 Samsung LCD sma television and lying in front, ke.


    He was lying on the floor in a puddle of drool with a gamepad in his right hand.


    A resplendent ray of light from the window fell on his face and woke him up.


    "Forgot to close the curtains" he grunted.


    He looked at his hand and realized he was still with his gamepad "seems like I dozed off¡­. What''s the time?"


    His gaze fell on the wall clock hanging above the television. "It''s past 11 already?". ke got up slowly and performed his routine exercise, then made his way to the bathroom.


    After freshening up, he ran downstairs for breakfast. "Good morning mom" He greeted while pulling out a chair.


    "Someone was awake all night..." Miriam said with a warm smile on her face.


    Miriam was a slim tall woman with fair smooth skin and a duchess-shaped nose thatplimented her oval face. She had always put on a warm smile that could melt the heart of many.


    "Yeah mom, I can''t ck off now, the Zetron gamingpetition is the day after tomorrow." he spoke while munching on his bacon.


    ''It''s been a while since I saw ke this serious, he reminds me of Tom'' Miriam giggled, but her smile soon disappeared when she remembered herte husband.


    When ke saw his mother sad, he knew why "When I win thepetition¡­*munch*¡­we won''t have to worry about¡­*munch*¡­ money again"


    "Don''t talk with food in your mouth" she chuckled


    Gotcha!!... he let out a low chuckle "Okay".


    Tom was a senior engineer in a top construction firm in the USA, with his position, their family was above average financially, but everything changed when he died.


    He was one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. Ever since Miriam had been working more shifts in the clinic to meet up with their financial needs.


    "Thanks, mom, the food was awesome!" Immediately he was done doing the dishes he ran up to continue training in lords of legends.


    ...


    On the day of thepetition¡­


    ke woke up very early, even before his rm. He stood up from his bed with a broad smile on his face and ran his daily routine exercise before heading to the bathroom.


    As he was taking his bath, Miriam entered his room.


    "Oh, you are awake, your breakfast is in the kitchen and I would be handling Morning and afternoon shifts and Good luck in thepetition, see youter dear."


    "Thanks, mom, have a nice day!" ke yelled.


    ....


    After he was done with his breakfast, he left the house and boarded a taxi that took him to the bus station.


    He resided in silver Street in the South of Boston, which was less than 15 minutes away from East Boston, but there was a traffic jam.


    C''mon move!!... he stretched his head out the window to see the cause of the traffic jam. It turned out that the otherne was closed due to utility works.


    Thank God it''s not that serious¡­


    After what felt like forever the traffic cleared up and he reached the arena in less than 7 minutes.


    When he got down from the bus, he looked at his wristwatch and saw that there was still more than an hour before thepetition began. hehe, seems I was overreacting¡­ He gave a self-deprecating smile.


    He was not in a hurry anymore, so he slowed down and decided to take in the beauty of the arena. He made his way pass beautifully trimmed hedges and a water spitting fountain and reached a long staircase that led to the entrance.


    He quickly climbed the stairs and got to the entrance of the arena. He walked through the entrance and saw a chubby woman with red hair and arge mole on her nose.


    "Tickets?" the woman said with a deadpan face.


    He took out his tickets and passed it to thedy.


    My eyes!!... he almost screamed out when he saw the mole.


    He hurriedly removed his eyes from the woman and entered the lobby, he showed the guards his ID before proceeding to the waiting area.


    "It''s the time you all have been waiting for, the battle for supremacy in lords of legends. Contestants take your positions!" the voice of the host announced the beginning of thepetition as an uproar came from the spectators.


    It''s showtime... He psyched himself as he stepped out of the lobby.


    The cheers of the crowd increased as they saw the yers walking towards the stage.


    The arena had seats simr to a football stadium, all converging to the stage at the center of the arena.


    "Pick Your warriors!" the host spoke with a pumped voice.


    As he sat down and selected master Ye, the legendary sword''s master as his character, his phone vibrated.


    Who is calling me now!... ke ignored the call as he set his eyes on the countdown and prepared for the battle.


    Unlike other Zetron gamingpetitions that were based on team efforts, this year''spetition was a PVP battle royal that focused on the individual skills of the yers.


    The battlefield was arge map with dense forests, caves, hills, andkes. As the number of yers decreases the radius of the map also decreases.


    The features of the battlefield enabled the yers to strategize based on their characters.


    ....


    After two and a half hours of intense gaming and knockouts, Assasin Zeed used shadow sh skill to deal the final blow to Brian who chose Seon a vanguard character, but he didn''t escape unscathed.


    Castiel''s health was at thirty-two percent and his regen items had been depleted. it was clear he was in a pinch and due to the radius of the battlefield shrinking, he was forced to move to the center of the battlefield.


    let''s pray thest opponent has a lower HP¡­ Castiel prayed silently as he ran away from the ''borders of death''.


    They were down to the final two yers, ke and Castiel.


    "We are down to the final two" the voice of the host made their hearts beat faster.


    Due to the radius of the arena shrinking, they were forced to move to a in. This gave master Ye who had a high DPS, an upper hand against Zeed who relied mostly on sneak attacks.


    When Castiel came to the open field, he saw the yer ID '' ke'' on Master Ye and he still had sixty-seven percent of his health remaining!


    fuck!... Castiel frowned deeply as he started cursing the heavens for his bad luck.


    I have the game in the bag now¡­ a wide grin appeared on ke''s face as he activated hignder.


    Hignder: Increases Movement Speed, Attack Speed, ignores slows and collisions for 6 seconds as he dashed towards Castiel.


    Castiel knew that a head-on collision was not ideal, so he activated shadow sh skill


    Shadow sh: propels the user to give a deadly horizontal sh that deals 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170 (+0.8 per bonus attack damage) physical damage to nearby enemies.


    Instead of targeting his opponent he activated the skill to the left and to avoid the iing attack.


    He knew if he went for a head-on collision, he would end up dying due to his low health, so he nned on wilting his opponent''s health gradually.


    Immediately after he dodged the attack, he locked on his opponent and activated razor shuriken intending to kite Master Ye, but to his utmost surprise, ke had already anticipated the move.


    "I''ve got you now, die!" ke yelled and activated Master Ye''s strongest skill Alpha strike.


    Alpha strike: Master Ye cannot be locked unto and teleports to rapidly strike enemies near him, dealing physical damage to all enemies within thirty meters radius.


    He still had his ultimate, fuck me! Castiel cursed as he realized he had entered his opponent''s trap.


    This ability made zed unable tond a single hit with the shuriken and since he was the only one within the area, he received the full damage of the skill.


    ke watched as his opponent''s health bar dropped to zero, then a ''winner'' message popped up on the screen.


    I did it, mom, I won! We are rich!... ke stood up from the seat to celebrate his Victory, that was when his phone rang again.


    C''mon, don''t ruin the moment! ke ignored the call again.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner and the new lords of legends champion, ke Wilson!!" the announcement was followed by an uproar that shook the arena.


    Wow! The uproar shook the whole ce, literally! ke thought as he waved and smiled for the crowd.


    ¡­


    There was a twenty minutes break before the trophies would be given to the winner and runner ups.


    ke was in a lobby that led to the stage.


    let''s Know the retard that dared disturb me during the match ke was ready to curse the ancestors of the caller, but his face changed when he saw the caller ID


    Mom?! ke was confused.

 Chapter 2: Light at the end of the tunnel

    <h4>Chapter 2: Light at the end of the tunnel</h4>


    He quickly dialed his mom''s number


    It felt like forever before the phone was finally answered.


    "ke are you alright?"


    "Yes I am, what happened, you called so many times." ke asked in a worried tone.


    "I am fine dear, I''m at the hospital... There has been news of disasters happening around the world and in many paths of Boston, I hope you are safe?" Miriam''s said with a hint of fear.


    She had lost her husband in a terrorist attack, she would not be able to live with herself if she lost her only child.


    "Don''t worry about me mom I''ll be alright" ke had a smile on his face as he assured his mom that he will be safe.


    "Oh I almost forgot, Mom I won thepetition, we are rich!!" A wide smile appeared on his face as he ryed the good news to his mom.


    "Congrattions! I knew you could do it! Wish you were here so I could give you a big hug. When I get the money I would get somethings at the grocery store for tonight''s celebration" Miriam was happy about the news.


    This meant she would not have to work extra shifts at the hospital again! ke didn''t have a bank ount, thus it was to be sent to her ount


    "Time to present the medals to the winners!"


    The projected voice of the host was heard all around the arena. "Bye mom I have to go" ke said goodbye and headed to the stage.


    ''Earthquakes hmm¡­ I felt the whole ce shake while the crowd was cheering or maybe I am overthinking?''


    ''First of all, let''s go get that medal and get out of here'' A grin appeared on his face as he walked out of the lobby.


    The crowd exploded with cheers when he walked out of the lobby with the runner ups behind him.


    The winners headed to the center of therge stage to meet with the sponsors and hosts of thepetition before being handed the medals and then smiling for the cameras.


    While still waiting for the trophies and medals they felt a very weak quake beneath them.


    ''Is that what I think it is?'' ke grimaced as he remembered what his mom told. When the crowd felt the weak quake, the whole arena became quiet like a cemetery. When the quake stopped, they started looking around with confusion in their eyes.


    All of a sudden the ground rumbled harder than before, the crowd that was quiet began shouting and panicking as everyone ran for the exits.


    The ground started cracking, the cracks began spreading out, and caving in, those that were not fast enough fell into the holes that kept on expanding.


    The building was shaking and its support beams began falling apart, thus causing parts of the building to copse. This made the terrified crowd panic more.


    Due to everyone panicking, those who could not keep up were pushed down and trampled on, while some were crushed by falling concrete.


    ke, who was standing on the stage saw everything. He was rooted to the spot as he saw people screaming for help and being stomped to death, all he saw was chaos.


    In how many seconds more than 20 died in front of his eyes.


    He snapped out of it when he saw cracks approaching at a shocking speed. He jumped to the side, avoiding the approaching cracks. The cracks had reached the other side of the stage and enved.


    His eyes erged out of shock when he saw the scene, with no time to think about it, he got up and ran towards the lobby.


    The lobby was empty and it led to a backdoor that performers used to ess the building. It was his best option for escaping this situation!


    As he was running in the direction of the lobby, he vaulted over debris and avoided falling object, he saw Castiel running in front. Suddenly he heard a shout from behind.


    "Ahhh!" he turned his head slightly to get a glimpse of who screamed.


    it was Brian the second runner up of thepetition, before ke could realize what was happening, Brian was back on his feet.


    Brian was a ck American with dreadlocks and thick brows that made him look rugged. He had firm and sturdy chests with lean muscles that greatly increased his sex appeal.


    When they were some meters away from the lobby, a heavy tremor shook the foundation of the building, it almost made ke andpany lose their bnce.


    Shit!


    The rate at which the building and the ground were copsing increased significantly, it looked like the earthquake was out to get them.


    ''C''mon boy, hold up and don''t crush daddy till he leaves'' ke inwardly prayed, as he drew closer to the lobby.


    "Help!!" Brian screamed when the ground he stepped on broke, causing him to lose his footing and falling face first. When he raised his head, blood ran from his head down to his chin.


    ''Why would you fall when we are meters away from safety? I have a feeling you want me dead'' ke screamed as he ran back to help Brian.


    When he was few meters away from Brian, a shadow was cast on him.


    Brian raised his bleeding head, saw a stage light falling and ke was directly below it


    "lookout!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.


    ke looked up instinctively to see what had the shadow was, that was when his mind went nk.


    "Fuck me!" ke muttered as his mind went nk when he saw the light falling.


    He almost peed his pants as the thought of getting crushed came into his mind, but luckily for ke, the stage light swayed and fell some meters behind him.


    Thump! Thump!¡­ he could hear his heartbeat after that close shave. ''That was a close on'' he couldn''t help but let out a sigh of relief.


    ke helped Brian to get back on his feet when he turned around to proceed, chills ran down their spine.


    It turned out that when the light fell, the ground developed cracks, it even made its way into the lobby. The most shocking part was that the cracks had started opening up.


    "Which God did I offend today?" ke smiled bitterly as his hope had been washed down the drain.


    "You can still joke in a situation like this?" Brian looked at ke with a confused face.


    ¡­


    Castiel who just made his way into the lobby turned around, he saw when ke helped Brian to his feet.


    "Why don''t you save yourself" Castiel still held a grudge with ke after he lost thepetition.


    He looked down, only to see that the ground beneath his feet had cracks all over¡­


    "Why am I so unlucky?" Despair was written all over Castiel''s face.


    As predicted, the ground beneath his feet copsed.


    ¡­.


    "Even the tunnel was not safe. So, we were bound to die at the end" Brian said helplessly.


    Is it only me that saw a faint ash light that came out of the hole that guy fell into?... ke thought his eyes were ying pranks on him.


    That was when the ground beneath them broke, they did not panic, they silently epted their fate and fell into the crack.


    As they were falling, crazy thoughts ran through ke''s head quickly.


    I didn''t get to spend the prize money¡­


    Mom will be alone¡­


    I am too young to die!!¡­ huh???


    Suddenly an ash-colored light appeared at the bottom of the hole and lit up the entire area.


    "the ash light!!" ke blurted.

 Chapter 3: Morgs

    <h4>Chapter 3: Morgs</h4>


    He instinctively shut his eyes as he fell into the light.


    When he passed through the portal and the light deemed, he open his eyes to his.


    He saw himself floating in a dark ce with twinkles everywhere, it looked like he was in space, but nos could be seen.


    "¡­" ke was stunned by the scene.


    He was snapped out of his reverie when a terrifying force pulled him.


    ke tried his best to resist the force, but his efforts werepletely useless.


    Woooah!¡­


    He opened his mouth to scream, but no words came out.


    When he reached a certain distance, a gray light in the form of a door appeared. Instinctively, he crossed his arms in front and shut his eyes as he approached the door.


    After waiting for some time and not feel anything he opened his eyes, but everywhere was still dark.


    Why must everything be creepy, what happened to pretty colors¡­ kempooned.


    ke snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a domineering voice with a hint of arrogance,ing from above.


    "In the name of the All-father I, Battle Angel Alcane, the right-hand of the All-father, wees you to infinite realm"


    Is that you God?... ke looked up to see the source of the sound.


    He looked up and his mind went nk.


    An angel!... No, a Battle angel¡­ ke was still in shock when an imperious aura washed over him.


    The aura of Battle angel was so powerful, it made ke drop to his knees. It made him feel he was nothing but an ant in front of Alcane.


    Battle angel Alkane was high above and his three pairs of majestic wings spread out. He possed blue eyes and blonde hair tied up in a braid.


    Covering his body was a golden amour with the face of a Dragon surrounded by ancient symbols, iid on it.


    With an expressionless face, the battle angel continued speaking "You have been summoned to Infinite realm by the All-father for a great purpose."


    "As you rise in power and explore the mysteries of the infinite realm, the All father''s purpose for summoning you would be clear."


    "For you to aplish this task you shall be given the All father''s blessings for guidance in your journey"


    Alcane stretched his right hand, a gray ball of light floated out of his palm and made its way to ke.


    Guidance for what?... Can someone tell me what''s going on?... ke was confused because everything was happening too fast.


    As ke was trying to understand his situation, the ash light touched his forehead.


    It had a warm aura that helped rxed his tense nerves, but soon it passed through his skin and entered his head at a very slow pace.


    At first, he felt a slight pain, but it kept on inceasing as time went on.


    it felt like a red-hot metal was being screwed into his head. He held his head with a deranged look on his face as he screamed in agony


    "Ahhhhh!"


    Thud!!¡­


    He fell face first and was writhing in pain.


    After what felt like forever, the pain began to subside and the gray ball of light hadpletely assimted with him.


    Uhh damn!!... he rubbed his hands on his temples to ease the lingering headache, and after some time he managed to get back on his feet.


    "Remember warrior, the infinite realm is full of dangers and mysteries that have not been uncovered till today"


    His vision was getting blurry and the battle angel''s voice was fading.


    "Tread carefully and may the All-Father smile upon you."


    ¡­


    In a forest with abnormallyrge trees, ke regained consciousness.


    "uhh... uh" feeling drowsy, he sat up at the foot of a tree and massaged his temples.


    After massaging his temples for some time, ke looked up and inspected his surroundings. "Where am I?"


    Before he could connect his thoughts, numbers began appearing in his vision.


    [ Booting 45%¡­


    67%...


    89%...


    99%]


    He watched as the loading Bar quickly filled up.


    [Bootingplete: 100%]


    [Host information:


    Name: ke Wilson


    Strength: weak


    Condition: healthy


    Realm: Mortal


    Current mission: locate a city.]


    "A system? That means I transmigrated." He was still confused about what was going on.


    This was how it usually yed out in web novels, the mc gets transmigrated to a world with powers, then he goes through tribtions and bes the strongest.


    Thinking about it made him excited, but on the other hand, his mom was all alone on earth.


    "No, you have not transmigrated, but teleported to this world¡­" a voice that sounded familiar came from behind him


    When he heard the voice he was petrified.


    He quickly stood up entered a defensive posture.


    The voice came from a boy with pale skin and spiky hair, who was leaning by the side of the tree.


    It was none other than Castiel.


    He has been there all along? He''s so quiet¡­ he was surprised by how Castiel stood there without making any sound.


    Is he a ninja?! ke quickly reined his crazy thoughts, when Castiel continued his exnation


    "Transmigration involves movement of the soul, but we came here with both our bodies and soul"


    "Since you are here, where''s Brian?" he asked with a puzzled expression.


    "Since both of you fell in together, he should be close by" With an expressionless face, Castiel started into the forest.


    When he was thinking about the matter, he didn''t notice he was being left behind.


    "Wait up!"


    He immediately sped up and caught up to Castiel.


    ...


    Just a minute into the journey in search of Brian, the ground began to quake.


    "Are you kidding me?!" fear and frustration were written all over Castiel''s face


    Castiel has been having a bad day, He lost the Zetron gamingpetition to ke, he died after thepetition because of a mysterious eathquake, he experienced an excruciating pain that made him want to tear his skin apart, and now, he felt another round of quakes.


    What a joke!


    They halted in order to locate the direction of danger.


    Faint sounds of leaves being shuffled were heard from the direction they were heading.


    The sound of the quake was getting clear louder¡­ It was heading their way!


    Oink! Oink! Oink! Oink!


    "Boars!" They eximed in unison as confusion could be seen on their faces.


    How could boars cause a quake... Unless they are humongus!


    A dark skin teen with a muscr build and dreadlock ran out of the woods screaming.


    "Run!!! Run!!!" Brian screamed at the top of his lungs as he ran for his life


    "It''s Brian!"


    [Danger!! Morgs Iing!]


    [Due to the host''s puny strength, I strongly advise host to run!!...]


    Series of messages popped up, as the system warned ke about the iing danger. At first, he was stunned by how sudden the rms came, but it soon changed to fear.


    His eyes widened when he realized the level of danger that was heading their way.


    He turned to Castiel and shouted. "Run!!"


    Before they could react, arge chunk of the trunk of a tree was blown away by a terrifying force.


    BOOM !!!


    Dust and bits of wood were thrown into the air, the silhouette of three boars that were more than six feet tall was outlined in the dust.


    When the dust settled the figures became clear.


    The boar at the center was six and a half feet tall and had Darkish-purple skin, while the others were ck in color and were six feet tall.


    When the morgs saw two more humans, the leader made an evil like grin that sent chills down their spine.


    "Oink! Oink!" Therger boar raised its tusks and prepared for a charge


    ke was jolted back to his senses when he saw this.


    "Run!!" he turned and grabbed the dazed Castiel

 Chapter 4: The magical spring.

    <h4>Chapter 4: The magical spring.</h4>


    ke''s scream jolted Castiel back to his senses, but before they could move, a man with jet ck permed hair, wearing a red tuxedo ran out of the woods.


    It was the announcer of the Zetron gamingpetition!


    Immediately Brian sped past them they followed suit, they didn''t bat the announcer an eye.


    The ck morgs stared at their prey with bloodshot eyes


    C''mon! ke cursed his bad luck as he ran for his dear life.


    The morgs had no intention of letting their prey getaway, they quickly chased after them.


    Leading the charge was the darkish-purple morg.


    Its muscle mass and tusks were bigger than the ck morgs behind, therge amount of facial hair at the top of its hair made it look extremely fierce and vicious.


    This was the Chief of the morgs and he was in charge of the hunt!


    When they looked back, they saw the announcer trying to keep up, while the chief morg was gaining on them.


    Shit!... ke''s heart began thumping when he saw this.


    They immediately employed the technique of weaving through the abnormal trees and leaves, in order to widen the gap between them and the morgs.


    It was a great n at first; it reduced the speed at which the ck morgs were catching up, but it was not so useful against the chief morg.


    Due to its powerful muscles and its years of experience in hunting, it was easier for it to meander through the trees and catch up to the group.


    the chief morg targeted the weakest link of the group, the announcer.


    He was not fast enough and couldn''t keep up with the teens, thusgging behind.


    When the chief morg got within range, the announcer screamed "hel¡­"


    Before he couldplete the word, the chief morg lowered its tusks and mmed the announcer to a nearby tree.


    Crack!!


    The sound of bones cracking echoed in the forest.


    Most of his bones got fractured and dislocated when he hit the tree, but before hended, a ck morg mmed into him, again!.


    Damn!... ke was shocked out of his wits by how ruthless the morgs were.


    He didn''t dare slow down, because the chief morg was still hot on their trail.


    [Caution!


    You are making the morgs hunt easier by staying together.


    System strongly advises host to split up immediately!]


    "We have to split up or we get eaten!" he said with a stern.


    The trio nced at each other when they heard me.


    "No, we will be picked up easily if we separate" Castiel immediately rejected his proposal and Brian nodded to it.


    It sounds reasonable, but that''s against the systems advise, an mc always follows the systems advise... ke felt helpless at this point.


    "Suit yourselves" he decided to ce his chances of survival on the system.


    [Now head east]


    When he saw the instruction of the system, he immediately broke out from the group and headed east.


    Both Castiel and Brian was stunned by ke''s answer, but they still had no ns of splitting up.


    ke''s action of splitting up confused the morgs behind them.


    The ck morgs collided because they had their eyes on different prey.


    The collision helped widen the gap between ke and the boars, but the chief morg did not fall for such a silly trick.


    "Grrrrh!" Still running after Castiel and Brian, the chief morg grunted when it saw its subordinates fooling around.


    To ke''s greatest surprise, the two boars that crashed into each other locked their vicious gaze onto him after being disgraced in front of their chief.


    With an unquenchable me of rage burning in their eyes, they increased their speed and chased him with greater vigor.


    Things became personal when this puny human disgraced them in front of the chief.


    So much for following the system''s advice... he sighed helplessly when he saw the ck morgs charging at him with bloodshot eyes.


    Although a gap was created when the collision urred, he didn''t dare reduce his pace one bit.


    Just a minute after the collision, ke''s breathing was getting heavy and the ck morgs were gaining ground.


    Although he weaved through the trees in irregr patterns, it consumed a lot of his energy, but that didn''t mean he had run out of energy.


    Back on Earth, ke was obsessed with exercising and keeping fit, unlike most teens and professional gamers his age.


    Every morning, he would perform push-ups, squats, sit-ups, and other exercises. After that, he would head out to jog in order to work on his endurance.


    Although he made it a habit to work out every morning, he was only doing it to keep fit and not to have huge muscles like those of bodybuilders who had their upper body wayrger than their legs.


    He knew if things went on like this, the morgs will surely catch up and tire him to bits, but he believed the system had a way for him to escape his current predicament since it told him to head in this direction


    When the mutated boar at the right caught up to him, it thrust its tusk at him trying to knock the puny human out In-one go, but ke had seen iting.


    He dived towards the right, performed a roll, got back on his feet, and continued running.


    The morg didn''t get the feeling of crashing into an object nor did it hear the cry of the human.


    It let out a low grunt and continued pursuit.


    let daddy go and I promise, to never eat pork again¡­ ke felt despair when he saw that the mutated boars did not have any thoughts of letting him go.


    When He saw the second boar still chasing after him relentlessly, he started considering if he should just stand and ept his fate.


    That was when he heard the sound of water crashing down on rocks.


    A spring!


    [Energy source detected!


    Follow the sound of the spring]


    Yes!... He finally found a chance of surviving the morgs relentless chase and he was ready to throw everything on this chance.


    He immediately changed his direction and ran towards the source of the sound.


    After less than twenty seconds of running, the sight of water crashing down on rocks and making its way into theke came into view.


    The water body had no tributaries, but surprisingly, it was not overflowing its banks.


    [Jump into theke] the system instructed him with its mechanical voice.


    ke didn''t put the weirdness of theke into consideration. He quickly ran towards it with hisst bit of energy.


    Although he put hisst bit of energy into the run, his speed was still slow and the morg was quickly catching up to him.


    When it was within range, it lowered its head to rammed into ke.


    Although its actions were predictable, it was not easy for ke whose energy was almost depleted to dodge the attack.


    ke was already close to theke and he knew that he could not dodge the boar''s charge, so he dived forward.


    [Absorbingke''s energy¡­


    Deploying energy barrier¡­


    Energy barrier deployed.]


    When the system disyed thest message, a gray hue in for of a dome covered ke.


    Bang!!


    The ck morg rammed into ke, but he was protected by a gray barrier.


    Although he was unharmed, the impact propelled him into theke, but the morg could not get close to theke, It seemed it was afraid of the auraing from theke.


    Its nsman arrived at theke, it stared at it with anger written all over its face.


    The puny human that disgraced them had gotten away; they would beughing stocks when they returned to the swine.


    It was uneptable! They would wait for him!


    The ck morgs sat down ten meters away from theke and set their eyes on it, waiting for the prey toe out.

 Chapter 5: All-Father鈥檚 Inheritance

    <h4>Chapter 5: All-Father¡¯s Inheritance</h4>


    On the other side of the forest¡­


    Compared to ke, Castiel and Brian had an easier time getting away from the chief morg. They were able to use the trees to block or dodge the chief morg''s ferocious attack at the nick of time.


    The chief morg was getting pissed by how humans were evading its attacks.


    Any time it attempted to ram the humans into oblivion, They would use a tree as cover causing it to hit a tree and lose its momentum, thus creating a gap between them.


    Clearly, they were in a better position, it was all thanks to ke drawing the attention of the ck morgs, but they still had a big problem.


    They were running out of energy!


    Although they were tired and were running out of breath, they had no thoughts of being food for the chief morg, so they kept on pushing forward.


    A pathway appeared in their sights and it gave them a little bit of hope, but it didn''t mean they were safe.


    I hope people are nearby¡­ already at his wit''s end, Castiel prayed for divine intervention.


    Suddenly their shadows were projected forward by a golden light that came from behind.


    They immediately turned their heads and saw a very young man with a katana made of dazzling golden mes 200 hundred meters above the ground.


    When the chief morg sensed danger, it turned and tried to escape, but it was toote.


    "OINK!!"


    The chief morg screamed in pain, as the golden me sword sh through its tough skin, cutting it into halves


    SWISH!!!


    The smell of charred meat wafted into their noses.


    They were disgusted by the blood and organs spurting out, but at the same time awed by the man''s strength.


    With the me sword in his hand, the young man turned to their direction and walked towards them.


    He had profound dark-blue eyes, ck hair, and wore a ck cloak that had golden patterns iid all over it.


    At the center of the cloak was arge golden crest depicting two ming crossed swords, that covered the front side of the cloth.


    On his tight ck pants was a sliver pants-chain with mysterious symbols on it. it gave off an eerie feeling.


    "Your safe now. I am Bryon" the young said with a smile.


    Two soldiers in the same outfit as Bryonnded beside him and bowed.


    Their uniforms didn''t have patterns like that of Bryon, only a small two ming crossed swords crest on the left side of their chest.


    They were clearly lower in rank.


    "Prince Bryon! The areas affected by space magic fluctuations have been dealt with" they still maintained their positions as they awaited the prince''s response.


    "Get ready to head back" he turned and gave the soldiers an order.


    "Yes sir!" they answered.


    "Our friend is in danger; he was being chased by two of those things. Sir can you help us find our friend" Brian asked with a scared voice.


    Although he was afraid of the prince, ke had "saved" his life back in the arena, it would be wrong for him not to do the same.


    Bryon was in deep thought when he muttered "morgs..."


    Brian and Castiel looked at the prince with puzzled expressions.


    "Oh! That''s what they are called¡­" he snapped out of his thoughts when he saw the teens looking at him.


    The soldiers behind him did not react to it, it seemed they were used to it.


    "If your friend is being chased by two morgs, it will be a miracle if he is still alive, considering his cultivation level" He paused, then continued.


    "But that doesn''t mean we shouldn''t try saving him" he turned and smiled.


    He ced his finger on his lips and whistled


    The hopes and expectations on the faces of Castiel and Brian were reced by awe and shock.


    A white and brown feathered eagle, that was more than 5 meters tall, descend from the sky andnded in front of them.


    On its head was a golden, diamond-shaped mark, its feathers had a certain kind of luster, it gave off a sharp and deadly aura.


    It spread its wing for them to get on.


    "Get on" Prince Bryon''s words snapped them out of the shock


    The magical beast spread its wing and pped, lifting them above the ground and zoomed off


    ¡­..


    In the mysticalke.


    ke was still feeling dizzy from the impact. When he recovered a little bit, he realized there was something wrong about theke.


    He could breathe!


    What''s going on here?... He almost panicked when he realized this, but he quickly calmed down.


    He felt something calling him, and it wasing from the waterfall. He cautiously swam to the water veil.


    When he swarm pass the veil, he saw rocks hanging on the top of the cave with water dripping from them.


    The cave had poor lighting; the only source of light came from a hole at the top of the cave. The light shone directly on a broken altar with mysterious symbols on it.


    Step by step he made his way into the cave that had an eerie feeling.


    All around the cave were broken rocks and puddles of water that came from the top of the cave.


    Most parts of the cave had been covered by moss, and on the walls of the cave were partially damaged murals of people bowing in the direction of the broken altar.


    Around the Broken altar, were broken statues of two battle angels dressed in heavy armors, and on their backs were three pairs of wings.


    As he drew closer to the broken altar, the calling grew stronger.


    It was the altar that was calling him!


    [System has discovered a high energy source¡­


    Scanning¡­.]


    [Congrattions!! Host has found The All-Father''s Inheritance!!]


    [Proceed to inherit ''His'' blessings]


    ke was dazed when lines of information popped up from nowhere.


    Although he had received messages, he had not yet gotten ustomed to it popping up anytime, especially in this dark and creepy cave.


    Before he could rein his thoughts, a force pushed him towards the broken altar and forced him down to his knees.


    Before he could react, the Symbols on the broken altar lit up the entire cave with an ash light.


    ...


    On the eagle, Castiel and Brian were looking down to check if they could find any signs of ke.


    Chief Bryon in front suddenly looked forward and said "Slow down."


    He scrunched his brows and scrutinized a spot up ahead.


    With an intrigued look on his face, he pointed forward and said "Land there."


    Immediately the order was given, the Eagle began descending.


    When they were some meters above the spot, the whole environment changed into that of water crashing down from a hill.


    It was the mysteriouske!


    And two morgsid down beside theke, looking at theke and expecting something


    They turned their heads when they sensed a mighty aura descending from the sky.


    Before they could react, the Eagle pped its wings, an array of metallic des came out of the wings.


    The des crashed down on the morgs.


    They were killed instantly without letting out a sound.


    When the eaglended, the spring was suddenly lit up by a gray light.

 Chapter 6: Vision.

    <h4>Chapter 6: Vision.</h4>


    Inside the cave with a broken altar, ke was on his knees and his head was tilted upwards.


    His face was contracted in agony as a stream of gray light from the altar, connected to his head.


    His pupils had lost their color as gray beams of light shot out from them.


    He was in a trance.


    In the vision, ke saw himself floating more than three thousand meters above the ground.


    C''mon! isn''t it enough for one day!¡­ ke freaked out when he saw how high he was.


    The system quickly released a notification, informing him it was only an illusion.


    Phew¡­ He quickly calmed down when he saw the notification.


    He cast his gaze to the ground, thend stretched far beyond his view.


    Mountains that were more than twice the size of those seen on earth, were all scattered around. Surrounding the mountains were lush forests that housed different kinds of beasts.


    He tried to identify the beasts but they were the size of ants due to the distance.


    While admiring the beauty of thend, the whole ce darkened.


    All the beasts below him raised their heads and stared at the sky.


    Although he could not see them, he felt their emotions, all of them felt the same thing.


    Fear!!


    Instinctively, he raised his head to see what could make all the beasts afraid.


    It was a Comet!


    A very hugeet!!


    It''s overwhelming aura mad ke gasp for air.


    All around theet were cracks that had pink lightsing out.


    Before he could have a clear view of theet, it passed through him and crashed into the ground.


    Immediately it made contact with the ground, an invisible shock wave swept through thend, but it did not destroy the mountains or trees around it. It only made a humongous crater appear.


    "¡­" ke was stunned by this scene.


    Putting the size of theet into consideration, he expected-size devastation, but to his utmost surprise¡­ nothing happened!


    He quickly looked at the area around theet.


    He noticed that the ground had developed pink veins, and they were spreading at a fast pace and we''re integrating with the life forms around.


    The was absorbing the meteorite!


    At that moment, ke was pulled out of the vision and the lit cave returned back to its dark state.


    His body was still trembling from what he saw in the vision, but he no longer felt the feeling of being called by the altar.


    What does the vision mean and what the f*ck is the all-fathers inheritance?... He was already getting tired of this world.


    With so many questions unanswered, he had no choice but to put them at the back of his head.


    I really need a hot bath, but first, let''s get out of here¡­ He let out a sigh and went on his feet.


    He turned to leave the cave, then he remembered a problem¡­ The ck morgs were still outside!


    I hope the boars have given up chase¡­ He made a series of prayers as he made his way to the entrance of the cave.


    When passed the veil of water, his gaze fell on two carcasses with metallic des stuck in their body.


    They are dead!... he couldn''t believe his eyes.


    His joy immediately changed to rm when he saw this.


    If something could kill the morgs, it would be able to kill a hundred of him easily.


    He turned and saw arge Eagle with White and brown lustrous feathers, and in front was a man with ck hair and blue eyes and at the back were both Castiel and Brian.


    Prince Bryon Jumped down from the Eagle and walked towards him at a steady pace.


    At first, he was afraid but he immediately calmed down since Castiel and Brian were unharmed.


    Prince Bryon reached the edge of theke, a gale lifted him and dropped him at the entrance of the cave.


    Magic!... ke was shocked.


    He thought he had seen it all but, more surprises kept on popping up.


    When Prince Bryon reached ke, he scanned his body and gave him a smile.


    "Lucky you." he said and then passed ke and went through the water veil.


    Lucky me?... confusion was written all over his face, ke tried to understand what the strange man meant.


    Not too long, Prince Byron came out from the cave in hurried steps.


    "Quickly! We have to leave here!" He held ke and a gale carried them to the other side of theke.


    Immediately theynded the whole space shook.


    "Rumble!"


    "The inheritance you absorbed was maintaining this space, now it''s gone, it''s about to copse." As he was exining the situation, theke began overflowing its banks and the ground shook violently.


    It turned out that theke and the spring were in a loop. Theke never overflowed its bank because the water was being teleported to the top of the hill, where it would flow down again.


    That exins how I could breathe under and why they were no living things in the water¡­.


    "We''re heading back" Prince Bryon informed the group.


    "To where?" ke couldn''t help but ask.


    "Calton." Chief Bryon said with an unperturbed expression.


    Shortly after they got on the eagle it took flight. From the top of the spring, they could finally see the overflowingke, the spatial veil concealing the environment had been removed.

 Chapter 7: Calton city.

    <h4>Chapter 7: Calton city.</h4>


    Rumble!!


    The sound of copsing rocks echoed throughout the area.


    The cave had copsed and parts of the hill that had the waterfall were breaking apart.


    Chills ran down ke''s spine as he thought¡­ If I had stayed there any longer, I would have been crushed!


    "Inheritances left by Deities are so powerful, that they affect the environment and form a kind of equilibrium where they are ced.


    Removing them will eliminate the equilibrium and cause a chain reaction." Prince Bryon stated in a carefree manner


    "You are luck ma" Prince Bryon chuckled.


    "I agree" ke said with a sarcastic expression.


    "Think about it, you survived the summoning, you were not eaten by the morgs that were in pursuing you, you got the most powerful Space inheritance and you escaped the chain reaction easily." Prince Bryon exined when he saw ke doubting him.


    ke frowned when he noticed something in what Prince Bryon said "What do you mean I survived the summoning? we didn''t notice anything when we fell into the portal." He turned to Brian to know if he noticed anything.


    "I didn''t notice anything dangerous" he waved his head as he answered.


    He looked at Castiel and his answer was the same thing.


    Prince Bryonughed when heard their reply "Your question should be how many people fell into a portal?"


    "!!!" rm bells rang in their heads as they heard the revtion.


    Not every one that fell into the cracks was summoned? That means they died¡­ It finally dawned on ke that he was truly a luck ma.


    I guess these are part of the perks of being an mc¡­ He immediately shook off his silly thoughts.


    "Then what was the need for so much destruction?" Brian couldn''t help but ask.


    Yeah, we need to have a word with the old man¡­ ke thought.


    "It is moreplicated than you think." Prince Bryon shook his head, then continued.


    "Actually, the All-Father summoned you Thousands of years ago at the end of the Azeroth war."


    What? A thousand years... ke blurted out with a confused expression.


    "That''s right." Bryon nodded his head in confirmation.


    "I don''t know why it took so long, but when power at "His" level enters a dimension that is not connected to the mother-stream, it''s bound to cause disasters."


    With his leg folded chief Bryon Observed the trio before speaking.


    "When we get to Calton, you will be registered in the Calton magic school and be given amodation in the dormitory."


    "Here is the royal family''s seal, you will be granted ess to some areas and certain resources." He handed out three ck seals that had a golden crossed sword crest on it, to the trio.


    "When you have settled in, go to the library, the crests will help gain ess to information above your level, trust me you''ll need it"


    "Thank you, sir." They sincerely thanked him and received the crests.


    He then closed his eyes and began meditating.


    Seeing this, the trio knew he should not be disturbed.


    Seeing that Prince Bryon had nothing else to say, ke began recounting what had happened so far.


    He thought that he had been cursed by the God of misfortune for all the incidents that urred today, but after hearing what Prince Bryon said his body shuddered.


    So many people died. Damn! I am more than lucky just to be alive¡­ He couldn''t help but look at Prince Bryon meditating.


    Not only did I survive the morgs pursuit, but I also got the All-Father''s space inheritance. I don''t even know what it is¡­


    [Does host want to know what an inheritance is?] the system asked.


    Yes¡­ ke confirmed


    [An inheritance is the power and will passed on by a high level being to a lower being.


    It enables the inheritor to receive the ability to practice a pathway, even if it was not part of their elements.


    If the inheritor is in the same pathway as the given inheritance, it gives a tremendous boost to the power.]


    [Pathways consist of different levels that lead to obtaining Godhood. Every pathway consists of ten levels, but with different names;


    *All-Father


    *Deity


    *Battle Angel


    *Grounded Angel


    *Demigod


    *Hero


    *Champion


    *warrior]


    Let me guess, I am at the warrior level¡­ ke gave a self-deprecating smile.


    [Incorrect. Host is slightly better than a normal human, but below the warrior level. Until inheritance has been assimted, host is below the warrior level.]


    "¡­" ke was stunned by the systems answer; he felt the system was trying to say ''he was useless.''


    It took some time for him to recover from the shame, before asking.


    What is the name of the warrior level of my inheritance and its powers?...


    [The name for the warrior level of the Space and time pathway is ''Locator''.


    Description:


    A locator is very good at finding things, he has enhanced senses making him able to sense everything within a range and a locator gets an increase to his physical abilities.]


    What?... He was confused and disappointed by what he saw.


    Wasn''t this meant to be the All-father''s inheritance?¡­ He shook his head and put the matter at the back of his head.


    He noticed that for some reason, he felt energized. He looked around and saw that both Castiel and Brian had their eyes shut, after a rough day they were worn out, but on the other hand, ke was still bubbling with energy.


    Is this what the system meant by increased physical abilities?¡­ he began observing his body because he felt some changes had urred.


    I have gotten superhuman powers so soon. For sure I am the mc, hehe¡­ a wide grin appeared on his face, as crazy thoughts began forming in his head.


    After 30 minutes of flying.


    "uhh¡­" he quickly reined his thoughts when arge city surrounded by lush forests, came into view.


    "We are here!" Prince Bryon opened his eyes and alerted the group.


    Castiel and Brian woke up when they heard his voice, while he calmly stood up.


    Calton was a considerable city of the Synder empire, it was located on the outskirts of the Mina woods.


    At the center of the city were the administrative zone and themercial district, which housed the city lord mansion, the general''s office, and other administrative buildings such as the Adventurer association.


    It was also home to Nobles, aristocrats, wealthy merchants, and prosperous businesses.


    The mid-region was the residential area for the midss.


    Factories, hospitals, markets, and temples were also in this region.


    At the outer region was the slums.


    Those below the poverty line that could not afford rent in the mid-region were forced to stay here, while working for factories that needed manualbor and nobles who owned farnds at the outskirts of the city.


    Despite Calton not being the capital of the empire, it was quite decent whenpared to it.

 Chapter 8: Calton magic school

    <h4>Chapter 8: Calton magic school</h4>


    The city was surrounded by thick, tall walls with symbols iid on them.


    On the wall were magic towers that had blue orbs that contained immense energy just waiting to be released.


    When they got close to the gate, Prince Bryon raised his right hand and shot golden mes into the air.


    It was a signal for the soldiers on the walls to allow them to pass.


    Shouts were heard from the wall. The symbols on the wall lit up and the air above the wall shimmered, causing a fiery dome to appear.


    It didn''t take long for them to get close to the fiery dome. A space in the dome opened up and they quickly flew past the wall.


    When they got passed the wall, cottages and farnds could be seen scattered across the area.


    As they moved closer to the center of the city, littered streets and dpidated neighborhoods came into view. The people walking on the streets were thin, frail and they put on rags.


    This was the Slums.


    ke felt pity for those living in the slums, but he couldn''t do anything about it.


    No matter the world one finds himself in, the poor will still exist¡­ He sighed helplessly.


    They quickly flew past the Slums and into the mid-region of the city.


    On the streets of the mid-region, carriages of different colors where being pulled by horses to different destinations. People could be seen walking to and fro the streets and stores could were scattered around the streets.


    The entire mid-region was lively and cleanerpared to the slums.


    ke looked closely at a factory that had a chimney; ck smoke rose from the chimney but before they could escape into the atmosphere they were converted to clean air.


    This could help earth deal with air pollution¡­ ke Thought.


    He was impressed by the technology, He was surprised to see that a world that used magic cared about their environment, sadly it was not the same for Earth that couldn''t use magic.


    When Chief Bryon saw the faces of the trio he chuckled "The factories in Synder empire are mandated to install purifiers in their factories or else they will be shut down."


    Soon they entered the center region, ke was stunned by the beauty of the region.


    Manors withrge gardens and driveways were mainly seen here.


    The center region was not as crowded as the mid-region fewer people were on the streets and fancy carriages with different emblems could be seen.


    The center region viewed from above was a pattern of buildings that clearly demarcated the rich from the poor.


    When they reached a magnificent pce that radiated sunlight like gold, the eagle began slowing down


    At the center of the pce, surrounded by ck crossed gs, was the statue of emperor Cinder holding his ming scepter of power.


    The eagle touched down in front of the general''s pce. They got down from the eagle and soldiers came to wee them.


    Standing in front was Prince Bryon''s secretary, Joan Sanders.


    Joan had a shapely figure, glossy skin, and smooth blonde hair that was tied up neatly into a bun. Her facial features were nothing exceptional, but her regal aura made the nobles greatly desire her.


    "Give them clothes to wear and send them to the magic school and get them registered" Prince Bryon gave out orders to Joan and made his way to the door.


    When he was some steps away, he turned and said "Oh... Get them something to eat first."


    "Yes sir" the Joan saluted after Chief Bryon gave out the orders. They were already used to his forgetful nature


    Joan stepped up to the trio with a smile on her face and said "Please follow me"


    She led them into the pce and showed them to their rooms.


    "Food and cloths will be delivered to your rooms, after taking your bath and getting some rest we will be heading to the magic school" she informed them of the ns, and she made her way out of therge corridor.


    The trio looked at each other and without saying anything they turned and entered their rooms.


    ¡­


    ke stepped out from the bathroom and gave out a loud sigh... "What a day!"


    funny enough it hasn''t ended¡­ he made a self-deprecating smile.


    He put on the brown leather shirt and pants that were ced on the bed by the servants and made his way to the table to eat his food.


    He was served zed chicken and sd by the side.


    He raised his fork and knife and inhaled deeply. His taste buds began secreting saliva as the aroma of the food wafted into his nose.


    "Looks good, smells good¡­." he dived into the food. "uhmmm. Tastes good!" he said with a stuffed mouth.


    After he was done eating, he rested for thirty minutes before a servant came to inform him that it was time for them to head the magic school.


    Do we have to go to school, can''t he be our sensei... He stood up and followed the servant to where the carriage was parked.


    Brian and Castiel were already in the carriage when he came. Beside the door of the carriage was secretary Joan. "please take your sit, we will be heading out"


    The carriage driver opened the door of the carriage and bowed slightly as a polite gesture for him to enter.


    When ke was at the door of the carriage, he sensed someone was staring at him, he turned his head towards the pce that was ten stories high and looked at the window.


    The image that appeared on the window was only the reflection of the sky, but he felt the gaze of someone was on him.


    Hmm¡­ seeing no one was there, he turned and entered the carriage.


    After the secretary Joan entered, the carriage driver closed the door and drove the carriage out of the pce.


    ...


    In a dark room at the top floor of the pce, Prince Bryon was looking out the full ss window, he saw when ke looked up in his direction.


    "The speed he is assimting the All-fathers inheritance is shocking, he even sensed my gaze." he was astonished by the scene that yed before him.


    "I will be heading to the capital tomorrow, watch over them, especially him." Prince Bryon turned his head slightly and spoke to a red-haired man behind him.


    "Yes Prince Bryon." the figure bowed and left the room.


    Bryon''s gaze returned to the carriage that was making its way out of the pce.


    ...¡­


    After thirty minutes of driving, they had already made their way out of the center region and into the mid-region.


    Secretary Joan acted as a guide and showed them key ces like; the city lords manor, house of congress.


    "What is the difference between the city lord and the chief?" ke asked because it was confusing.


    Secretary Joan smiled "The city lord is in charge of most of the administrative tasks in the city, while the Chief is in charge of all military operations and missions.


    The position of war chief of the cities in the Synder empire is headed by the members of the royal guard counsel."


    "Is Prince Bryon a member of the royal guard council?" ke asked.


    "Yes, out of the five councilors, he is the youngest and is in charge of the east region of the empire." She said with a proud smile.


    As they headed west to the magic school, they saw a five-story building that had a shield and sword crest at the top of the building.


    Joan pointed at the building "That''s the Adventurers association, they are one of the top organizations in the world. You can give out variousmissions for adventurers toplete and if you be an adventurer you can takemissions that correspond to your strength."


    With his eye still on the building, he asked the system. What are the names of the top organizations?...


    [ They are:


    Crusaders.


    Adventurers association.


    The league of assassins.]


    Crusader. What a catchy name¡­ he smiled and immediately stopped when he noticed the others were looking at him.


    This is awkward¡­ he resisted the urge to smack his forehead as hempooned.


    After ke''s awkward moment, the carriage remained silent until they reached their destination.


    The carriage arrived in front of arge bronze double door gate and written on the gates inrge letters was Calton Magic School.

 Chapter 9: First day in school

    <h4>Chapter 9: First day in school</h4>


    The carriage slowly made its way past the gate and arrived at the administration building.


    When they walked out of the carriage they saw an elderly man with gray hair and a monocle, waiting for them at the entrance.


    "Good day Joan, it''s been a long time. How have you been?" the elderly man said with a genial smile.


    "Good day principal Lovren, I am in perfect condition. How are you, sir?"


    "Mother Terra keeps sustaining us." He replied.


    "Praise be to the Mother!" They ced their hand on their chest and bowed in unison.


    "These are the gentlemen rmended by Prince Bryon, he hopes they can be ced under your care." She said while pointing towards the trio.


    "I''ll be more than d to do so, as long as they obey the rules, he has nothing to worry about."


    "He will be pleased to hear that¡­"


    After a few minutes of chatting, secretary Joan bided principal Lovren goodbye and entered the carriage.


    "May the Mother watch over you" Lovren waved as the carriage began moving.


    When the carriage left their sight, principal Lovren turned to the trio and said with a smile on his face "Wee gentlemen, to the Calton Magic School."


    "First let''s get you registered. Follow me" he led the way into the Administration building.


    "For you to be admitted into the main school, you will have to pass the awakening test, but that will be in a month''s time. For now, you will be having lessons in preparations for the awakening." He as they continued walking.


    "Luckily, freshers began their lessons a week ago, so you haven''t missed much and you can also read it up in the library." Principal Lovren exined in detail as they were getting closer to the registration point.


    "For now, you would be having basic magic sses and all information needed for the awakening test would be taught to you by the professors."


    At this moment he turned and looked at the trio with a stern expression and said


    "If anyone is to fail the awakening test, they will be expelled immediately. The resources of the school will not be wasted on those thatck talent."


    Jeez. Why so serious¡­ ke shuddered.


    After they got registered, they were assigned to different dormitories.


    ke was assigned to the Wind Griffin dormitory, while Castiel and Brian were assigned the phoenix and Drake dormitories respectively.


    When he was done with his registration, he walked to the west side of the school to the Wind Griffin dormitory.


    When he got to the Wind Griffin dormitory, he made his way to the fifth floor. he looked at his room and went up to the sixth floor.


    "Room 612 " he looked at the room numbers as he went across the hallway.


    He found his room and used the key given to him at the administrative building to unlock the door.


    Before he pushed open the door, a blonde-haired teen with profound deep blue eyes, came out of the room next to his.


    "Are you my neighbor?" The blonde boy walked up to ke.


    "Yes, I''m ke" he stretched his hand forward and looked at him.


    Those eyes, they look familiar¡­ ke was startled when he saw Luciano''s deep blue eyes.


    "Hi, I''m Luciano, nice to meet" both hands met and shook each other.


    Prince Byron!... He finally found where he saw those eyes from.


    "Let me help you with that." Luciano grabbed ke''s bag that contained his clothes and other items, given to him by Prince Bryon.


    Not bad for a neighbor¡­ He led the way into the room.


    "Over there is the bathroom, dinner is by six in the dining hall and lecture starts by 8. That''s pretty much everything" He turned after dropping ke''s bag.


    "Thanks a lot for everything" He thanked Luciano as he showed him out the room.


    "I''ll be here by six, for dinner." Luciano said as he went to his room.


    After sending Luciano off, he arranged his clothes in the wardrobe and hit the shower.


    Not long after having his bath, Luciano came to his room and both of them headed to the dining hall.


    ¡­..


    He doesn''t talk much¡­ ke silently observed Luciano as they ate dinner.


    He looked around the hall filled with students and most of them were acting the same way.


    This went contrary to what normally urred in earth schools!


    What''s wrong with all of them?!... Although he was a calm type that liked talking on the inside, the silence was killing him.


    Maybe they are not yet familiar with each other¡­ he thought of another possibility as he calmly ate his dinner.


    After his "silent" dinner, he returned to his room and fell on his bed. "What a day."


    He looked at the night sky that was twinkling with elegance, it gave him a sense of warmth spring from the cold as he reminisced.


    I miss mom, she''s all alone now¡­ He was felt depressed the more he thought.


    I have to get back home! Although he loved to be in a world of magic, he wouldn''t trade anything for his mom.


    System how can I get home?¡­ ke asked in an expectant tone.


    [There are three ways for host to return to Earth;


    *With the help of a Deity of the Space pathway.


    *Host obtaining Godhood and bing a deity.


    *Completing the All-father''s purpose for summoning you.]


    ke furrowed his brow when he saw the systems answer.


    He didn''t know any deity, talk much of one in the space pathway.


    The second option was more reasonable, but it will take a lot of time, while the third option was the most confusing.


    The All-father''s purpose for summoning them was still unknown, they were just like sailors with no destination.


    Seems I would be here for a long time¡­ He sighed helplessly.


    Before he could form more thoughts, he had already fallen asleep.


    ¡­.


    ke woke up and sat up, he looked out the window and saw that the sun was already out.


    "What''s the time?" Still feeling dizzy, he looked at the wall clock and saw it was thirteen minutes past eight.


    "What!! The ss starts by 8:00." Immediately, he jumped out of the bed and headed for the shower.


    After showering, he got dressed up and was prepared to head out.


    I missed breakfast at the dining hall¡­ he grumbled and left the room.


    When he locked the door, he realized he didn''t know the venue for the ss. "Fuck me!"


    System do you know the venue for the ss?... He immediately asked the system with high hopes.


    [Data not stored.] The system''s answer was like a bombshell to ke.


    He decided to head out in hopes that he would find someone that could direct him.


    He reached a crossroad with three paths. He knew the one on the left led to the administrative building, so the option was between the center and the right.


    His guts told him to follow the one on the right and he did. Soon he arrived at a building filled with ssrooms.


    Now to locate the ss¡­ he sighed and walked through the corridors of the building in search of his ssroom.

 Chapter 10: Personal tour.

    <h4>Chapter 10: Personal tour.</h4>


    He followed his intuition and got to the second floor of the building.


    At seven minutes past nine, he finally found the ss.


    When he pushed the door open and walked in, the whole ss stared at him. He turned to the professor in front of the ss.


    The professor was not too old, he had ck hair with white streaks and a stern face. He had an arrogant aura around him and was looking at ke with contempt in his eyes.


    "Good morning sir." ke greeted the professor.


    "The lecture starts by eight and you arrive less than thirty minutes before it ends." The professor was angry.


    "Sir¡­"


    "Address me as Professor Arimus" the professor retorted.


    "Professor Arimus, I joined the school yesterday and didn''t know the venue of the lecture." ke exined his situation to professor Arimus.


    "Go sit down." Professor Arimus said in a displeased tone, he couldn''t punish the kid because he gave a reasonable excuse.


    ke had a feeling that Professor Arimus did not like him, but he did not think much about it.


    He quickly found a seat and tried to listen to the professor.


    The lecture had already gone far and was about to end, but ke could not understand what was being thought, but he noted some keywords like, star gathering, stars, and special inheritance.


    He didn''t think much about it, because he could ask the system.


    He scanned the ssroom, only a few students were wearing colorful and regal clothes, these were the children from noble families.


    Most of them had contemptuous looks on their face when amoner spoke or asked questions.


    It was not hard for him to notice this, because themoners were the only ones asking the questions. It seemed like the nobles already knew these things.


    As expected of nobles¡­ ke thought.


    He looked at the front of the ss and saw the blonde Luciano, he was quiet as usual, but unlike other nobles, he was not contemptuous toward themoners.


    He truly is a nice guy¡­ ke''s impression of Luciano was getting better. When he was still thinking about Luciano, he noticed the whole ss was looking at him.


    "ke, can you answer the question?" Professor Arimus asked.


    Shit! What is the question?... His eyes darted around trying to figure out the question.


    "What is the question?" He answered with a wry smile.


    The whole ssughed when they heard his reply.


    The professor did not expect much and said "Hopefully after the awakening test, those that are here to fool around would be expelled."


    He looked at ke and othermoners in the ssroom.


    "All forms of Energyes from the mother-stream; it is the source of all life in the universe." He turned to ke and asked.


    "Do you get that?" ke nodded in response.


    It didn''t take long for the ss to end and the professor to leave.


    Considering how we have lectures for only one hour thirty minutes in a day, I must confess I love school¡­ A beaming smile was on his face as he saw Professor Arimus leave the ssroom.


    With a smile on his face, Luciano walked up to him and asked "I am going back to the dormitory; do you want to join me?"


    "Yes." he answered.


    As he headed out of the ss with Luciano, he felt the gaze of peoplend on him.


    He turned and saw it was from the nobles, from their smiles he already knew they were mocking him.


    They have already formed cliques, but unfortunately I am the ss clown¡­ He sighed and walked out of the ss.


    When they left the ss, Luciano turned to him. "Sorry for not telling the venue for the lecture, I totally forgot about it." he sincerely apologized to ke.


    "You don''t have to apologize you don''t owe me anything." He said with a smile."


    Truly, ke was not worried about how he was embarrassed in ss, he couldn''t care less about what the nobles taught of him.


    All he wanted was to get powerful so he could return to earth.


    "As a way to make it up to you, let me give you a tour around the school." Luciano said.


    Well, I can''t refuse; I really need it¡­ he nodded and Luciano led the way.


    Soon they reached the crossroads and headed for the path at the center.


    "This way leads to the training grounds, auditorium, cultivation rooms, and the arena." Luciano acted as a tour guide.


    "The training grounds would be the venue for our basicbat sses.


    The awakening test would be held in the arena and the auditorium is forrge lectures or conferences." Looked at ke to know if he was following, before continuing.


    "Students are prohibited from using the cultivation rooms unless given permission." Luciano warned.


    "How does one get permission?" ke asked.


    "After the awakening test, we will be ranked based on our speed in advancing and those at the top would be given time in the cultivation room."


    They headed to the path on the left.


    "You already know about the administrative building, resources assigned to a person can be imed here and if permission is needed for anything you could apply here." ke was impressed by how Luciano exined everything in detail.


    They quickly passed the administrative building and reached a white building with two spire towers.


    "This is the school''s library, information about materials, monsters, items, and so on, can be gotten here, as long as you have reached the required level to ess the information."


    I wondered the level of information I can ess with the royal family''s seal¡­ He nned on visiting the library when he had settled down.


    At this point, Luciano turned to ke and said "That will be the end of the tour, the other parts of the school are only meant for students in the main school. Let''s head back for lunch"


    Yeah, I am starving¡­ He missed breakfast and his stomach was grumbling.

 Chapter 11: Ancestral tree

    <h4>Chapter 11: Ancestral tree</h4>


    When they returned to the Wind Griffin dormitory, they went to the dining hall for lunch.


    In the dining hall, ke and Luciano were chatting as they ate.


    Their rtionship had gotten a lot betterpared to thest time they had dinner.


    "I came to the sste and didn''t get Professor Arimus''s lesson, could you help me out?" ke smiled sheepishly.


    Luciano chuckled when he heard ke''s request "Yes of course, what do you want to know?"


    It has been confirmed, I am the ss clown¡­ he gave a self-deprecating smile and asked, "What is a celestial star, and what is celestial star gathering?"


    "A celestial star is formed when the amount of nature''s energy absorbed by a body reaches a certain level and the process of forming celestial stars is called Celestial star gathering. The number of celestial stars formed, are four in number, that means you have broken into the warrior level." He said earnestly.


    "What are the functions of the celestial stars?" ke asked


    "Well for starters, it increases your range of perception and the number of celestial stars determines the power of the spell." He saw ke looking at him with a raised brow.


    "I came across a book and it exined that Celestial stars help us connect to the mother-stream and tap energy in order to cast spells." Luciano said.


    "Oh¡­ So, the number of celestial stars one has, the more energy that can be drawn from the mother-stream." ke gave an understanding nod.


    After some minutes of chatting with Luciano, ke returned to his room and nned on absorbing nature''s energy while meditating.


    System what is a Special pathway?¡­ He had forgotten to ask him what a special pathway was because Professor Arimus had focused more on Celestial convergence and barely mentioned Special pathways.


    [A special pathway is formed when a pathway evolves and gets the power of another authority added to it.


    Depending on the authority formed, a special pathway will be nothing less than two times the power of a normal pathway.


    The owner of a special pathway will be able to contend with someone above his/her level and will be undisputed in his level.]


    When ke heard this, he was surprised by how much power a special pathway had.


    He quickly asked the system "How can a pathway evolve?"


    [A pathway will evolve if the practitioner of a pathway assimtes perfectly with the pathway and gets a profound understanding of it. Then an authority will be formed based on his understanding, but the chances of this urring are very low, only geniuses can achieve this.]


    As I guessed it won''t be that easy if not, everyone will have a special pathway¡­ ke frowned when he heard the answer, then the mechanical voice continued.


    [There is another way of forming a special pathway.


    If the practitioner of a pathwayes in contact with a celestial relic and absorbs its energy, a change will ur based on the type of energy absorbed from the celestial relic.]


    "Why do I feel it sounds easier than it really is." He gave a lowugh.


    "If celestial relics are so easy to find, then it would have already been found by the inhabitants of this." He sighed and thought.


    I need a special pathway¡­


    [Host already has a special pathway; the All-father''s space inheritance is a special pathway that has the time authority.]


    "¡­" ke was stunned by the system''s message.


    "You don''t mean it" He could not believe what he heard, so he asked the system again.


    "Are you sure that the All-father''s space inheritance is a special pathway?"


    [100% correct.] The system repeated.


    "Wow!" He was happy when he confirmed that his ears were not ying tricks on him, but it turned to a confused expression.


    Then why is it so weak?... He didn''t think much about it, before putting it at the back of his head.


    "I have to form stars before the awakening test." He crossed his legs and began to meditate.


    Luciano said I have to sense the energy particles around me and draw them to my body¡­ He exhaled and closed his eyes.


    After 10 minutes ke opened his eyes "I didn''t sense shit and it takes so long... They make cultivation sound fun in web novels" He whined.


    "System how do I absorb nature''s energy?" He decided to seek the help of the system.


    [Nature''s energy in the current location is too thin. Host should go to the woods, where nature''s energy is denser and purer, so as to advance quickly.]


    Okay!... When he heard the systems reply, he quickly left the dormitory and headed for the forest behind the dormitories.


    When he got to the forest, he didn''t see students at the periphery of the forest, so he quickly went deeper into the forest waiting for the system to locate the spot with dense nature''s energy.


    [Area with dense nature''s energy has been detected! Host is 300 meters away.]


    "How are ces with dense nature''s energy formed?" He was curious as to why ces had higher natures energy than others.


    [Nature''s energy is everywhere, but it gets attracted to things that are more connected to the mother-stream.


    The older something is the higher the connection it has with the mother-stream, the same goes for the pathways, but in this case, the attraction is higher for cultivators depending on their level.


    The concentration of nature''s energy is higher near trees that have lived longer.]


    "That means someone in a higher level of a pathway can easily suppress someone lower in the same pathway."


    [That is correct.] The system confirmed kes thought.


    When he was 50 meters away, the system gave a notification.


    [Host has entered a concealed space.]


    When the notification came, the environment began changing. Large roots could be seen across the area, he began having a guess about what was at the location.


    how did I enter?... ke was not a stranger to the term ''concealed space'', what he wanted to know was how he entered it.


    [Every concealed space has an entrance, as far as you know its entrance you can ess it.


    In the case of the magical spring, host was led through the entrance and the morgs followed.]


    No wonder the ce was untouched¡­ He finally understood what happened.


    Soon the sight of a massive tree came into view, the trunk of the tree was more than 30 meters wide. It was more than 300 feet tall and had thick branches.


    [Pred to the foot of the ancestral tree and begin meditation.]

 Chapter 12: Dont revolt

    <h4>Chapter 12: Don''t revolt</h4>


    ke''s jaw dropped when he saw the tree, he was stunned by the size of the tree.


    The systems notification brought back his attention and he immediately walked to the foot of the tree and crossed his leg.


    How should I continue?...


    [Close your eyes, clear your thoughts, and be one with your surroundings.]


    ke shut his eyes, but strange thoughts kept on popping up in his head.


    Is it me or does the system sound weird¡­ Secretary Joan is hot, is Prince Bryon blind?¡­ Ahem¡­ He shook his head and tried to concentrate.


    When the system saw that ke''s concentration level was okay, it continued to exin.


    [Feel the things around you, the wind, the sound of the leaves fluttering, insects creeping. Know that all things are made and sustained by energy, feel the energy coursing through them.]


    After more than fifteen minutes, he saw dots of light floating around him.


    Arge number of them gathered around the leaves and the roots of the ancestral tree.


    [Good, your energy vision has been activated.] The system continued.


    [Now, imagine theming to you. Remember cultivation is all about patience, don''t be in a rush, act like a tree, be patient, and still, they wille towards you.]


    Suddenly the dots of lights disappeared and ke opened his eyes.


    [Energy vision deactivated; host has lost concentration.]


    He was trying his best to stay focused, but he couldn''t. The system was sounding weird, it was no longer speaking in its mechanical voice.


    "Let''s try it again." He quickly closed his eyes and cleared his thoughts.


    His concentration level became stable and the dots of light appeared all around him.


    He remembered what the system said and began visualizing the dots of light floating towards him.


    Although 5 minutes had gone without anything happening, he stayed focused and patiently waited.


    Soon, some dots of light began moving towards him.


    [Allow the energy to be part of you.]


    ke maintained his state of concentration as more energy lights swayed his way.


    The rate at which he was absorbing energy had doubled.


    After two hours of absorbing nature''s energy, ke decided to stop and head back to the dormitory, because it was getting dark.


    "How much progress?" ke asked the system with a smile on his face.


    [Host has filled half of the first star.]


    "Nice." He was satisfied with his speed of cultivation.


    ording to what professor Arimus said, to fill up the first star would take days and the first star was the easiest to fill up.


    The system is really a cheat code!... he thought.


    [Note! The first star is the easiest to fill because it doesn''t need a specific type of energy to fill. After the first star is filled up your true element will be awakened and you would require the corresponding energy to fill it.]


    Hmmm¡­ It took some time for him to digest the information.


    He soon left the concealed space through the ''door'' shown to him by the system.


    Still thinking about the amount of progress he made, he didn''t notice when he had reached the Wind Griffin dormitory.


    He went up to his room and had a shower before going to the dining hall for dinner.


    At the dining hall, he noticed that the nobles were all staying together at a corner of the dining hall and Luciano was with them, but he was eating silently.


    ke waste for dinner, when he arrived at the dining hall, Luciano was already having dinner with the nobles.


    He also noticed that themoners were staying away from the nobles, the tables around where the nobles ate were empty.


    Shit is about to happen¡­ ke felt the air was tensed and a fight was about to breakout.


    Let me guess, the nobles have been maltreating themoners so much that they can''t take It anymore¡­ These were normal things that happened in web novels, so he was not surprised by what was happening.


    Isn''t it too early for a revolt, ording to what I have read, it normally happens at the ending of the stay in school¡­ He thought.


    But let me tell you all the truth, you guys will be beaten to a pulp! These guys have strong backgrounds and will surely be stronger in cultivation, so it will be unwise to mess with them¡­ He felt pity for themoners who had nned against the nobles.


    Although ke did not like the way nobles treated themoners, he did not want to be caught in the crossfire.


    All he wanted was just to cultivate and get stronger, that was why he was not nning on making any friends.


    After having dinner, he didn''t say a word to anyone and went up to his room.


    He had some rest, then began absorbing nature''s energy to fill up his first star.


    He cleared his thoughts and began to feel the energy in the environment. Soon his energy vision was activated and the room lit up.


    Dots of light was all over the room, but they were not as much as those in the concealed space.


    As expected, they are not as much¡­ he thought as he beckoned on the energy lights toe to him.


    He patiently waited before the energy lights began swaying towards him. He began absorbing the energy to fill his first star.


    After two hours of cultivating painstakingly, he couldn''t fill up a quarter of his first star.


    The amount of nature''s energy in the dormitory is too thin¡­ ke felt he had wasted his time cultivating in the dormitory.


    I have to wake up early tomorrow, don''t want to be embarrassed again¡­ He immediately climbed into his covers and dozed off.


    ¡­


    Before it was 6 o''clock, ke was already up and was running his daily exercise. When he was done with his exercise, he hit the shower.


    After taking his bathe he dressed up and nned to head out.


    "Time for the basicbat ss" he locked the door and headed to the training grounds for his ss.

 Chapter 13: Archery exercise???

    <h4>Chapter 13: Archery exercise???</h4>


    He left the Wind-Griffin dormitory psyched and quickly arrived at the training ground.


    Some of the students were already there when he arrived, but the instructor was nowhere to be seen.


    He moved closer to the training ground.


    As he got closer to the students the wind carried the words of the students into his ears.


    The warrior level of the space pathway gave him enhanced senses and improved physical abilities, he could hear everyone around him, all he needed to do was to tune into the conversation.


    "d is too cool!" a group of girls were talking about the orange-haired noble standing beside Luciano.


    The smirk that was always on d''s face irritated ke or maybe, he was jealous because Luciano was now hanging out with d.


    He was still clueless to why Luciano stopped hanging out him.


    "Why is instructor Zirrack alwayste for his ss?" A brown-haired boy beside himined.


    "Wesson, why do you alwaysin as if you are ready for the archery exercise." His friend shrugged.


    ke had heard of instructor Zirrack, he was a crazy warmonger who loved battles, the fiercer the battle the more thrilled he got.


    He detests people who have no talent when it came to physicalbat. He was the fiercest and the most feared teacher in the school.


    What!!!!!... rms sounded in ke''s head.


    Archry exercise?? I have never shot an arrow in my life!¡­ He began to panic.


    If he did not get a nice score in the archery exercise, not only will he worsen his already damaged reputation worsen, he will also be hated by instructor Zirrack.


    Although his rtionship with professor Arimus started on a wrong foot, He could not afford to be in bad terms with the most feared teacher in the magic school.


    He immediately sought help from the system.


    "Is there any way for me to get a high score in the archery exercise?" He asked anxiously


    [I can help the host in the exercise.


    By disying a path for the arrow to be shot and guiding the host in using the precise force to draw the bow, host can perform well in the exercise.]


    When he saw the systems report, he let out a sigh of relief.


    "Alright move to the archery ground." A deep voicemanded.


    The students turned to see a bald muscr man who had a brown goatee. On his body were both Large and smalls scars that made him look like a fierce beast that was ready to pounce on his prey.


    Instructor Zirrack!


    Without wasting time, the students rushed to the archery ground because instructor Zirrack was known for his impatience and among them was ke.


    Instructor Zirrack walked up to the center and said "Each of you has 5 shots, you all know the drill, you hit the bullseye, you get 10 points."


    He checked the list in his hand then continued


    "If you are called, you step up and perform the archery exercise." He immediately went straight to the point


    "Kade!" A boy with ck spiky hair with a calm expression walked up.


    He wore a thumb ring and picked up a bow and a quiver with arrows in it.


    He stood 27 meters away from the target and aimed.


    Thwish!!


    Thwish!!


    Thwish!!


    Thwish!!


    Thwish!!


    The sound of the bows string being released, resounded in the silent training ground.


    Thunck!!


    Instructor Zirrack standing beside the target, checked where the arrowsnded.


    "10, 7, 6, 6, and 7. Total 36, not bad." Instructor Zirrack said with a nod.


    Kade bowed his head slightly and left.


    ...


    Just before ke''s turn was that of Wesson.


    From how he walked and how he held the bow, ke knew he was nervous.


    Thwish!!


    The string was released and the arrow flew.


    Pa!! Instructor Zirrack caught the arrow that almost struck him.


    "Drop the bow and quiver and leave. Next!" Zirrack ordered.


    Wesson dropped his head, feeling disappointed, and left the grounds.


    "Useless peasants" The nobles scoffed.


    After 16 students and the high score still being that of Kade, it was finally kes turned.


    "That was quick." ke didn''t know whether tough or cry. He didn''t expect something like this to happen.


    He wore the thumb ring and picked up the bow and the quiver.


    "System it''s time." He exhaled to reduce his nervousness, then he walked up to the 27 meters mark.


    [Activating Archery module.] the system reported.


    [Follow the actions of the hologram to hit the bullseye] A hologram of a bow being raised appeared in his vision.


    He nocked his arrow and aligned his bow with that of the hologram, and stretched.


    [52%, 67%, 82%] The system was showing him the amount of force needed.


    Thwish!!


    Him being nervous caused his hands to be a little shaky and made him release the string before the force reached a hundred percent.


    Thunck!!


    The arrow hit the 5 mark on the target


    When Zirrack saw the score, he looked at ke with a disappointed expression.


    *giggles*


    He could hear some of the nobles trying to suppress theirughter because of instructor Zirrack. ''


    This pissed him off!


    "They can be a pain in the ass. Let''s get serious." He tightened his grip on the bow and followed the actions of the hologram.


    Thwish!!


    Thwish!!


    Thwish!!


    Thwish!!


    Three of the arrows hit the bullseye, while thest one hit 9 points


    "Wow!" the students were stunned by what they saw.


    "5, 10, 10, 10, 9. Total 44, new high score." Zirrack announced with a surprised look on his face.


    Surely, the system is overpowered¡­ ke was even marveled by his own the scores.


    He felt a sense of satisfaction when he saw the stunned faces of the nobles.


    He had a bad start, even if he got serious, he shouldn''t have been able to hit the bullseye thrice. How is this possible!!... The nobles could not believe what their eyes saw.


    When it was Luciano''s turn, he walked up and shot the arrows gracefully.


    He hit the bullseye twice, an eight, and got seven twice, giving a total of 42 points.


    As expected of a high ranking noble¡­ ke smiled bitterly.


    Nobles receive lessons onbat and cultivation techniques from when they were young, everything they needed was provided by their families and that was why they always felt smug when they were aroundmoners.


    If not for the system that was a godly tool, ke wouldn''t have been able to match up with these nobles.


    After more than an hour, no one had beaten ke''s high score of 44 and It was now thest students turn.


    "Cami."

 Chapter 14: Understanding.

    <h4>Chapter 14: Understanding.</h4>


    A girl with ck silky hair, an exquisite aquiline nose, brown eyes, and thin red lips walked up.


    She wore a tight leather suit that made her curves more prominent.


    She moved to the 27 meters mark with confidence and picked up the bow.


    She nocked an arrow and pulled the string elegantly.


    Thwish! Thwish! Thwish! Thwish! Thwish!


    The arrows quickly made their way to the target.


    Thunck!... 10.


    Thunck!... 10.


    Thunck!... 9.


    Thunck!... 8.


    Thunck!... 8.


    "Total 45. New high score" Zirrack announced.


    Carmi turned to ke and smirked.


    "Damn! Not only is she hot, but she also got skills." He was surprised that someone could beat his record.


    Although he didn''t perform well in the first shot, causing him to get five points, he was still nning on making his shots not look too perfect, in other to avoid suspicion.


    "Thank God she beat the high score because it would have been shameful to us nobles." He could hear the nobles sigh.


    Idiots, everyone knows I flopped in the first shot, so it''s shameful that only one of the nobles managed to beat my high score¡­ ke sneered when he heard the nobles talking.


    "The first position goes to Carmi Karius.


    Second ke Wilson.


    Third Luciano." Instructor Zirrack announced.


    "Remember, next week will be close-quarterbat, and that will be all for today." Zirrack said as the students began dispersing.


    "kee over." ke turned to see who was calling him.


    Instructor Zirrack! What did I do?... He tried recalling if he unknowingly offended as he walked to him.


    When ke got to Instructor Zirrack he saw Kade who had the second-highest score among themoners.


    He also had the same confused look as ke.


    "Rx." Zirrack said.


    When they heard this, they looked up and to their surprise, they saw a smile on Zirrack''s face.


    I never thought he could smile?... kempooned.


    "Nice work in the archery exercise, both of you. You guys wiped the smug off the faces of those spoilt brats. You should have seen their faces" Zirrack chuckled lightly, then continued.


    "It''s nice to see people that can match those brats."


    "Thank you." Both of them bowed respectfully.


    "Keep it up. You are dismissed" He returned to his expressionless face.


    That¡­ Was not¡­ expected¡­ ke was surprised by the scene that just took ce.


    He never knew Instructor would have a side like this, ke always had the impression that he was a cold person.


    From his tone, it means he doesn''t like the way the nobles treat themoners, unlike professor Arimus that doesn''t hide his hate for themoner...


    Come to think of it, Prince Bryon is a nice guy and doesn''t care about anyone''s societal ss, then why are those below him like this¡­ He couldn''t wrap his head around the need for the discrimination, so he put it at the back of his mind and headed back to the dorm.


    After lunch, he headed out of the Wind Griffin dormitory and went to cultivate in the concealed space.


    When he reached the outskirts of the woods, he circled around it to make sure no one was following him. He could not afford anyone knowing about this secret.


    "At this rate of cultivation, how long will it take for me to reach the warrior level for my first element?" He asked as he headed to the ancestral tree''s location.


    [Would Host prefer a detailed exnation or a brief one?]


    "Detailed exnation."


    [For Host to fill up the first star it would take 4hrs 30mins.


    Filling the 2nd star will take 4 days and 6hrs.


    Filling the 3rd star will take 10 days.


    Filling the 4th star will take 14 days.


    [Note: This is an estimate based on host''s current energy absorption rate. As host progresses in level, the energy absorption rate is to increase.] The system reported.


    ke''s brows furrowed. "for sure the first star is the easiest to fill, but how does the school expect the students to awaken their elements in just one month?" It was impossible for them to awaken their first element before the awakening test.


    The amount nature''s energy in the dormitory was too faint and most of the students cultivated in their rooms, even though he could absorb the energy of the ancestral tree he was not sure if he could make it.


    Unless the school had a n or they did not need to fill up 4 stars to pass the awakening test¡­ He thought.


    He soon made it to the concealed space and entered through the entrance shown by the system.


    If I am to awaken my first element before the awakening test, I have to put in more time into cultivation. That means I will have to skip dinner¡­ He spoke with a depressed look after making some calctions


    He knew that for him to progress in level, he had to spend more time in cultivation.


    He had read about main characters in web novels that did not have friends and cultivated for thousands of years, he thought it sounded ridiculous, but he now understood the reason.


    "The road to power is a lonely one filled with many obstacles" He sighed and crossed his legs to absorb nature''s energy.


    That was when a matter came to his attention. "How do I increase the level of the space element?"


    [The space inheritance is a special pathway, so the method of advancing is different.


    For a pathway to be a special pathway, a level of understanding of the pathway must be attained, the same goes for anybody who inherits the special pathway. So, for host to advance in the space and time pathway, host most attain a level of understanding of being a Locator.] the system exined.


    "That means those that are in normal pathways would advance quicklypared to those in special pathways."


    [The more understanding one has, the more powerful the abilities of the level.


    Host underestimates the power of special pathways, people that are in special pathways are unbeatable when facing those at the same level in normal pathways and can face also face those a level above them.]


    "Any tips on how to understand a special pathway?" He asked.


    [That is meant for the host to understand on his own.]


    "As expected, it''s not that easy." He closed his eyes and began cultivating.

 Chapter 15: The Conspiracy.

    <h4>Chapter 15: The Conspiracy.</h4>


    After more than 4hrs of absorbing energy, ke began sensing a different type of energy.


    He could see two colors of light dots floating around the area, one was the normal white light dots and the other had a faint blue light to it.


    "It''s violent." Unlike nature''s energy that felt calm and full of life, but the blue light dots felt violent and destructive.


    [Congrattions to host in filling the first star and awakening the lightning element!] The system reported in its mechanical tone, but ke could hear a hint of joy in it.


    "Which element is the strongest?" He wanted to know how lucky he was so he asked the system.


    [Apart from the space element, no element is greater than the other, they all have their advantages and disadvantages.]


    "Why do you say space element is the most powerful?"


    [Everything upies space.


    From the seen to the unseen, they all upy space, the earth, the air; although not seen it can be felt meaning it upies space.


    If one can master, shape, and bend space to his or her will, they would be able to rule anything that exists.]


    "So, what''s the catch?" ke could not believe it, it was too good to be true.


    [Although the space element is the strongest, the mother stream makes sure that everything in life is bnced.


    That is why the space element is the most difficult element to be awakened, but that is not the only limitation ced on it.


    The requirement for advancing in level is higher than that of other elements. The rituals are the hardest and the concept of space cannot be easily understood, because it is a very vast concept.]


    "As I suspected." ke smiled bitterly.


    It was already past dinner time, so he decided to go back to the dormitory before anyone found out he was missing.


    He left the concealed space through the exit and headed back to the dormitory.


    "Can you measure how much I have assimted with the All-father''s inheritance?" although he just had a minor breakthrough, he didn''t dare ck, he had to grow all around and be stronger.


    [Level of assimtion: 32%]


    "Wow, thirty-two already." He was surprised by how much it had increased.


    ording to the system, it was difficult to advance in the space pathway, so thirty-two percent was already arge amount.


    Could it be because of me cultivating? It involves sensing the energy particles in the environment, so it has to deal with spatial awareness. Hmmm¡­ ke pondered.


    [Level of assimtion: 45%]


    "Wow! 15%. That means understanding the principles, will increase the rate of assimtion by a whole lot." He was shocked by the increase.


    He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn''t know when he reached the dormitory. After a bath he immediately got under his covers to sleep, he had to get ready for history ss the next day.


    ¡­


    In Tarius the capital of the Synder empire.


    Prince Bryon was in a dark room admiring the beauty of the night sky through the full ss window when a red-haired man walked into the room.


    "How are you Rayzer? Come, join me and enjoy this magnificent view." He gestured for the red-haired man toe closer.


    When Rayzer came to the window, the faint light of the moon shown on his face.


    On his face was a scar that cut across his nose, his facial features were not extraordinary, but they showed he had passed through a lot.


    After more than twenty minutes of stargazing, Prince Bryon broke the silence. "What''s the situation at the school?"


    Rayzer chuckled before answering. "Well, a lot had happened in just a few days."


    "The kid found a concealed space in the woods near the dormitory and the area is filled with a lot of nature''s energy. Is there anything you want me to about it?"


    "He is a luck ma." Prince Bryon muttered.


    He couldn''t believe it, the kid found the All-father''s Space inheritance that was the most rear among all the inheritances and now he found a concealed space with arge amount of nature''s energy.


    "You don''t have to do anything about it, he found it so let him have it." Prince Bryon said with a smile.


    "The second matter is that of the amount of nature''s energy in the dormitory. I heard the kidining about how low the energy was, so I checked it out.


    It turns out that some of the nobles are using energy rune stones, they n on slowing down themoner''s cultivation so that they will be expelled after the awakening test." Rayzer reported with a serious expression.


    When Bryon heard Rayzer''s report, his brows furrowed. "That''s too sinister, how can they jeopardize the future of the young ones because they feel they are better than them."


    He was clearly angry about the news, but he quicklyposed himself and calmed down, before continuing.


    "Don''t inform the school about the matter until a week to the awakening test. The test will be postponed and cultivation resources will be given to the affected.


    Also, the requirements for the nobles to pass the test will be increased and if they fail, they will be expelled immediately."


    Rayzer with an expressionless face said. "It''s been long since I''ve seen you like this."


    "Hehehe." Bryon gave a lowugh.


    ¡­..


    "I need to visit the library." He wanted to facepalm, but he stopped himself in the nick of time.


    "After the Azeroth war between the Supreme alliance and Deadly syndicate. The members of the Supreme alliance saw no need for them to be in the alliance, so they broke up." Professor Dewayne moved around the ss as he exined.


    "From the breaking up of the alliance, a group of humans allied against the forces of darkness called the Crusaders."


    I need to read about the Azeroth war and the different organizations. I have no ss tomorrow and next, that will be the perfect time to visit the library¡­ ke thought.


    He had been postponing the library visit for a long time, the history ss made him realize that he didn''t know much about this world.

 Chapter 16: Azeroth War

    <h4>Chapter 16: Azeroth War</h4>


    Although he didn''t know much about the history of Infinite realm, he could understand some of the things professor Dewayne taught with the help of the system.


    After the ss he went to the dormitory for lunch, then he headed for the woods to cultivate.


    He noticed his life had been repetitive, all he did was attend sses and cultivate, but there was nothing he could do about it. He currently had no friends, he only knew three friends; Luciano, Castiel, and Brian.


    He didn''t have much of a rtionship with Brian and Castiel, they got to know each other because they passed through the same disaster.


    ording to the books he had read, a strong bond would be formed when people passed through hard times together, but it was not the same in this case.


    "I wonder how they are doing?" Thest time he saw them was at the administration building when they were getting registered.


    Each dormitory had their sses at different times, so it was not possible for them to meet each other unless it was a nned meet-up.


    ¡­


    The next day, early in the morning.


    He had no ss today and next, so he decided to jog and exercise before he went to the library. Since he came to school, he had not had time to jog, so it was the perfect time for him to do so.


    After stretching and warming up, he jogged out of the Wind-Griffin dormitory and headed in the direction of the training grounds.


    He saw students on the training grounds, both nobles, andmoners, but they were using different grounds in order to avoid conflict.


    "Huh?" When he jogged passed the archery ground used by themoners, he saw most of them looking at him with acknowledgment in their eyes.


    "Oh." It took him some time to understand why they were looking at him that way. It turns out that, the skills he disyed during the basicbat ss changed their view of him, they felt represented during the exercise.


    Only if they knew how much I suck at archery without the help of the system¡­ keughed inwardly as he jogged past.


    As he was leaving the training grounds, he felt gazesnd on him, but he did not turn to see where they came from. He knew they were from the nobles who were probably cursing him, but he didn''t care.


    He soon reached reached an open field, this was hisst stop and it was time for him to head back.


    He turned and saw a girl with ck hair, an aquiline nose, brown eyes, and thin lips meditating on the grass. It was Cami Karius.


    "Uh¡­" ke was stunned when she opened her eyes and looked at him with a smile on her face.


    C''mon man¡­ He quicklyposed himself when noticed he was blushing.


    He thought she was hot but he had no ns of approaching her. She was a noble and a lot of guys were courting her, so he tried not to get into trouble because he had a lot of heat on him at the moment and he was not yet powerful enough to fight back.


    "Getting powerful is my top priority." He sighed and headed back to the dormitory.


    After exercising and taking his bathe, he left for the library.


    ¡­


    In front of arge white building that had two tall spire towers was ke, who was admiring the artistic beauty of the building.


    When he entered the building, he sawrge rows of bookshelves. Floating globes of light were all around the room illuminating the environment and on the walls were gems that lit up the corners where the light couldn''t reach.


    He walked past the librarian and went in to browse the books.


    "First up, history." He began looking for the section that contained history books.


    He quickly found the history section and took out a book from the tall brown bookshelf.


    "The Azeroth war by marquisnce." He flipped the book open.


    "A 100 million years after the fall of theet (A.C), mysterious pink crystals were being dug out from the grounds all over Infinite realm. This was the beginning of the Thranium age."


    "Comet? System, is that theet I saw in the vision at the cave???? He had long forgotten about the vision he had in the cave because he had no leads on the matter.


    [Affirmative.]


    "Finally, a lead." ke continued reading.


    "During this period the whole Infinite realm had a major boost technologically. It was all because of the high energy resource in form of pink crystals, called Thranium.


    The energy in the crystals was pure and very potent, it led to many great inventions and the creation of a lot of war machines that couldpete with the cultivators."


    "Unfortunately, the discovery of Thranium crystal brought about one of the greatest sin, Greed. Some of the races were overwhelmed by greed, so they formed The Deadly syndicate. Members of the deadly syndicate were; The Demon race, Sea tribe, Orcs, Goblins, and the Blood Elves.


    They took the dwarf and the Gnome races by surprise because they had the greatest number of mines and their war machinery were the strongest among all the races. Before they knew it, most of their cities were captured by the Deadly Syndicate.


    When the other races saw they could not face the evil alliance on their own, they decided to form the Supreme alliance. The races that formed the alliance were the God n, Dragon race, Dwarf race, Gnomes, Elves, and the humans.


    The members of the supreme alliance were clearly higher in cultivation, but the Deadly Syndicate abused their numbers in the war. They sacrificed a lot of warriors just to take down the masters of the Supreme alliance. Rivers of blood flowed during the war, lives were lost, cities were destroyed, some races were almost wiped out because of the war."


    "All the inventions and breakthroughs were destroyed; the overall power of the realm had decreased by a lot. That was when the All-Father that was normally neutral to conflicts between races, decided to end the gruesome war."

 Chapter 17: I dont want to leave.

    <h4>Chapter 17: I don''t want to leave.</h4>


    "It felt like I was reading a Webnovel." It was when he finished reading the book that he noticed how much time had passed. He put the book back into the bookshelf and scanned for the next book to read.


    "I need to know the geography of this world and the location of the Synder empire." He went to the geography section of the library and took out a leather map and ced it on the table.


    At the east side of the map, surrounded by dense forests and mountains, was the Synder empire known for their machinery, outstanding fire mages and their inventions. The emperor of the Synder empire is Cinder, the son of the legendary founder of the empire, Synder.


    At the center of the map was thergest ocean he had ever seen, it was Ocean Tribirus. Ocean Tribirus was full of so much dangers that the three empires had to tread carefully when they were on the blue beast.


    Ocean Tribirus was located between the Synder empire and the Tigeria empire.


    The Tigeria empire''snd mass was not asrge that of the Synder empire, but they were the kings of the oceans among the three empires.


    The Tigeria empire had thergest numbers of outstanding mages who were in the lightning pathway. Just like the Synder empire that controlled the fire pathway.


    To the north, was the Kaldron empire. The empire was located in the midst of three humongous mountain ranges, that made the Kaldron empire''s defense almost impregnable. They had the best earth, nt and sand mages and they were peaceful, but that didn''t mean they were weak.


    At the northeast was thend of dust and sand, The Malock desert. The desert stretched across five thousand miles and It was between the Synder and Kaldron empires.


    He saw a ck ''X'' marked on the Malock desert, showing it was extremely dangerous.


    Simr ''X''s'' were on the map and a only few were ck in color, while most of them were red. He looked at the maps key and saw that red meant extremely dangerous'', while ck meant ''Do not enter''.


    I wonder how dangerous the ck zones were?... ke thought, as he scanned the other arears on the map.


    "Holy Cow!" He was shocked out of his wits, when his eyesnded on the south region of the leather map.


    He saw arge ck ''X'' that covered the whole south region of the map.


    "What the F**k! How could a whole region be a ck zone?" Chills ran down his spine as he tried to imagine the dangers that lurked in the south zone.


    "So, what happened to the Dragons and the other races where did they go? Or are they extinct?" He didn''t see any information about the other races on the map.


    Come to think of it, the amount of space upied by the three empires isn''t that much,pared to the whole map. There are still a lot of ces that are unexplored and is it possible for the other races to be in the ck zones¡­ A lot of thoughts ran through his head as he tried to uncover the truth.


    He quickly put the map back and searched for the book that had the information about other races.


    He was not worried about missing or forgetting anything important, because he had the system.


    As long as he saw it with his eyes even if it was for a second, the system would store the information.


    Surprisingly he was enjoying his visit to the library, he felt like staying in the library and reading for as long as he wanted, but he had to cultivate in preparation for the awakening test.


    Unfortunately, most of the books he found focused on the Azeroth war, while some of them had little information on post-Azeroth war.


    They all had the general opinion was that non-human races suffered heavy blows during the war.


    After the war, their cities and empires were reduced to rumbles and most of their poption were massacred, thereby reducing their overall strength.


    The Ancestral beasts took the opportunity to attack them. They ended up wiping out most of the non-human races, while the few that survived the ambush, came close to being extinct.


    "Something doesn''t sound right about this. Even if they were weakened, how could all the powerhouses be wiped out so easily?" The records were not convincing, but he couldn''t do anything since he didn''t have much information on the topic.


    He picked books about the empires and about cultivation.


    Since he was about to reach the warrior stage he had to know how to advance.


    He found out that once he reaches the warrior level, it was useless to keep absorbing nature''s energy and that was why he couldn''t improve his space element and for him to advance past the warrior level, he needed to absorb a more potent energy from the cores of monsters to breakthrough the 4th star and open up the 5th star.


    Surly, advancing will get harder as one moves up in level¡­ He sighed.


    He checked the time on the wall clock and decided it was time for him to leave the library.


    He scanned the library and noticed that not much students made use of the library. "It''s the same as earth" ke chuckled.


    Huh? I wonder what books will be in the upper section¡­ He saw a stairs that led to the upper level of the library.


    "There''s still sometime left before lunch." In the spirits of adventure, he went up the stairs.


    When ke climbed the stairs, he saw arge concrete door with a ming crossword crest on it.


    He saw a shield shaped hole by the side of the door.


    "It needs an item to be opened." He touched his right pocket and remembered the crest Prince Bryon gave him.


    It might have the information about the disappearance of other races.


    Not today¡­ He didn''t have much time left, so he turned around and left the library.

 Chapter 18: Runic stones.

    <h4>Chapter 18: Runic stones.</h4>


    On his way to the dormitory, he saw Kade talking to a brown-haired boy that wore a gray cloth.


    "Brother Kade, I have a talent level of 6, but I have only filled up half of the first star." Philip said with his head dropped.


    Philip had a cute face with chubby cheeks, that tempted people to squeeze it. He was a little bit pulpy and was of average height.


    His appearance made him look way younger than his true age, he was 16 years old just like ke, but looked like a 13-year-old.


    He''s kinda cute¡­*cough* *cough*¡­ ke almost choked when he thought of what he said.


    "*Cough* What the f*ck did I just say?" He immediately corrected himself.


    Philip continued "Not that, I am not giving it my all, but at the rate at which I am absorbing energy, I am afraid I will be expelled after the awakening test."


    Kade ced his hand on Philip''s shoulder and advised him. "I believe you will be able to pass the awakening test, Remember, we have to make uncle Joe proud." Kade looked at him with an encouraging smile.


    ke had to admit that, Kade had the skills required to be a good leader. From the way, themoners looked at Kade and the conversations they had, he knew they greatly admired him and also felt well represented.


    Why do I have the feeling that He''s meant to be the main character of this story if I wasn''t here? He''s the type that''s to be a high ranking in the empire or maybe He''s to lead a revolution against the empire¡­ Stories of the main characters of novels he had read, yed out in his mind.


    When he got close to them, he gave them a nod and continued on his way.


    He didn''t want to linger around before they thought he was ''eavesdropping'', so he quickened his pace and left the vicinity.


    "System what is the talent level that Philip was talking about?" He heard Philipining about his, so he asked the system right away.


    [Every being is born with a limitation; their bodies have an amount of energy they can absorb at a time. The limitation differs for each body, for some, the limitations are strict, while for others they are loose.


    Talent level is measured from 1 to 10. The higher the number the lesser the energy absorption restrictions, while lower numbers are vice versa.]


    "What is my talent level?" He asked anxiously


    [Host has a talent level of 7.]


    "Yep, not bad, I am main character material." He smiled when he saw the systems message.


    After lunch, he had a little rest then headed for the forest, but this time he waited for close to an hour before he headed out.


    Since he had stepped into the limelight and was now known by both the nobles andmoners, he was worried that someone would find out about his secret, and he could not afford to lose the concealed space.


    When he reached the edge of the woods, he moved around the edge of the woods to make sure no one was following him, before he entered.


    ¡­


    Three dayster.


    ke was returningte from his rune ss held by professor Bradof.


    "Getting tired of these stairs, even with all the magic, an elevator has not been invented in this world. Even if it was invented, why will it be in the dormitory." He thought as he made his way up to the sixth floor.


    As he walked through the empty corridor, the system sent him a series of messages.


    [Energy level high.]


    The messages only popped up when he passed some rooms. He went back to the rooms and the same message kept popping up, meaning it was not an error.


    "Lucky bastards¡­ Why will my room be the one with low energy levels." He began envying people who were allocated these ''blessed'' rooms.


    After ss he didn''t return straight to the dormitory, he went to the library to check up on what he had been taught that day.


    Runes were something totally new to him, so it took him some time to research and when he was done, it was already past lunchtime.


    "They should all have had a nice lunch and taking a nap now." He was angry that he missed lunch, but he couldn??t do anything.


    He unlocked the door and was ready to dive on the bed and have a nice 2 hours nap before heading for the woods, but that was when something dawned on him.


    "Why will there be a high energy level in some parts of the school." He had a feeling that something bad was going on.


    Immediately, he left the room to investigate.


    He began walking back from where he came from and inspected the ''blessed'' rooms. He closed his eyes then began to focus, soon his energy vision was on.


    As he walked the corridor, he inspected the flow of energy particles around every room and the quantity around the ''blessed'' rooms was tremendous.


    Energy particles are gathering around those rooms, even those from other rooms are even moving to the ''blessed'' rooms¡­ he observed the flow of energy in the environment.


    That exins the reason for the low energy level in my room¡­ He felt a little relieved when he finally found the cause of his biggest problem.


    System what could make energy gather like this?...


    Since he had identified the problem, he thought it would be great if he could solve it.


    If the energy levels return to normal, my cultivation speed will increase and with the help of the concealed space, I will be able to make all my elements reach the warrior level before the awakening test¡­ ke was taken out of his reverie when the system reported.


    [Phenomena can ur when a high-level mage is casting a top tier spell, but the amount of energy gathering does not correspond to that of a high tier spell.


    Some experiments involve energy particles gathering in order to synthesize materials


    Another possibility that corresponds to the amount of energy flow, is when runic stones are used.


    Runic stones are stones with runic signs with symbols that draw surrounding energy to it, they are mostly used to cultivate.]


    "That means they are using runic stones. Isn''t that illegal." Next thing he became shocked and was glued to the spot when he realized something.

 Chapter 19: Explosive diarrhea.

    <h4>Chapter 19: Explosive diarrhea.</h4>


    "The rooms¡­"


    Due to the equal rights bill, passed by the empire, the school made things ''equal'' for both the nobles and themoners.


    The bill enabled themoners to be able to eat, school, talk, sleep, and many more with the nobles. Before the bill was passedmoners were not allowed to even speak to nobles unless spoken to or asked a question.


    Their lives were deemed worthless by the nobles until the bill of equal rights fought for, by Prince Bryon and co. was passed intow. Although themoners were still being mistreated, it was not done openly and it had reducedpared when thew had not been passed.


    If any noble was caught trampling on the rights of amoner, byw they were to be punished and the punishment could lead to death depending on the crime, but not everything goes as nned.


    Most times, officials were bribed by the nobles, making them turn a blind eye to the matter.


    The Calton magic school showed they were in support of the bill by making both nobles andmoners attend the same ss, eat in the same location, sleep in the same dormitory, even their rooms were allocated in a way that each noble had twomoners as neighbors and themoners had two nobles as neighbors.


    So, when ke checked the owners of the ''blessed'' rooms, he found out that they were all upied by nobles.


    "Those bastards." He had a bad feeling about this, he knew they were up to no good.


    "Something is fishy. Should I report it to the school?"


    "I have to be careful here, I don''t know who my enemy or my friend is¡­ I will wait and see what happens." ke thought about it seriously.


    He was afraid of being silenced when he reported to a staff that was on the side of the nobles. He didn''t want to be a scapegoat, all he wanted was to get stronger so that he could leave this world and return to his mother.


    "At least, don''t do it openly." He mumbled


    He put the matter at the back of his head and made his way to his room for a nap, before going to cultivate.


    ¡­


    In the evening that day.


    While moving cautiously in the woods, his head was moving in all directions as he tried to make sure no one was around the area.


    If someone sees me, wouldn''t this make me look suspicious?... he gave a wry smile as he quickly made his way out of the forest.


    From the afternoon till now, he had been feeling tensed and the cause of his distress was the discovery of the rune stones used by the nobles.


    "That''s just too sinister!" It had been stuck on his mind and the more he thought of it the more he hated the nobles.


    "If they are really nning on making themoners get expelled on the awakening day then I have to report this to the principal, but what if it this is not even a n, maybe some of the nobles are breaking the rules to get stronger quickly, but it was not nned." Many scenarios yed in his head, but he couldn''t find out their main intent.


    "Forget about that, I have filled up the second star, but I haven''t made much progress in the third star. As expected, my speed of cultivation has reduced, I need to find a way to increase it." He shifted his mind from the nobles and focused on his cultivation.


    "Increasing my assimtion rate with the Space and time inheritance will help improve my cultivation speed, but that is easier said than done. I need to understand its principles."


    "What does a locator do? Finding things, but what am I looking for?" He pondered on ways to speed up his assimtion.


    He soon reached the dormitory and prepared to have dinner.


    For a long time now, he had been skipping dinner in order to have more time to absorb energy, but he had been warned by the system that it was not healthy.


    So, he decided not to skip dinner and find out about the happenings in the dormitory.


    "What an uneventful night, no gossips, no fights." ke said as he crawled under the covers.


    "Tomorrow is basic¡­bat css." He said drowsily.


    "What! Basicbat!??? his thoughts had been upied with the thoughts of the rune stones that he forgot he had basicbat ss the next day.


    "May Instructor Zirrack miss his ss tomorrow." He prayed earnestly but deep down in his heart, he knew there was no way Zirrack would miss his ss.


    ¡­


    The next morning.


    With an anxious filled heart, ke made his way to the training grounds.


    As usual, he met students in different cliques, chatting about one topic or another. The gossips he had been anticipating at dinner was finally here, all he needed to do was tune in to the conversation of his choice.


    How am I supposed to fight? I have no special techniques I don''t even know taekwondo¡­ Unknown to the students around, ke was in deep thoughts and was not aware of his surroundings.


    Surely, I will be matched up against a noble and get beaten to a pulp¡­ kemented as he anxiously waited for Instructor Zirrack toe.


    Deep in his heart, he was making prayers to all the deities he had heard of on earth, he prayed for life-threatening diarrhea to dy Instructor Zirrack.


    "It has been 30 mins now, seems like the diarrhea prayer is in effect." He made a mischievous smile in his head.


    "What says the time?" He asked a boy close to him in order to be sure.


    "9:08." The boy replied


    "Are you sure?" Disbelief was written all over his face when he heard the boy.


    "Yes! Now stop disturbing me." The boy sounded irritated.


    What the f*ck! Only 8 min since his time began¡­ ke felt like screaming but held himself at thest moment.


    "Good morning!" A deep voice rang all over the training ground.


    Oh, f*ck!... ke cursed inwardly when he heard instructor Zirrack''s voice.

 Chapter 20: Too brutal.

    <h4>Chapter 20: Too brutal.</h4>


    The nightmare he had been praying against, had finally happened, Instructor Zirrack had arrived at the training grounds in a good shape.


    I need new Gods to pray to¡­ kempooned as he waited for the ss tomence.


    "As announcedst week, we would be having a close-quartersbat ss today. Now before we get into today''s exercise, I will be exining and demonstrating some skills and techniques that you would be practicing during the exercise." Instructor Zirrack announced as he took a military stance in front of the students.


    Soon Instructor Zirrack began showing the students a few takedown techniques.


    "Takedowns require you to off-bnce an opponent and taking him down to the ground, using grappling techniques¡­ You over there,e forward for demonstration." Instructor Zirrack pointed at a student standing in front.


    So unlucky... ke felt pity for the student called up by instructor Zirrack.


    "Now watch closely."


    Instructor Zirrack grappled the student, he twisted his upper body, and suddenly the boy was swept up his feet and found himself on the dusty floor of the training grounds.


    "Uh¡­uh." The ''test subject'' was on the floor writhing in pain with his hands around his rib region.


    "Don''t be a wussy, if I used even quarter of my strength, you would have all your ribs broken, and depending on how much the heavens love you, you would probably be dead by now." Instructor Zirrack scoffed at how weak his ''test subject'' was.


    Oh my God, what a beast, he is too brutal¡­ Were you nning on killing him? Even if he offended you why would you thrash a kid like that?... Fear gripped ke when he saw how the student was brutalized by Instructor Zirrack.


    He was just too brutal!


    System is it true that he did not use his full strength in the throw?... ke wanted to confirm if Instructor Zirrack was telling the truth or he enjoyed brutalizing his students.


    [Analysis in progress¡­


    Analysispleted.


    From the angle, the victim was thrown, energy fluctuations, and from the muscle contraction from Instructor Zirrack, the system has calcted that he used only 10% of his strength to make the throw.]


    "¡­" ke was rendered speechless when he saw the result of the systems analysis.


    Death!¡­ That was the only thought that came into ke''s head as he imagined what would have happened if Instructor Zirrack truly used his full strength in the throw.


    "Next will be a striking demonstration." When he said this, he saw the students slowly backing away.


    I don''t want to be crippled, Instructor Zirrack please spare me¡­


    I am still too young; I don''t want to die¡­


    Fear clutched the hearts of the students as they slowly backed away from instructor Zirrack when they heard his announcement.


    Striking demonstration! He is really out for blood today!¡­ Also, ke began panicking in his head when he heard Instructor Zirrack''s announcement.


    What is wrong with this generation of kids? Back in the days, we would be struggling to demonstrate with the instructor in order to get a closer look and understanding of his techniques¡­ Zirrack sighed inwardly when he saw the action of the kids.


    He thought that he was doing the kids a favor by calling them up for a demonstration, but when he saw their reactions, he was totally disappointed.


    "Useless!" Zirrack uttered as he changed his ns for the striking lessons.


    Since his ball-less students were too scared for striking demonstrations, he decided to use a wooden dummy. At least the wooden dummy wouldn''t cower in fear.


    Thank goodness he chose the dummy¡­ The rate at which ke''s heart was thumping reduced when he saw that the wooden dummy was to be used.


    "When you are in a fight with an opponent, depending on the situation, you would want to end it quickly. That is where the striking techniquese in."


    "Striking techniques are used to deal substantial damage to your opponents or to finish him off, and to attain maximum efficiency with each strike, you are meant to aim at the opponent''s weak points.


    Human beings have general weak points which can be targeted in a fight, but due to certain cultivation techniques and pathways, those weak points are strengthened or sometimes removed."


    "For you to be considered a good fighter, you have to have an eye for detecting the opponent''s weak points and utilizing them to your advantage. Now the general weak points in the human body can be located at the eyes¡­" He used his fingers to poke the eyes of the dummy.


    "Breaking the nose¡­"


    "Hitting the temples¡­" He viciously jabbed the temples of the wooden dummy.


    "Punches to the ear of the opponent will destabilize him and give you an opportunity tond a fatal blow; like a heavy punch to the throat that will break his neck bone and cut out his air supply, giving him a few seconds to live." Instructor Zirrack said with an evil grin.


    While will you act like this in front of your students? You surely want to give me a heart attack¡­ Chills were sent down ke''s spine when he saw the devilish grin on his instructor''s face.


    Instructor Zirrack quickly continued his demonstration. "A hit to the sides of the jaw will knock the opponent out, while an attack behind the neck or on the spine will paralyze the opponent.


    When fighting, target the opponent''s legs to slow him down, preferably strike his knees to dislocate his joints, making him a sitting duck waiting to be ughtered.


    Andst but not the least, the ssic hit to the groin will bring a whole world of pain to the opponent."


    He is practically training us to kill, I thought this was a school, not a mercenary camp¡­ ke was shocked by how lethal the techniques Instructor Zirrack demonstrated was.


    "Now its time for today''s exercise, it will be 5 sets of one on onebat and the selection will be at random¡­ As usual, once you are called up you take your position on the training grounds." Instructor Zirrack went straight to the point after he was done with the demonstration.

 Chapter 21: One sided beat-down.

    <h4>Chapter 21: One sided beat-down.</h4>


    The moment of truth. System can you help me in the exercise?¡­ ke had a bad feeling that his opponent would be a noble and he will be trashed.


    [I can predict the opponents moving from analyzing his muscle contractions and energy fluctuations.


    I can also outline the opponent''s weak points with every action he makes and I can direct the host on when, how, and where to attack and defend.]


    ke began to rejoicing as he heard the systems report.


    [But that all depends on the host processing and reacting speed.]


    How do you mean processing and reacting speed?... The smile on his face immediately turned to a frown when the system gave the bad news.


    [Even if I am able to predict his moves or show his weak points at certain instances and direct host on when, how, and where to attack and defend, it all depends on how fast the host''s mind processes and understands it in that split second.


    In fights, the fighter would have to make split-second movements that will defend or counter the opponent''s attack. If host can''t react in time when I tell you to defend, host would still be hit, so it all depends on how fast host processes and react to the information.]


    I see¡­ ke now understood what the system meant.


    What are the ways I can increase my processing and reaction speed?... He was in a sticky situation so he had to get out of it fast!


    [At the current moment there are no ways to increase hosts processing and reacting speed.]


    Oh no!... ke felt dejected when the ''all-knowing'' system had no solutions to his problems.


    I depend on the system too much; I have to learn to do things on my own¡­


    He had noticed that since he came to this world he had been depending on the system, even his first decision of running to the spring was from the system.


    He felt bad that he knew he had abat exercise today, but he didn''t do anything about it, he was waiting for the systems help instead of training himself. Even the archery skills he disyed in the archery exercise was from the system, but the funny thing was that he hadn''t trained to develop his own skills since that day.


    What kind of main character am I?... At the spot, he swore that he would try as much as possible not to depend on the system.


    [Does host still require my assistance in thebat exercise?]


    "Give any assistance you can offer; I may need it." ke confirmed.


    "Before we get started, I will like to remind you guys, that the striking skills I demonstrated are too lethal forbat training and besides you haven''t mastered them, so do not use them in this exercise or you will get punished and disqualified." Instructor Zirrack announced with a stern expression.


    "Wesson, Victoria¡­ Philip, Abilene¡­" Instructor Zirrack called up students in pairs, up to 5 sets.


    I almost forgot the rules¡­ Instructor Zirrack coughed when he saw the students in their positions, ready to start, but he hadn''t announced the rules.


    "The rules are simple, perform a sessful takedown and win the match, knock out your opponent and win the match, force your opponent out of the boundary and win the match. Now, remember no lethal striking techniques, or you are disqualified." Zirrack announced before beginning the matches.


    It is not a noble vsmoner arrangement, I have a chance at this¡­ ke found hope in performing well in the exercise, all he need was not to be paired with a noble.


    ke always felt themoners fear for the nobles to be too exaggerated, but from the exercise, he found out that it was understated.


    He saw the nobles easily thrashing everymoner they face, literally thrashing!


    They were beaten so badly, that they were rolling on the floor writhing in pain!


    This made ke increase the rate at which he prayed in hopes of the heavens granting him enough luck to be paired up with amoner because thebat techniques they used in the fights were nothing close to basic.


    Theirbat techniques were so superior that most of themoners did not get a chance to throw a punch, all they did was take a whole round of thrashing.


    This is not a fight; it is a one-sided beatdown¡­ kemented.


    "Lucky bastards." ke envied thebat techniques used by the nobles, but he knew it was ridiculous if he nned on getting them.


    Most of the techniques used by the nobles were family techniques only to be taught to members and not outsiders, while the rich merchants and lesser nobles whose families didn''t have much of a background, hiredbat masters for their kids right from when they were little.


    ke knew he didn''t have enough wealth to hirebat masters, neither did he have much of a background talk less of learning a family technique, so he didn''t think much of it but tried his best to avoid conflicts between himself and the nobles.


    I need to get a powerfulbat technique¡­ he saw the need to learn one after watching the beatdown that was going on.


    [Host can get abat technique at the library and I will help host master it.]


    When this information came to his ears, a sense of joy sprang up in his heart, but it soon turned sour. "Of what use is it now." He sighed dejectedly.


    ke watched as the victors walked out of the training grounds, while the defeated were limping or being supported by their friends.


    It was time for a new set of fighters!


    "Kade, nder¡­ ke, d¡­"


    "Not a noble¡­ not a noble¡­" At this point, ke had already formed a mantra, but when he heard his name and opponent, he couldn''t help but frown.


    "What rotten luck! I even got paired up with that douche bag, anyone else but that douche bag." He felt like spitting but he ultimately held it back and walked up to the training ground with a heavy heart.

 Chapter 22: Swift dragon strike.

    <h4>Chapter 22: Swift dragon strike.</h4>


    As ke walked to the training ground, he saw an average height orange-haired boy walking up to the training ground, with a contemptuous smirk on his face.


    This was d!


    He was known as one of the most ruthless nobles. What puzzled him the most was that he was Luciano''s cousin, but he was not as calm as him, instead he was vicious and cold-hearted.


    Why can''t you be cool like your cousin? Just take it easy, please... ke didn''t let his inward pleas show on his face as he reached the training ground.


    System, don''t make the predictions and counter-attacks lethal, but make them hurt¡­ Although he could not fully take advantage of the system''s help, he didn''t want to get disqualified in case he managed to throw a punch or even win.


    [Okay.]


    They had already taken their positions, all that remained was instructor Zirrack''s order to start the fight.


    Dim wit¡­ He cursed inwardly as he couldn''t bear to see the irritating smirk that was always on d''s face.


    ke had heard rumors of how d maltreated themoners, it was just too ruthless. From the way he acted it was clear that he didn''t see themoners as human beings, but as objects that can be used and discarded at will.


    Only if instructor Zirrack will let me cripple him¡­ d had nasty ideas of had to deal with ke, but instructor Zirrack would surely protect ke if he tried anything that was against the rules.


    "Begin!" Instructor Zirrack''s voice rang through the training ground as he announced the beginning of the matches.


    "His fast¡­" ke was shocked by how quickly d approached him.


    [Host should be careful; the opponent is of the fire pathway and has filled half of the third star, he has gained increased physical abilities.] The system warned ke when it saw the fire particles d stirred up.


    Immediately themand left instructor Zirracks''s lips, d had dashed towards ke at an astonishing speed.


    d thrust his right fist at ke, with the ns of knocking him out with one blow.


    [Step back and punch at the left side of his face.]


    Immediately ke heard the systemsmand, he took a step back and dodged the fist.


    Haha¡­ I actually dodged it¡­ ke was surprised that he dodged the punch and forgot to counter-attack.


    He dodged it!...


    d was surprised that amoner dodged his attack, but unlike ke, he quicklyposed himself and retreated, before lunging at him again.


    Let''s end this quickly¡­ d had no intention of wasting time with amoner. He would be aughingstock if he wasted time on amoner.


    d lunged at ke a few more times, aiming at his weak points, but themoner kept on dodging his attacks.


    "¡­" Even ke was shocked by his ability to dodge d''s ferocious attacks.


    He didn''t know that it was because, he was already in the warrior level in the space, which gave him boosted physical abilities and improved reflexes.


    Also, he had filled up two stars of the lightning pathway and was currently in the third star. Among all the pathways, the lightning element gave the highest boost to the user''s speed, so it was natural for ke to be able to dodge all of d''s attacks.


    This is annoying¡­ d being unable tond a single punch on ke was getting on his nerves. How could a meremoner make him lose face?


    ''Time to end this!'' d Twisted to the right and sank down in a low stance, he put 70% of his weight on his front leg and 30% on his back leg and his back knee got very close to touching the Achilles tendon of the front leg.


    "The Dragon stance!" A noble shouted in shock.


    The dragon what?... ke was surprised that his opponent had taken a weird position, normally used by martial art masters in movies.


    "What! d is nning on using the swift dragon strike."


    "Isn''t he a little bit too serious."


    "Even though he detestsmoners, this is overkill."


    The training ground was no longer silent, the noise of nobles eximing could be heard all around. The nobles were astonished when they saw what d was nning to do, this was just too much!


    Cousin, why must you always be excessive... ke is good for being able to dodge his attacks for so long¡­


    Luciano felt like smacking his face when he saw d using the swift dragon strike, but he soon noticed that ke was faster than most people on the training ground, and that included the nobles.


    This was shocking!


    Unknown to Luciano, ke was actually higher than everyone except instructor Zirrack in the training grounds, in terms of cultivation. He was in the warrior level in the space pathway and had also filled up two stars in the lightning pathway, how could he not be faster.


    If they knew about ke''s cultivation, most of them will withdraw from the school and look for a purpose in life.


    Immediately after performing the dragon stance, d thrust his fist at ke.


    It''s faster!... When ke saw the iing fist, he felt a chill run down his spine. Due to his increased perception that was way higher than others, he could sense that d''s attacks had gotten stronger.


    Not only did d''s punch get faster, but it also packed a lot of force behind it and it was going straight for ke''s face!


    At the nick of time, ke managed to dodge the punch, but before he could follow the system''s counter-attack n, a punchnded on his guts.


    "Ahh!" The pain surged through his entire body, causing him to lose the ability to think for a second.


    Before he could put his thoughts in order, more blowsnded on him, preventing him from counter-attacking.


    "It''s over! d has already won, there is no way he could withstand the swift dragon stylebo." Pity was on the faces of the nobles when they saw that ke was trapped in thebo.


    Surely, it''s over¡­ Luciano sighed helplessly as he saw ke being beaten down by d.

 Chapter 23: I can鈥檛 lose to a commoner!

    <h4>Chapter 23: I can¡¯t lose to amoner!</h4>


    The reason why the nobles had pitiful looks on their faces, was because they knew how terrifying the swift dragon technique was, and why it was one of the topbat techniques the royal family was in possession of.


    The dragon stance enabled the user to exert more power as the movements originate from the feet and guided by the waist, it flows through the body and exits through the fist. What made the swift dragon strikebat technique formidable, was the ability to stop the opponent from counter-attacking.


    The main aim of the technique was tond swift consecutive blows on the opponent''s weak points, forcing him to defend throughout the fight. This strategy puts a lot of pressure on the opponents, causing them to make mistakes in the fight, and all that was left was for the users to take advantage of the mistakes and end the fight.


    Shit! this is bad¡­ ke was clearly in a pinch trying to defend the ferocious attacksing at him.


    He tried his best to escape thebo, but d was relentless, he kept on chaining his attacks leaving no room for ke to break out.


    If this continued, he was doomed!


    [Shift the punch attack at the right and sidestep to the left, then lunch a punch at the left side of the abdomen.] At the nick of time, the system released orders that could help him.


    ke shifted d''s iing fist and this left him open to counter attacks.


    What!... d was astonished at first, but he knew this spelled danger for him, so he immediately used the momentum of his left hand being shifted, to perform a spinning back kick.


    Zeeeww!


    How did he dodge that!... A student screamed out in shock.


    Huh?... Not only did d''s kick hit nothing but air, it also caused him to lose bnce for a moment.


    When he managed to get his thoughts together, he noticed that themoner had sidestepped and a fist was flying towards his abdomen.


    Shit!... he tried to dodge the iing attack by stepping back, but at that moment it was already toote.


    "Ahhh!" The punch sent d flying over a meter. His scream made the entire training ground silent.


    How is this possible?


    Such strength!


    Disbelief was written on the faces of all students in the training ground. Even instructor Zirrack was a little bit shocked, that a student that was most likely in the third star could possess such strength.


    Unknown to them, ke was already in the warrior level in a pathway that gave him a boost in his physical abilities.


    Wow! I am that powerful¡­ When ke saw the amount of strength he just unleashed, he finally realized how powerful the Space pathway was!


    Hmm¡­ He is impressive, not only did he predict and dodge that nobles attack, he maintained a cool head and targeted the opponent''s weak point. That''s what I have been looking for, no one except him made use of the information I gave in the demonstration¡­ What seemed like a proud smile appeared on instructor Zirrack''s face, but it soon disappeared before anyone noticed.


    At this moment, d got on his feet while his hand was holding the left side of his abdomen.


    ''How¡­ could he¡­ have such¡­ strength?'' d was could barely think straight because of the pain.


    You will pay for this you!... d said with a vengeful expression, as he took on the dragon stance.


    ''How are the fire particles increasing? Is it because of thebat technique?'' ke noticed that the number of fire particles stirred up by d when he took on the dragon stance had increased greatly.


    ''Arghh.'' d screamed as he rushed towards ke at a frightening speed!


    Before ke could react, he was jabbed in the chest and abdomen, before being sent flying by a roundhouse kick.


    Hot!... ke was being burnt with every punch thatnded on him, this was bad!


    He guessed that this was a passive ability from the fire pathway, but what he noticed was that, as d got angrier, the fire particles around him increased, thereby boosting the hotness of the attacks.


    ''I can win this.'' Immediately, ke stood up as he saw d approaching him


    ''Themoner is making me lose face, I have to end this now!" Not giving him breathing space, d dashed towards ke with the n of ending the battle quickly.


    He''s enraged, this is an opportunity to counter-attack¡­ ke ran forward and met the approaching.


    [Block the punch aimed at your head and take the one aimed at the chest, then grab the opponent''s hand and deliver a punch at his abdomen, when he bends down in pain give him a knockout blow.]


    ''Take the punch?'' At first, ke was skeptical about what the system said, but he soon understood that if he takes a punch, it won''t deal much damage to him because of his physical abilities, but if he managed tond an attack on d whose defense was nothing special, he would be able to deal frightening damage.


    ''He even has the guts to initiate an attack¡­ Impudent!'' dunched a probing punch at ke''s head and nned on jabbing his chest if he took the bait.


    "It''s over." ke took the bait and blocked the punch.


    Bang!


    "Arrgh!" d roared as he raised his right hand to give a knockout.


    ''Now!'' ke felt a burning pain that made him want to scream, but he knew this was his chance to win and an opportunity like this might note again. So he gritted his teeth in pain and held d''s hand.


    ''What? No!'' d felt chills run down his spine. As ke''s fist approached his abdomen.


    Bang!


    d spat out blood, as a wave of pain surged through his body.


    ''I can''t lose to amoner! No matter what!'' these thoughts rang through his head.


    "It''s over!" ke yelled as he raised his fist to give a knockout blow.


    "Die!" d screamed with desperation in his eyes, as heunched an attack aiming for ke''s temples.


    ''Shit! he wants to take me down with him.''

 Chapter 24: She likes me?

    <h4>Chapter 24: She likes me?</h4>


    ''Shit! he wants to take me down with him.''


    d didn''t care about the rules again, he didn''t care about being punished by instructor Zirrack, all he wanted was to give thismoner who has shamed him a fatal injury that could take him out for some days or even kill him.


    He was nning on giving a lethal shot to kes''s temples before he was knocked out.


    This was despicable!


    ke closed his eyes and braced for the impact.


    Bang!


    ''huh?'' His fist collided with d''s head, but he felt no pain.


    ke opened his eyes and saw d on the floor unconscious. When he turned, he saw instructor Zirrack standing beside him.


    ''Such speed!'' ke was shocked by what happened, he knew that he was saved by instructor Zirrack, but the speed used to move across the training ground was shocking.


    "Thank you." ke said sincerely.


    "It''s my duty as the instructor to protect the student, you don''t have to thank me." Instructor Zirrack said as he turned to the ss.


    "He broke the rules and nned on maiming a fellow student. For that he will be punished, that I assure you." The students knew he meant business, as a frown could be seen on his face.


    Most of themoners were happy that d was about to be punished, but none of them dared show it on their faces, but it was a different case on the side of the nobles. Instead of them being angry that one of theirs was being punished, they all felt pity for d.


    Instructor Zirrack was known as one of the most vicious teachers in the magic school, he was known for being unbiased and always adhering to the rules. The students that were punished by him were always filled with dread whenever they heard his name.


    "By the way of knockout, ke is the winner." Zirrack announced.


    "ss dismissed." ke''s match was thest match of the exercise, so instructor Zirrack quickly dismissed the ss and walked out of the training grounds.


    When instructor Zirrack was out of sight, he held his stomach as beads of sweat rolled down his face.


    "I managed to hold it in and keep my cool throughout the ss, I don''t think I can hold it much longer. Alfred will surely pay for this¡­ There is no time for cursing, I have to get home before it bursts out." He quickly released little of his aura and zoomed out of the area at a terrifying speed.


    If ke was here, he would have found out that his prayers were answered, but the timing was wrong.


    ¡­


    "What a match." ke gave out a sigh of relief as he sat on the ground.


    Although he had managed to take the hit to his chest, it still hurt him and with the burning effect of the attack, he still felt some lingering pain on his chest.


    ke was exhausted from the fight, it took him a lot of energy, both physically and mentally to keep up with d. Not only did he have to counter d''s swift attacks, but he also had to react to the system''s predictions and this was very taxing.


    ''The system is surely a godly tool.'' When ke thought about what happened in the fight, he understood how much of a cheat the system was. He knew that without the system, he wouldn''t have been able tost a minute, even though he had an outstanding defense.


    ''I have to get abat technique, maybe I can find a nice one on the upper floor of the library.'' After seeing the effects ofbat techniques in the fight against d, ke secretly coveted them. He had to get one if he wanted to keep up or even beat the nobles.


    He looked at the nobles and saw that they surpassed themoners in every aspect, this didn''t mean he should give up because life gave him lemons instead of apples, all he had to do was to keep pushing to surpass all of them.


    ''With the system and the All-father''s inheritance, anything that gets in my way will be mowed!'' ke said with a determined expression, as he felt like raising his hand screaming it.


    "I think he''s cute." A sweet voice broke ke''s chain of thought.


    He turned to the voice and saw a girl with a ck silky hair, an exquisite aquiline nose, brown eyes, and thin red lips that made one focus on them.


    It was the stunning Cami.


    ''Shit!'' he immediately turned away when he saw Camille and a group of girls looking at him.


    ''C''mon, with that body of yours, everything you do looks seductive¡­ What! She thinks I am cute?!'' When ke realized what was happening, he turned and looked in that direction.


    ''She was talking about me! Does that mean she likes me? Am I that handsome?" A smirk appeared on his face as he began fantasizing.


    When he came back to reality, he noticed that he had spent too much time in the training grounds, so he got up and left for the dormitory.


    ¡­


    In Prince Bryon''s hands was a crystal orb and beside him was the busty secretary Joan. The crystal orb in Bryon''s hand disyed the image of his red-haired friend, Rayzer.


    "Are you saying that he beat d without using abat technique?" A shocked expression was stered on Prince Bryon''s face, as he couldn''t believe his ears.


    "haha¡­ Yes, I was as shocked as you guys were, if not I had seen it with my eyes, I wouldn''t have believed it." Rayzer''s image gave out a low chuckle before answering.


    Even Joan had a dumbfounded by what she heard.


    ''How is this even possible.'' Bryon knew how powerful the swift dragon strike, not only because it was mainly used by the descendants of the royal family, it was because he knew the technique and had mastered it.


    Although he knew that d had not mastered half of the technique, he was sure that d was already in the 3rd star of the fire pathway and was able to stir up fire particles, thebat technique should have given him burning effect to his attacks. If added to the ability to prevent counter-attacks, that should be more than enough to deal with someone that had no knowledge ofbat techniques.


    "Seems like my cousin underestimated him¡­ all in all, he is talented and has surely gotten my attention." Prince Bryon said with a smile as he canceled themunication.

 Chapter 25: Must resist.

    <h4>Chapter 25: Must resist.</h4>


    Due to ke''s injuries and mental exhaustion, he slept for four hours after he returned to the dormitory, but when he woke up his injuries were surprisingly healed and he was pumped with energy.


    ''This should be the effects of the space pathway.'' This was not the first time he had seen his wounds heal, so he knew it was caused by the All father''s inheritance.


    "I have to go to the library for abat technique¡­ System how sure are you, that I can find one at the library?"


    [100% sure.


    One can certainly be found in the library, but the most important thing to take note of is the quality. I can determine the quality of thebat technique based on the host''s requirements.]


    ke was relieved as he heard the systems assuring answer. He went to the dining hall for lunch and after that, he left the dormitory for the library.


    ¡­


    ke soon reached the twin spire towers and quickly made his way into the building.


    He entered the room properly illuminated by floating globes of light and began browsing the books at thebat section.


    After more than thirty minutes of searching, he only found books on weak points and basicbat moves. There was nothing rted tobat techniques at the ground level of the library.


    "As I suspected,bat techniques are not that easy to find." He knew thatbat techniques were not easy to find, so he didn''t have much hope of finding one on the ground floor. If he found one here, he would suspect thatbat techniques were not as good as they were said to be.


    He quickly climbed the stairs and went to the first floor, where the concrete door with a shield shape hole was present.


    He ced the emblem given to him by Prince Bryon into the hole.


    When the concrete door opened, he made his way into the room.


    "Huh?" ke was disappointed by what he saw.


    "Isn''t it meant to be better than the ground?" He had expected the first floor of the tower to be more exquisite than the ground floor, but they both had the same design.


    He soon felt the gazes of people falling on him, that was when he realized that other people were in the library.


    "These must be seniors from the main school¡­ That means the first floor can be essed by those from the main school. No wonder the room doesn''t look special.


    He didn''t think much about it as he began browsing the books.


    "Wow! The books here are way better than those of the ground floor." Just by looking at the book covers and titles, he already knew that they were better.


    Although they say ''Don''t judge a book by its cover¡­'' it was not in this case, from the titles alone he could see they contained in-depth information about their topics. Most of the books here touched the core of the subjects, while most of the books on the ground floor didn''t even touch the crust.


    Although ke''s pro-gamer instincts of gathering enough information about the characters and analyzing their strengths and weakness, tried to tempt him into reading most of the books he came in contact with, he managed to suppress it and went ahead in search of abat technique.


    "Surelybat techniques are rare." He had been searching for a long time, but all he found were mediocre techniques that the systembeled as trash.


    "I don''t think I canst long." While in search of abat technique, he hade across many books that caught his attention, but any time he resisted the temptation and passed them, his heart ached. His will was slowly wilting, he would soon sumb to the temptation.


    "Another stair?" As he continued his search, he discovered another stair that led to the 2nd floor.


    [Host is likely not to find any basicbat techniques of high quality on this floor, but the chances would increase a whole lot on the next floor.]


    He had no time to waste, so he immediately followed the system''s advice and went up the stairs.


    He quickly reached the 2nd floor and a simr concrete door blocked the entrance. Like before he inserted the emblem and the door opened up.


    Unlike the 1st and ground floor, the 2nd floor did not disappoint ke. Everything here was more exquisite than the other floors, from the cushioned chairs to the bookshelves made with high-quality wood.


    "Guess not everyone can gain ess to this floor." ke looked at the emblem in his hand and realized how precious the emblem was.


    "Surely, it should be here¡­" ke walked in and began searching.


    After searching for less than 5 minutes he had already found twobat techniques, he was both shocked and excited, he had spent more than thirty minutes on the ground and 1st floor searching for one that was at least mid-rank, but now he found two.


    "System check for thebat technique that suits me."


    "On second thought, I will find it on my own." ke quickly changed his mind. He had always been looking for a way to increase his assimtion with the All-father''s inheritance.


    He realized that this was the perfect opportunity!


    All he needed to do was to follow his intuition which will help him locate abat technique that was perfect for him.


    "Eh¡­ so how does this work?" he walked around the room browsing through the books on the shelves, but after 30 minutes he hadn''t had any special feeling.


    "Maybe I am on the wrong side of the room?" he carefully thought of it and walked to the other side of the room.


    As he reached the center of the room, a feeling rose in him, but when he passed the area the feeling died down.


    Hmm¡­.


    He went back to the center and the feeling came up, that was when he knew what was happening.


    ''Guess this is how a Locator works, they always go to where their intuition leads.'' ke was deeply in thought over the urrence.


    [Host assimtion has increased to 65%]

 Chapter 26: Raiju breathing Technique.

    <h4>Chapter 26: Raiju breathing Technique.</h4>


    Hehe¡­ He smiled when he saw the systems notification.


    That means my cultivation speed will increase... ke felt like leaving the library and heading to the woods close to the dorm to cultivate immediately.


    "ke focus!" He didn''t let the joy make him lose focus.


    "It''s more like a cold and hot system. The closer you get, the more the feeling came up and vice versa." While he was following his intuition, he analyzed the power of a locator.


    After ten minutes of pacing back and forth, the strange feeling reached its peak. Although he understood his power as a locator it still took him some time because of howrge the library was.


    He saw a book with an azure cover, this was the book his intuition directed him to.


    He took the book out and saw the tittle written in golden letters.


    "Rajiu-breathing technique."


    "Huh?... What am I doing with a breathing technique, seems like I made a mistake." He quickly checked if he had made a mistake while being directed by his intuition, but after double-checking, he found out that he hadn''t made a mistake.


    "I guess I should not judge a book by its cover." He picked up the book and found a chair.


    The cushion is really nice, only if I could take it to the other floors¡­ kempooned as he began reading.


    The technique is an ancient lightning-based breathing technique that allowed the user to draw energy from the air into one''s body. With the help of the technique, the body absorbs the energy and transfers them to the muscle, enabling the user to exert more force when performing attacks and it also granted increased speed and reflexes.


    When the user reached a certain level and had obtained a high level of mastery, he would be able to draw lightning energy directly from the environment. The lightning energy absorbed would improve both lightning attacks, spells, and even resistance to lightning-based abilities.


    Tyrannical¡­ That was the only word that came into his mind as he read about the technique.


    The breathing technique could be traced back to the period before the Azeroth war. It was used by the panther ancestral beast, Raiju.


    Till date, there have been no records of the Ancestral beast being defeated, not only was it because of its tyrannical lightning abilities and its freighting speed, but because of this breathing technique.


    This unique breathing technique made the ancestral beasts attacks unblockable. Whenever it struck the enemies with its ws, even if blocked the lightning energy will be transferred to the internal organs of the enemy. This effect made it one of the most feared ancestral beasts that walked infinite realm.


    ''Sadly, at my current level, I cannot utilize its full power.'' ke sighed.


    For him to be able to use the full strength of the Raiju breathing technique, he had to have a high of mastery.


    Just as the technique had formidable effects, it also came with its own disadvantages.


    The technique could be practiced by only those in the lightning pathway, but that was not a problem for ke.


    Due to the quality of the technique was top-notch, its requirements were high. Using the technique stressed the muscles of the user, because of the amount of energy that was being absorbed by the body of the user, a lot of stress was put on the muscles. For someone like ke whose cultivation level was still low, if the technique was used for a long time, he would receive damages to his muscles.


    "The first disadvantage is nothing, but the second is really annoying¡­ looking at the bright side, although I can''t use it for long, it can be used to end fights quickly and as my level rises, so will the duration." ke pondered over the matter before cing the book back and headed for the stone door.


    They were two other floors above the 2nd, but he had no ns of visiting them for now. "I''ll be back, my precious." ke looked back at the books and sighed helplessly before leaving the library.


    Immediately he left the library, he went straight to the concealed space and began practicing the breathing technique he got in the library, he was so excited that he even forgot about his increase in assimtion with the All-fathers inheritance.


    ¡­


    Over the week all he had been doing was attending sses and cultivating, although it was repetitive, he didn''t think much about it, because it was already thest week before the awakening test. He didn''t darein; all he did was cultivate diligently.


    By this time ke had already filled the 3rd star and had almost reached the half-mark of the fourth star thanks to the concealed space and the miraculous breathing technique he found.


    After practicing the Raiju breathing technique and cultivated, he found out that it was easier for him to absorb energy from the environment to fill up his star.


    That was why he no longer worried about passing the awakening test because he was sure that before then he would be in the warrior level of the lightning pathway.


    "There is no need for me to continue, I might as well quit school, there is no way that I will be able to fill the fourth star before the awakening test."


    "You can reach the fourth star at that time?! I am not sure I can fill up the third star. This is bad."


    ke didn''t see the difference in the expression of thesemoners,pared to the ones he saw earlier that day, they were all depressed.


    "¡­" He frowned when he heard their conversation, they were all saying the same thing, same as the ones he had met.


    They were allining about their cultivation speed.


    At this rate, even 25% of themoners might not even make it to the main school, all because of these despicable nobles¡­ ke felt bad for them because they didn''t know the people behind their misfortune.


    "I have to do something about this!" ke said with a determined face.


    Although he didn''t want to get caught in the fight between the nobles and themoners, he couldn''t watch their dreams get shattered by people who didn''t take them as humans.

 Chapter 27: Deeper than it looks.

    <h4>Chapter 27: Deeper than it looks.</h4>


    He knew how much the families of themoners had to sacrifice just to put them in the magic school, because on earth he was in the same position.


    "I have to report this to the principal." He immediately changed his ns of going to the dormitory and headed for the principal''s office.


    "Wait for a bit, the principal is attending to a matter." The secretary gestured for him to have a sit while he waited.


    "You can go in now." After more than 30 minutes of waiting, he was now ushered into the principal''s office.


    As he entered the office, he saw an elderly man wearing a monocle.


    "Good day principal Lovren." ke slightly bowed.


    "How are you ke, what can I help you with." Principal Lovren said with a smile on his face.


    "Sir I will like to report a matter."


    "Yes, go on."


    "When first came into the dormitory, I noticed that the amount of nature''s energy was too little, so I decided to go to the woods in other to cultivate and that still happens till date." He expected a weird expression to appear on Lovren''s face, but he still retained his smile and listened patiently.


    "After my first rune ss, I decided to visit the library in order to consolidate the knowledge I obtained and that made me return to dormitory a few hours after lunch, by that time most people would have been resting or cultivating."


    "As I walked the corridor, I noticed that arge amount of energy flowed into specific rooms and I hehe... I even envied them." keughed sheepishly.


    "At first it seemed normal, but I soon remembered that mana cannot gather in that way unless there was an external factor, so I quickly investigated the matter.


    I found out that the energy gathers at some particr rooms and through the room allocation system I found out that those rooms belonged to the nobles."


    "I began crossing out things that could cause it and that brought me to the conclusion that they were using of runic stones¡­" At this moment, principal Lovren frowned, but before he could talk, he was interrupted by ke.


    "That''s not all¡­"


    "At first, I thought it was them doing something illegal and nothing more was to it, but I soon discovered it was not so. I checked other floors and discovered it was the same thing, then I noticed that they were all ced at strategic ces, that was when something came to mind."


    "The nobles nned to reduce the cultivation speed of themoners." They both said in unison.


    Principal Lovren came to the same conclusion as ke.


    "Have you told this to anyone?" Principal Lovren said while getting up.


    "¡­" This question stunned ke.


    This was a very tricky question; it was asked when the bad guy nned on killing the eye witness if he hadn''t told anyone about it. If he answered no he might get killed because he was not sure if principal Lovren was siding the nobles.


    But if he answered yes and principal Lovren was not siding the nobles, the issue might not be resolved efficiently, leading to manymoners being kicked out of the magic school.


    "No¡­ no." ke stuttered as he decided to take the risk.


    I am doing this for you guys¡­ He closed his eyes and awaited the spell that was to kill him.


    "What are you doing?" Principal Lovren had a weird expression on his face as he saw the youth closed his eyes as if death was at the doorstep.


    "Oh¡­ Don''t worry, I won''t hurt you." Principal Lovren chuckled when he realized what was going on.


    ke opened his eyes when he heard the chuckle. ''I am saved.''


    "Young man, thanks a lot for this information, you have saved the futures of manymoners. I have tomend your bravery and selflessness because many know about the injustice that is going on, but only a few decide to speak up." Principal Lovren bowed.


    "Thank you, Sir." ke also bowed.


    "Investigations will be carried out immediately and those behind this will be punished, measures will be put in order topensate those who were affected." Principal Lovren turned and looked out the window.


    At that time, ke knew it was time for him to go.


    "If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave." ke immediately left the room and returned to the dorm.


    ¡­


    Deep in the night.


    "Huh?" ke immediately woke up from sleep when he noticed that something was not right.


    Due to his assimtion with the All-father''s inheritance was almostplete, his sensory skills had increased greatly and now he noticed that some people were moving in the corridor.


    "Do they know that I leaked the information or is it those sent by the school to investigate the matter." He was afraid that he was being targeted, but when he noticed that they moved to different rooms, he calmed down.


    ''If I was to be assassinated, why will they send these people, one person should be enough.'' He gave a wry smile, before falling back asleep.


    ¡­


    "Zirrack, what do you think?" Principal Lovren asked as the stood outside the wind griffin dormitory.


    "The aura of the runic stones is faint, if anyone low in level came here, they would not have figured anything out." Zirrack said with a serious expression as he continued.


    "They nned to stop using it a week before the awakening test, because the aura would havepletely dissipated by then, but unknown to them the matter had been reported.


    This also happened in all the dormitories and looking at the number of nobles that did this and how they stopped using it at the same time, it is clear that this was nned and I suspect that the higher-ups might have a hand in this."


    "You have confirmed my suspicions; this runs much deeper than it looks. I shall report this to the prince, stop the investigation, and head back." Principal Lovren said as he disappeared.


    Zirrack bowed and immediately left the area.

 Chapter 28: Why now?

    <h4>Chapter 28: Why now?</h4>


    Principal Lovren was standing in front of amunication.


    "Good day, Prince Bryon." Principal Lovren bowed.


    "Ah? Principal Lovren, it''s been a while, how are you doing?" His trademark smile was stered on his face.


    "As you can see, I am well and hearty¡­ I have a matter to report." He immediately went straight to the point because of how serious the matter was.


    "Go on."


    "It is a matter that was discovered by a student¡­" Before he continued, Prince Bryon interrupted him.


    "Is it the matter of the nobles using runic stones, and let me guess the name of the student is ke Wilson?"


    Principal Lovren was stunned when he heard the young prince''s words.


    ''Has the matter already been leaked to the higher-ups?'' Thoughts ran through his mind as he tried to figure out how the prince knew about the matter.


    "Don''t worry, the matter has not been leaked, at least for now¡­ Let''s just say I knew about it before you did." Prince Bryon let out a low chuckle as he saw the principal''s expression.


    Principal Lovren became more surprised by the prince''s words.


    "If you knew about it why didn''t you stop it on time?" His surprise turned to confusion because this was not how the prince normally acted. The prince he knew always fought for justice and didn''t allow innocent people to get hurt, so why now?


    "Isn''t it obvious?" He smiled before he continued.


    "If the matter was reported at that time, the perpetrators would have received only light punishments or none at all. It wouldn''t have been serious because themoners still had weeks to prepare, but if it was to be reported at thest moment it would be a serious matter that cannot be overlooked."


    "This alone will lead to many chain reactions; themoners would be given more time under better conditions to cultivate and the punishments will be severe, also this matter could be used as leverage in the council. Now you see? Just let the enemy dig their own graves, why move a muscle." Prince Bryon chuckled.


    When Principal Lovren heard the details of Prince Bryon''s n, he was amazed by how the prince capitalized on the situation.


    This was hitting two birds¡­ no three birds with one stone¡­


    "I was preparing for a mission when you called, so if there is nothing else, I would be heading back." Prince Bryon said as he saw that Principal Lovren didn''t have anything to say.


    "Good luck on your mission." Prince Bryon''s words brought him back to reality as he bowed and canceled themunication.


    ¡­


    A day before the awakening test.


    By this time ke was already a reinforcer, and had already filled up half of the first star of his unknown pathway.


    If anyone was to learn about this, they will be terrified because his speed could only be defined as heavenly!


    Also, he was almost done with his assimtion with the All-father''s inheritance, all he needed was at most a week and he will obtain the full power of a special pathway that was above normal pathways.


    Although ke could use the powers of a locator, he could not use the full thing. Only when he fully assimted with the inheritance could he now exert the full power of a special inheritance and he would officially be a locator.


    "Just a little more time." ke was excited as he walked the corridor of the dormitory.


    "Huh?" ke noticed something weird.


    He sawmoners bidding themselves farewell as they had mncholic expressions on their faces.


    What?!... He didn''t know whether tough or cry at the scene.


    "You don''t have to worry Dale; you are 17 which means you will surely make it next year. I am already 18, this was my only chance to make it into the main school." The boy tried to console his friend.


    "You don''t understand, even if Ie next year, I heard the challenges for those that didn''t make it the first time are very difficult. The main problem is that my family sold a lot of their properties just for me to be admitted. They had hopes that I would be a mage, but I failed them." Dale''s eyes became red and teary as he spoke.


    "You don''t have to worry about those challenges you would be able to ace them, after all, your talent level is 5."


    ''Hmmm¡­ I wonder what the school will use topensate those affected and what will be the punishment for those bastards.''


    On his way to his room, he saw simr things, but he didn''t really care. He entered his room and as he was about to get some rest heard an announcement.


    A voice came from the badge given to him by the school "All students of the outer school should proceed to the auditorium for a briefing by Principal Lovren." the voice repeated it three more times before it finally stopped.


    ke was not surprised by the voice; he already knew that this was the announcement system used by the school.


    He read an interesting fact about the announcement system on the 2nd floor of the library.


    In the early days of Calton city, it was attacked by waves of berserk beasts from the Mina woods every year. Something unexpected happened at that time, the wave that attacked this time was more than double the size that usually attacked.


    At that time the city''s defenses were not strong enough to handle that scale of attack, they managed to hold out for four days before their defenses were broken, allowing some of the monsters to enter the city.


    Some monsters found their way into the school and began massacring the powerless students. Although the teachers fought against the monsters, there was no way they could protect all the students.


    That was when they realized, if they had a way tomunicate with each student, they would have been able to direct them to safe zones and would have been able to save more lives.


    The massacre ended when the Imperial legion was dispatched by the capital to save the city, but the damage had already done and a lot of lives were lost.


    After the incident, the announcement systems were immediately installed into all the schools in the empire,


    "Why must it be now?" He knew why they were being gathered, but why couldn''t they wait for him to rest.


    ke grumbled and left the room.

 Chapter 29: Second chance.

    <h4>Chapter 29: Second chance.</h4>


    He reached therge auditorium that could fit more than a thousand people, he found a sit not far from the front and waited for the principal to arrive.


    "So many peasants gathered at on ce¡­ Disgusting."


    "It will all end tomorrow, just hold on for a little bit longer."


    ke heard two voices chatting and from their words, he already knew that they were nobles.


    Not just any noble, but those that had a hand in the matter.


    He felt like turning to see their faces, but he didn''t want to take the risk of being noticed.


    "Haha! Tomorrow''s show will be a st! I can''t wait to see the depressed look on their faces as they get expelled."


    "Shh! Don''t talk about that, do you want people to hear you?!" he said in a hushed tone as he tried to stop his friend from revealing the secret.


    "The hall is rowdy and no one can hear us, so you don''t have to worry. Even if they can hear us, they can''t do anything they are just peasants and it will be over for them by tomorrow." The noble said with an evil smile on his face.


    The hall was truly rowdy and with students moving all around, he had to concentrate in order to filter the noise and listen to the conversation, but he soon noticed a pair of eyes looking at him with killing intent.


    "Sure, it''s him¡­" ke turned to the direction of the eyes, and as predicted, it was d.


    Normally, people who received punishments from Instructor Zirrack would try as much as possible not to get punished again, but d was not normal.


    His status was not like those of rich merchants or the politicians that struggled to get their noble titles.


    He''s the nephew of the emperor, a true noble with a pure bloodline, how could amoner disgrace him.


    This was uneptable!


    "Haha¡­" ke chuckled before looking away.


    "Arrrgh!" d almost spat blood when he saw ke''s actions.


    ke knew that d will try to cause trouble for him, but he didn''t think much about it, because his cultivation speed and level was above that of d.


    The only thing he was worried about, was d using his power as a noble to get back at him. He quickly put it at the back of his mind since worrying wouldn''t solve the problem for him.


    "You should learn to control your anger, after all, it was a fair fight and he won. This is meant to be your drive to get stronger, rather than looking for cheap ways to get back at him." Luciano said with an unperturbed expression.


    "You!" d red up, but he couldn''t do anything about it because he didn''t dare to anger him.


    After thirty minutes of waiting, principal Lovren finally made his way into the hall, by then it everywhere was quiet and everyone was seated.


    "A serious matter was reported to the school, and after a series of investigations, the report was proven to be true." Principal Lovren''s said with a calm tone as he addressed the students.


    Here ites¡­ ke was eager to see the expression on the faces of the nobles.


    "It was reported a week ago that runic stones were being used in the Wind Griffin dormitory by some nobles, causing the energy of the entire dormitory to below normal. You all know the effects of their actions, especially to students."


    "We looked into the matter and unfortunately, we found out that it was not only in the Wind Griffin dormitory that these vile actions urred but in every dormitory in the school."


    Not caring about their facial expressions, principal Lovren continued.


    "When we got to the rooms of the nobles suspected to have used runic stones, although the auras were faint and were about to dissipate, we still got traces of them.


    They tried to erase all evidence before the awakening test, but luckily the report came in earlier."


    "From all the pieces of evidence gather, we came to the conclusion that this was nned by a group of nobles to hinder the growth of other students and for this, they will be punished severely."


    ''All the dormitories?!'' ke was shocked by what he heard.


    He thought that the runic stones were only used in the Wind Griffin dormitory, but he never thought that it affected the entire school.


    ''For the fact that it was done on such arge scale and they were also organized, it means that someone at a high level was pulling the strings¡­ I have to be more careful and try not to give any hint about my hand in the matter.'' ke immediately connected the dots and realized that the matter was more serious than he thought.


    After principal Lovren released the shocking news, the silence that reigned in the hall was soon reced by murmurs.


    Disbelief and shock were written all over their faces.


    ''How is this possible?''


    ''How did they know? If I knew it would be like this, I wouldn''t have joined them in teaching the nobles a lesson.''


    ''I don''t want to get expelled!''


    All over the hall, nobles had regretful expressions as the thought of getting expelled made them shiver.


    ''There it is¡­ Busted hahaha!'' ke had the urge to burst out inughter when he saw the looks on the faces of the nobles, but he managed to suppress it.


    "Ehm!" Principal Lovren cleared his throat before continuing.


    "The school will be moving the awakening test and it will be three weeks from today, so as to give those affected a chance to make up for their loss. That will be all for today and good luck to you as you prepare for the test."


    Finally, it''s over. Time to get some rest¡­ He sighed.


    On his way out, he saw students crying, but these were tears of joy.


    After losing hope of entering the main school, the heavens gave them a second chance.


    Although their predicament was caused by the nobles, they didn''t care because their hearts why filled with so much joy.


    "Justice is served," ke said with a smile as he walked out of the hall.

 Chapter 30: Good mood.

    <h4>Chapter 30: Good mood.</h4>


    With a smile on his face, he walked out of the auditorium.


    Because of the smile on his face students passing by looked at him in a weird way, but he didn''t care about what they thought.


    He was in a good mood.


    He didn''t risk his neck for anything, the nobles were to be punished and he had been given more time to cultivate.


    To others, this was the time to fill up the stars of their first element and for the few that had reached the warrior level, it was the time to gain a few more stars for their second element.


    This was totally different for ke, because of his monstrous cultivation speed, he would use this time to reach the warrior level in his second element!


    Why shouldn''t he be happy when given such an opportunity?


    "Why do I have a feeling that you are the hero that reported the matter to the school?" he heard a voice from behind.


    He turned and saw the alluring Cami.


    "Hello, beautiful." ke said while looking into her eyes.


    "¡­" Cami was stunned by his words.


    ''No one dares to say that to me.'' She was surprised that someone was flirting with her.


    All her life everyone had always treated her with respect, although it was mainly because of her father''s position, it was because of her talent was considered to be one of the highest in the kingdom.


    Only those with enough power could be deemed worthy to flirt with her.


    Surprisingly, she was not angry, rather she was blushing!


    She immediately snapped out of it when she noticed she had lost her calm persona.


    "That doesn''t answer the question." She quicklyposed herself.


    "So, what makes you think I am this ''hero''?" He spoke calmly as he tried to maintain an unperturbed expression.


    ''How the fuck does she know? Is this a guess or the sixth sense of a woman?'' ke was sweating buckets on the inside as he tried to remain calm on the outside.


    "Just a guess." She said with a smirk.


    "What if it was reported by a noble?... You know, answers lie in the most unexpected ces." He said with a smile.


    "Hmmm¡­" She pursed her lips.


    "Seems like you havepany¡­ Oh and be careful of d, he is a vengeful type." Cami said as she left him.


    Phew! That was a close one¡­ why must you always make me tense? Why can''t we be like normal friends¡­ He turned to see the pany'' she talked about.


    "Brian! how good to see." He was surprised to see Brian, but it was nice to see an old face around here.


    "You yer! I always knew you were good with thedies." Brian had a proud smile on his face as he spoke.


    "Huh?" ke looked at him with a confused expression.


    ''What the f*ck is he saying?''


    "Don''t y dumb with me, you managed to get the girl that all the nobles in the school are dying for." Brian had the ''You yer'' smile on his face.


    ke now understood what he meant. "Who said she is my girlfriend? Actually, this is my first time talking to her." He gave a wry smile.


    Brian rolled his eyes when heard ke''s exnation. ''Don''t be too modest.''


    ''Even I wouldn''t believe that, but that is the truth¡­ sigh.'' ke didn''t know whether tough or cry.


    "Do you know how much most nobles are willing to pay just to get her attention, talk much of chatting with her. Just admit it and stop trying to be modest." He said with a chuckle.


    ''Wow! I knew other guys were after her, but I never knew she is this hot!''


    ke was not social and that caused him to be unaware of the happenings in the school.


    From the day he had entered the school to date, he hadn''t found a friend, except for Brian, Castiel, and the one that dumped him for no reason.


    He didn''t have one, but that didn''t mean he was nning on having, all he wanted to do was cultivate and rise in power.


    ''Her family should have a top position in the empire for her to get such amount of respect. This is a problem" ke soon realized that although Cami was super-hot, she was a ticking time bomb.


    "What about Castiel? Do you guys still see each other" He quickly changed the topic.


    "Yea, we meet up once in a while, but it seems that he still has beef with you, so he decided not toe and say hi."


    After some minutes of chatting, they finally pathed ways.


    "Finally!" Immediately he entered his room hended on his bed and dozed off.


    ¡­


    Two weeks quickly flew by and at this time, ke was already at the 3rd star of his fire element.


    Yes, fire!


    He had theplete set of elements that the All-father possessed and unfortunately, this boosted his ego. It was now etched in his heart that he was the main character meant to save this world.


    During these two weeks he had beening in contact with Cami and they were pretty much ''bonding''.


    It was shocking to some people even himself, but this made a particr person re up in rage and that was d.


    Everyone in the school knew that d was courting Cami, so how could this not affect him.


    He always showed off when she was around him, but she didn''t care about his theatrics.


    When it came to all the nobles courting her, she was always impassive and unmoving but now, she was looking lively when talking to amoner.


    As expected, d had tried causing trouble for him and also tried multiple times to challenge him to a duel, and each time he refused d''s challenge, he was insulted and called a weakling, but ke didn''t bat him an eye.


    He knew d was way weaker than the current him and he didn''t n on showing his trump cards.


    All he wanted to do was cultivate, train his breathing technique, and read books in the library.


    What more can one ask for?

 Chapter 31: Elite class.

    <h4>Chapter 31: Elite ss.</h4>


    At the beginning of the third week, they were summoned to the auditorium.


    This time it was not for another ''report'', but for important information concerning the awakening test.


    "The incident concerning the energy level of the dormitory has caused things to be unbnced and because of the three weeks extension, everyone is sure to pass. Normally the school wouldn''t take this number of students, but due to the incident the rules have changed." Principal Lovren exined with an unperturbed expression.


    "In other to amodate this number, the school will create two sses for those that make it into the main school. One will be the normal ss and the other will be the elite ss."


    When the Lovren mention the two sses murmurs could be heard around the hall.


    It is the only option, because of the 3 weeks extension there is no way someone will fail the awakening test unless they don''t have a drop of talent in them¡­ he quickly listened to know what qualifications were needed to enter the elite ss.


    Principal Lovren continued. "For you to be qualified to enter the normal ss, all you have to do is touch the awakening orb on the awakening day and if your element is in the warrior level, you pass."


    "The requirements for the elite ss are totally different. Taking the challenge is on your own free will, but be warned if you lose you will be expelled." Principal Lovren said with a somber expression.


    What?! Expulsion! Isn''t that too harsh?... ke was stunned by what he heard, the same as the other students in the hall.


    "As I said, the elite ss challenge it is notpulsory." Lovren stated when the murmurs in the hall were getting louder.


    "The challenge is to fight those that also applied to enter the elite ss.


    In this case, the winner will be admitted into the elite ss and the loser will be judged based on certain characteristics that are required to be part of the elite ss. If he doesn''t meet the requirements then he will be expelled."


    Although the punishment for failure is harsh, it is for those that have enough confidence in their power and skills¡­ ke was not affected by the principal''s news.


    "For the benefits of being in the elite ss, I don''t need to exin that."


    Truly he didn''t need to exin the benefits, who didn''t know that those in the elite ss will receive nothing less than double the resources the normal ss got, if not more. This made a lot of people itch to enter the lite ss.


    ke Laughed when he saw the expression of the students.


    He analyzed the matter and found out that the school still needed to eliminate students so as to have enough resources to train them.


    The elite ss was the way.


    Surely, a lot of students will take the elite challenge because of the appealing rewards, but this was a trap set up by the school to cut down the number of students.


    After a few minutes, the students were dismissed.


    ¡­


    The day he has been preparing for almost 2 months, was finally here.


    Early in the morning of the awakening day, ke was on his bed with a solemn look written all over his face, as he was lost in his thoughts.


    Life is a bitch¡­ He sighed helplessly as he thought of what would have happened if he didn''t die.


    ke''s pro gaming career would have taken-off if he hadn''t died in the disaster. He had won the state''s round of the Zetron gamingpetition and had qualified for the nationals.


    With his skills, he would have been able to win the nationals and move on to the international level.


    Even if he didn''t win the international round, the other prize money would have been enough for him and his mom.


    "Let''s just hope my luck is good this time." He nned on taking the elite ss and hoped that no ''hidden'' talent will decide to show up when it was his turn.


    He quickly ran his daily exercise and after preparing, he left the dormitory.


    ...


    Just thirty minutes before the time of the event, an envoy of carriages made their way into the school and on the carriages were emblems of different shapes and sizes.


    These were the carriages of the top families and merchants of both the capital and city.


    There was a Particr emblem that caught his eyes, it was that of a shield and sword.


    The Adventurers Association!


    Is it possible that the top families are here to scout for talents?... From the number of carriages that had entered the school, he knew that they were not here just for the show, but to recruit young talents that will strengthen their families.


    If I was to be approached by these forces, which will I pick?... He thought of it as he walked into the arena.


    "The royal family seems nice, at least from what I have seen. I heard that the royal family gives the most cultivation resourcespared to the other families and also prince Bryon is a nice guy. So, how can I refuse." An evil grin was on his face.


    "The second option is the Adventurer''s Association, although they don''t give much cultivation resourcespared to the top families, more resources could be gotten from the missionspleted. The best part of the adventurer''s association was the freedom given to them. They had thexest conditions and that was why they didn''t give many resources."


    ke''s chain of thought was disrupted when he saw d walk to one of the carriages having the royal family''s emblem.


    When the door of the carriage was opened, a man in his sixties walked out. He had handsome facial features with broad shoulders and slick ck hair.


    d respectfully bowed, before speaking to the old man and looking at ke as he spoke.


    Although he was not looking at them, he could sense when the man turned to his direction.


    When the man looked at him, he could no longer sense them!


    Damn!... When he knew what just happened, chills went down his spine.

 Chapter 32: Advanced Rune.

    <h4>Chapter 32: Advanced Rune.</h4>


    "Uncle Hagan, that is the boy who disgraced the name of our family..." d spoke timidly with his head still lowered.


    He looked over to ke''s corner.


    d had been looking for an opportunity to fight ke so that he could get his revenge for his loss inbat training and for him being punished by instructor Zirrack.


    He nned on beating ke to a pulp and making him beg for mercy as he kissed his feet, but every time he challenged the peasant, ke kept refusing his challenges although he was being dissed and taunted.


    He was a coward!


    This was the conclusion that d came to, ke was just lucky. If ke could beat him in thebat exercise, why doesn''t he do it again, unless he is weak and doesn''t want to take a beating.


    Since ke had been turning down his challenges, he nned on using his uncles'' power to teach ke a lesson.


    This time he won''t be able to refuse and I will show Cami that he is nothing but a weak, helpless peasant!... d sneered inwardly.


    Hagan nced at the direction his nephew was looking at and saw a boy with lean muscles and a ck spiky.


    Huh?... Hagan soon noticed something was off.


    He felt like someone was eavesdropping on their conversation, he tried to sense where the spell came from.


    Could it be him?... Hagan looked at the spiky hair kid.


    It can''t be him¡­ This was a sensory spell that he could not track, so how could ite from a kid that had not even entered the main school...


    He quickly spread his mana around them preventing anyone from eavesdropping and turned back to d.


    "You want to use my authority to get back at him?" Hagan asked with an expressionless face.


    ''Does he know?" d was stunned by the question.


    "I heard about what happened¡­ You should be punished for tarnishing the name of our family, but luckily for you, it is not in my power to punish." Still maintaining his deadpan expression he continued.


    "Fine, I will fix a match against him and that is if he applies for the elite ss." With unhurried steps, Hagan moved to the VIP section not caring about d.


    "You!" he hated his Hagan, if he had the chance, he would kill him without baiting an eye.


    He''s mood soon changed from anger to excitement as he was about to vent his anger on that peasant.


    ¡­


    Without wasting time, ke quickly walked into the arena. The arena was massive, it could easily contain more than three hundred thousand people.


    Above hundreds of thousands of seats was an area meant for the nobles. Unlike the area for themoners, this area had luxurious seats that were leagues above those used by themoners, and in front of these areas were holographic screens that disyed what happened at the center of the arena.


    Wow¡­ Even if he was brainless, he would still know that that area was not where amoner could walk into.


    Are you kidding me?¡­ His attention was drawn by two rows of booths that were above the noble''s area.


    Just above the area meant for the nobles, he saw two rows of booths with opaque ss that prevented people from seeing what happened inside.


    If the row below the booths were meant for the nobles, that means these are for the VIP''s among the nobles.


    The second row of booths were reserved for the top three families in the empire and also high-ranking nobles, while the row at the top had fewer in number butrger and more luxurious booths.


    The top booths were upied by the city lord and high-ranking officials of the empire and that included prince Bryon who was present.


    The sses of the booths were enchanted with a mirror spell that gave the footage of the happenings in the arena.


    Apart from elemental spells which could only be learned if one had an affinity to it, they were arcane spells that could be used by all mages no matter the affinity, and the mirror spell was a basic arcane spell usually used by enchanters.


    Runes at the sses of the booths caught his attention. From his basic knowledge of runes, he recognized them to be strengthening runes, but those on the sses had more runes to them.


    An advanced strengthening rune!... ke was taken aback.


    Only basic rune was being taught to them, even in the main school, only those in the enchanting and forging subsses could get their hands-on advanced mid-level runes, while those in other subsses were mostly taught basic and mid-mid-level runes and at most they were taught the most basic advanced mid-runes.


    But on these sses were advanced runes, only a grandmaster and above could draw them!


    "How much does this arena cost?" From the books he read on the 2nd floor of the library, he had an idea of how much it caused to get a grandmaster''s service.


    With so many advanced runes all around, it made him wonder if they were not as rare as the books said.


    Unknown to ke not only were advanced runes engraved on the sses of the booths but they were also engraved all over the walls of the room.


    If ke saw this, he would so shocked that he would have to pinch himself multiple times before he would believe it.


    He tore his mind away from the ruins because he had more pressing issues to deal with.


    For the fact that d met with his Uncle, he knew that trouble was around the corner.


    Something was definitely fishy!


    He began wracking his brain, as he thought of ways that d could get back at him.

 Chapter 33: I underestimated them.

    <h4>Chapter 33: I underestimated them.</h4>


    ke quickly went to the area meant for the students of the Wind Griffin dormitory and waited for the event to begin.


    Time trickled by as he watched the seats of the arena being filled up. After 30 minutes the arena waspletely filled up and the atmosphere was electrifying as the audience was looking forward to an entertaining show.


    The arena quietened when principal Lovren appeared at the center of the stage. They all listened to Lovren''s speech.


    "For more than a month, you all have been training hard for this day, for a chance to get into Calton magic school. Today is the day for you all to demonstrate your own abilities and show that the past month of hard work has not been a waste and as you prove that you have what it takes to be admitted into the main school, I wish you good luck." Principal Lovren didn''t waste time as he quickly went into the event of the day.


    Apuds were heard all around the arena as principal Lovren walked off the stage.


    "Good daydies and gents, I am Charles Gabe and I''ll be your host." A slim Caucasian man who was still in his thirties, with brown permed hair and ordinary facial features, walked up to the stage and announced.


    "Unlike the awakening test of previous years, this would be a st! The rules for being epted into the main school has been changed."


    Most of themoners in the audience that had no ideas of the happenings in the school had confused looks on their faces at first, but it soon changed to excitement as they quickly listened to know what the school had in stock for this year''s test.


    "The students of the preliminary school will be having the choice of getting epted into the normal ss or the elite ss of the main school, but each choicees with a challenge."


    "The challenge for the normal ss is a pretty easy one, all they have to do is touch the awakening orb to ascertain their levels and to cast the skill of their awakened element under a few seconds."


    How can he say it is "pretty" easy?... Some of the students sneered when they heard the host''s word. Even though most of them had gotten to the warrior level, not many of them could cast a spell, especially in a short period.


    For someone at their level to cast a spell, they had to be fully concentrated in order to draw the energy particles to themselves before channeling the spell.


    This was a big problem for them, not only will a limited amount of time be given, but there would also be the pressure of having more than three hundred thousand people watching them.


    Being ignorant of how many of his generations that were cursed because of a single word he spoke, Charles continued his exnation"The challenge for the elite ss is one meant for geniuses and not for those that are faint in heart. The elite challenge is a one on onebat in which skills and techniques would be tested. The winner of the match automatically gets epted into the main school, while the loser will be judged based on his performance in the battle."


    The host went on for a few minutes exining every detail about the test, even the part about being expelled if a student was not deemed worthy by the judges was mentioned.


    After all the rules were exined to the audience the awakening test began.


    The phoenix dormitory was the first to take the test. The students that chose the normal test went to the center of the arena and ced their hands on the awakening orb.


    As expected almost all of them had filled up the four stars of their first element, some of them had even filled the first star and had gone half of the second star of their second element, but a number of them had not reached the warrior level and they were expelled immediately.


    "Wow! That means their talent level is 0 or close to that." ke was shocked to see that some people had not reached the warrior stage even though they were given more time.


    If they were to stay in the concealed space to cultivate, they would have been able to make it only by a slim margin, but the school can''t afford to give their limited resources to those with low talent¡­ ke thought as he watched the boy with teary eyes walk out of the arena.


    The student with the highest number of stars in the phoenix dormitory was Lucas Ulrik. He had awakened the earth element and had was in the early stage of the third star of the fire element.


    Why wasn''t he taking the elite test, especially with his level of cultivation? This was the question on the minds of most of the audience.


    Even among the scions of the Ulrik family, Lucas cultivation could be considered very high, but only a few understood why he was not taking the elite test.


    "Although his level is pretty high and the earth element grants high physical defense, the earth element doesn''t have offensive abilities that would be useful in a one on onebat. So, it was a wise decision rather than being overconfident and getting expelled." ke quickly analyzed the situation and came to a conclusion, but something was not feeling right.


    ''If the highest in the normal test was in the early stage of the 3rd star, doesn''t that mean that those for the elite test were above him¡­ I underestimated them.'' This made ke squint his eyes.


    If his guesses were correct, there was a chance that someone had reached the warrior level for both elements!


    Those that passed the awakening went straight to the spell casting test. They were given only 7 seconds to activate their spells or they fail the test.


    Although 7 seconds looked like a short time especially for students who just advanced to the warrior level, it was considered to be more than enough because inbat all decisions made were done in split seconds, and a spell that took too long to be released only led to death.

 Chapter 34: Beast in human skin.

    <h4>Chapter 34: Beast in human skin.</h4>


    The crowd watched as the students began casting their spells. Under 7 seconds they watched as some of the students conjured mes.


    "Pyromancers!" ps echoed all around the arena when some of the students conjured mes. Patriotic expressions were on their faces as they cheered the pyromancers that passed the awakening tests.


    When it came to fire mages, the Synder empire was at the top. They had the greatest number of outstanding fire magespared to the other two empires. The members of the royal family that had the bloodline of the founder of the empire, Synder, possessed golden mes as their innate me color.


    Among the types of mes that exist the golden me was ranked as one of the most powerful mes and this innate ability was possessed by direct descendants of Synder.


    During the end of emperor Synder''s life, he made the empire''s main religion to that of the God of fire and war, Vulcan. The more fire mages the empire had the more prestige, strength and they would gain from Vulcan.


    These reasons were why the crowd was more enthusiastic about the students that awakened the fire element.


    As the spell casting test went on, different spells were conjured by the students. They watched closely as a water orb was conjured before it turned into a simple dagger.


    "An Aquamancer and he can turn it to a weapon¡­ The water element is special in the sense that, it can be used for both attacking and defending. Although its attacking strength can''tpare that of fire or lightning, nor the defense of the earth element, it''s abilities are pretty decent." The people in the crowd chatted amongst themselves as they enjoyed the show that was going.


    A pyromancer and an aquamancer were alike, the warrior level of both the fire and water elements allowed the user to conjure and manipte fire and water elements.


    They were able to change the elements conjured into any shape they wanted as long as their mana could handle it. The amount of mana drained was dependent on theplexity of the transformation.


    So, it was better for them to keep it simple because these students who were still at the warrior level didn''t have much mana, to begin with.


    With their current mana capacity, they wouldn''t be able to spam their spells as they wished.


    The entire arena watched closely when it was Lucas Ulrik''s turn for the spell casting test. Putting on his energy vision, ke watched closely as energy particles quickly gather towards Lucas.


    "As expected of the scion of one of the top three families." ke sighed as he saw theposition of the ground began changing.


    The earth in front of Lucas changed from solid to a slippery surface.


    "Earth rendering." Lucas muttered as he cast his spell.


    "What!"


    "So quick!"


    "4 seconds!... He did it in four seconds!"


    An uproar was heard all over the arena when they saw how quickly Lucas cast earth rendering.


    From the speed at which Lucas gathered the energy particles, ke had foreseen this oue.


    "Talk about bad luck." From all he had seen, ke knew that although Lucas did not enter the elite test he should not be underestimated. If Lucas had awakened another element he would have strongly contended for a position in the elite ss, butdy luck was not on his side.


    In the booth of Prince Bryon.


    "His casting speed is quite fast; I think he should have gone for the elite test." Prince Bryon said while attentively looking at the screen.


    "As expected of the scion of the Ulrik family, unluckily for him he unlocked the earth element." Hagan replied.


    "Not really¡­" Prince Bryon muttered


    Hagan looked at Bryon with a puzzled expression.


    That was when Prince Bryon looked at him and said. "Remember, the element doesn''t matter, all that matter is the user, also he doesn''t have to win the match to get admitted." Prince Bryon smiled at Hagan before turning back to the screen.


    Not long after Lucas Ulrik''s turn, the phoenix dormitory''s test came to an end, and it was the turn of the drake dormitory.


    The students of the dorm proceeded and made their way to the center of the arena for their test.


    Different emotions could be read on the faces of the students, some were confident and calm, some were indifferent, while some were nervous even how they walked and their posture was a giveaway.


    A few minutester they were done with the orb test and they proceeded to the spellcasting test.


    No one seemed to care about the students that held back their tears as they exited the arena, not even ke.


    The number of students that failed the awakening orb test in the drake dormitory were lesspared to that of the phoenix dorm, but when it came to the spell casting test the phoenix dorm beat them by arge margin.


    "Why did the heavens curse us with professor Arimus." Everyone in the school knew about the phoenix dorm''s magic ss teacher, professor Gibson. Unlike most teachers that despisedmoners, professor Gibson was impartial and also, he tried as much as possible to carry all of his students along.


    He was the main reason why the phoenix dorm performed more than the drake dorm in the spell casting test, but unfortunately, professor Arimus was assigned to them.


    As for the wind griffin dormitory, ke didn''t have much hope of his dormpeting with the two dorms in terms of spell casting because of their apathetic and discriminating teacher, but if it came down tobats his dorm would be the best.


    This was one of his trump cards.


    In the awakening test there was no need forbat skills, but when it came to the elite testbat skills would be heavily needed and that was when he nned on using instructor Zirracks''sbat lessons to his advantage.


    Among all thebat teachers in the school, instructor Zirrack was regarded as the bestbat teacher, he was a vicious fighter¡­ no a beast in human skin!

 Chapter 35: I wont hold back!

    <h4>Chapter 35: I won''t hold back!</h4>


    When ke thought of instructor Zirrack, it reminded him of the hellish training that was given to them a few weeks ago.


    The training was so intense that it almost made ke cry. His body was so sour to the point, he had to grit his teeth every time he moved a part of his body.


    The funny thing was, it hurt like this because he normally exercised, but for those who had never performed a push up in their life, it was hell!


    Most of the students had passed out, but funny enough they had been woken up by instructor Zirrack with a bucket of water and were told to continue.


    He was a beast!


    ke involuntarily shudder when he remembered the horrific experience


    The torture went on for a week until the number of students taken to the clinic because of exhaustion was noticed by the school.


    The school stepped into the matter and confronted Zirrack, but after all their efforts the school managed to convince him to reduce the number of exercises that were given to them.


    Those on the path to bing mages were given fewer exercisespared to those who were on the path to bing battlemages.


    They were two paths that those blessed with magic could choose when it came tobat, the path of being a mage or that of being a battlemage.


    The path of battlemages was one that required the user to gain high-level mastery in both magic and closebat.


    They were not only feared because of their abilities to cast spells and fight but also because of their weapons.


    The weapons used by Battlemages were not ordinary weapons, but magical weapons that could bebined with the battlemagesbat technique and magic to release devastating attacks.


    Battlemages were known as the bane of all mages, but this kind of power came with its own disadvantages. They were slow at progressing in level whenpared to the mages.


    Because they had to learn and practicebat techniques and alsoprehend thews of magic, they were naturally meant to be slower than those who dedicated their whole life to one path.


    Except for one in a thousand years geniuses that were spoken of in legends, no one could move that fast.


    Even though they could not progress quickly, battlemages could easily stand their grounds against mages a level above them and in most cases defeat them.


    The mage path is usually chosen by those who didn''t have much talent in close quartersbat. If one chose the path of a mage their greatest strength would lie in their destructive and defensive spells, but they were weak when it came to close-quartersbat.


    Although it sounds like a disadvantage, many mages would disagree with that.


    Mages possessed a lot of destructive and defensive spells that helped them keep a safe distance between their enemies. If a battle mage underestimated a mage and gave him enough space they would be obliterated before they knew what was happening.


    ke''s attention was drawn back to the arena when one of the students stumbled and almost fell. When ke saw the student, he couldn''t help facepalming, it was the ever-nervous Wesson.


    "It isn''t nice tough at him but I can''t help it¡­ Let''s hope he doesn''t do anything funny." ke covered his mouth with his hands as he tried his best to preventughter from bursting out.


    Wesson''s actions reminded him of what happened on the training grounds.


    Wesson had awakened the water element which was not much of a surprise to ke.


    "The peaceful aura of the water element conforms to his timid nature." ke thought as he stroked his chin


    When it was Wesson''s turn to cast his spell moved with nervous steps, but when he began casting his spell, he was serene as he gathered mana to himself.


    "Wow¡­ Just wow!" Not only did he gather mana and conjured water smoothly, but the level of control he had when channeling the spell was what surprised ke.


    Although his skill was average it surprised him because it wasing from someone who always acted clumsily.


    When Wesson passed the test, he walked out with a beaming smile on his face, but on his way out he stumbled and almost fell.


    "Really?!" ke smiled wryly as he shook his head.


    After 30 minutes the test came to an end for the wind griffin dormitory and it was time for the elite test.


    Just as predicted by ke, the wind griffin had the least number of students that passed the test. Out of the total number of 367 students that passed the wind griffin dorm had a few numbers above 70.


    "The school really did a good job in sieving out the weak ones." ke was marveled at the fact that the school used a simple test was able to remove a lot of students.


    He didn''t think much about it because it was time for the elite test.


    The three judges to officiate the elite matches came up and that was a thought popped up in his head.


    "What if d used the judges against me! This would be troublesome" This made ke frown deeply.


    Using the judges was seriously bad news for ke because they could make up silly excuses they could use as leverage to disqualify him. If this happened, he will automatically be expelled.


    "The only way to get out of this is to win the enemy with so much power that they wouldn''t be able to disagree with my victory." After thinking about It he decided that this was the best approach he could take since he didn''t have any background or family strong enough to protect him from situations like this.


    "What if he doesn''t use the judges but another dirty trick?"


    "No, I can''t take chances, judges, or no judges I wouldn''t hold back!" ke clenched his fist.


    The host came up and cast a voice magnifying spell before speaking.


    "Are you ready!!"


    "Yeaaah!" The loud cheers of the crowd echoed all over the arena.

 Chapter 36: This is boring, just give up.

    <h4>Chapter 36: This is boring, just give up.</h4>


    "As you all can see, this year''s awakening test is undoubtedly special and because of that, the school wants to remove any chance of unfairness or partiality. That is why they invited three judges known all over the empire for their impartial and open-minded judgments."


    "Introducing from the right; Judge James miller, Judge ude Fargo andst but not the least, Judge Hudson Hunt."


    The three judges had big smiles on their faces as they waved at the cheering crowd.


    ''I am not falling for that¡­ A serial killer would never agree hemitted a crime because you asked him.'' ke sneered when he heard the words of the host but unknown to him, someone was feeling guilty at the moment.


    ''I haven''t done anything serious¡­ How was I meant to refuse Hagan''s little request that can be granted easily, after all, who wants to get on the bad side of Hagan, the brother of Vandal, patriarch of the Nystrom family¡­"


    "Fixing a match between two people that have a grudge against each shouldn''t be a big deal. It shouldn''t raise suspicions¡­ hopefully." Hudson Hunt''s mind was in turmoil but he didn''t allow it to show on his face.


    Soon it was time for the first battle of the elite test, the moment the crowd had been waiting for had arrived.


    The first battle was between Adolf a scion of the Karius family and Damon Wayne.


    Damon Wayne had a diamond-shaped face with a deadpan expression. He had jet ck hair and high arched brows and wore ck all over his body, from his top to his boots¡­ All ck.


    "I love wearing ck, but this is just too much." ke was amazed by Damon''s fervent love for the color ck.


    When the battle was signaled to start Adolf, who awakened the fire element, conjured two me balls and lunched them at Damon as he dashed towards him.


    Damon still had his unperturbed expression on his face and acted as if he didn''t see the balls of mes hurling towards him.


    Just as nned, block and get destroyed¡­ Adolf smirked when he saw Damon had no ns of dodging his attack.


    When the mes were 2 meters away from Damon he suddenly disappeared, causing the ball of mes to hit the ground before dispersing.


    "What is going on?" Adolf''s smirk soon changed to confusion.


    "What kind of power lets the opponent disappear? The¡­" He became surprised because of his discovery, but before he couldplete this chain of thought, Damon appeared in mid-air.


    Bam!


    Adolf was given a spinning back kick to his head and was sent flying.


    "System what kind of power did he use?" ke was shocked by Damon''s sudden disappearance and appearance.


    [That is the power of a dark bringer of the Darkness element and that was the stealth skill.]


    "Dark bringer¡­ That''s a cool name, unlike ''Locator.''" ke muttered


    [Those in the darkness pathway are regarded as the enemies of light and the masters of concealment. The stealth skill gives the user the power to absorb the light around certain objects thereby putting it in a concealed state.]


    "Then how is he that fast and flexible?"


    "Just like the lightning element the darkness element gives the user a passive ability that increases their speed, but the speed granted is slightly inferior to that of the lightning pathway. Also, he is well versed in martial arts."


    When ke fully understood the principles of a Locator, the system seemed to have undergone some upgrades. Its mechanical voice that was devoid of emotions had now changed to that of a man and that was not the only upgrades.


    Before the system only spoke when ke had achieved something or when it was asked a question, but know it wouldment when it saw that ke was intrigued or confused even without being asked, also it was able to give him logical advice when he was making a decision, among other features.


    ¡­


    Adolf felt dizzy as he tried his best to get on his feet. With his vision being all fuzzy, he could only see the outline of Damon slowly walking towards him.


    "This is boring, just give up..." Damon saidzily.


    "Shit! The darkness element, how am I so unlucky?" Adolf cursed his bad luck while thinking of a way to get out of this situation.


    Immediately he shook off the dizziness, Adolf went into a fighting stance¡­ This made Damon frown!


    You still want to fight huh? I shall show no mercy!... He dashed forward at a terrifying speed and before Adolf could understand what was happening, Damon was already in front of him.


    So fa¡­


    Before he couldplete a sentence, a brutal uppercut sent him flying.


    As he was still in mid-air, Damon appeared once again and gave him a punch to the abdomen before sending him back to the ground with a devastating heel kick.


    "I gave you a chance..." Damon said as he walked off the stage.


    "Wow."


    "What just happened."


    "That was too brutal, he didn''t eveny a finger on his opponent."


    The entire crowd was stunned by the scene that just yed out, even the judges were so shocked that they forgot to dere Damon the winner.


    ¡­


    Even the VIPs in the various booths had the same expression, the beatdown was just too masterful. From the way he dodged the fire spells to the heel kick that knocked Adolf unconscious, it was just a masterpiece.


    "I am surprised to see that someone unlocked the darkness element and I must say his martial art skills are superb." Unlike others who were shocked, prince Bryon just maintained his signature smile.


    With that annoying smile of his, it is hard to read him¡­ Hagan who was beside couldn''t help but grumble.


    What am I doing¡­ I have to get that kid to join the Nystrom family before he gets taken by those two¡­ He immediately signaled his butler standing behind him to approach Damon.


    Bryon saw this but he didn''t worry because unlike other families who were here to recruit students, he was just here to enjoy the show.

 Chapter 37: I surrender.

    <h4>Chapter 37: I surrender.</h4>


    The Awakening test was a great opportunity for both the powerhouses and the students. The powerhouses used this as an opportunity to bring talented and promising students into their families.


    Although these students didn''t look like much at present, if they were given enough resources and trained by the family, they would be very powerful and help to strengthen the family, but everythinges at a cost.


    In exchange for the resources and training given to the students, they would be put under some restrictions and they would also have to work for the family. These were to prevent them from being poached or leaving the family before their contracts were due and for the family to also benefit from their services.


    Immediately, Radford, Hagan''s young butler ran off in search of Damon.


    "From the look master''s face, he was very pleased with the boy''s performance. If I manage to convince him Master Hagan will be very pleased and might give me a raise." Radford fantasied.


    "Looks like I am the first." After looking all over for Damon, he finally found him in the lobby alone.


    "From the way he is dressed, I am safe to say he is not a noble or is he in the major families¡­ Hehe, today is my lucky day. Just using master''s Will be enough." A smirk appeared on his face as he walked up to Damon.


    "I am Radford, Master Hagan''s butler and it is my master''s request to invite you to join our Nystrom family." Radford waited to see a joyful expression appear on Damon''s face.


    The Nystrom family was not just any family, it was among the top three families in the empire. The Nystrom family wouldn''t invite just anyone to join their ranks, only very talented ones who were among the best.


    It was a dream for most students who were not in major families to be invited by one, Of the major families because the resources and training given to those in their ranks would be undoubtedly betterpared to those in lower families.


    This was the reason Radford was expecting such expression from Damon.


    "Not interested." Damon looked at Radford with a deadpan expression before walking away.


    "What?" Radford was sure that his ears were ying tricks on him, but he had to make sure.


    "Not interested." Damon repeated as he continued walking forward.


    Radford was rooted to the spot when he heard Damon, he couldn''t believe that amoner would outrightly refuse such an invitation without thinking about it, even for a second.


    ''Maybe he doesn''t know about the Nystrom family and the benefits he would obtain¡­ Yes, that must be it!'' Radford convinced himself as he ran after Damon.


    "The Nystrom family isn''t just any family it is one of the top three families in the empire and with the resources that would be given to you, you would be able to surpass your mates by leaps and bounds in no time." Radford quickly exined as he was afraid of being rejected again, but this made Damon crease his brows.


    When Radford saw this, he knew his actions were getting irritating.


    ''But, how?'' Radford stood there with a defeated expression as he watched Damon walk away.


    ¡­


    In the battleground, there was a fight between a nt and a water user.


    ke who was intrigued by the nt ability watched the battle intently. He had read about the nt ability in the library, he found out that nt users were called photomancers and their ability chlorokinesis allowed them to summon and control nt vines.


    Esmeralda, the photomancer was still at the same spot where she began the match and was using her vines to suppress La the aquamancer.


    She made thorny nt vines busted out of the ground and lunged at La.


    When La noticed the thorny vines, she tried to dash away, but she was a little bit too slow. The thorny vines wrapped around her left hand and began pulling her.


    ''Shit!'' When she saw what the nts were doing, she knew if she didn''t act it would be dangerous for her. She quickly conjured a water dagger and shed at the vines.


    "Such casting speed!"


    "They are faster than Lucas!"


    The crowd was stunned by the speed at which both girls cast spells. Lucas had used between 4 to 5 seconds to cast his earth rendering spell, but it took less than four seconds for La and Esmeralda to cast spells.


    Even the water dagger used by La was cast under two seconds.


    Immediately she was free from the thorny vines, she rolled to the side and at that moment 2 nt vines stabbed into the spot she left.


    Not looking at the previous spot nor her bleeding hand, she dashed towards Esmeralda at an amazing speed.


    "I don''t think so." Esmeralda tsked and summoned a wall made up of intertwined vines.


    "F*ck." La cursed as she quickly halted, before jumping backward.


    "Gotcha!" A smile formed on Esmeralda''s face as she summoned a nt and controlled it to stab La from behind.


    "As expected¡­" learning from what happened previously, La had begun preparing a water barrier the moment she jumped backward.


    Bam!


    Ripples spread all around the water barrier when the nt vine struck it, but the impact sent La flying a few meters away.


    Better than getting impaled¡­ La thought as she struggled to get up.


    ''If this goes on any longer, I would run out of mana.'' With the ns of ending the match quickly, Esmeralda raised both hands and her mana became chaotic.


    All the nt vines summoned on the battlefield rose up and lunged at La.


    "I surrender!" La.


    When she heard La''s words, Esmeralda controlled the nt vine and they struck the ground close to La.


    "Winner Esmeralda!" The judges announced.


    Cheers echoed around the arena as the winner was announced.


    "The nt element is strong; the water element was no match for the vines. The fire element is surely the best when facing the nt element¡­ But I have to give it to La, she did great forsting that long." ke gave La a mental thumbs up.

 Chapter 38: The Nystrom family.

    <h4>Chapter 38: The Nystrom family.</h4>


    After being announced the winner, Esmeralda walked off the stage, while La was being treated by a medic.


    "My luck is really rotten for being paired against a nt user¡­ Out of all the elements, a nt user!" La was fuming in anger as she cursed her bad luck.


    "Well, this should be enough to get admitted¡­ Too bad, it would have been nice to win." La sighed as she awaited the judge''s decision


    After deciding, Judge ude Fargo came up and announced.


    "During the match, miss La disyed proficiency in casting her spells, great reaction speed, outstandingbat skills, and most importantly, her superb performance even when facing an element that was her weakness. After analyzing the match, we the judges have made the decision that La Watson passed the test."


    "I told you, the element doesn''t matter, the user does." Prince Bryon gave a reminder to Hagan.


    "I agree with you, that the user matters, but not in this case. You see, that principle can be used on those in higher levels, but for these kids, it can''t be applied. For the user to matter, him/she has to have an in-depth knowledge of their abilities but in this case, the students don''t have such knowledge, all they know is the basics of their abilities." Although he was not sure if what he just said was agreeing with prince Bryon, he didn''t what to agree with him.


    "The only reason shested that was because of the offensive and defensive abilities of the water element. If it was an earth user he will be wiped out under a minute." Hagan added.


    "You know you could be silly at times." Bryon chuckled.


    ''Damn you.'' When he thought of what he said he couldn''t help but remain silent.


    Bryon and Hagan had a strange rtionship, it was because of Bryon''s friendly nature, and the rtionship between the Royal family and the Nystrom family


    In the early days of the Nystrom family, they started off as merchants but soon became a wealthy noble family.


    When the family''s business began booming, they entered into politics and that was when they came in contact with the royal family.


    The founder of the Nystrom family was a smart and cunning man, after nning and scheming he managed married off one of his daughters to a member of the royal family.


    At first, it looked like an insignificant move because it didn''t bring more benefits to the family, but yearster more marriages between the two forces urred and that was the start of it all.


    The royal family began favoring the Nystrom family and regrly gave them gifts in form of resources and manpower. With this, the Nystrom family began rising in power, but this was soon noticed by the two top families at that time and it threatened their position.


    Both the Ulrik and Karius family worked together to destroy this rising family and maintain their positions, but the Nystrom family leader saw thising and ran to the royal family for help.


    Seeing that this was the perfect opportunity to groom a powerhouse that would keep the two top families in check in case of a rebellion. The Royal family stepped in and averted the destruction of the Nystrom family by using their authority and also giving them more resources to quicken their growth.


    The Nystrom family quickly rose in power and became a powerhouse, but their speedy growth came with problems of its own.


    Their foundation was weak¡­


    Unlike the Karius and Ulrik families that had sturdy foundations and had existed since the beginning of the empire, the Nystrom family depended on the royal family for most of its power.


    The core members of the Karius family possessed the water and lightning element, while those of the Ulrik family possessed the earth and fire elements, but the case was different for the Nystrom family.


    Because the Nystrom family were known for being merchants they didn''t focus on cultivation, rather they used their wealth to hire adventurers to protect them, but when they rose in power, they madly began recruiting young talents.


    Because they knew their power to contend with the Karius and Ulrik family came from the royal family, they began using their wealth and that of the royal family to easily recruit people before the other families and all these were in hopes of being independent of the royal family.


    But nothing goes unnoticed by the royal family...


    Radford entered the room and whispered into Hagan''s ears.


    "What!" Hagan wanted to burst out in anger but he quickly controlled himself when he remebered who was in the room.


    Sorry, my Prince. Please excuse us." They both bowed and left the room when Bryon permitted.


    ''Seems it didn''t work out.'' Bryon chuckled as he watched the next match begin.


    ...


    When the third match was about to begin that was when something struck ke.


    "Come to think of it, I didn''t see Castiel and Brian in the awakening test that means they would be part of the elite test. Of course, they should be, they have the system too." he chuckled


    "I wonder what element they awakened and how strong they are now... Maybe we could form a team of our own and go on different adventures." ke thought that since the three of them were in the same situation, it would be best for them to stick around each till they find a way to leave this world.


    ke who was lost in his thoughts finally snapped out of it, he noticed that two matches had ended. He was not sure if the matches were too quick or he was out for a long time.


    It was time for the next match, but that was when ke saw a brown skin muscr boy with dreadlocks walking towards the stage.


    ¡­


    "What do you mean he refused! You good for nothing, I gave you a simple task toplete but it seems you are more ipetent than I thought." Outside the booth of prince Bryon, Hagan was yelling at Radford over his failure in recruiting Damon.

 Chapter 39: Step 3; feint and destroy!

    <h4>Chapter 39: Step 3; feint and destroy!</h4>


    ''Just using the name of the Nystrom family is enough to recruit most of these kids, but this simpleton can''t aplish anything.'' Hagan didn''t know what to do with Radford. He was finding it difficult to decide if he should punish Radford now orter, all he could do was stare at him with a bone-chilling gaze.


    This was a student with the second most rare element and he was very adept in using it.


    This was a student who all the major powerhouses in the empire will be keeping an eye on, but someone had ruined his chances of recruiting him.


    Radford was shivering with his head lowered and not daring to take a glimpse of his master''s face, he quickly exined. "Sir, it''s¡­ not what you¡­ think." He quicklyposed himself because he knew stuttering when reporting to Hagan, would only bring more trouble.


    "I used all the means possible, I told him about the resources and benefits one would obtain if they join us, I even offered him more resources than usual because of his power and the amount of interest master disyed, but¡­ He refused them without thinking about it, not even for a second." Radford quickly exined what transpired and quietly prayed as he waited for Hagan''s reply.


    ''Without even thinking of it¡­ Is it that he is not interested in the Nystrom family or he is nning on not joining any family at all? I hope it is thetter, if not someone will have to pay.'' Without talking, Hagan turned and went back into the booth.


    ''Phew¡­ Thank the heavens he didn''t decide punish me. It''s all because of that kid... I must make him pay in one way or another.'' He quickly wiped the sweat on his forehead and followed Hagan into the booth.


    Stepping into the booth Bryon turned to him and spoke. "You are just in time; the battle is between a geomancer and pyromancer."


    ¡­


    On the battleground.


    The match had already been signaled to start, but Brian was not in a hurry to make the first move. He, first of all, observed the enemy, before making ns on how to engage him.


    ''From his stance, it is safe to say that he is a mage if not it would have been really troublesome.'' Brain let out a sigh of relief as he continued to observe.


    ''Looks like he is tired of waiting.'' Brian watched as his opponent opened his palm and conjured a me ball, before throwing it at him.


    ''Fire element seems my luck is really great! Now all I need to do is follow the n and the match will be in the bag.''


    Brian was not in a haste to dodge the me because he knew it was a probing attack, he nned on annoying the pyromancer so that he shows all his cards.


    He easily dodged the iing me ball by rolling to the side, but immediately he rolled out, another fireball was right in front of him.


    "Nice try¡­" Seeing the fireball close to him Brian didn''t panic, he borrowed the force generated from the roll and performed a spinning flip, cleanly dodging the ball of me.


    Hended with his two arms open while wearing a provocative look on his face. "You can do better than that." Brian taunted.


    "You want more, I''ll give you more." A frown was on the pyromancer''s face as he madly gathered fire particles to cast a spell that would obliterate the clown in front of him.


    ''I got him¡­ Hehe, that was easy.'' Brian clicked his tongue as his opponent was enraged by his taunts.


    "What a fool, isn''t it clear that Brian wants you to get angry, or does he have other ns?" ke was trying to wrap his head around why the pyromancer would fall for a simple taunt.


    [The fire pathway grants the user more explosive power the angrier they get, that is why he didn''t think much about it. But once one lets themselves get blinded by rage especially in a battle between an opponent of equal strength, they are bound to lose.


    ''Step one; interrupt casting¡­" Brian quickly gathered energy particles and ced both of his hands on the ground.


    "Earth rendering!"


    Suddenly, the ground beneath the pyromancer turned into quick sank and he began sinking.


    ¡­


    "Are my eyes ying tricks on me, isn''t that the earth element!"


    "Someone dares to use the earth element in the elite test!"


    The crowd was shocked that an earth user was brave enough, if not foolish to participate in the elite challenge because they believed it was a waste of time.


    ''What were you thinking?!'' ke was also shocked but all he could do now was pray that Brian would qualify.


    ¡­


    "Shit!" The pyromancer had no other choice than to cancel his spell as he tried to escape from the quicksand.


    ''Step two; get close.'' Knowing the quicksand wouldn''t hold him for long, Brian dashed forward.


    Brian knew if he wanted to make a deeper quagmire it would require more casting time and by the time the spell was ready his actions would have already been discovered.


    That was why he made a shallow quicksand, after all, he just needed to slow him down for hisbo to work.


    Because the quicksand was not deep, the pyromancer was about to get out, but that was when he saw Brianing.


    "Shit! he can''t get close." Stepping out of the quicksand, he conjured a ball of me and threw it at Brian in an attempt to slow him while he widened the gap between them.


    ''Here I going.'' Knowing full well that if he missed this opportunity, he might lose the match, he jumped through the ball of me with both hands crossed.


    "What!" The pyromancer''s eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets because he couldn''t believe that someone would sacrifice his body.


    When Brian crossed the me, he was in front of the pyromancer who was in a shocked state. He gathered his strength in his right hand and thrust it at the pyromancer.


    Not knowing what else to do, the pyromancer put both hands in front of him with hopes of reducing the damage.


    "Step 3; feint and destroy!" Brian roared.

 Chapter 40: Flowing wind.

    <h4>Chapter 40: Flowing wind.</h4>


    "Step 3; feint and destroy!" Brian roared.


    With his muscles bulging, Brian jumped into the air and performed a spinning back kick.


    Bam!


    The kick sent the pyromancer flying a few meters away. The impact of the kick was so much that it knocked him unconscious.


    When they saw the pyromancer was no longer moving the judges immediately announced Brian the winner.


    The crowd immediately went silent as Brian was announced the winner, they couldn''t just believe what just happened.


    A geomancer defeated a pyromancer!


    But the silence soon turned into ps. The whole crowd began pping for him, some of them were even on their feet because they knew that it was nowhere close to easy.


    This was what they thought was close to impossible!


    ''There it is, I almost thought they forgot to apud.'' A smile was on Brian''s face as he walked off the battel ground.


    "I must say that was awesome." ke couldn''t help but p.


    "But how? He didn''t receive much damage from the fire." ke was surprised to see that it was only Brian''s shirt that was burnt, but he didn''t have any burn marks.


    [Geomancers gain higher physical and magical defensepared to other pathways. Also, the fireball was cast in a haste making it have low firepower, hence less damage¡­]


    [But I must say he is suicidal¡­ His n was way too risky but he managed to pull it off. If he wasn''t matched up against a pyromancer it wouldn''t have worked out, also if his enemy didn''t fall for his taunts then it would have really been a tough match.] The system quickly made its analysis and exined how risky Brian''s actions were.


    "It would have taken a lot of nning to aplish." ke watched as Brian left the stage. He was truly impressed.


    ¡­


    In the booth at the topmost part of the arena. Hagan was so shocked that he couldn''t help but sit up, what he thought was impossible for someone at this level just happened in front of him.


    His shocked expression soon changed to a frown when he remembered who was beside him, it was the ever-annoying Bryon and as he predicted prince Bryon began rubbing it on his face.


    "Told you! That was beautiful, don''t you think so?" Bryon chuckled.


    "¡­" Hagan didn''t know what to say to defend himself, all he could do was just sit and pray that Bryon would quickly drop the topic.


    Their rtionship could be described as a strange one. Because of the rtionship between both families, both of them being set mates back in school, and most importantly Bryon''s friendly personality, they could be considered as allies, but not the best of friends.


    Although Bryon acted friendly and he had a grudge with the prince, Hagan still didn''t dare disrespect him in any way because of his position as the emperor''s son and how he would react when angered.


    Just thinking of it made Hagan shiver. Not everyone has seen the angry side of this ever-smiling prince,pared to how Bryon acted like a meek sheep, he was worse than the devil when he got angry.


    Hagan had once witnessed a city lord being burnt to ashes because he tried to take advantage of Bryon''s friendly nature. Ever since that day, Hagan had tried not to provoke Bryon.


    "By the way why did you decide toe to Calton city, out of every city that is under your control you chose Calton?" Hagan asked.


    "Am I not allowed toe to the city under my care?" Prince Bryon.


    "You really suck at lying this." Hagan snorted.


    ''One has passed 3 to go¡­" Not caring if Hagan believed him or not, he turned his attention back to the battlefield¡­


    ¡­


    After two boring long matches, the stage was cleaned up and it was Kade''s turn.


    ke observed the crowd and he could see them yearning for excitement. Thest two matches were so boring that some of them even dozed off.


    One of the matches was between a pyromancer and an aquamancer, it was meant to be an exciting match but it turned out that both of them were mages.


    Throughout the match they maintained their distance and were firing spells at each, or rather the pyromancer was attacking while the aquamancer was on the defense.


    The match only ended when the aquamancer ran out of mana and eventually lost.


    Kade''s opponent was a wealthy merchant''s son who was known in the school for his notorious acts against themoners.


    When Kade saw his opponent, he knew this was his chance to get revenge on behalf of thosemoners who were bullied and oppressed by him.


    Just seeing the arrogant smile on his opponent''s face made him angry, but he knew he had to be calm and not give in to rage.


    "Begin."


    When the match was signaled to start, seeing that his opponent had no thoughts of being the first to attack, Kade began moving his arms in a weird manner.


    "That looks like a Chinese martial art technique, I wonder what he¡­" ke''s words were caught short when he noticed something.


    Every time Kade swung his arms it seemed as if the wind was following his actions. If not for the space element improving his senses, he wouldn''t have noticed a thing.


    "This is the wind element but what is that extra effect?" ke asked the system.


    [This is the flowing windbat technique, just like the Raiju breathing technique which boosts the power of lightning base spells, the flowing windbat technique has effects of its own.


    The flowing windbat technique helps the user synchronize their movements with the flow of the wind, thereby making the user quick and unpredictable. Although it is not a high-levelbat technique it shouldn''t be underestimated.]


    "He doesn''t even know what''sing for him." ke couldn''t help but shake his head because he felt pity for Kade''s opponent who still had a look of contempt on his face.

 Chapter 41: Like father like son.

    <h4>Chapter 41: Like father like son.</h4>


    It was after Kade was done with his arm movements that people began noticing the wind fluctuations.


    The first to notice it were those with keen. Some of the powerhouses in the arena knew about the technique and why it shouldn''t be trifled with, but Kade''s opponent, Dan, was none the less ignorant about the fluctuations.


    Not wasting any time, he dashed towards his opponent at a pace that was neither fast nor slow.


    "Time to show you your ce, peasant." Seeing Kadeing towards him, Dan sneered and conjured a me whip.


    Seeing the me whip brought back unpleasant memories of how nobles oppressedmoners and that made him frown deeply.


    He quickly flung his arms and a wind de was sent flying towards Dan.


    Dan sneered as he saw the iing attacks. He rolled to the side dodging the wind de, but behind that was another oneing towards him.


    "So predictable¡­" Dan had seen through the attack and had prepared a fireball in advance. He lunched the fireball at the iing wind de and sessfully stopped it in its tracks.


    Not wasting time, Dan flung his fire whip at Kade, but before it could touch him, Kade jumped up and twisted his body in a weird manner, dodging the me whip at thest moment.


    "Phew! That was too close." Kade couldn''t help but let out a sigh of relief as he dodged the attack.


    Dan was startled by his movement but he quickly snapped out of it and continued attacking, Because Kade''s speed and reflexes were high.


    Dan began lunching mes to where he predicted Kade would be if he dodged the whip. But unfortunately, every time he threw an attack at Kade, he would dodge them very easily.


    From the crowd''s view it looked as if Dan was purposefully missing, but little did they know that he was trying his best to predict Kade''s movements.


    From the start of the match Dan had taken note of Kade''s speed and knew it would be useless to attack him directly, that was why he began using facades to force him into dodging, but nothing seems to be working.


    He knew things continued like this he would run out of mana, so he decided to change his tactics.


    "Annoying pest stand and fight like a man!" Dan pped his palms together and began charging a me burst.


    "No, you don''t!" from the mana fluctuations, Kade knew he would be in trouble if Dan was allowed toplete his spell.


    He had to interrupt the spell.


    Kade dashed forward and lunched two wind des to distract Dan, then he spun to the side and sent out two miniature wind des aiming at his legs.


    "Fu*k!" Seeing it would be harder to block the miniature wind des, Danunched the me st countering the wind des, but in the end, his tendons were cut.


    "Ahh!" Without his legs being able to support his weight, Dan dropped to his knees.


    ''I can''t¡­ lose to a¡­ wretch.'' Gritting his teeth in pain, Dan tried to get back on his feet but his legs were not responding to hismands.


    Seeing that Dan was a sitting duck and was not nning on surrendering, Kade began kiting him with miniature wind des just in case he had some tricks up his sleeve.


    Although Dan''s body was full of bloody cuts, he had no ns of surrendering to amoner rather he was ready to pass out.


    "How can Dan lose to amoner? This has to stop or I would lose face among other nobles." Dan''s father couldn''t watch his son being battered by amoner, the more this went on the more his reputation went down the drain.


    In the area meant for nobles, Dan''s father shouted while pointing at Kade "He is going against the rules! This kid has to be disqualified!"


    Seeing that he had drawn the attention of the crowd, he began ranting more even signaling some of his noble friends to support him.


    Thud!


    Before his noble friends could do anything, they saw his unconscious body drop to the ground.


    "¡­" Everyone was shocked, even his friends who were about to stand up slowly rested back into their sits in fear alerting the guard that knocked him out.


    ''That retard almost put me into trouble, thank the heavens the guards came earlier, if not I would have been beside him.'' His noble friends heaved a sigh of relief as he was carried away by the guards.


    The match ended in a brutal manner, Dan was unconscious due to excess blood lost and the judges dered Kade the winner.


    "There have been some ims saying the winner had broken the rules, but we would like to rify that he didn''t break the rules. As long as the opponent will not be killed and has conceded defeat, the match is still on, no matter the number of injuries sustained." The judges exined.


    "Like father like son." ke almost busted out inughter as he saw the unconscious Dan being carried away by the medic.


    Kade walked off the stage and went into the lobby where he met Philip.


    "Brother Kade you were awesome out there! You have to teach me how to make those kinds of maneuvers." Philp rushed up to Kade and congratted.


    Seeing Philip he couldn''t help but smile "My opponent wasn''t that hard, you are the greatest winner today. I told said you would pass the test wasn''t I right? You should have some faith in me."


    "From today onwards my faith is in you." Sounds ofughter could be heard as they left the lobby.


    "Next up ke Wilson versus d Nystrom!" The voice of the announcer rang all over the arena.

 Chapter 42: How is he that fast?!

    <h4>Chapter 42: How is he that fast?!</h4>


    When ke heard his name, he was surprised that he was paired against d, but he couldn''t help but smile. This was no coincidence; he knew it was d''s doing and that confirmed his theory of d trying to screw him.


    "This shouldn''t be the only part of the n, there should be more to it or maybe I am thinking highly of him¡­ Hehe."


    "He can''t me for being rude then¡­" With this ke knew he needed to be more careful because there might be more to d''s n.


    Standing up from his seat he went straight to the lobby and began preparing for his fight.


    "This kid is really unfortunate to face d, my advice to him is to surrender before things get messy." Hagan scoffed when he saw both ke and d on the stage.


    d was the offspring of one of the intermarriages between the Royal family and the Nystrom family. Among the younger generations of the Nystrom family, he could be considered to be one of the most talented, but because his bloodline was not pure enough and he couldn''t use the golden mes, he was not allowed to answer the surname, Synder.


    Although he didn''t bear the surname of the royal family, he was still taught familybat techniques and was taken care of by both families.


    Even among the younger generations of the Nystrom family, he received the most resources, but his major ws were not being diligent and always quick to anger.


    Hagan felt d was being pampered too much and didn''t receive punishments from the patriarch when he had done wrong, that was why he was displeased whenever he saw him.


    "¡­" Hagan was surprised that Bryon didn''t react to hisment, normally he would praise d''s growth speed or even how far he had mastered the swift dragon strike technique, but now, he was intently looking at d''s opponent.


    ''Am I missing anything?'' Hagan looked at ke but couldn''t see anything special about him. He couldn''t figure out why Bryon had that kind of reaction so he decided to stop thinking and enjoy the show.


    ''Let''s just hope he doesn''t shame our name more.'' He couldn''t help but sigh, because he was having a feeling that something would go wrong.


    "Begin!" The judge announced.


    "We meet again ke, now you won''t be able to run from me..." d said with an evil smile on his face.


    ''I run from you? What a joker!'' ke tried his best to maintain a stoic expression, but he couldn''t hold in theughter.


    "Hahaha!"


    ''You think I am nothing, just because you wonst time doesn''t mean the same thing will happen again'' d was so enraged by ke''s action, that he conjured a fireball and threw it at ke who was stillughing.


    "Huh?" Although ke wasughing, he was not stupid to let his guards down.


    When the fireball was a few meters away from him, his palm lit up and a fireball of the same power shot out and countered it.


    "The fire element! Hehe, I win¡­" With the help of the dragon stance and swift dragon strike that boosted the power of the fire element, d had considered himself the victor.


    Waving his head in disappointment, ke taunted. "From what you did in the training ground I knew you were cheap, but not this cheap."


    He wanted to taunt d into showing him all his trump cards before he could go all out and decimate him.


    "Taunt all you want; I am not falling for that." d charged a me burst and lunched it towards him.


    ''I thought he was a hot head¡­ Too bad.'' ke shook his head and began charging a simr me burst.


    ''How is he that fast?!'' He hadn''t noticed it the first time but now he saw how ke waited for the spell to reach a certain distance before he began casting.


    Boom!


    When both spells collided, the sound of an explosion rang out covering the stage in smoke. When the smoke cleared up, they saw that d twisted to the right and sank down in a low stance, putting 70% of his weight on his front leg and 30% on his back leg and his back knee getting very close to touching the Achilles tendon of the front leg.


    The Dragon stance!


    After seeing ke''s casting speed, he felt a little bit threatened and decided to get more serious. He began charging a me burst, but this time it packed more power and speed.


    Whoosh!


    The rustling sounds of flickering fire could be heard as the me burst zoomed through the air at a terrifying.


    When ke saw the speed at which the me burst was approaching, he knew it wouldn''t be easily blocked. He immediately conjured two fireballs and jumped into the air. With his muscles bulging, he began spinning in order to generate beforeunching them at the me burst.


    Boom! Boom!


    Explosions rang out in front of him, both fireballs were not able to stop the enhanced me burst as it was still raging towards him, but they managed to slightly reduce its speed.


    Not looking to see the oue, he began conjuring a me burst of his own.


    "Shit!" ke couldn''t help but curse because the me burst had already approached him and he''s was not yet ready.

 Chapter 43: Time to end this.

    <h4>Chapter 43: Time to end this.</h4>


    With no other option than to stop charging, ke raised his hands and blocked with the amount of me burst he managed to charge.


    Boom!


    When both me bursts came in contact with each other, they exploded instantly with the impact pushing him more than ten steps away.


    "Blocking it head-on was dumb but damn I am that strong?" It was after he blocked the me burst with his hands did, he realized how stupid his action was.


    Unlike the normal me that carried little force and burning effects, the me burst spell waspressed mes that exploded when they came in contact with any other thing. It was way more superior in strength and speed, but its only downside was that it needed more time topress the mes whenpared to a simple fireball.


    If not for the fireballs and half prepared me burst reducing the impact, his bones would have been shattered. ke''s hands had totally gone numb and had burn marks all over them.


    "He''sing." Still shrouded in thick smoke that reduced visibility, ke did not dare to let his guard down even one bit.


    With the help of his heightened senses, ke was able to notice any change that urred in the environment.


    Whoosh!


    The smoke pathed and d rushed out throwing his fist at ke''s head. Already expecting the attack ke shifted his head and gave a punch to d''s abdomen.


    "How?" For a moment d was startled that his attack had missed, but he was jolted back to his senses by a punch.


    Bam!


    "¡­" An excruciating pain that he had never felt before, washed over his body.


    For a second, he began wishing he had never fixed a match against, but when the thoughts of him losing, getting expelled, and even being chased out of the Royal family came into his mind, an ember of hatred was kindled in his eyes.


    "I can''t lose!"


    When ke was retracting his fist, he was suddenly grabbed by d who seemed to had entered a berserk state.


    "This can''t be good¡­" He couldn''t help but curse as he was pulled back by d.


    Ferocious punches enhanced by fire elemental particles made their way to ke.


    Bam! Bam! Bam!


    [Be careful he has entered rage mode that increases the user''s explosive power, if added with his swift dragon technique it would be very dangerous. Try not to get hit.]


    ''Don''t make it sound so easy!'' ke cursed at the system.


    ke managed to block the hot punches, but that was when he realized he had fallen for a trap. It was basic knowledge that when facing a swift dragon strike technique user, one is meant to try as much as possible to dodge the attacks if they would find themselves in a sticky situation.


    "Shit!"


    "Swift Dragon Strike!" d roared as he unleashed a series of consecutive blows at ke.


    Bam! Bam!


    He tried as much as possible to dodge and block the barrage of attacks, but each time a strike came in contact with his body It left a burn mark on that spot. The punches were not his major problems, but the burning effect was a pain in the ass.


    He knew If he didn''t find a way to break out of thebo, he might end up losing the match.


    There were two ways of surviving; one was to wait for him tire or he could take some hits and burst out.


    He didn''t consider the first option because he might lose before that happened, but he knew the second option was not easy to say, but it was his only option.


    With scorching punchesnding him, ke closed his eyes and he gathered his energy at one point.


    Zzzzzzzzzg!


    The sound of lightning was heard When he activated the reinforcing ability.


    Numerous arcs of lightning began dancing all around his body as he took in a deep breath before punching out.


    Crack!


    When his fist collided with that of d the sound of cracking bone echoed as d was sent flying.


    "Are my eyes ying tricks on me or did that kid just use two elements?!" A person in the crowd.


    "How is this even possible?!"


    "What is his Talent level?!"


    It was so shocking that an uproar was caused by the crowd.


    "Time to end this¡­" Not caring about the uproar, ke cracked his fingers and dashed towards d at lightning speed.


    Zzz Zzz


    ke moved so fast that those at his level were finding it hard to keep up, while those below him could only see his lightning trail.


    "Isn''t he a little too fast for a reinforcer?" A man in the crowd couldn''t help but voice his thought.


    "I have seen a reinforcer in action, they are not as fast as him!"


    "How is he doing it?"


    The crowdpared his speed to reinforcers they had seen before, but little did they know that he was any normal reinforcer, he was one who possessed the Raiju breathing technique.


    Seeing d getting up, ke thought the match had gone on for too long, he decided it was time to end it.


    He spun in front of d and gave him a punch to the abdomen before sending him flying up with an uppercut.


    d who was sent flying was not sure of what happened or if he was hallucinating, but before his mind could form more thoughts, a figure who had arcs of lightning squirming all around him appeared and smashed him to the ground.

 Chapter 44: Who is this kid?

    <h4>Chapter 44: Who is this kid?</h4>


    It was after the judges snapped out of it that announced the winner "ke Wilson winner!"


    "It seems his bloodline isn''t that bad; he was even able to enter the rage mode¡­ I have to report this to Dad, he needs more attention." Bryon turned and saw Hagan one his feat with a shocked expression written all over his face.


    ''What is his talent level? How could he awaken his second element in a short time?''


    ''This speed is clearly faster than a normal reinforcer, but how?''


    Hagan was so shocked by what happened in the match that he didn''t know when he stood up and he had remained like that till the end.


    It was when ke was dered the winner that he came back to his senses and sat down.


    ''Does that mean d would be expelled just like that?'' For a moment he was dazed and couldn''t believe that d lost.


    "That fool, look at the mess he put me into. How will I exin this brother?" Him tampering with the fixtures of the match could be overlooked, but the fact that he tampered with it and d lost was a serious issue.


    He would surely be punished for d had shamed the name of the Nystrom family by losing to amoner twice, but if he ended up getting disqualified it would deal a great blow to their reputation, and Hagan the one who caused this would be punished severely.


    ''I have to do something before it''s toote!'' He began racking his brain for nning, but all of them kept meeting a dead end,


    ''The only one able to alter the results is¡­ Bryon!'' He quickly turned and looked at the prince beside him.


    "Prince Bryon¡­" Hagan was finding it hard to spit his request because he didn''t know how Bryon would react.


    All over the empire, Bryon had a reputation of just, so it was awkward for Hagan to ask for such a request. If not that he had no choice he wouldn''t try it.


    He mustered enough courage and was about to talk, but Bryon cut him off.


    "I will take care of it but the Nystrom family owes me a favor..." Bryon said with a smile on his face.


    Although this was the reply he wished for, he was still taken aback because it was Bryon talking. He didn''t stress much about it and quickly epted the condition, but he couldn''t help but worry about the favor.


    Everyone in the empire knew how smart Bryon was, but the nobles knew more about him, a cunning devil!


    This is one of the main reasons he was a member of the royal guard council and the war chief. Without the use of his power as the son of the emperor, he crushed the enemies that went go against him.


    All Hagan could hope for, was that the favor was not something too difficult.


    "Oh! I know about how you tampered with the fixtures¡­ Don''t try it again." Bryon said with a stern expression.


    His body shuddered when he saw the stern look on his face, he knew that Bryon was dead serious about it.


    Without giving any excuses, Hagan quickly bowed and asked for forgiveness "I am sorry Prince Bryon, this would never happen again."


    Bryon''s stern expression quickly changed to a smile and he chuckled "You have been forgiving, besides I enjoyed the match and discovered something interesting."


    ''Then why make a big deal out of it?!'' Although heined he didn''t dare voice his thought nor show it on his face.


    Sometimes Hagan had a feeling that Bryon was suffering from a mental illness because of his mood swings, but he knew the greatest mistake one would make was to belittle him.


    ''Two left, let''s see how far they have gone.'' Bryon thought as he waved his hand signaling Joan to get to work.


    ¡­


    ''I really hope he gets expelled I can''t have him causing more troubles for me.''


    [I highly doubt it, with the way the fixtures were tampered with, there is a very high chance that his backer would try to save him.] Not even giving him a second, the system quickly shattered this hope into pieces.


    "Thanks a lot, that was just what I needed..." ke said sarcastically.


    [Hehe¡­ Remember I said try. Tampering with the fixtures can be done by someone with high enough authority and that is Hagan, but it is nearly impossible to change the oue of a match.


    Except for the judges and the highest-ranking official, which is Bryon no one can change it, and Bryon a just man, would not allow it to happen.]


    ''That makes sense, but why didn''t you start with that part?'' Ignoring ke''s question, the system chuckled and remained silent.


    "His Royal Highness Prince Bryon has deemed d Nystrom worthy to be admitted into the main school and with this, we hereby dere that d Nystrom has passed the test!"


    "What!" Both ke and the system eximed at the same time. They couldn''t believe what they just heard.


    Murmurs could be heard from various parts of the arena as the judgment was passed, but the crowd quickly settled down. They saw Bryon as a man of equity and justice, so they didn''t have much problem with his decision.


    ke was angry and confused at the same time, well mostly confused about Bryon''s actions. He felt like looking up at his booth and shouting ''What the fuck man!'', but he held himself and began walking off the stage.


    He couldn''t help but look at d who was still unconscious and was being attended to by two healers.


    "He is stable¡­ but some of his internal organs are damaged!" The healers were shocked by the discovery and l looked at the angry ke in a terrified manner.


    ''So much damage! Who is this kid?''


    ''At least that should keep him away for some time.'' ke sighed as he walked into the lobby.

 Chapter 45: Luciano!

    <h4>Chapter 45: Luciano!</h4>


    In the lobby, looking at his burnt clothes and the burn marks all over his body, ke couldn''t help but curse at the healers for not attending to him. "I f*cking won the match, but they neglected me for that guy!"


    [It is only natural for them to attend to an unconscious student who suffered internal injuries than to attend to one who got little burns. By the way, you would still heal up so, stop whining like a kid.]


    Seeing he could not counter the system''s valid points and knowing that his bickering would not get his injuries healed up, ke decided to where the healers were.


    "By the way, what is this rage mode thing?"


    [You already know how the power of fire-based attacks is increased when a pyromancer gets angry, but ites with a great w.


    If the user keeps giving in to the anger and letting it consume him/her, they would end up losing their sanity. When that happens, they would go on a rampage and die because they had used too much power thereby depleting their mana and thereafter soul force.


    But that w can be removed when the pyromancer enters rage mode. The rage mode is a state where the pyromancer is still sane but draws immense power from the rage.]


    "That is kind of overpowered, I like it. How does one enter the rage mode?" ke was intrigued by the rage mode and since he was a pyromancer, if he could enter the rage mode it would be a great weapon added to his arsenal.


    [So na?ve¡­ If the rage mode is that easy to get don''t you think the world would be dominated by those from the fire pathway.] The system scoffed.


    "¡­" ke couldn''t help but facepalm at his stupidity. Since he was summoned, one thing he understood about this world, was that everything was bnced.


    The stronger something was, the more restricted it would be. Just like the space element that was deemed to be the most powerful pathway, it was the rarest that could be awakened. So, something that could boost one''s power tremendously without having side effects could be defined as heavenly.


    "So, what''s the catch?"


    [You finally realized.] ke was pretty sure that the system would be rolling its eyes if it had one.


    [The rage mode can only be unlocked by pyromancers who have at least a rtively pure bloodline, but that doesn''t mean that all who possess pure bloodlines are guaranteed to unlock it. The bloodline is the least requirement, it also needs willpower and a lot of luck among otherplex things that can''t be understood.]


    "Shit! My chances are that low." ke cursed his luck.


    [Ahem¡­ Not to spoil your already bad mode but, you have no chance.] The system chimed in.


    ''Thanks a lot for that.'' ke said sarcastically.


    After he was apologized to by the head of the healing department for being neglected, he was healed so, headed back to the lobby to find out who was next.


    "Next up Karina Parisa versus Luciano Synder!" On reaching there, the magnified voice of the host rang out.


    ''Synder?!'' ke was stunned, he had always thought Luciano was a noble at the same level as Cami, but unknown to him, he had met and even dinned with a golden me user.


    ''I knew my guts were right. He is rted to prince Bryon, but why do I have a feeling that their rtionship is closer than I think.'' Both Bryon and Luciano possessed profound dark-blue eyes that were hard to miss and that gave him the feeling that they could be close.


    ''But what is a member of the royal family doing in Calton instead of the capital?'' ke pondered.


    "You never seize to surprise me, at the training ground and even now. Your performance was truly breathtaking. Congrattions on making it into the elite ss." kes thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice and when he turned it was the one, he was thinking of.


    Luciano!


    ''Speaking of the devil or more like thinking of the devil.''


    "Thanks, but it was all thanks to my opponent being weak." ke was trying to be modest. but that was when he remembered he was speaking to a friend of d.


    ''Shit!'' He couldn''t help but curse when realized his mistake.


    "Hehehe¡­ d will be spitting blood when he hears about this." Luciano felt a little guilty, but he couldn''t stop himself fromughing.


    "Oh! I have to go." Luciano remembered that he had a match.


    "Good luck!" ke watched as he ran off.


    "Well, this should be an interesting match." ke had been itching to see the golden mes that were rumored to be rarer than a phoenix feather, in action.


    He quickly went back to his seat in order to have a nice view of the match, but when he arrived, he noticed people staring at him. From the way they stared, he knew something was up


    ''I know I won the match and I am dashing, but this level of attention is uncalled for.''


    [Seems like you are forgetting something.] The system chuckled.


    ''What?'' It was when he was trying to figure out what the system meant, that he looked down and saw his shirt.


    ''F*ck me!'' ke cursed.


    He had been so excited about the match that he forgot his clothes were burnt in some areas.


    ''Thank the heavens that sensitive areas are not open for public viewing¡­ After this, I have to go change before Castile''s match.'' The stares were making him uneasy but he couldn''t miss this match no matter what.


    ¡­


    Begin!


    When the match was signaled to start Luciano was not even looking at his opponent. He was looking at Bryon''s booth.


    ''Surely the heavens are against me¡­ Out of everyone, I was paired against a member of the royal family.'' Karina was cursing her bad luck.


    But that was when she noticed Luciano''s absent-mindedness. ''He''s not even putting me in his eyes.'' This pissed her off.


    "Look at me damnit!" Karina shouted.


    Karina''s shout brought Luciano''s mind back to the match.


    "Sorry¡­" Luciano said in a low but audible voice as he clinched his fist.


    "Huh?" She never thought that Luciano would apologize to her, but her thoughts were soon proved wrong.


    "¡­but I have to win." he opened his clenched fist and golden mes began pouring out.


    ''Big bro is watching.''

 Chapter 46: Flame grades.

    <h4>Chapter 46: me grades.</h4>


    The golden mes surged forward with a heat so intense, it could incinerate anything in its path.


    "How can he control such an amount of me." Karina was utterly shocked by the unbelievable scene in front of her.


    It was known that the greater the amount of me conjured the harder for it to be controlled.


    That was why students were thought to shape the mes to increase their control over it, but in this case, not only was the quantity conjured absurd for pre-student like him, Luciano hadn''t shaped his mes and the most shocking thing was that he still had control over it.


    Normally when pyromancers cast fire-based spells they can make it take any shape of their choice but once it has been released, the spell''s shape and trajectory can''t be altered. But what surprised ke was that Luciano''s golden mes were not as stiff as regr mes.


    He noticed that sometimes the trajectory of the mes would be altered and the flow felt more natural. Although the alteration was not much, it wasn''t something that could be overlooked because it was an impressive feat for a pyromancer to have such a level of control.


    For a second Karina was entranced by the brilliance of such control and the beauty of the mes.


    It was when the heat of the approaching mes met her skin that she came out of her trance. Thanks to her amazing casting speed Karina quickly conjured two water barriers in front of her, but her actions were for naught because when the mes collided with the wall of water, arge amount of vapor began rising.


    The water barriers were evaporating at an rming rate, but what shocked her the most were the mes that circled the barrier and lunged at her.


    ke was not sure if it was an extra effect for a golden me user or if it was Luciano that had such control over the fire element, but one thing for sure was that he envied it.


    [Although golden mes have some rare effects, control is not one of them. The color of a me does not determine the level of control one has, neither does it grant the user any form of control or mastery. In fact, the higher the grade of me the harder it is for the user to control and master it.]


    "Wait what do you mean by grade of a me?"


    [In the me pathway the strength of one''s me is determined by its purity or hotness and this, in turn, determines the color.


    mes are divided into 6 grades; orange, blue, green, purple, golden, and white mes from weak to strong.]


    ''It is almost the same grading as that of stars, but how does the color of the me rte to the pathway.''


    [Firstly, each grade of a me represents a thing. For example, the green me is what is known as soul me which is able to deal damage to both physical body and soul, but because a star doesn''t have a soul it is will never produce this grade in any stage of its life cycle.


    Coming to your question, the grades of mes have an important role to y when Ites to the pathway. For one to move up the sequence of the fire pathway and obtain Godhood, him/she must refine their grade of mes to white, but that doesn''t mean that those who don''t refine mes won''t move up the sequence.


    They would be able to advance in the pathway but it would be like pushing a stubborn bison past a hill only to discover there were mountain ranges ahead and it is certain that they would never attain Godhood.]


    ''Surely refining one''s me is as easy as it sounds, but you do have the methods, right?''?ke asked in high hopes.


    [Someone is learning quickly, and no I do not have the methods. Remember I am just a wisp of the All-fathers consciousness, there are things which I do not know and also things that can''t be mentioned to you because having knowledge of them would threaten your existence, at least for now.] ke ignored the system''s remark but was worried about the unmentionables the system spoke of.


    ''Shouldn''t I know and prepare against what can threaten my existence?'' ke was confused but he thought this was a more logical approach.


    [No! Someone as weak as you have nothing to prepare for, besides if you were being targeted you wouldn''t even be able to guess how you died.


    For now, you are not on anyone''s radar but once you know of their existence you will surely be. That is why you should get stronger quickly.]


    It was just the same as the rumors of ghosts who ruled countries behind the scene without anyone knowing of their existence, but once they are discovered by an unlucky person snooping around where his nose didn''t belong. He/she will be eliminated and every record of their existence would be destroyed.


    ''In this case, curiosity will definitely kill the cat." ke couldn''t help but shudder as he realized random information gathering could lead to a big problem.


    While ke was lost in his thoughts, Karina had managed to block and dodge but she didn''te out unscathed. All over her body were burn marks ranging from mild to nasty, clearly, she was in pinch.


    ''Shit! This shouldn''t be called a me this is f*ckingva in gaseous state!'' Karina was cursing her luck, the reverie in her eyes had now been reced by fear.


    The mes were so hot that whenever an ember came in contact with her skill they left burn marks on it, if not for her quick casting speed and her element being water she would have been burnt to ashes.


    ''That should be all I need to see.'' Although the match was not yet over ke knew it was only a matter of time before Luciano won. So, he decided to head back to the dorm for a change of clothes because the stares were getting annoying.


    As predicted, the moment he left the arena, Karina fell unconscious due to heatstroke, and Luciano was dered the winner of the match, but unfortunately for him, that was when Castiel walked up the stage.

 Chapter 47: End of the test.

    <h4>Chapter 47: End of the test.</h4>


    ke had thoughts of running back to his dorm, but if someone was to see him running in tattered clothes, it would be very hard for him to exin.


    The dorm was not too far from the arena, even with his reduced speed it would only take him a few minutes tops. Besides with him advancing to the warrior level in both elements his stamina and vitality had been greatly increased.


    When he finally arrived at the dormitory, he was tempted to take a shower because he was feeling dirty, but he knew if he bathed, he would feel weak and might end up taking a ''short nap''.


    "What if I overslept and I was being called to receive my reward and no one answered, only to be found sleeping.


    Not only will I pour away my little reputation into the sewers but it would also be a disgracing thing for the school and I might even get punished or executed based on the empire''s feelings." Just this line of thought alone shattered all the unknown forces that tempted him to take a bath.


    Unfortunately for him, when he returned to the arena, he found out that he missed Castile''s match.


    He asked around and from those who watched the match, Castiel had also unlocked the me element and had easily defeated his opponent who was nothing special.


    ke had miscalcted the time for each game, he had thought Karina would havested at least 5 more minutes before she was defeated but it seemed he had underestimated the power of the golden mes.


    Even the timing of Castile''s match was unexpected, even his opponent was one of those gamblers that wanted to try their luck and gamble their way into the elite ss, but ran out of luck when he met him.


    When he returned Cami''s match was already in itste stage.


    Cami had unlocked the lightning element just like him and this made the random thought of both of them being soulmates pop into his head.


    ''Thinking of it, she is stunning andes from the Karius family what more can a man ask for.''


    [You are truly shameless.] Only if the system had a hand it would have probably been face-palming at ke''s thought.


    Cami''s match was an easy one. Although her lightning reinforcement was not much whenpared to that of ke, her opponent was not that outstanding.


    With her lightning reinforcement and her wless martial art skills, she ranps around her opponent who was not aware of what happened till he was knocked out cold.


    After a few more matches the test ended, and it turned out that only a few numbers above 50 were able to make it into the elite ss.


    ke didn''t know whether tough or cry because the number of students that made it into the elite ss was a little bit below the number of those in the wind griffin dorm that passed the awakening test.


    After all the tests and fights that had urred, the students who had passed either the normal test or the elite test were brimming with joy, while those who were deemed unworthy of being nurtured by the school were weeded out by the judges.


    The set of weak hearted students in this group could be seen wailing their hearts out and the strong ones tried their best to hold back the river from flowing.


    Even those who tried to gamble their way into the elite ss were not left out, they all had one thing inmon and that was them waiting to be evicted the next day by the school staff.


    This would surely be one of the longest nights of their lives, but tragically no one cared about them.


    The event was to be rounded up by the presentation of a gift from the school to the top student in terms of cultivation and that was to be done by the one with the highest authority present in the arena, Bryon.


    As Bryon walked up the stage the entire arena was drowned in thunderous apuds. It was very clear he was a fan favorite of themoners, but the energying from the nobles were quite different.


    Although they were all on their feet and were apuding him, some did have resentments towards him but didn''t have the balls to show it, but this was among the least of his concerns.


    With a smile on his face, Bryon casted a voice magnifying spell before giving his speech.


    "The purpose of this test was to assess and select promising talents so they could be trained and nurtured by this great institution into being the future mages that will rise up to the asion whenever the empire is in need of their services.


    The path to bing a mage is not an easy one, it is a thorny one filled with challenges that will either break or make an individual and this depends on the effort you put in as well as the choices you make.


    Although this is a great victory for you all, remember that this is just the beginning of your journey, so keep working hard and do not relent.


    To those that made it into the main school, congrattions, and to those who didn''t make it, I wish you all the best in your future endeavors."


    Bryon took a short pause as he waited for the apuds to lessen before he continued.


    "It is a tradition for the empire to reward excellence and the good deeds of its people and that also applies for this test.


    This reward will go to only the top position of this test. Not only did he win his match with ease but he also the one with the top cultivation level. ke Wilson, please step up."


    ''Thank the heavens that I decided to change my clothes.'' ke walked up to the stage and bowed.


    "On behalf of the royal family and school, I present this gift to you." Out of thin a Katana appeared.


    ''How did he do that?'' Although ke was bewildered, he didn''t let it show neither did he pause. He immediately went down on his and received the gift, before performing a bow and leaving the stage.

 Chapter 48: He is a monster!

    <h4>Chapter 48: He is a monster!</h4>


    Being the only one in the entirepetition to awaken all their elements in such a short time, ke received a lot of attention from the top families of the empire.


    The fact that he awakened two elements before entering the main school meant that his talent level was off the charts.


    The incidents involving the runic stones was not a hidden thing to the nobles, some of the noble households had taken part in the conspiracy, but all were surprised about his speed.


    He was no noble meaning his talent level was not should have been mediocre or at best average, but what puzzled them the most was that ke was meant to be affected by the runic stones even if the n was discovered.


    Although a mage''s talent level didn''t determine how far he/she would aplish they had alle to the same conclusion that it was better he was tied to their family even if he ended up uselesster in life, rather than bing a powerful tool in the hands of their enemies.


    After receiving the gifts ke was approached by representatives of the top families with mouthwatering offers in order to rope him in, but unfortunately for all of them, they were rejected even without a thought.


    They found him to be quite odd, unlike othermoners his age that dreamt to be taken in and nurtured by one of the top three families, ke didn''t have such dreams.


    Some of the desperate families saw that even if he was approached a thousand times he wouldn''t budge, so they tried to pressure him into joining them, but surprisingly it didn''t work on him.


    Firstly, ke didn''t have any family or anyone that could be used as leverage against and he knew that although Bryon was not officially his back, he knew he was somehow responsible for him and that was why he didn''t care one bit about their threats.


    Even Hagan came in person thinking his presence would have an effect on ke, but ke remained unmoving.


    ''Not only did he put the name of the Nystrom family to shame by humiliating d in front of so many people, putting me in trouble with the heads of the family.


    I would have let bygones be bygones if he epted my offer because he would be of great importance to the family, but he dares reject my offer!''


    "You have truly angered me, it''s time for you to know your ce peasant!" The mana around the room began gathering on arge scale.


    ke felt the change in the air of the room, he began finding it harder to breathe and his body bing so heavy that he felt like he weighed several tons as he sweated profusely.


    ''What is hell happening?! Does he have the space element?'' ke asked the system in a panicking tone.


    [He didn''t awaken the space element neither is he casting a spell, because of the difference in the level he is manipting the mana in the environment to suppress you.] From the tone of the system, it was clear it was thinking of ways to save ke.


    ''Is there anything you can do?'' ke saw he couldn''t even move to talk much of casting a spell, so he put all his hope in the system hoping it would system would pull out its trump cards now that its host''s life was in danger, just like he read in novels.


    [Sadly, there is nothing I can. Even if I could it wouldn''t be of any help because the power difference is too much.] The system said in a dejected tone.


    This brought back the ugly memory of being in the presence of battle angel Alkane, he felt powerless as he could only watch his life slipping out of his hands.


    "Why is the air so heavy?" Hagan shuddered and stopped what he was doing when a familiar voice reached his ears.


    "My prince I was just teaching this uncultured kid how to respect his elders."


    Thud!


    The sound of ke dropping to his knees and gasping for air made Hagan sweat.


    He knew he had gone too far even if it was punishment but didn''t care because no one present could stop him, but his luck was truly rotten for Bryon to stumble in here.


    Hagan knew that Bryon was against the marginalization of themoners by the nobles and to add salt to his injury, Bryon knew about his grudge against ke.


    ''I am fucked.'' Hagan''splexion was when he realized what a huge mistake he had made.


    Literally, he was, there was no way he would not face Bryon''s wraith and if he survived, that was not his only problem.


    His failed attempt to subdue him would also be added to the punishments he would receive when he faced the board of the Nystrom family.


    "Punishment? All I see powerful mage bullying a kid!"


    Bryon''s outburst sent a terrifying aura that washed over Hagan. For a moment he was unable to breathe nor move, it felt like thousands of needles pricking every part of his body.


    "Leave my sight and prepare to receive your punishment!" Just like his mood swings the terrifying aura that was tearing at Hagan immediately vanished.


    "Thank you, Prince Bryon." With his body still trembling in fear, Hagan performed a bowed and left the scene in haste.


    "He is a monster!" Although torture onlysted for a few seconds, it felt like hours to Hagan. Normally things like this were not meant to make him tremble in fear, but while he was in the room, he realized that it was only Bryon''s aura that caused him so much pain.


    Run! Run! Run!... His mind and soul were screaming at him to get as far away as possible, he felt running was the only way that would make him feel safe.


    ¡­


    "Are you okay?" Not caring about the trembling Hagan, Bryon stretched his hand and assisted ke in getting up.


    "Yeah, I think so."

 Chapter 49: End of the test.

    <h4>Chapter 49: End of the test.</h4>


    "Are you okay?" Not caring about the trembling Hagan, Prince Bryon stretched his hand and assisted ke in getting up.


    "Yeah, I think so."


    Prince Bryon looked around the area and saw that those present when themotion urred were quietly leaving.


    Normally he would have punished them for not interfering when amoner was being bullied but he knew they would give the excuse that Hagan was too strong for them to do anything.


    If Bryon went along with punishing them, it would cause some minor issues because their excuse was a valid one and he didn''t see any gain in it.


    "So much for being the top student," ke muttered as he caressed his neck.


    [You weren''t being strangled you were just deprived of air, so why are you touching your neck?] The system pointed out ke''s stupid action.


    ''I don''t know, it''s just reflex .'' ke smiled sheepishly.


    "You really are interesting." ke head Bryon muttering.


    "I am what now?" Because he is from Earth, thatment made him confused and wary, it brought thoughts that made his body shiver.


    ''Shit! What if he has a fetish for young boys?'' ke began thinking of ways he could escape.


    [As if you can do anything, He made that guy tremble in fear by just releasing his aura. If I was you which I thank the heavens I am not, I would brace for impact and hope he isn''t that rough or what you think he is.] The systemughed at his predicament.


    ''You bastard!'' ke cursed the system as he began sweating profusely.


    "No¡­ No is not what you think." Prince Bryon couldn''t help but facepalm when he saw ke sweating.


    "Sorry for my poor choice of words." He felt awkward, but ke was notpletely buying it.


    ke had rxed a bit but he couldn''t help but remain apprehensive towards Bryon. ''What if he wants me to lower my guard before he strikes.''


    [Now that''s dumb and you are being paranoid.] ke simply ignored the system''sment and listened to what Bryon had to say.


    "When I ced you guys in the school, I knew you would surely be outstanding because of the All-Father''s inheritance, I mean who knew that you would find a concealed space filled with lots of natures energy and also attract so much attention." Seeing that ke did not react when his secret was revealed, Prince Bryon made a mental note.


    ''Seems he already knew about Rayzer monitoring him, I truly underestimated the power of the inheritance.'' Bryon pondered.


    At first, ke had no idea that someone was monitoring his every move up until he hadpletely assimted with the All-Father''s inheritance, that was when the system underwent an upgrade and informed him about the spy.


    Seeing that the spy had no ill intentions and knowing he couldn''t do anything about it, ke just feigned ignorance and continued with his daily activities.


    "Luckily, I made a contingency n in case you guys came into the limelight. Currently, the different families or basically everyone would want to know your story and background."


    "Can''t you just tell them I was summoned here by the All-Father?" ke was wondering why they had toplicate things.


    [Too naive.] The system said in a disapproving tone, and from the look Bryon was giving him, he was unknowingly agreeing with the system


    "Wait, does anyone know about your origins?" Bryon asked worriedly.


    Seeing ke shaking his head he sighed and continued.


    "Now to answer your question, the knowledge about the All-Father summoning people is a secret known by few people and their number can be counted on one hand. Besides no one would want the entire world to panic because of an impending crisis that may not even ur."


    "So back to the n. We fixed the problem by feeding both the right and wrong channels the information, that says you three were born in Sck, a vige outside the empire that was recently wiped out by thest beast tide.


    Apparently, you three managed to escape before the vige was overrun by magical beasts and you three traveled through the forests for weeks before meeting me and being taken in into the academy.


    The reason why I added myself to the story is to prevent those that have nefarious ns from getting close to you and to also scare away those that try to further investigate the matter."


    [The simpler the lie, the more believable it is, especially when it is about a destroyed vige.] ke agreed with the system. ''And he is also giving them the impression that he is our backer, I must confess Prince Bryon really is a nice guy.''


    "Thanks a lot for helping us." ke performed a deep bow to show his appreciation.


    "Is there anything you need?" Bryon asked because he was about to leave.


    "Any tips or walkthroughs about the main school?"


    "Well I can''t help you with that, but all I can say is work hard and you will be okay¡­ Till fate brings us together." Bryon''s body burst into mes before disappearing.


    ''That was odd'' He found it weird that Bryon hadn''t forgotten about anything.


    "Oh, I forgot¡­ I won''t be able to meet the other two, so please help tell them about the n." Once again, his body burst into mes and disappeared.


    ''There it was.'' ke smile as he returned to the wind griffin dormitory.


    ...


    The test came to an end, the crowd and guests went back to their various homes, while the students returned to their rooms.


    After satisfying the urge of taking a bath, ke rushed down to the dinning when his belly began protesting for food.


    When he reached the dining hall he quickly ordered his food and located a table that was free.


    While munching down on his food he noticed the eyes of almost everyone in the canteen was on him.


    Somewhere full of admiration, while some envy, and jealousy. None of them affected him nor take away his appetite, especially those of d, rather they made him feel happy.


    "I feel goood."

 Chapter 50: Reaper

    <h4>Chapter 50: Reaper</h4>


    After he was done with his meal ke returned to his room with his hands on his a filled belly.


    "That was great, but please remind me to not try this next time..." ke said with his hands on his bulging stomach.


    [I warned you about the consequences when you were gulping down te after tes like a bottomless hole, but you didn''t listen. Now tell me why I should?] The system shrugged.


    "Don''t me it on me, me it on the hunger. With everything I passed through today, my whole body was devoid of energy so I had to replenish it." ke defended himself.


    [You say replenish?! The 3rd te was more than enough but someone decided to go ahead and eat the 7th te!] The system barked at him.


    "The zed chicken and the?Potato-Topped Casserole were breathtaking, they were calling to me, it was not my fault that they were too good I couldn''t resist..." ke muttered under his breath.


    [Harrumph!] The system shrugged at its host''s gluttony.


    Although ke had gone through a lot, from the battle to Hagan''s ''punishment and to Bryon''s actions that caused him trauma it couldn''t justify his actions, but he decided not to stress it.


    Feeling heavy ke decided to rest a little on his bed before he checked out his new weapon, but soon his sitting position soon changed to a lying position, and immediately his head came in contact with his pillow he was transported to the dreand.


    Having slept all through the night like a newborn baby, ke woke up refreshed ready to start his day.


    The school had given the students that passed the awakening test, a week to recover and organize themselves before they were moved to the dorms in the main school.


    ke had a lot of ns for the week, he still had to spend some time with both Brian and Castiel.


    Although they were not that close, those two were the closest thing to the family since they were from the same. Also, since they were in the same situation it was better, they teamed up and faced whatever came their way.


    After performing his routine exercises, he got ready and headed out for a jog.


    "Please I don''t want to get expelled!" Because every room was were enchanted with soundproof spells that prevent any form of sound get in or out, ke was not aware of themotion that was going on in the hallway.


    He saw staffs escorting some of the students out of the dormitory, while the stubborn and desperate ones were being dragged out. Even one of them had tried to hold on to his leg, but he dodged it at the nick of time.


    ¡­


    After he returned from jogging, he couldn''t wait one more second, he quickly got his hands on his prize. Because he was bewildered by how Prince Bryon made the sword appear out of thin air, he hadn''t taken his time to admire the beauty of the masterpiece.


    The Katana had a jet ck sheathe that was made out of high-quality hide, its hilt was crimson red and had gold iid on it.


    When he unsheathed it, he could feel the sharpness of the de by merely looking at it. All over the de were unknown markings that gave the katana an eerie.


    ke activated the systems scan ability on the de.


    [Name: None


    Quality: High


    Weapon Type: Katana


    Ability: Morph (The sword allows the user to inject mana of any element into the sword in other to increase its fighting capabilities.)


    Owner: None]


    ke couldn''t fully understand both the ability and grade of the katana, but one thing he knew was that it was of high-quality.


    "How good is it?" ke wanted the system''s opinion on the matter.


    [How good? It of it that You just struck gold.] The excited tone of the system took him by surprise.


    [This is the ranking of weapons:


    Mythic grade


    Legendary grade


    Epic grade


    High grade


    Middle grade


    Low grade


    Common grade.


    From normal to middle-grade weapons do not possess special abilities like yours, the highest which they can do is to get sharper when mana is injected into them. But from the high-grade weapons to mythic grade weapons all possess different abilities that make each of them unique.


    As for you, it is a top tier weapon even among other high-grade weapons. High-grade weapons usually possess one ability rted to a particr element, but yours is able to use both elements.


    All you have just need to do is inject the energy particles of an element into the katana and the ability activates, but first, inject you and leave your imprint on the katana and give it a name.]


    "Hmm¡­ Let''s see, I will call it reaper." ke did as he was told and injected his mana and the system notification popped up.


    [Name: Reaper


    Quality: High


    Weapon Type: Katana


    Ability: Morph (The sword allows the user to inject mana of any element into the sword in other to increase its fighting capabilities.)


    Owner: ke Wilson.]


    ke swung the de a few times in the air and before channeling fire particles into it.


    The markings on the began glowing hot red before mes were ignited all around the des. With a few swings, he felt the katana possessed more firepower.


    He stopped channeling fire particles and began injecting that of the lightning element.


    Zzzzg Zzzzg Zzzzg Zzzzg Zzzzg


    The red color of the katana changed to white light and the sound of surging electricity echoed in the room.


    Unlike the fire element that felt more destructive, the lightning element made the de lighter and sharper, he felt it could cut anything it came in contact with or so he thought.


    "Niceee!" ke was truly impressed by the different effects of the sword, but the was when a crazy thought entered his head.


    "I wonder what the effect of the space element would be." Not wasting time, he channeling space particles into the sword.

 Chapter 51: Dimensional space

    <h4>Chapter 51: Dimensional space</h4>


    When mana was injected into the katana, the de, as well as the markings, slightly dimmed, he felt an almost transparent aura that gave out a deathly feeling enveloped the de.


    As he swung the katana ke noticed that for a second the de had disappeared from his sight before appearing when he stopped.


    "What the f*ck just happened?" ke was bewildered.


    [That was the effect of the space element. The gathered space energy around the katana bends the rays of light that fall on it, thereby turning it invisible.]


    "So the effect is a kind of illusion?"


    Hearing ke''s unenthusiastic tone the system added. [That is not all, the katana also gains more cutting power even greater than that of the lightning element.


    If refined space energy was injected into it, the sharpness of the de will enable it to cut through the fabric of space in minute quantities, making its attacks unblockable.]


    "That means I have to advance in realms to be able to cut through space?" ke''s asked excitedly as the thought of gain an overwhelming power thrilled him.


    [But thates with a problem, not all weapons are able to contain such power and that includes this one.


    All weapons below the epic grade will crumble and turn to dust when highly refined energy is poured into them. Even epic grade weapons would receive little damages that would umte over time before they be unusable.


    It is only legendary and mythic weapons that can contain such power without side effects.]


    The system''s bad news was not much bad news to him, because he could get one in the future.


    [¡­] The system wanted to exin to him how rare a legendary weapon was, but it decided not to burst his bubble.


    "Thebat lessons given to us are too basic and general; it isn''t of much help when ites to using a katana. That means I need to make a trip to the library for a weapon mastery book." ke sighed as his to-do list kept piling up.


    ¡­


    "This is odd? All the books I have read so far didn''t mention a single about the effects of space and darkness element on weapons."


    When ke got to the library, he decided to get more info before he began searching for a book on how to fight with a katana in thebat section, but after searching for more than an hour he still couldn''t get his hands on any useful information about the topic.


    [The effects of different elements on weapons are known by most, but not that of rare elements like space and darkness.


    Even if they managed to find someone in space and darkness pathway, they wouldn''t be willing to show the effects to outsiders, because no one would like to put their trump cards on disy for the whole world to see.


    Even those that have faced them and managed to survive, as well as major powerhouses, will keep a tight lid on this information. That is why you haven''t seen anything about them even in the library.]


    "Why¡­" Before he could talk the system interrupted him.


    [Now before you begin ranting, I didn''t tell you about this because I believed if you were lucky enough you would have found something especially on this floor, but it seems you have rotten luck.]


    The system had given not only one but two punch lines that hit his sore spots. He wanted to retaliate by dropping his but what came out of his mouth was. "Who said I was about to rant?"


    [I believe you.] The system said sarcastically.


    ke muffled ineligible words under his breath and decided to end the topic as he couldn''t find a bettereback line.


    After finding a few books on weapon mastery and so on, he borrowed and then returned to his room.


    His n was to grab his katana and head over to the concealed space so that he could practice the techniques mentioned in the book, but that was when he discovered a problem.


    "If people were to see a boy heading into the woods with a sword wouldn''t that be suspicious?" ke began thinking of a way to hide the sword.


    [I can help you with that.] The systems quickly brought him out of his thoughts.


    "How?"


    [I am a wisp of the All-Father''s consciousness doesn''t that tell you I have a dimensional space?] The katana disappeared and reappeared again.


    The system''s little magic trick reminded him of what happened when he received the sword. "Isn''t that what Prince Bryon did?"


    [It''s called a dimensional space.] the system corrected.


    "I had this all along and you didn''t bother to tell?" Finally, the opportunity he had been waiting for had arrived. It was time to get back at the system.


    ke couldn''t believe that the system had perfect excuses for all situations.


    [Firstly, you didn''t ask. Second, you had no use for it until now.] The system chuckled at ke''s ''What the f*ck now?'' look.


    "As my system aren''t you obliged to update me on your new features and abilities?" ke was trying to stage aeback.


    [No¡­]


    The system''s answer shattered his remaining will to fight. Without uttering another word, ke put the katana into the dimensional space and left for the concealed space.


    ¡­


    In the concealed space, after practicing the sword techniques described in the books for two hours straight, ke decided to take a break and catch his breath before he continued.


    "If we are moving to the main school, doesn''t that mean we will have to leave the concealed space?" ke soon realized there was a big problem.


    [Not really, normally most schools do have a quick way for students to move around the environment and that is achieved by the use of warp gates.


    Haven''t you noticed that you haven''t met anyone from the main school except for those in the library?


    It because they have no reason toe in contact with the preschoolers. The only reason you managed toe in contact with them is because of the crest that granted you ess to the upper levels of the library.]


    "Yea, that makes sense." ke agreed with the system.


    "I can''t afford to lose such a treasure..." ke said as he looked at the ancient tree at the center of the concealed space.

 Chapter 52: Fusion of stars.

    <h4>Chapter 52: Fusion of stars.</h4>


    Throughout the week ke had been working his ass off, he went from cultivating to practicing his weapon techniques andbat skills coupled with the Raiju breathing technique. His hands were literally full


    Although his cultivation speed had reduced drastically it was for a good reason. ording to the system, after filling up the first 4 stars connected to him in a diamond shape, for him to advance to the next level he would have to fill up 12 more stars, and realizing he had three elements it meant 36 stars!


    When he heard the news from the system he began thinking if he should just quit because it took a lot of time for him toplete just 4 and he was sure that the more stars he filled the more difficult it would be.


    At first, the system was disappointed by his thoughts of giving up, but he put into consideration that ke was from a that was disconnected from the mana supply of the mother-stream and cut him some ck.


    To raise his spirits again, the system informed him of a way to increase his cultivation speed, and that was by hunting magical beasts and collecting their cores.


    The core of a magical beast contained pure energy, but the amount that could be found in one was dependent on the level of the beast.


    Unlike, the normal process of gathering energy in the environment before absorbing it, the energy was already gathered in the beast core just waiting for it to be absorbed.


    ke loved the n because his cultivation speed will greatly increase and also, he would be able to get some money when he sold the body parts of the beasts, but this n could onlymence when he entered the main school.


    The school didn''t allow preschoolers to leave the premises, but those from the main school were allowed because they had to get funds, herbs, purchase materials, and so on for research purposes. So, he could only bide his time.


    But that didn''t mean he would be idle, because beast cores could boost his cultivation speed didn''t mean the concealed space had outlived its usefulness.


    Rather it could still help him when he ran out of beast cores and also this was still his hideout where he could try out many things without being disturbed.


    But he faced a major problem while cultivating. Every time he tried to absorb energy to fill the 5th start he felt a kind of wall blocking the energy, he tried multiple times but the wall wouldn''t budge


    Luckily for him, he had the system to help him.


    [As you already know the stars can be described as mana storage units and a refining engine, that is why you have stars for different elements to help refine and gathered energy before casting a spell. Normally, they are taken as two separate things, they are not wrong, but when ites to cultivation that approach is wrong.


    If one employs this approach, it would take a long time before they begin to fill up the 5 stars. Now I am going to teach you how to break past this bottleneck, but you have to make sure no one knows you have such knowledge.]


    After ke nodded in confirmation it continued.


    [When infinite realm was in its prime and many masters still roamed thend, this technique wasmon and was learned by all, but since the power level of infinite realm began falling, the technique was no longer taught to all.


    It was deprived of themoners by the nobles in order to maintain their authority and power over them.


    Now, It is only nobles and descendants of great magicians that would know of this technique, so be careful not to spill the beans or you might be in danger.] ke couldn''t help but gulp when he heard the system''s warning.


    [The technique teaches the user how to fuse their stars to be one and once they are fused the user wouldn''t need to fill up 24 stars or 36 in your case, rather they will all act as one entity.


    Now the reason for the bottleneck you are experiencing is that you are about to fill stars of higher quality, so you need mana of higher quality to prate those veins.


    When you fuse both sets of stars in your case 2, an explosive reaction will ur which will increase the abilities of the stars to refine mana, thereby increasing the quality and also opening the block pathways holding you back.


    When the fusion isplete, absorbed mana can now flow freely into these pathways slowly filling up the new set of stars.]


    ke smiled as he listened to the system''s exnation, not only did he understand the theory behind it, but also the horror of filling 36 stars was taken off his mind.


    [My advice is to fuse both the fire and lightning element because these are the elements people know you possess. Then when you get into the school you can then fuse the space element with the rest.]


    "If this technique is not known by all, how are themoners and lesser nobles going to break the barrier?" ke was a bit curious because he knew from the system''s exnation that the technique wasplex and couldn''t be stumbled upon that easily.


    [They would be thought a simr technique in the main school, but it would be of lower effectiveness. Call it more of a hunch rather than a technique.]


    After all his questions were answered ke began the fusion process, because he feared messing things up, he followed the system''s instructions right to thestmand.


    With so many things he had to do; ke was now wishing a day had more than 24 hrs.


    He still kept in mind that he had to pass Bryon''s message to both Bryon and Castiel, just this thought alone overwhelmed him. If not for the fact it was an important information he would have ignored Bryon''s request and continued with his new routine.

 Chapter 53: Something he cant handle.

    <h4>Chapter 53: Something he can''t handle.</h4>


    The thought of having a task yet to bepleted affected ke''s concentration, so he decided to quit postponing his visit.


    He decided to meet up with Brian and Castiel, before returning back to his training. If it was any other person, finding their location would be troublesome because they would have no idea of their room numbers, but with the ability of a locator, it was very easy for him.


    After he fully assimted with the inheritance, the locator''s ability was no longer a game of cold and hot. Now there was a distinct trail he could follow and he also felt a stronger call to the thing he was searching for.


    He first met Brian at the front of his dormitory and after telling him he had an important message to deliver they both banded together and headed for Castiel''s room.


    "Although your ability isn''t much of a help inbat, I must say it is quite impressive." ke looked at him with a stoic expression on his face.


    ke couldn''t lie that the locator ability was useless, but the fact that the ability was useless when it came tobat was dispiriting. This also meant that he had two elements just like the others.


    "No don''t get me wrong, I ain''t mocking you. I am just trying to say that having the ability to find anything you seek is really awesome." Seeing ke''s stoic expression didn''t change, Brian decided to keep quiet until they knocked on Castiel''s door.


    "Come in." With an expressionless face, Castiel let them into the room.


    "I met with Prince Bryon on the awakening day he asked me to deliver an important message¡­"


    After informing them about their supposed identity, they talked about all the necessary information about the they were stuck in. They chatted for a while before they all dispersed and ke returned to the concealed space.


    "Here I was thinking he had a grudge." From the time he spent with Brian and Castiel, ke found out they were both cool.


    The reason he thought there was a grudge between him and Castiel, was because of his usually expressionless face and cold nature, apart from that he was a nice guy.


    ¡­


    The fusion process was a long and painful one. It had to stage; Attracting both sets of stars (One set being above the other) and the other was using arge amount of mana to bind the two together forcing them to merge.


    The first stage followed the principle of electrical charges, stars of different elements will be attracted if the charges were enough.


    For him toplete the process he stars needed to be charged up just like when a spell was about to be cast, but the tricky part was that it needed to be done simultaneously.


    ke had never double-cast before neither did had he thought of it, but because of his greater awareness and his increased control over mana he quickly got the hang of double casting.


    It took ke less than a day to attract both star clusters, although it was a painful process but not something he couldn''t handle.


    It was when he began the second stage that he understood the true meaning of pain. Compared to the first stage that could be considered as a rtively peaceful reaction, the second stage was like a tempest.


    It involved usingrge amounts of energy topress both clusters into one, but this action caused many reactions.


    The action of a huge quantity of mana topress both star clusters, destroy the bnce in the system, and for the system to be able to regain bnce it has to upgrade its capacity in order amodate that level of energy.


    And for that to happen the system would forcefully merge both clusters, thereby increasing its capacity and regaining bnce.


    "Why is it this Painful?!" The pains were so much that his veins were bulging out, hisplexion was red and he was sweating buckets.


    [If a cksmith has two containers but they are small to serve the intended purpose, he would melt both containers and add more alloys before reshaping and letting it cool, so as to improve its storage capacity and durability. This is exactly what is happening to you.


    The only difference is that your refining ability will be increased causing the purity of your mana to increase.]


    Thest stage took him days toplete and during those days he was in hell.


    Once the second stage had begun it couldn''t be stopped, the only thing one could do is to pour mana which will act as a catalyst and speed up the process but that will be apanied by more pain.


    If he stopped pouring in mana the pain would slightly decrease, but it would take a long time before the process waspleted.


    Deciding that it was better to be tortured for a short while, ke gritted his teeth and continued pouring in mana. He passed out multiple times because his body couldn''t handle the pain, but when he woke up, he just continued.


    [I must confess he really is mad.] The system was stunned by resilience, He watched as ke repeated the process pouring in mana till he fainted. He was wondering how a kid who had never been in a life or death situation could possess such tenacity.


    ¡­


    Two days after the fusion process was activated.


    ke was lying unconscious close to the ancestral tree, his whole body was soaked in sweat, but luckily the process was about to end.


    [Here ites¡­]


    The battle for bnce had almoste to an end. When the system had obtained enough capacity, a bnce was obtained and the end of the reaction was signaled by a burst of energy that forcefully tore through all the blocked pathways.


    "Aaahhh!" The unconscious ke was jolted awake by a mind-numbing pain spread through his body. Before slumping and losing consciousness.


    Thud!


    "All preschoolers should please report to the auditorium, tomorrow for a briefing." His uniform''s badge glowed before dimming when the announcement was over.

 Chapter 54: You monster!

    <h4>Chapter 54: You monster!</h4>


    "Uhh¡­" Still feeling a little bit sore and his vision a bit blurry, ke tried to remember what caused him to lose consciousness.


    "If I knew it would be like this, I would have waited for the school''s version... I can only thank the heavens that it''s all over." ke heaved a sigh of relief.


    [Don''t move too much the healing process is going on.] The system warned when it noticed that ke was trying to get up.


    "Process?" ke''s body involuntarily shuddered.


    For the past 2 days, ke had gone through hell and back, he had be scarred by a devilish process that the system didn''t exin in full details.


    [Rx, it won''t cause any harm to you. Because of the energy explosion that urred, the blockages in the pathways were obliterated with brute force causing some damages to your body, but because your body''s refining abilities have greatly increased, the purer mana coursing through your pathways are healing those damages.


    "Mana heals?" ke was stunned by the system''s revtion.


    [Yes dummy, how do you think you get healed after getting injured?]


    "Don''t know, I thought it came with having the space element..." ke muttered


    [You guess is right but not fully, If you noticed the rate at which your body heals is greater than those without the space element.


    It is because of your mana and the passive ability of your inheritance that takes your body back to when you were in your peak, but this is the effect of the time authority in the inheritance, others who awaken the space element won''t have it.]


    "Uhh¡­ How long have I slept?" He looked around and found out it was very early in the morning.


    [14 hours...]


    "What! 14 hours! I have to get back to the dorm." Although he was still feeling a little bit groggy, he attempted to get on his feet, but he fell back due to the pain that paralyzed his body.


    "F*ck!" ke gritted his teeth and cursed.


    [Hold your horses, what do you think the school staff will say when they see a student entering the dormitory so early in the morning, also your body is not in the perfect condition to head back.]


    The system''s word made him realized how much of a problem it would be if he decided to head back.


    Grrr!


    His stomach growled, but having nothing to eat he could only grit his teeth and endure the pain, after all, he had gone through worse in the past days, so what was a stomach ache to him.


    [Oh¡­ I forgot to mention that an announcement requesting all students to report to the auditorium for a brief was made while you were unconscious.]


    "Perfect way to start a day," ke said sarcastically.


    It just dawned on him that he only had two days before he resumed school and he hasn''t gotten any chance to rest.


    ¡­


    After a few hours, ke had recovered enough strength for him to return to the dormitory, going straight for the canteen.


    Everyone that saw him tried to keep their distance, because his eyes were like those of a hungry ferocious magic beast, just waiting to devour anything that moved.


    He noticed their reaction but couldn''t care one bit about them, all he wanted was to put something in his stomach and humans were not on the menu.


    After getting his food ke quickly found a seat before munching down the food. It was when he ordered the fourth te that the system spoke up.


    [Remember when you told me to warn you not to try this again?]


    "Don''t remember saying that." ke tantly denied it.


    [I knew something like this would happen.] The system yed the memory of when he said it.


    "Remind me not to try this again." The system yed the memory of the night he overfed.


    Seeing he could no longer deny the allegation after video evidence was shown, ke resulted in the cheap excuse that the food had already been ordered.


    [So predictable. You can store it in the dimensional space so that will could have itter.]


    "I like my food hot." ke was hell-bent on eating the chicken pot pie in front of him.


    [Dimensional space is outside the time stream, so nothing gets old when ced there.] Knowing how shameless ke could be, the system kept on spitting facts that countered all his excuses.


    "Smartass!" ke cursed at the system after seeing he wasn''t winning the argument.


    [Hmm¡­ Dumbass!] The system retorted.


    After making sure no one was looking ke ced the food into the dimensional space, before heading to his room for a nice hot bath.


    ¡­


    Laying in the bathtub filled with water, ke was using his fire magic to heat the water to the right temperature that was soothing to his nerves.


    "Only if I could take a nap in here." ke sighed as he unwillingly got out of the tube and began preparing for the briefing.


    Although he had gotten energy from the meal and the short rest he had while in the bathtub, his eyes were dull and he was mentally drained, he really needed to take a nap that was not caused my fainting.


    "Let''s just hope there wouldn''t be any long, boring speech or I would fall asleep."


    When he arrived, everyone was seated and principle Lovren was about to begin, so he quickly took a random seat.


    "Good day everyone, before we begin, I would like to congratte you all foring this far, but just like His royal highness Prince Bryon said ''This is just the start of the journey'', so keep working hard and congrattions once again."


    After waiting for the apuds to seize. "The reason why you all have been gathered here is to be briefed about the main school.


    Firstly, you all are aware that you shall be moved to the castle where new rooms will be allocated to you. For those in the normal ss, you all shall be allocated to normal rooms, while those in the elite ss would be allocated to customized rooms.


    The customized rooms would be based on the specializations chosen by the student and that requires you to pick your specializations by tomorrow. That brings me to the second point."


    As principal Lovren spoke, a list containing all thepulsory and specialization courses appeared in front of them.


    "The list before you containspulsory courses as well as specializations which you are required to pick not less than two. You are free to pick more than that but two is the rmended number."


    ke took a look at the specializations. Among the long list of specializations, only 5 courses caught his attention and they were;


    *Healing


    *Forging


    *Alchemy


    *Beast taming


    *Array masters


    "I thought only those from the light and water pathway can be healers, is this here?" ke had read a few books about healing books in the library, but they never mentioned anything about elements outside water and light being able to heal injuries.


    [Not really, when one goes higher in level, they would be able to heal injuries no matter the element, but the only downside is that they won''t be as proficient and effective as water or light.]


    ke was stunned by the revtion, he found it hard imagining cing fire on an injury and it would start recovering. It defied all thews of physics.


    [Well, magic defies thews of physics.] ke nodded in agreement.


    [From observation this is a general list contain all the courses not regarding one''s element. So, you are expected to pick one rted to your elements.]


    "That means healing is scratched and also beast taming since there isn''t much need for it, but I would really have liked to know how it feels talking to a beast."


    [You don''t have to worry I can teach you that¡­ Do you know I once had a pet dragon?] The system said in a smug voice.


    "I thought the dragon race is a race of prideful reptiles who are innately more powerful than humans, so how did you do it?" ke asked with a hint of disbelief in his tone.


    [They would be mad if they heard someone calling them reptiles and don''t you underestimate me, I am the All-Father after all.


    Long story short, I killed its parents and took their dragon egg. When it hatched it took me as its father.]


    "Dragons be sentient and wise when they mature, so how did you exin its missing parents."


    [Simple, I told him its parents died when they were ambushed by an enemy. When I arrived they were dead and after killing their murderer I saw the egg and decided to take him in.]


    "You monster!" ke almost screamed out but managed to hold it in.


    [You didn''t hear the full story and your judging¡­] The system said in defense.


    "Alright tell me the full story."


    [Nope I can''t, it contains information that you are not meant to know at your current power level.]


    "Then why bring up the story if you won''tplete it?"


    [Didn''t expect you to ask so many questions.] The system replied.


    With the conversation ending in an awkward manner, ke''s attention returned to the list.

 Chapter 55: Briefing.

    <h4>Chapter 55: Briefing.</h4>


    "Which specializations do you rmend for me?" Having little knowledge about specializations ke thought it was best for him to get the system''s opinion before making a decision.


    [I rmend forging because your fire and lightning element will y an important role and also you would learn how to craft items that would aid when you go hunting for magic beasts.]


    "And also, dimensional amulets." ke chimed in. Ever since he saw Bryon bring out Reaper from his dimensional amulet his interest had piqued and although he had one, he still wanted to know the mystery behind it.


    [Yes, and don''t interrupt. For a forger to be able to make a dimensional amulet, they must possess sufficient knowledge about arrays and the same goes for any good forger. The reason why I rmend knowledge of arrays over alchemy is that itplements forging and it doesn''t need mastery of any element.]


    The system rmendations were based on the specialization''s usefulness and his elements, after cross-checking the rest on the list and not seeing any better, he decided to go with the system''s rmendations.


    After giving the students some time to take a look at the principal Lovren spoke up. "As you were told, those in the elite ss would receive greater benefits than those in the normal sses.


    These benefits include; receiving advance lessons, their customized rooms as mentioned earlier, they would be given more opportunities to get points when they are sent out on missions and more resources."


    "A number of resources would be given to everyone, but the quantity will be determined by the student''s ranks. Both the elite and normal sses have ranks of their own, and they will be determined by each students'' points and efforts¡­"


    Principal Lovren''s words caused a lot of murmuring, in turn, it caused the hall to be noisy. ke couldn''t help but notice how those in the elite ss were being red at, and he got most of them because he was the top student.


    ''Well, this would be troublesome.'' ke couldn''t help but worry about the consequences of the principal''s decision.


    Although he knew the decision was made in other to boostpetition, ke knew many a time this would result in an unhealthypetition which could lead desperate students into sabotaging their fellow students.


    "Ahem¡­" hearing principal Lovren clear his throat, the hall became quiet and the feeling of being red at vanished.


    "Before I was interrupted, points can be gotten in many ways; they can grant by your professors based on your performance in your sses and when you defeat both those greater and lower in rank.


    To exin thest part, those lower in rank can challenge those above them and not vice versa, if you get beaten by the student higher in rank, they would receive pointspensating them for their time wasted and the would points be taken from yours.


    This is to prevent those who are overambitious from trying something stupid, but if you manage to defeat the high ranker, you will take his position, and he would take yours. Also, the points you receive would be greater." When principal Lovren mentioned this part, the entire hall burst out with killing intent.


    ''Jeez!'' ke was unfazed by the killing intent released, but from what was going on his prediction would soone to pass.


    Their actions didn''t go unnoticed by principal Lovren as he reprimanded them. "The purpose of this system is to instill the spirit ofpetition into each and every one of you, so as to prevent anyone from cking, but if I get any reports that someone tried to or seeded in sabotaging his/her fellow student they would be punished severely and may get expelled depending on the magnitude of the sabotage."


    The atmosphere in the hall began settling once they heard Principal Lovren''s warning.


    "Your ranking had already been determined by your performance in the awakening test and that means number 1 is ke Wilson, 2 Luciano Synder, and 3 Damon Wayne, the rest can go check out theirs.


    The number of students in the elite ss totals 63, that means the ranking for the normal ss begins at 64." Principal Lovren said in a t tone nothing caring about the murmurs.


    ''He didn''t care to even mention our numbers.'' Those in the normal ss inwardly cursed at the principal for making them look inferior, but none of them dared to speak out.


    "Now for those that already have ns for challenging the number 1 that won''t be possible. You can only challenge those 20 ranks above you, but that doesn''t apply to the top 10 rankers.


    For you to challenge them you have to be in nothing below rank 15 and for those in top 10, no one can challenge rank one without beating the 2nd position."


    "Curse you."


    With his heightened senses, ke could hear students around him were cursing at the principal for foiling their ns. When he saw this, he couldn''t help butugh at their wishful thoughts.


    One thing they didn''t understand was that each and every one of those in the elite ss, weren''t there because they could just cast a spell, but because of their techniques, mastery over their element, and talent.


    If just anyone got into a fight with the students of the elite ss, they would be used to wipe the floor.


    ''Well that takes a lot of pressure off me, wouldn''t want to be drowned by challenges.'' ke heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Finally, on this point, each student has a number of challenges he/she can give out or receive and that is 5.


    I would like to advise those at the top of the ranks especially those in the elite ss not to ck because your position can be taken away from you."


    "Lastly, I would be talking about the assessment that would be given to those in the elite ss and the trimester exams.


    In the Calton magic school, we don''t train magicians that know only theories of magic and nothing about the practical aspect. That is why you would be given assessments that train you to adapt to any situation that one may find him/herself in and that also means points will be awarded to those that perform well.


    As for the trimester exams, it would be as unpredictable as always, so please prepare for any situation, because points gotten from the exams would make arge impact on your final scores.


    The Calton magic school is not a ce meant forzy students, so work hard because if you don''t get enough points from the ss activities, assessments, and exams, you won''t be given the opportunity to repeat the year rather you will be expelled."


    "What!" Exmations could be heard from all around the hall but before they could protest principal Lovren dismissed them.


    "See you all in the main school. Dismissed!" Principal Lovren vanished from the hall.


    "From what he said about switching points when a high-ranking student was defeated by someone lower, doesn''t that mean all the points one gets from their ss activities and assessment would be gone just like that." After thinking over what principle Lovren said he was shocked.


    [It is that bad as you think. This is a way to prevent people from cking and also after the first two weeks when challenges would be rampant, the true ranking wille to the limelight and after that, their would-be rtive peace for some time.


    You don''t have to worry much because the only person that can be of a threat to you is the Synder guy.]


    "Isn''t that bad?" ke couldn''t help but be apprehensive about Luciano''s mes.


    [Not at all. It will be a tough match, but if you go all out you would surely win the match and since he is strong it would be difficult for anyone to get to you by defeating him.]


    "Hmm¡­ Never thought of it in that way." ke said as he stood up and decided to head back.


    ''Isn''t that Cami? What did I do to anger her?'' When their eyes met ke noticed that she frowned a little bit and was wondering what wrong he had done.


    Being confused about what was happening, ke decided to approach her.


    "Hey, beautiful!" ke''s words attracted the attention of people nearby, which consisted of both people who were secretly crushing on Cami and those who hated his guts.


    There was a lot of hate in the air, but when he saw her gorgeous brown eyes, he quickly forgot about them.


    "That''s my line..." Cami said with her cheek turning bright.


    "So why the long face?"


    "Nothing just wanted to get your attention." While holding his hand and leaving the hall which had suddenly turned silent.


    "¡­" He was stunned by the answer, but soon notice that there was something wrong with the hall.


    ''Oh, f*ck.'' ke couldn''t help but curse because almost everyone was looking at them. It would have been nice if it was a normal time but her action of holding his hand was like adding salt to his wounds.


    He was in a rough situation, he received lots of hate for being the number 1 and getting her a lot of her attention, but now her, holding his hands was adding gasoline to the fire.

 Chapter 56: Main school.

    <h4>Chapter 56: Main school.</h4>


    ''Oh, f*ck.'' ke couldn''t help but curse because almost everyone was looking at them. It would have been nice if it was a normal time but her action of holding his hand was like adding salt to his wounds.


    He was in a rough situation, he received lots of hate for being the number 1 and getting her a lot of her attention, but now her, holding his hands was adding gasoline to the fire.


    "What was that for?" ke had a feeling that Cami was trying to set him up.


    "Wanted you to walk me back to the dorm..." Cami said as she made puppy eyes.


    "¡­" ke didn''t know what to say, he wasn''t sure if it was a good thing or a bad one.


    "Why are your eyes so dull, having you been staying up all night." He had tried hiding the signs of his mental fatigue with a smile, but he had underestimated her ability to notice little details.


    "Emm¡­" He didn''t know how to tell her he had multiple long naps without putting the unconscious part.


    "That exins a little bit about how your speed is outrageous¡­ Seems you are a workaholic." Cami pondered aloud.


    "¡­" Once again, he didn''t know how to exin his cultivation speed without mentioning the concealed space, he wasn''t even sure if he was meant to speak, all he did was stay silent and let Cami''s imagination answer.


    "What do you think about the ranking system?" Cami wanted to get his opinion.


    "Well, I for one think it''s a good system that punishes those that ck, but it will surely lead to an unhealthypetition that will put a lot of pressure on the students." ke gave his honest opinion.


    "You are talking about the effects on others, what of you?" She looked at him with an expectant face.


    "It does put some pressure on me, but not that much since only the second position can challenge me." ke was not sure why she was excited but he knew she could also be a challenger for the top spot and could never trust anyone even if they were damn beautiful.


    There were two ways for him to put pressure on his challengers. One was to make himself look confident and strong so as to scare away people.


    It was good against the timid once and those low in rank, but he wouldn''t be facing timid ones in the elite ranks because everyone there was truly elites and his n would only make them prepare more and never underestimate him.


    That was why he was going with the second which was to look weak and pressured so that his opponents would underestimate making lessen their guard when they went against him.


    Just like the first n it wasn''t full proof because it would only work on his first few opponents before the rest would figure it out and prepare. The silver lining was that he would use the time of their preparation to get ahead of them in leaps and bounds after using the beast core to cultivate.


    "Well, the pressure wouldn''t be that much whenpared to people like us." Cami sighed.


    "What''s your rank?"


    ''Oh fuck!'' It was at this moment that ke knew he fucked up.


    "Wait, you don''t know my rank? You jerk!" Cami shouted in fury.


    ''Me and my big mouth.'' ke felt like facepalming for his stupid mistake, but he felt she would interpret it in another way.


    ''But I am not obligated to know your rank, by the way, am I her boyfriend? Or am I?'' Their rtionship was a confusing one, with the amount of attention she is giving him, she might be interested in him, but it could also mean he has been friend-zoned.


    ''Seems this is a universal constant; women are hard to understand.'' ke sighed and decided to stop thinking about the mystery that was girls because the more he thought of it the more confused he became.


    Still fuming with anger and unwilling to talk, silence reigned throughout their journey to their dorm.


    When they finally arrived in front of the wind griffon dorm, ke decided to be the bigger person by apologizing.


    "First up, I am sorry for being insensitive and please tell me your rank so this won''t happen again," ke said sincerely because he didn''t want this escte.


    "I am the fifth rank." Cami scoffed.


    "That''s great!" ke was surprised that she was very close to the top.


    "It would have been if I didn''t have to tell you!" Cami stomped her feet as she left.


    ''Another wrong move¡­ The life of an introvert suits me better because I suck at this.'' ke clicked his tongue and shook his head.


    After submitting his selected specializations ke had a free day to do whatever he wanted. Normally he would have gone straight to the concealed space for more training without a thought, but with what he had passed through in thest two days coupled with his mental fatigue ke decided to take a break.


    He returned to his hot bath and when he was done, he went straight only waking up when it was time to eat, and even after that, he returned to sleep.


    The next day ke woke up with the vitality of a horse, all his injuries were healed and his mental fatigue was no longer weighing him.


    He was so happy that he didn''t know when he began humming a happy tune and it was because this was the day they were to be moved to the main school.


    The reason they were to be moved a day before their break psed was that the school wanted the students to get familiar with their environments. No one would want to miss their first ss and be on bad terms with their professor right from the first day all because they didn''t know the venue.


    After breakfast and giving the students some time to pack their stuff, they were warped to the main school in batches.


    The first batch was of course the elite ss, before the students in the normal.


    "One can get used to this." ke knew the school''s way of doing things made those in the normal ss feel inferior, but why would he refuse such a wonderful treatment when he knew if given the chance, they wouldn''t think twice before removing him.


    Those in the normal ss were inwardly cursing the school for making them look inferior, but once they came in front of the warp gate that leads to the main school all that went out of their mind, as they adored the beauty of the warp gate.


    A warp gate is one of the by-products of forging and knowledge of arrays. The Use of knowledge of arrays is to enable the forger to embed an array that can produce a burst of energy able to cut through the fabric of space and time, and also to embed another one which willpress the distance between the entry point and exit point into a device that will help stabilize the path made.


    Opening a warp gate requires precision and zero errors, because of the anything were to cause an imbnce it would cause the path made to copse, trapping those within in the void.


    This is why only those that could open a warp gate without endangering the lives of people were few, that was why entering a warp gate was not like your everyday magical experience because finding one outside important buildings was hard.


    Being the first time for most of the students including nobles they were entranced by its mystery.


    They all appeared in front of a magnificent castle bigger than any building they had seen before. Even the castle at the center ring of the city couldn''tpare to this in terms of size.


    They stepped into another warp gate that brought them to the first floor, because the castle didn''t have stairs, rather they used warp gates for movement.


    All 6 floors of the castle were meant for each year and those that are not in the year the floor was meant for couldn''t warp into it.


    This was an approach the school used to tackle the cases of seniors bullying and extorting from their Juniors that came over the years.


    When they warped into the first floor, the students were stunned by howrge the floor was.


    The first floor was more than the size of a vige. It housed the amodation of the entire preschoolers, different sses for both the normal and elite sses, their different specializations, and lots more.


    Those in the elite sses were allocated to their customized room just like principal Lovren had told them.


    When ke stepped into his room he was stunned by the amount of space it contained. The customized room had three times the space of his previous room and even the bed was a double bed.


    "Why would they give a student a double bed? Unless..."

 Chapter 57: Downgraded magic schools

    <h4>Chapter 57: Downgraded magic schools</h4>


    The first floor was more than the size of a vige. It housed the amodation of the entire preschoolers, different sses for both the normal and elite sses, their different specializations, and lots more


    Those in the elite sses were allocated to their customized room just like principal Lovren had told them.


    When ke stepped into his room he was stunned by the amount of space it contained. The customized room had three times the space of his previous room and even the bed was a double bed.


    "Why would they give a student a double bed? Unless..."


    "Before I jump to a conclusion, the system does the school allow¡­ you know?" ke asked with a mischievous smirk.


    [We are the only ones in the room so you don''t have to make signs and speak in codes.] The system pointed out. [There is nothing in the rules that is against it, so yes it is allowed.]


    ke would have grinned but when he realized he didn''t have a girlfriend and considering the fact that he wasn''t very social, he could only sigh and continue checking out his room.


    At the top right corner of the room were a bookshelf and a reading desk made out of hard wood. The door on the right side of the room leads to the bathroom 2 times better than that of the dorm, but inferior to the breathtaking one at the pce


    On the left side of the room was the door that leads to the area customized for his specializations. Eager to see the modifications he quickly went through the door.


    The room had a length of 4.27 meters and a width of 4.87 meters. At the far end of the room was a magical furnace that ran on mana and an anvil with a hammer on it.


    At the center of the room was a perfect circle of a radius of 13.5 inches. On the inside, the circle was unknown symbols which ording to the system, were meant to enclose the array that was being drawn in case of any mishaps or explosion.


    "The school didn''t spare any expenses." ke was looking at the pieces of equipment in the room like a kid that had found a new toy to y with


    From the little information about forging that he got while reading random books in the library, he knew that pieces of equipment were of at least standard quality.


    [You don''t even know most of their names and functions, so don''t act as if you know their worth.] The system sneered at his words.


    "I may not know their uses, but one thing for sure I have an eye for the good stuff." Hearing ke''s self praises the system rolled its eyes.


    After he was done checking out his room, ke rested a bit before nning to explore the humongous castle.


    Standing in front of his room, ke looked down the endless corridor as thoughts of getting lost entered his mind. "How do they expect students to know the entireyout of this floor without getting lost. A tour or a?map would have been nice."


    "Well the earlier I beginning exploring the better, wouldn''t want to bete for the first ss tomorrow." He sighed.


    [Why do you want to explore when you have a map?] The system asked with a puzzled tone.


    "A map? Where?" ke was shocked.


    [How did you not see it on the bookshelf?]


    He went into his room and went straight to the bookshelf where he saw a brown thick cover book with the title ''Calton Magic School.''


    "Didn''t see that here." ke scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.


    "Well, this will save me a lot of time and energy." With the help of the book, ke wouldn''t have to stress himself by walking around the entire first floor.


    [Just flip to the section containing the map, I already know about the rules and regtions.]


    "You''ve never read the book before so how do you know about the rules and regtions." Being a wisp of the All-Father''s consciousness it was meant to know a lot of things, but for the fact that it knew so many little details about the school made many questions to arise.


    [Because I designed the school''s and their systems¡­ Well the full me.] ke was stunned by the system''s revtion.


    "Wow! I thought as the All-Father you won''t be involved in matters of the races."


    [You are correct but this was done before I became the All-Father.] The system replied.


    "¡­" The system dropped another bombshell that forced ke to take a sit.


    Seeing that ke was confused the system decided to exin.


    [Not everyone knows this but as my host, you should know.


    The role of the All-Father changes when the present All-Father dies, also the one to take over the position of the All-Father is chosen by the will of the Mother-stream and that means it can be from any race.]


    The system''s words were meant to rify his confusion, rather it further confused him.


    "Being the All-Father means being the strongest and that means no one can beat him, so what do mean by the All-Father dying? Isn''t he meant to be immortal?"


    [No one is immortal that includes both God''s and the All-Father, except for the mother-stream everything has an end. The reason why they are thought to be immortal is that have an elongated lifespan because of cultivation.


    Compared to that of God''s, the lifespan of the All-Father is way greater, and this is because of the will of the mother-stream.]


    It took ke some time for him to digest the load of information the system just gave him before he signaled it to continue.


    [So back to the school. Before I became the All-Father, that was long before the Azeroth war and these current empires. I was the strongest human and then leader of the entire human race, I devised and invented many things that helped the human race rise in power, and the magic school''s and castles were part of them.


    But from what I can see from this map, this is not my design, rather a very downgraded version.] At the ending of the exnation, the system''s tone changed to a pondering one.


    [I am not even sure of how much time has passed since the Azeroth war, but I have a few guesses why this castle is so downgraded.


    The most usible exnation is that the empire can''t afford it. Putting a civilization''s cycle into?Consideration, the infinite realm is in the low cycle which means resources aren''t thatpared to its peak, hence downgraded facilities.] The system exined with a hint of sadness in its voice.


    "Is the low cycle a bad thing?" ke noticed his sadness, so he tried to know the problem.


    [Not really. The most dangerous part of a''s cycle is the lowest part, if some factors are not put in ce the might be destroyed because it is much more vulnerable at this point.]


    "So how do we save it?" The words of the system made him have an idea of his ''purpose''.


    [By getting strong¡­ With your strength you won''t be able to change or save anything.]


    A me of determination was lit in his eyes. Finally, he had gotten an idea about his mission.


    "Just wait for me mom!"


    ¡­


    After taking his bath and using the system''s map to navigate his way to the canteen, ke returned to his room and began the fusion process for the space element.


    The system mentioned that the early part of their stay in the main school will be an all-out war to disce those at the top. The fusion process will make him feel constant pain and also weak him, but this was the perfect time to start the process.


    The only person that can beat him was Luciano, but because everyone was still new and will try to know how things were done it would take a few days before they would begin challenging each other like maniacs, giving him time toplete the fusion process.


    Also from his interactions with Luciano he had been able to understand his nature. It seemed he didn''t care much about his ranking as long as it was not low and with Luciano''s level of smart''s ke was sure he would be apprehensive of him and won''t challenge him without proper preparation.


    **********************************************************************************


    Authors note:


    Hey guys, about the change in title and cover art. I?filled the form some days ago, but still don''t know why it is taking so long.


    The title I to be done by webnovel and the cover art is to be done yours truly, so immediately it is changed I''ll handle it.


    Also, I would like to know what you guys think about the book so far and it will be much appreciated if you tell me what I am doing so that I can improve.

 Chapter 58: Mana shackles

    <h4>Chapter 58: Mana shackles</h4>


    ke began the fusion process, but this time he wasn''t nning on pouring in mana like a maniac. He nned on only adding mana at the end of the day and that was when he was about to sleep.


    The next day marked the end of their break and the beginning of their first year in the school.


    ke woke up feeling a bit sore because of the constant pain that came from the fusion process, but having survived thest fusion process that was more than twice his current pain, ke had developed a thick skin for pain and wasn''t disturbed much by the pain


    He had woken up early but he had no ns of attracting the professor''s love or hate to himself, so he decided to wait a little bit so that he could seat in the middle.


    He wanted it to be in incognito mode just like when he was back on earth. The front of the ss was upied by the serious students and the middle rows were overlooked by the teachers because their eyes were mostly on the notorious backbenchers.


    The first lesson of the day was the non-elemental magic ss and it was one of thepulsory lessons that the elite ss took separately from the normal ss. In this type of ss, they would have a different professor, and their lessons would be advanced whenpared to the normal sses.


    He got to the ss on time and after taking a seat in the middle and waited for the professor to arrive.


    He looked around the ss and noticed that cliques had already been formed even though they came from different dormitories. People like him, Castiel, Damon, Brian, and surprisingly Luciano were not part of any cliques.


    A warp gate appeared in front of the ss and a slim man in his 40''s came stepped out of it. He had brown hair, amber iris, and normal facial features. His most distinct feature was his cheerful smile that made a good first impression.


    "Good day kids. I am professor Gibson; your homeroom teacher and I will be taking our all on Basic magic." Professor Gibson said as he looked around the ss noting everyone''s reaction.


    ''He is as friendly and unbiased as they say.'' ke was excited when he didn''t see any form of contempt in professor Gibson''s eyes.


    "Before we go into the topic of the day, I would like to exin my role as your homeroom teacher. I will be in charge of your tests and assignments, that means I have the power to evaluate and grade your performance." Professor Gibson exined.


    "For this lesson, I will be giving you an introduction to the topic of non-elemental magic. Non- elemental magic is also known as arcane magic and it is the opposite of elemental magic." He looked around to make sure he got everyone''s attention before he continued.


    "The difference between elemental magic and arcane is the involvement of stars when casting spells.


    For example, before a pyromancer casts a fireball spell, he/she has to draw mana into their stars which refines it and converts it into fire energy. The fire energy gets shaped by the pyromancer, and once it is released, you have a fireball." He exined while pacing around the ssroom.


    "But for arcane magic, it involves the maniption of mana to perform things just like this." A glowing cube made out of mana formed on his fingertip.


    Professor Gibson saw that some of the students were impressed but some saw it as petty tricks.


    "Yes." Professor Gibson gave a noble at the back permission to ask a question.


    "What is the use of petty tricks when you have this..." The noble kid grinned as he conjured a ball of me in his palm.


    "Arcane magic isn''t a petty trick, if not we wouldn''t be teaching it." Professor Gibson said as the glowing cube left his fingertip and moved towards the noble kid.


    On getting close to the fireball on his hand, the cube erged and covered his hand severing the mana supply and draining the energy of the spell, hence causing the fireball to dwindle in size before it was extinguished.


    "Minus 20 points for casting a spell in the ssroom without permission." Professor Gibson said while canceling the spell.


    "What the f*ck!" The noble kid protested.


    "Minus 50 points for cursing. For those who haven''t read the rules and regtions, please do so in order to avoid unnecessary deduction of points."


    "¡­" In fear of losing more points the kid sat down and inwardly cursed his stupidity.


    (AN: Sorry, I made a mistake about the points in earlier chapters and it will soon be corrected. Points don''t affect one''s position neither will it be exchanged when a high ranker is defeated, rather it can be used to exchange for resources and will be used to determine one''s score at the end of the trimester.)


    "As you have seen, arcane magic isn''t petty tricks It has many uses like levitation, mana st, and so on." He looked at the kid with a smirk on his face.


    "Before the sses to an end, any questions?" Professor Gibson asked while looking around the ss


    "Yes." He said to ke who put up his hand.


    "Professor Gibson, the spell you just used does it drained the mana of anything it encloses?" ke asked.


    "Nice observation, plus 50 points." Professor Gibson chuckled.


    "The spell is called mana shackles, and yes it drains the mana of anything it encloses, but sadly it is not meant for your level." Professor Gibson said apologetically.


    ''At least it is better than nothing.'' ke thought.


    There were no more questions after that of ke, so professor Gibson dismissed the ss and left through a warp gate.


    ''I must say that was an interesting ss, even if I can''t learn it, with your help I would be able to make at least a lesser version of it.''


    He had expected the ss to be as boring as those back on earth, but surprisingly it was so interesting that it took his thoughts of the constant pain that afflicted him.


    Seeing the ss hade to an end and it was time for lunch, ke stood up and left for the canteen.


    Unlike their special sses that only had the elite ss in attendance, the canteen was for everyone in the first year, and like everything in the castle, it wasrge.


    "Let''s see what''s on the menu." ke was always excited when it was lunchtime especially since he got into the main school, his love for food was among the reasons, but it was mostly because of the main school''s system of serving food.


    When he was in the preschool, they had to stand in line because to get their food, but now all he had to do was touch the orb at the center of the six-seater table to check the menu before making an order.


    "Now no one will know the number of servings I have eaten." ke grinned as the aroma of the turkey and roasted Sweet Potato Risotto, wafted into his nostrils.


    ¡­


    After having his fill, ke headed for the next ss, which was his forging specialization ss.


    "I thought it''s meant to be in the forge, so why does the schedule say ssroom." He confused about the venue, but he decided to follow the schedule.


    When he got to the ssroom, he was disappointed to see that it was abined ss. He didn''t like crowds because a lot of things could go wrong.


    A few minutes after he was seated, a warp gate opened in front of the ss and a short, muscr man that was in his fifties stepped out. His hair was gray and stered on his face was a frown.


    From that look alone ke knew that forging ss would be a bumpy ride.


    "I am professor Tacitus, and I will be handling forging specialization." Professor Tacitus nced at the students with contempt written all over his face before he continued.


    "Some of you may be wondering why we are having a forging ss in a ssroom instead of the forge, well the answer is that you all are wimps. If you wimps are taken to the forge there will be multiple explosions before the ss is over.


    That is why you have to be educated on what and what not to touch in the forge." Professor Tacitus said while ring at the students.


    ''What a temper! The only good thing is that his anger is generalized and not on a particr group.'' ke thought.


    "Hey, you stand up!" Professor Tacitus pointed at ke with his frown deepening.


    ''How did he know what I was thinking.'' ke was surprised by the professor''smand.


    "Not you, the one behind you." ke turned and saw a noble kidughing behind him.


    ''Phew¡­ that was a close one¡­ I almost thought he could read minds.'' ke was sweating balls; he couldn''t help but heave a sigh of relief when he was told to sit.


    "What''s so funny!" Professor Tacitus stared at the kid with a soul-chilling gaze.

 Chapter 59: Warp arrays.

    <h4>Chapter 59: Warp arrays.</h4>


    "Hey, you stand up!" Professor Tacitus pointed at ke with his frown deepening.


    ''How did he know what I was thinking.'' ke was surprised by the professor''smand.


    "Not you, the one behind you." ke turned and saw a noble kidughing behind him.


    ''Phew¡­ that was a close one¡­ I almost thought he could read minds.'' ke was sweating balls; he couldn''t help but heave a sigh of relief when he was told to sit.


    "What''s so funny!" Professor Tacitus stared at the kid with a soul-chilling gaze.


    "I¡­" The kid was sweating buckets, he couldn''t deny the fact that he wasughing neither did he want to rat out his friend that cracked a joke about professor Tacitus''s height.


    Although professor Tacitus had seen both the kid and his friendughing, he couldn''t hear their conversation so, he called up the kid to tell him. If he denied not talking more points would be deducted, and even the kid told the truth the points will be deducted if the joke involved him, but no matter what they did they will have their points deducted.


    Seeing the kid was not ready to talk, professor Tacitus decided not to waste more time on them. "Minus 300 points for you and your friend."


    The professor''s actions caused the students to begin murmuring, but Tacitus''s eyes were on the kid who looked like he was trying to make a difficult decision.


    "Is there anything you would like to say in your defense?" Professor Tacitus gave the kid the little push he needed to spill the beans.


    ''Why should I get punished when he was the one that cracked the joke. This is my chance to vindicate myself¡­'' The kid saw the professor''s words as a chance to save his skin or so he thought.


    "He was the one that was making fun of your height, why do I have to get punished." The kid''s confession shocked the life out of his friend that was beside him, as well as the whole ss.


    Instead of flying into a rage just like ke had predicted, professor Tacitus made an evil grin that gave ke the creeps.


    "Make that minus 700 for saying such a thing about your professor and for you, minus 500 points forughing at the joke." Professor Tacitus felt satisfied when he saw the dread on the faces of both kids.


    ''Not only does he have a temper, but he is also both ruthless and cunning.'' ke couldn''t help but feel sorry for them, this was the first day of school and the point bnce was already running in minus.


    ''Rich kids never know the rule of the streets "thou shall not snitch", they only want to save their skin.'' ke wasn''t so surprised as the rest of the ss because he had heard their conversation, but didn''t care about it.


    When the kid was called up, the thought of snitching on them in order to gain the love of the bad-tempered professor, but because the rules of the street were so entrenched in him it onlysted but a second.


    After the drama that had urred the ss was way quieter than it was at the beginning of the lesson.


    When professor Tacitus was done with his introduction to forging, he whistled and went through the warp gate that appeared in front of the ss.


    ''What a job well done.'' Professor Tacitus inwardly parted himself on the back as the job of instilling fear into the hearts of the students waspleted effortlessly.


    ¡­


    The end of the forging ss marked the end of the day. ke made a mental review of how the ss had gone as he was on his way to his room.


    ''All he taught was a glorified version of a cksmith. Considering the fact that this is just the introduction, I''ll say it''s not bad, just hope things get interesting after this.''


    When he got to his room, he had a little rest before he nned on going to concealed space to practice with the katana and his breathing technique.


    ke just stepped out of the room and was about to head for the closest warp array, when his badge began glowing.


    "ke Wilson please report to the principal''s office." After repeating it three times, the badge deemed ending the announcement.


    ''I wonder why am being called.'' Knowing he hadn''t done anything wrong; ke didn''t worry about the announcement as he headed for a warp array.


    (AN: A warp array and a warp gate are different. A warp array is a stationary array that does the same function as a warp gate but thinks of it as a magical elevator that warps people to different warp arrays simultaneously, while a warp gate can be opened anywhere so far, it''s entry and exit points were in a controlled environment.)


    The warp arrays were ced in strategic areas all around the first floor allowing the students to ess them with ease. When he got to the warp array, he saw arge perfect circle that had six more circles inscribed in it.


    Just like other students in the area, he stepped into one of the circles and when he infused his mana into it, a menu popped up in his mind and he selected the administration building.


    ''Nice privacy policy.'' ke was a little bit scared that those around would know where he was warping, but when he saw the mind link menu he was impressed.


    After selecting his destination, the ring began glowing before he fell into the little. The sudden fall made him shut his eyes in fear, but when he opened them, he saw himself in another warp array that was in the administration building.


    He quickly regained hisposure and left the array. After waiting for more than 20 minutes, he was finally ushered into the principal''s office.


    "Good day principal Lovren..." ke said with a bow.


    "How was your first day in school." The principal asked with a warm smile.


    "It was more exciting than I thought..." ke replied.


    "That is nice to hear¡­ The reason why I called you here is to tell you about the reward which the school promised to give the top three students." Seeing ke''s confused face, principal Lovren reminded him. "The cultivation rooms."


    ''Oh! Luciano told me about it.'' ke nodded.


    "Before I grant you ess to the cultivation room, I want to know if you have undergone the fusion process because the reward would be as good as useless without it." Principal Lovren asked with an expectant.


    ''The fusion process for the space element is already active and ording to the system, it would be useless for me to absorb more energy without all my elements being fused together. Also, he told me not to let anyone know that I have knowledge of the method.'' Considering the system''s warnings, he knew that he had to act dumb.


    "What is this fusion process?" ke asked why making his best-confused expression.


    ''Seems like I had too much hope for him. I hope he can hold on to his position because most of those in the elite ss had already begun the fusion process, while those two havepleted theirs.'' Principal Lovren thought as he didn''t get to notice ke''s acting.


    "The fusion process will be taught to you by your homeroom teacher, professor Gibson and when you havepleted the process you will be given ess to a cultivation room. You may return." Principal Lovren said while adjusting his monocle.


    "Thank you principal Lovren." ke bowed before leaving the office.


    After getting out of the administrative building, ke didn''t return to the castle he went straight to the concealed space.


    ¡­


    3 hourster when he was done with his weapon training and practicing his breathing technique, ke returned to the castle for a bath before heading to the canteen for dinner.


    After dinner, he returned to the room and sat in a crossed led position.


    "Here we go." ke as he gritted his teeth and poured in mana to quicken the fusion process.


    "Ahh!" ke screamed when he felt a mind-numbing pain that afflicted every part of his body. Unlikest time, he had gotten a little bit resistant to the pain, prompting him tost longer than usual before he passed out.


    ¡­


    The next morning ke woke up early as always and checked on the fusion''s progress.


    "How long before it''s over?" ke asked the system.


    [Because the rate at which you inject mana is lower than before, it will take not less than 4 days.] The system replied.


    "Four days?!" ke could only worry because it meant 4 more days of torture.


    "If the fusion process is to end when I am in the ssroom what am I meant to do?" ke soon realized a big problem.


    If he wasn''t trying to hide it, it would be a normal thing, but since it was meant to be a secret it would be a big problem.

 Chapter 60: Chaotic

    <h4>Chapter 60: Chaotic</h4>


    [This is just an estimate there is a higher probability that it would be after your sses, but there is still a chance that it might ur in the ss so we have to put it into consideration.] The system said while thinking of a n.


    [You can''t miss the ss neither can you stop the fusion process, so the only thing we can do is to minimize how much attention it draws. If the end of the fusion process doesn''t go as nned, I will inform you and also try to suppress the pain because you suddenly fainting is a dead giveaway.] exined the system.


    "You can what?!" Hearing the system could suppress the pain that marked the end of the fusion process, ke wanted to tear the system apart for not doing so thest time.


    [Look on the bright side, if I suppressed the pain then you wouldn''t have gotten this level of resistance to pain.] The system justified itself.


    "Training my pale ass..." ke muttered under his breath, but he couldn''t deny the words of the system. If not for the monstrous pain that tortured him, he wouldn''t have been able to attend his sses with this amount of pain.


    [Hahaha¡­] The system chuckled.


    Seeing he was defeated once again by the system''s perfect points, ke could only grumble as he went to take his bath.


    "This would have been a perfect time to fill my belly, but unfortunately advancebat ss is next." ke wept when he thought of the meals on the menu he was yet to try, but he knew it wouldn''t be a great idea to be stuffed before a fight.


    [ck hole! The amount of food you consume every day is that of three people, I could swear on my pet dragon that if you don''t exercise for a week you would add triple your current weight.] The system shook its head.


    The amount of food ke consumed on a daily was shocking, the system wasn''t sure if it was because of his daily exercise routine, his magical development, gluttony, or maybe all of them.


    Ignoring the systems remark, ke left the canteen and went for a warp array that would take him to the training grounds of the castle for his advancedbat lessons.


    ''I''ve been thinking, if the mana explosion that urs at the end of the fusion process open''s up the blocked pathways, then why the second explosion?'' ke asked the system while stepping into the warp array.


    [You should be happy about it. A fusion process increases the refining ability of your stars, making one''s mana purer and unlike those who undergo only one fusion process, you undergo two. This means your mana will be purer and your pathways more open, hence your spells will be more powerful than normal.] The system exined.


    ke was so engrossed in the chat with the system that he didn''t know when he arrived at the training ground and even began to wait for thebat instructor.


    "Good day kids¡­"


    ke was still chatting with the system when he heard a familiar voice that made his body involuntarily shudder. "Oh f*ck!" ke cursed.


    "I am Instructor Zirrack and I will be taking you all through a world of pain¡­ Sorry, I''ll be taking you all on advancedbat." He said with an evil grin.


    "Did my ears suddenly turn bad or did he just say he would take us to a world of pain." For a moment ke was even doubting the boost in his perceptions he received from the space element. He was still traumatized by the hellish training he passed through under Instructor Zirrack and thought he was hallucinating.


    "Those from the wind griffon dormitory already know me and with time I will get to know each and every one of you." His words sent chills down the spine of every student present.


    "During the period of the course, you will be trained to fight in different scenarios and environments, also you will be trained on how to use different weapons and surely a lot of work will be done to get you lot into shape." Instructor Zirrack said while looking at the students with smooth skins that showed no signs of hardship.


    His gazended on ke''s muscr body and well-developed chest.


    "ke Wilson please tell the ss about your exercise routine and how frequently you exercise." Instructor Zirrack''s word took ke by surprise.


    ''How did fuck did he know I¡­'' ke''s thoughts were cut short when he took a look at himself.


    ''Holy cow!''


    Before ke was summoned to infinite realm his muscles were no longer increasing after exercising and he knew he needed weights to increase (AN: read earlier chapters to know his reason for not doing weights.), but ever since he had awakened his elements his body had undergone several changes which he wasn''t aware of.


    He was now 1.84 meters in height, his muscles firmer and more defined. His figure was oozing with both confidence and charisma.


    ''That exins the reason why I catch so many girls staring, this plus my good looks, I must be killing them.''


    [Don''t be full of yourself.] The system rolled it''s ''eyes''.


    "I can see you are also shocked by your development." Instructor Zirrack chuckled when he saw That everyone in the elite ss including ke was dazzled by his body.


    Getting back to his senses ke quickly answered. "700 push-ups, 700 sit-ups, 500 pull-ups, and jogging during free days." There were still more exercises but they would sound foreign to this world so he decided to keep it simple.


    "Now that''s someone ready for this course¡­ The exnation for your increase is that once you awaken your elements your body''s capabilities and limits do increase." Instructor Zirrack exined to the ss what the system told ke about the effects of purer mana.


    "This was just an introductory ss; the work will begin from the next one so, get ready. ss dismissed!" Instructor Zirrack said and he stepped into the warp gate.


    ''That was short¡­'' ke said as he left the training grounds under the envious gaze of the students.


    "Why don''t you just challenge him and take the first ce. After all his fire is useless against yours leaving him with lightning against two elements." d said trying to convince Luciano.


    After getting severely punished by Vandal the patriarch of the Nystrom family and also by Hagan for shaming the family name, d had made it one of his life goals to make ke pay.


    From past experiences, he knew he couldn''t beat him (for now) or so he thought, he decided to get those who can to go against ke.


    "First, he isn''t as simple as you think. Second, I am not interested in the power struggle, only if someone was to challenge me, then I would fight andstly, stop going after him, focus on your cultivation." Luciano said with an annoyed look that made d shiver.


    ¡­


    After returning from the training grounds, he went straight to the canteen for his appointment with food.


    "Now I can justify the reason for eating so much..." ke told the system while munching down on his food.


    [¡­] The system could only sigh helplessly at ke''s shamelessness.


    When he was done he proceeded to thest ss of the day, history. Just as he had suspected it was as boring as f*ck.


    Although what they were taught was kind of fun to the other students, it was old news to ke who had studied a lot about history from the upper floor of the library.


    The boredom coupled with his full belly tempted him to fall asleep. if not for him being disciplined and strong-willed he would have traveled to the dreand and back which would likely get him punished.


    After what seemed like a hundred years to ke, the ss ended.


    "Remind me not to eat much before a boring course..." ke said as he returned to his room after an uneventful day.


    ¡­.


    Four dayster, the school had turned into a battlefield.


    After the first-year students had gotten used to the activities, they began challenging each other like maniacs.


    During the past 4 days, many in the elite ss had fallen down to the normal ss, especially those who managed to enter by luck. Some in the normal ss had risen, while few that had fallen from the elite ss made aeback and returned to their positions.


    Everything was chaotic, except for the top twenty. Those below the 15th rank but within 20 were rarely challenged but when they were, they would trash their opponent and have their points deducted.


    Although there weren''t many challenges going on yet, in the top twenty, there was still tension in the air that made all of them be on their toes because they could be challenged and dethroned at any time.


    But the same couldn''t be said for the top three, Luciano had no ns of challenging ke, and Damon seemed indifferent about the ranks.


    Those below them cursed their bad luck because they were afraid of Luciano because of his strength and background as a member of the royal family and if they decided to settle for 3rd position they would meet Damon whose darkness element and performance scared them.

 Chapter 61: Zero.

    <h4>Chapter 61: Zero.</h4>


    Unlike ke who was not bothered by the ranking, Castiel and Brian were in tougher positions.


    Castiel was the 23rd in ranking and seeing that the top twenty were like unmovable obstacles, he was constantly being challenged. If not their was a limit to the number of times he could be challenged (AN: see the briefing chapter or the one before for more info.), he would have been swarmed with challenges.


    Castiel had awakened the darkness element as his second element, but kept it a secret, he used his fire element and a well concealed attacks from the darkness element to defeat his opponents. Although he was strong enough to be in the top 20 if not top 10, he decided not to because he wanted to get experience from handling those below.


    As for Brian his situation wasn''t that great. Due to the fact he won his opponent by outsmarting him and not with much of his power, he was ced in the 40th position.


    During these 4 days he had risen to the 31st position with the help of the offensive abilities that came with the water element. The water element was very versatile because it could be used to heal, defend and also attack unlike the pr opposite, fire, that was mostly used for attacking.


    But like everything in the world that had a disadvantage, so did the water element. The water element was a jack of all trades and a master of none, when it came to the healing aspect the light element was better than it, the earth element was better when it came to defense and fire and other offensive elements were better in attacking.


    At first it was not much of a problem for Brain when he faced opponents that made the rookie mistake of focusing on their attacks and neglecting their defense, because of his superb defense was strong enough for him to withstand their attacks, before he defeated them with water spells.


    But when he went up against the previous rank 31 who awakened the same elements as him, it was a drawn out fight that he one only because he had more endurance and casted his spells in an efficient way that help him reduce the mana cost. All he could do now was pray he would unlock more offensive spells when he advanced in realm.


    ¡­


    The previous day¡­


    The fusion process hade to an end and luckily for him it was a few hours after his ss.


    When the mana explosion urred his mana pathways were freer and everything was like the system had said. After casting some of his spells, he had noticed the casting time had reduced and the spells were more powerfulpared to the first fusion process.


    Although he had handled the pain much better than thest time and didn''t faint, his body was too weak to do anything causing him to fall asleep without even knowing.


    Back to the present¡­


    Today and the next were his ss free days and just like he had nned, he was going hunting for beast cores.


    After packing three days worth of food in his dimensional space and all that he needed, ke headed for the administration building to request for permission to leave the school.


    "Where are you heading to?" The clerk asked as he scribbled down things.


    "Mina forest." ke replied.


    (AN: not sure if I mentioned it in earlier chapters, but this is the forest surrounding Calton city.)


    "¡­" The scribbling stopped and the clerk looked at him with a surprised expression.


    "You are aware that the school wouldn''t be able to save you once you are outside its walls?" The clerk asked with a worried expression because over the years he had heard stories about kids leaving the school and never returning.


    Even when corpses of students with missing limbs were found in the forest by adventurers and most of them were first years.


    "Yes." ke answered with conviction.


    "Why don''t you go with a team." If it was first year, he would have just given a simple warning, but after seeing it was ke he wanted to stop the kid from throwing his life away because he had bright future ahead.


    "No, thank you." Although he could see the clerk cared, the questions were getting annoying.


    "Alright, if you say so, sign here." Seeing that ke wouldn''t budge, he could only sigh. ''Too bad his future is bright.''


    After filling all the necessary paperwork a warp gate was opened and his was teleported to the school gate.


    "Now to get to the adventurers association and get registered." ke said as he went to board carriage.


    ''I wonder how much these gold coins are worth¡­ Any ideas?'' ke thought as he looked at the pouch of gold coins given to him by prince Bryon when they were brought to the school.


    [In my time ether was our currency used, but I don''t know the value of gold in this age.] The system exined.


    "Let''s find out then." He said as he boarded a carriage.


    "Where to young master." The carriage driver mistook ke for a noble because of his well tuned muscles and handsome look.


    "To the adventurers association building."


    30 minutes after he boarded the carriage, the sight of a 5 story building with a shield and sword crest on it, came into his sight.


    When he got down from the carriage he took out a gold coin from the pouch and handed it over to the driver while watching the look on his face.


    "Young¡­ Young master the fare is only 20 copper coins, I don''t have this amount of change on me." The carriage driver stuttered a bit when he saw the gold coin.


    "There''s no problem you can keep the change." ke didn''t know the value of the gold coin nor the amount of change they were looking at and in order not to sound suspicious by asking, he decided to let the man keep the money.


    "Please young master please I cannot take this¡­" The carriage driver rejected.


    The gold coin was enough to get him a better carriage and the bnce would still be more than a month''s work.


    (AN: we all know this can''t happen in this age, but lets just y along XD.)


    "Since you will still return, I will wait for you then I can take you to where the money can be changed." The carriage driver proposed.


    "Alright." Marveled by the carriage drivers modesty, ke agreed before making his way into the building.


    "How may I be of help." The young blonde receptionist said while checking out ke''s muscles.


    "I would like to register with the association." ke replied.


    Not being the first time someone young was applying, she took him to another room and handed him a form.


    "Please fill this form." The receptionist said.


    ''Isn''t this too much paperwork for a magical world?'' keined as he quickly filled it.


    He handed over the form with a gold coin as the registration fee.


    "Congrattions Mister Zero on being a member of the association." She found the adventure name ''Zero'' to be kind of awkward, but she acted professionally and handed him an adventurers crest with the name Zero on it.


    "You can sell your spoils, materials and items through us for a little fee. Also you can exchange your contribution points for items in the shop." She took him on a tour, and showed him the different ces in the building including a shop.


    "You will now be able to take up jobsmissioned to us, but the grade of the job that can be taken will be determined by you rank." She said while pointing at arge bulletin board.


    When he was done he went back to the carriage driver who took him to where he go his money changed.


    ke found out that 100 copper coins were equal to 1 silver and 100 sliver coins were equal to one gold coin. (AN: wouldn''t want you doing math, so I decided to make it simple.)


    ''Call me big brother tycoon!'' ke was shocked when he saw the exchange rate because he was given a hundred gold coins by prince Bryon.


    [From my knowledge it might not amount to much because magical items are more costly than normal items.] The system burst his bubble.


    ''Party popper'' ke harrumphed.


    He decided to exchange only half of the gold coins because it would cumbersome carrying arge amount of coins.


    He got back to the carriage driver and told him to take him to the border of the city.


    When they arrived at the city gate he gave him the gold coin and although he refused, ke instead he took it.


    "Thank you younger master for your generosity." The carriage driver said while crying, he had never gotten his hands on such an amount of money in his life.


    After leaving the carriage driver who was still shedding tears of joy, ke showed the city guards his adventurers crest, he left the city and after 30 minutes walk he arrived at the natural border formed by trees.


    "Let the hunting begin." ke said as he walked into the forest.

 Chapter 62: Light him up.

    <h4>Chapter 62: Light him up.</h4>


    After leaving the carriage driver who was still shedding tears of joy, ke showed the city guards his adventurers crest, he left the city and after 30 minutes walk he arrived at the natural border formed by trees.


    "Let the hunting begin..." ke said as he walked into the forest.


    He was now officially in the Mina forest which brought back the ugly memories of thest time he was here. Unlikest time he was now stronger and ready for any surprise that would be thrown at him.


    "You are up..." ke said to the system.


    [Sensory mode on.


    Area of detection: 100 meters.


    Life form detected: Except nts, none.] The system reported.


    The system''s ability to detect any form of energy (i.e. heat, kic, potential, and other forms of energy.) was the only reason ke was confident enough to go to the Mina forest on his own.


    From the books, he had read about hunting, magic beasts, and his personal experience, he knew how cunning the magic beasts were, and if one were to underestimate them, they would die a gruesome death.


    Just like his experience with the morgs when he arrived at this world, he saw how coordinated they were and that was because they had a level of intelligence.


    The only reason he had survived was that Brian''s screams had warned them and also the morgs intelligence wasn''t that high whenpared to other beasts. This was why the clerk was worried and had advised him to go with a team, but little did he know that ke had a backup n.


    If something was to get past the system''s detection, which was unlikely he still had a great perception which was way better than that of his peers and this would surely save him from any form of ambush.


    He moved through the outskirts of the forest for some time without finding any magical beast, so he decided to go deeper into the forest. The pace at which he weaved through the trees as he went deeper was rtively fast and silent so as not to alert any prey.


    [Two life forms detected.


    From their body heat and blood cirction, they are morgs.] The system alerted ke when the magic beast entered its range.


    ''Payback time.'' ke grinned as he began heading towards the direction.


    On getting to their location, ke concealed his smell and aura by surrounding himself with mana. He climbed a tree to have a better view of their positions and also to n his attack.


    [2 morgs detected 56 meters west.


    2 morgs detected 48 meters east.


    1 morg and a chief morg detected 70 meters north.] When ke got to his targets the system immediately alerted him of the other morgs around and also the presence of a chief morg.


    ''I have to make it quick and as silent as possible.'' The information he got in the library about morgs mentioned that they never hunted alone rather in swarms lead by a chief and just like the system said the others were not far away.


    After making sure everything was in position, ke brought out Reaper from his dimensional space and lunched towards the first morg while casting a spell.


    It was when he was five meters, that the morg noticed his presence and turned, but it was already toote.


    ke Unsheathed Reaper and released the fire burst he was charging. Instead of shooting it at the morg, keunched the spell from his legs causing the explosion to propel him at a faster speed towards the morg.


    Zzzg!


    Before the morg could scream or react, the lightning infused reaper sliced through its neck. ke didn''t stop there, he immediately lunged at the second morg that was in a state of shock.


    Thud!


    The head of the second morg dropped on the floor.


    "Yuck!" ke couldn''t help but be disgusted by the gory scene. Not wanting to waste more time in the scene of the crime, ke ced the carcass into his dimensional space and quickly headed for the next targets.


    ''Need to be quick before they notice.'' ke wasn''t confident that he could take on all of the morgs if they banded together, so he decided it was better to take them out one by one before they regrouped.


    When he got to the two in the west, ke quickly dispatched them and went on to the next targets.


    ''To think these were the creatures that made us run for my life, I am quite disappointed in myself.'' ke shook his head as he noticed how easily he killed them.


    [Don''t get cocky, the reason you are finding it easy is that you take them unawares and the grade of your weapon. If they manage to regroup with the chief, it would be a very difficult fight.] The system reprimanded him.


    On getting to thest two before he went after the chief, ke saw them dragging the carcass of two antelope-like regr beasts towards the direction the chief was at, and from the system''s report, the chief morg wasing towards their direction.


    ''I have to be quick!'' ke said as he lunged at the closest morg with the lightning infused Reaper.


    He shed at the morg aiming to decapitate its head with one strike, but at thest moment, morg managed to block with its tusk.


    ''F*ck me!'' ke cursed as he shot a me burst at its face stunning it for a second before he moved in and chopped its head off.


    [By your left!] The system shouted in rm.


    Hearing the system''s rm, ke immediately turned only to see the carcass of the antelope-like beast hurling at him at an incredible speed.


    ''F*ck!'' ke cursed. Knowing he couldn''t dodge the attack; ke infused a me burst spell into Reaper and struck at the iing meat.


    The sound of an explosion echoed throughout the area when the katana and carcass met each other


    Boom!


    The force at which the carcass was thrown was so much that even the me burst couldn''tpletely stop it in its tracks, forcing ke to move 8 steps back.


    [The sound of the explosion was heard by the chief it ising and fast! You have to end this quickly.] the system said with a hint of panic in its voice.


    ''Let''s go.'' ke activated the lightning element ability, reinforcer.


    (AN: would have loved to use Ikuzo in ce of let''s go because it sounds cool but not too sure if everyone watches anime.)


    Arcs of lightning could be seen crawling around his body even in his eyes, as he dashed forward at a blinding speed chopping off its head before it could even react.


    ''What to do now?'' ke asked as the quaking sound of the charging chief was getting closer.


    [Their two options; Either you take your current loot and run, you might be able to outrun or you stand and fight.]


    "Stand and fight it is¡­" The thought of being pursued by a chief morg and a normal morg wasn''t pleasant to him, because the explosion that attracted the morgs could have also attracted another magic beast and that will make his escape harder.


    If he chose to take them head-on, it would be a tough fight but he would get the spoils which were way better than running towards the unknown.


    Making his decision, ke left the carcass of the morgs as they were and climbed on a tree hoping to ambush the morgs.


    Oink! Oink!


    The chief morg who had darkish-purple skin and a bigger bodypared to the others, rushed out of the tree, followed by a regr morg.


    Immediately the chief morg ran towards the carcass of its nsmen, ke stopped concealing his presence and activated the reinforcer ability and leaped towards the morg and decapitated it.


    Turning to see what had happened behind him, the chief morg bellowed with bloodshot eyes as it saw the head of another nsman drop to the floor.


    Oink!


    The chief morg bent its tusks while charging at ke in an attempt to ram him. Seeing the chief morg charging at him, ke also charged towards him.


    When they were a second way from crashing into each other, ke shot he already charged up me burst making it explode and propelling away from the chief''s trajectory.


    Chhiiii!


    The chief morg forcefully applied the brakes when it saw it had failed to squish the human, but before it could turn ke was already by its side with the reaper in his hands.


    The lightning infused katana tore through the abdomen of the chief morg, but before it could even go further into its stomach, the chief morg went into a frenzy and began twisting its body uncontrobly in an attempt to squash him.


    Knowing staying there any longer would get him squashed, ke pulled out his sword and retreated.


    ''Since I can''t get close let''s light him up.'' ke said as he conjured mes in both hands.

 Chapter 63: Knox

    <h4>Chapter 63: Knox</h4>


    In a cave not too far away.


    RUMBLE!


    An explosion slightly shook the cave causing rubbles to fall from the top of the cave awakening a beast that was more than 4 meters tall from its slumber.


    With its bloodshot eyes, the beast made its way out of the cave in search of the impudent fool tat had awoken it.


    ''Whoever you are, I shall grind your bones to dust.'' The beast thought with mes of rage burning in its eyes.


    ¡­


    The lightning infused katana tore through the abdomen of the chief morg, but before it could even go further into its stomach, the chief morg went into a frenzy and began twisting its body uncontrobly in an attempt to squash him.


    Knowing staying there any longer would get him squashed, ke pulled out his sword and retreated.


    ''Since I can''t get close let''s light him up.'' ke said as he conjured mes in both hands.


    The injury inflicted on the chief morg by the lightning infused reaper wasn''t too deep, but it managed to reduce its movement speed.


    With the conjured mes in his hands, keunched them at the injured part of the chief morg causing it bellow.


    Oink!


    The chief morg charged at ke in another attempt to ram him, but before it knew what was going on, a me burst struck it directly on its face leaving it blind for a few seconds.


    ke activated?lightning reinforcer and quickly got out of the charging morg''s way while kiting it with his scorching mes.


    Boom!


    The chief morg rammed into a tree with great speed, but before it could shake away vertigo, mesnded on its back.


    ''Why don''t you die!'' ke cursed when he saw that his mes didn''t have their desired effect on the chief morg because of its thick hide.


    ''This is going to take a while.'' Seeing his mes weren''t dealing much damage, ke knew that he had to be patient in order to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike when it arises.


    After being hit by more tat six fireballs, the chief morg knew he was in danger because the barrage of mes had now gotten through its thick hide and its energy was dwindling.


    At first, he had thought the human was only strong enough to kill the morgs under him, but after his de infused with a lightning cut through its thick hide which it was very proud of, so easily, it became apprehensive of the human.


    But after charging at the human for more than six times without even touching his cloth and also receiving so much damage, the chief morg was filled with dread, as it began thinking of a way to escape.


    ''About time.'' ke thought with a grin on his face as he saw fear in the eyes of the chief morg. He once again brought out Reaper from his dimensional space and infused it with the lightning element.


    [Something very strong is heading this way you have to get away from here now!] The system quickly alerted when a magical beast with a magical flow entered its detection range, but it wasn''t sure of which beast it was.


    ''It''s almost dead.'' from the tone of the system, ke knew the monster would be very dangerous, but he was unwilling to leave the chief morg that was worth more than 3 morgsbined, also the beast core would be of a high grade.


    ''Fine!'' Leaving the sack of gold that was at itsst foot made ke''s heart bleed, but he knew if he was alive, he would live to hunt it another day.


    ke turned his back and as he was about to take off, he saw the chief morg charging at him.


    ''Son of a thousand fathers!'' ke cursed at the chief morg who was unknowingly trying to get both of them killed.


    Not knowing of the impending doom that wasing their way and seeing the human turning his back, the chief morg saw this as an opportunity to avenge its fallen, nsmen.


    ''I need to quickly get out ¡­" ke''s thought was cut short when he felt death flying towards him at a terrifying speed!


    ''of the way!'' ke quickly activated lightning reinforcement and jumped out of the way.


    WOOSH!


    ke turned back only to see a tree with a diameter of 1.37m hurling through where he stood. By the time the chief morg saw the projectile hurling towards him, it was alreadyte and he was unable to stop his charge nor change direction.


    St!


    The chief morg''s head was smashed to bits, followed by its body.


    Normally, ke would havemented ''that takes care of that¡­'', but once he had a good look at the size of the tree and the semi-meat paste the chief morg had turned to, he was stunned for a moment.


    BAM! BAM!


    The sound ofrge footsteps brought him back to his senses.


    ''What in the heavens is that?!'' ke was stunned when a huge ck-strip brown bear standing more than 4 meters tall, came out of the tree.


    "It seems my luck isn''t that great, killing two with one tree would have been a new record, but one thing for sure is that your luck is worse for meeting me." The ck-strip brown bear said with a devilish grin on its face.


    ''It can talk?!'' ke was bewildered, but the system brought him out of his reverie.


    [Focus!


    Name: Knox


    Beast Type: Bear


    Rank: Elite beast.


    Strengths: Immense strength


    Weakness: Lacks speed


    It is a full rank above the chief morg and as you have seen its strength is off the charts. You have no option of running away, so you have to stand and fight.]


    ''It''s stats clearly says itcks speed, why can''t I run?'' ke asked when the systems report was contradicting its words.


    [This is the information we got from the library and it wasn''tparing its power level to yours.


    For you to outrun it you have to be your reinforcer state, but your mana would run out before you get too far, and judging from how he located here before entering my detection range, his perception range isrger than mine. It would be only a matter of time till he caught up with you.] the system quickly analyzed the situation.


    ''F*ck me!'' After hearing the system''s words ke couldn''t help but curse at his bad luck as he tightened his grip on his sword and went into a fighting position.


    When the knox saw that its prey was getting ready for a fight instead of cowering in fear, it couldn''t help but chuckle.


    "An interesting one, what do you think a warrior level cub can do to an elite beast like me." The Knoxughed as it saw ke''s actions as futile.


    Not caring about what the Knox said, ke activated a lightning reinforcer while infusing lightning energy into his katana, before dashing towards the Knox.


    "Huh?" The Knox was surprised ke dashing towards him. The usual reaction he got from the humans that he encountered was to run away, but that was a big mistake.


    If they ended up running he would surely catch up to them because of his exceptional sense of smell that made it easier for him to hunt them down, but if they decide to stand and fight they would have a better chance of survival, but the chance was less than 1%.


    [Remember don''t let it hit you.]


    ''Got that¡­'' After seeing how fast the tree had gone, ke knew that if a direct hit struck him, he would be as good as dead.


    When ke got close to the feet of the knox, it struck at him in an attempt to turn him into a paste, but his hand only struck air.


    ke dodged the hand and appeared behind it, shing at its tendons, but to his greatest surprise, the sword only made a shallow mark on its skin.


    ''What the fuck!'' ke was stunned by the knox defense, even when he struck the chief morg with the lightning infused Reaper, it easily went through.


    [Watch out!] The system warned him.


    ''Shit!'' ke quickly shot out me bursts from his leg propelling him backward but seeing it was not enough he ced his sword in front of him and braced for impact.


    BAM!


    ke flew more than 20 meters before he crashed into a tree.


    *Cough* Cough*


    ke coughed as blood came out of his mouth and nostrils. He felt all his bones were broken and were about to faint, but he gathered all the energy to make ast stand.


    With the support of the tree, ke stood up and activated lightning reinforcement.


    ''I must say this cub is impressive but too bad he has to die.'' the knox thought.


    When the knox had struck, ke had managed to move out only getting hit by its fingers, but the knox had thought it was enough, unbeknownst to him, the system had deployed a force field at thest moment reducing the damage he took.

 Chapter 64: Can never be too sure.

    <h4>Chapter 64: Can never be too sure.</h4>


    ''I must say this cub is impressive but too bad he has to die.'' the knox thought.


    When the knox had struck, ke had managed to move out only getting hit by its fingers, but the knox had thought it was enough, unbeknownst to him, the system had deployed a force field at thest moment reducing the damage he took.


    ''Either this works or I am meeting my maker¡­ Both options sound nice.'' ke made a wistful smile as the thought of never seeing his mother again, came to his mind.


    ''I made a promise and I n on keeping it!'' ke tightened his grip on his sword gathered all the mana he could for what seemed like a final attack.


    "Haaa!" ke made a war cry rushed the knox while activating lightning reinforcement boosting his speed and infusing space mana into the Katana.


    ''Hahaha¡­ Stupid human cub, the lightning couldn''t harm me, what do you think you can aplish with a in sword.'' The knox sneered at ke''s desperate attempts, but that didn''t make it underestimate a cornered prey.


    [Aim for the legs and disrupt its bnce.]


    ''On it¡­'' ke conjured a fireball and lunched it at the knox''s face in an attempt to distract, before lunging at the beast''s legs.


    The reason knox''s always fought on their hind legs was to use their height as an advantage and to also protect its vital points which were its head, lungs, and heart.


    "So predictable." With years of experience in hunting both beasts and humans, the knox knew the human will go for its weak spot, so it struck its ws at ke not minding the fireball that couldn''t get past its hide.


    When the w was a meter away from ke, his katana disappeared stunning the knox for few seconds, but a second was more than enough for ke.


    He shot out a me burst that propelled him out of the ws range and closer to its legs, all thanks to the knox''s hesitation.


    He lifted the space-infused katana and with all his might he shed at its right leg, inflicting a bone-deep cut that made the knox roared in pain as it managed to stop itself falling before striking at ke.


    ke had expected the Knox''s strike and began preparing a me burst the moment he shed it. With the speed granted by the lightning reinforcement and the me burst he shot to the left; ke was propelled to the right escaping the ws range.


    Still, in mid-air, ke waited till he got into the right angle before he shot another me burstunching him behind the knox.


    ''No!'' The knox roared as it saw ke dodging its attack and moving behind him, before cutting its tendons, making its leg limp and causing it to lose bnce.


    Thud!


    The 4 meters tall ck-strip brown bear came crashing down on its face after losing its support, giving ke a window to end the fight.


    [Now''s your chance!]


    The system''s made mes of determination burn-in ke''s eye, as he jumped towards the knox''s heart with the space mana infused katana in his hand.


    "No!" Being unable to react, the knox roared in fear and desperation as it could only watch as ke''s sword draw closer to its heart.


    "Die!" ke screamed as the sword pierced through its thick skin and plunged into its heart.


    [It''s dead you can stop now.] It was only a few seconds after the system had told him about the knox''s death, that ke decided to remove his sword.


    "One can''t be too sure..." ke said as he stabbed it a few more times to make sure it was dead.


    After surviving a fight that he thought was hisst, ke was exhausted and wasn''t in the mood for surprises.


    [Hurry and gathered everything and leave, with the smell of blood in the air and the noise produced during the fights it is only a matter of time before more beasts arrive.]


    Hearing the system''s warning ke put the knox''s corpse into his dimensional space, but when he approached the mangled corpse of the chief morg he saw that the upper body of the beast had been turned to semi- paste, even the bones had been shattered to bits.


    "I don''t think this would be worth anything..." ke said as he tried hard to stop himself from puking.


    [Just grab the core at the chest area and let''s get out of here.]


    "Erm¡­ Where is the chest?"


    After leaving the area, with the help of the system, ke harvested the cores from all the beasts he had hunted that day. He took a quick rest to regain some energy before he began heading back.


    He had nned to stay in the forest for two days for intense beast farming, but after going through so much on the first day, he was exhausted and mentally drained, causing him to change his mind and return to the school.


    On his way back to the south gate, ke was more cautious than when he came, after finding out that a beast''s perception range was greater than that of the system.


    (AN: There are 4 gates used to enter the city. The south gate is the one prince Bryon took them through and the one he is most familiar with."


    When he got to the south gate, he wasn''t stopped to be checked by the soldiers because it wasn''t a new to see a battered adventurer, especially young ones that overestimated themselves and got injured.


    He would have loved to go back to the castle and get some sleep, but he still needed to convert his spoils to money.


    He boarded a carriage and after a long time of trying to stay awake he arrived at the adventurer''s association.


    "I have eight items I would like the association to appraise..." ke said to the blonde receptionist.


    One of the reasons ke joined the adventurer''s association was to get his spoils appraised and processed because not every adventurer was a magic beast hunter who could process all the useful parts of a magic beast, so the adventurer''s association made it easier and faster for them to sell their spoils for a processing few which was better than going to magic beast hunters who were known for overcharging.


    "Please follow me." She took him to a room where they meet Wadsworth, one of the association''s appraisers who was in his early 70''s.


    "Let''s get this over with..." Wadsworth said impatiently as he gestured for ke to bring out the item.


    "Well will need a bigger space. I have the carcass of 8 magical beasts with me." ke said not minding the appraiser''s rudeness.


    When they moved over to a bigger room, ke brought the carcass of the 7 morgs, which left both of them in awe.


    ''I thought Susan said he is an E rank adventurer how did he kill 7 morgs all alone.'' Wadsworth was inwardly shocked.


    ''How did an E rank kill so many morgs? He is still this young.''


    Unlike the young receptionist, appraiser Wadsworth quicklyposed himself and got to the task.


    ''The blood was well-drained...''


    ''A clean-cut to the head, not damaging the hide.''


    ''He even collected the beast cores without damaging it¡­ such precision! Who is this kid!'' The more Wadsworth checked the condition of the carcass the more shocked he was. Normally when inexperienced adventurers brought in their spoils, the corpse would be battered up and wouldn''t worth much at the end of the day.


    Apart from killing 7 morgs which was a shocker, he didn''t see any other cuts apart from that of the head, which meant that the morgs didn''t even put up much of a fight.


    ''A chief morg always leads the singr why isn''t it here? Or maybe it is the eight one, but wouldn''t that be outrageous for an E ranker to aplish?'' Wadsworth thought.


    "You mentioned 8 beasts, is the chief morg the 8th one?" He asked hoping it wasn''t as he suspected, but a side of him was hoping it was.


    "No, it''s something way bigger..." ke replied.


    ''Thank goodness¡­ Wait! Way bigger.'' Wadsworth wasn''t sure if he had heard well.


    "Isn''t¡­that a knox?" The blonde receptionist blurted out.


    The problem wasn''t that it was their first time seeing a knox, but it was the fact that an E rank adventurer was the one that killed it.


    "¡­" Wadsworth looked at the knox''s corpse before looking at ke then Susan. He had begun doubting his eyes.


    ''What the f*ck is wrong with them? I am tired.'' keined because this was the third time both of them were stood still with their mouths open.


    [Maybe they are shocked by the amount of space your dimensional space has, to be able to contain all of these or they are probably shocked and can''t believe that an E rank adventurer was able to kill all these.] The system analyzed.


    "Is there any problem?" ke''s words brought both of them back to reality.


    "Sadly, I am not qualified to appraise an elite magical beast. That will be done by a higher appraise." Wadsworth said with an embarrassed look on his face."

 Chapter 65: Filthy Rich!

    <h4>Chapter 65: Filthy Rich!</h4>


    The problem wasn''t that it was their first time seeing a knox, but it was the fact that an E rank adventurer was the one that killed it.


    "¡­" Wadsworth looked at the knox''s corpse before looking back at ke then Susan because he had begun doubting his eyes.


    ''What the f*ck is wrong with them? I am tired.'' keined because this was the third time both of them stood still with their mouths open.


    [Maybe they are shocked by the amount of space your dimensional space has, to be able to contain all of these, or they are probably shocked and can''t believe that an E rank adventurer was able to kill all these.] The system analyzed.


    "Sadly, I am not qualified to appraise an elite magical beast. That will be done by a higher appraise." Wadsworth said with an embarrassed look on his face.


    ''So, they sent a low-level appraiser to me, is it because I am an E rank adventurer and not worth anyone''s time?'' ke thought. "How long will it take for the appraiser to get here?" ke asked in an annoyed tone.


    "The chief appraiser is usually a busy man; it will take sometime before he is here..." Susan said apologetically.


    ''I can''t stay here any longer, if I leave now, I might be able to make it to my room.'' ke thought as the fatigue was now getting to him.


    "Can I leave them here, so that I can collect the gold tomorrow?" ke asked.


    Wadsworth said as he reassured ke that his spoils were in great care and he wouldn''t get cheated.


    "I will be back tomorrow." ke made a slight bow and quickly left the adventurer''s association building.


    ''Kids nowadays are too impatient¡­'' Wadsworth shook his head as ke left in a hurry.


    ¡­


    ke boarded a carriage and returned to the school and went straight administration building for a mandatory clearance before he could enter the castle.


    ''He made it back alive, now he would think twice before he heads out again.'' The clerk thought as he saw the battered ke. "You are back so soon." The clerk said with a sneer.


    "Yeah, I had a rough day..." ke replied not minding the clerk''s sneer because all that was on his mind was catching some z''s.


    ¡­


    "Wadsworth this better be good or you have to give a good exnation for interrupting¡­ my research." Langford stuttered at thest past of his sentence when he came into the room and saw so many carcasses, but the one that caught his attention was the knox that took the most space.


    ''The knox has arrived?!'' His eyes shined brightly at the thought of getting his hands on the appraiser''s fee "Which rank C adventurer did such a nice job?" Langford asked while caressing the knox''s fur.


    "It was an E rank that killed the knox sir." Susan replied.


    ''Do they think I have all day!'' Langford wanted to rebuke but after seeing how serious they were he couldn''t help but ask. "Are you sure?" After seeing them nod in confirmation, it took some time for him to recover from the shock.


    The reason he had been expecting the knox, was that it was a C rank missionmissioned to the association just two days ago, but it arriving this early came as a shock to him.


    Normally, before a strong beast like the knox is hunted down, the adventurer would have to n and track the beast which could take days in order to avoid surprise attacks, but this was something else.


    Langford quickly got his cool and began doing his job. He began inspecting it for both external and internal injuries.


    He examined the hide to check for sword shes that may ruin its quality, only to find out there were not even up to up to 5. ''How can this be the work of an E rank?'' Langford was intrigued by what he was seeing but still went ahead to check the corpse for internal injuries.


    He cast the beast tamer spell, overhaul, which would help him have a great view of the inner workings of a creature''s body.


    He first checked if there was blood which could be an ideal medium for the growth of bacteria, only to see it was well-drained. He checked for the beast core and found out that it was properly harvested without damages.


    ''My God! No wonder there were no injuries.'' Langford was shocked when he used overhaul to check the knox''s right leg, only to see a deep cut that ran into its tibia bone.


    After seeing the cut on the leg and heart, Langford began piecing together all the information he had gathered and formed the image of how ke had defeated the knox.


    "But how can the equipment of an E rank adventurer be that good?" Langford thought aloud. This was not the first time he had handled the corpsed of a knox before, he knew that its hide was one of the sturdiest among the elite rank magical beasts and that nothing below a high-quality de wielded by at least a high rated D rank adventurer would be able to prate it.


    "Have this reported to the association master and when this E rank adventureres in for the gold notify me" Langford said to Susan as he left the room and returned to his research.


    ¡­


    After his ''short'' interaction with the clerk, ke had returned to his room and had a hot bath.


    Immediately his head came in contact with his bed he dozed off nothing knowing his actions had caused amotion in the adventurer''s world and the adventurer name Zero was slowly bing famous.


    ¡­


    The next day.


    ke was so exhausted by the near-death experience, that he had slept all through the morning.


    "Can you believe I had a dream where I was almost ambushed by a knox, but I ended up killing it?" ke said to the system while yawning.


    [Did you meet an annoying clerk and a young blonde receptionist in your dream?] The system sneered.


    "How did you¡­ Oh." ke said in realization.


    "That means I still have to collect the gold." ke said as his stomach rumbled.


    Since it was way past time for breakfast, ke took out food from his dimensional space before heading over to the adventurers association.


    "Good day Mr. Zero." The blonde receptionist, Susan said with a gleeful smile when she saw ke.


    "Here is the value of the appraised items." She handed him a parchment containing the value of all the spoils.


    "150 gold coins for each morg!" ke blurted out.


    He was given 60 gold coins by prince Bryon and from the way the carriage driver acted he knew it was a huge amount, but seeing more than twice the amount just for a single magic beast shocked him.


    "Both appraiser Langford and appraiser Wadsworthmented on how clean and unharmed the hides were..." Susan informed him when he saw his surprised expression.


    ''Thank you Sensei.'' ke made a mind bow to the system because it was the one that disyed the area he was meant to strike so as to get the maximum value when it was sold.


    ke was feeling ecstatic at the amount of money he had until he saw the value of the knox that almost made his eyeballs pop out.


    ''970 gold coins!'' The amount was sp shocking that If not for his pride he would have screamed ''I''m filthy rich!'' in the hall full of people.


    [If you were so interested in the money, you should have also put in the beast cores they are worth a lot, you know?.] The system''s remark made him calm down a bit.


    [I must confess, the adventurers association''swork is reallyrge, for it to be able to sell all those in such a short time or maybe the demand for them is really high.] The system said in a pondering tone.


    "Mr. Zero, afterpleting the C rank knoxmission, you gained 4000 contribution points increasing your rank to D." Susan said while handing him a new badge with the D rank on it.


    ''Whatmission?'' ke was confused by the receptionist''s words, but couldn''t ask.


    [ording to your memories there was actually amission to y a knox that had killed a lot of travelers that followed that route.] The system disyed the memory of when he was at the billboard.


    "For a rank E adventurer to move up to rank D, he/she must umte 1500 contribution points and you got 4000 points, leaving you with 4000/50000 points for the next rank. For more information, here is the manual." She said with an embarrassed look.


    ''Wasn''t she meant to give me this yesterday?'' ke collected the manual. [From the way she was checking you out yesterday, I knew she was bound to forget something.]


    ''She was checking me out?! Grrrr!'' ke gave Susan a flirtatious smile which left her blushing.


    The system couldn''t help but ''face-palm'' [Focus!]

 Chapter 66: New week.

    <h4>Chapter 66: New week.</h4>


    (An: Please check out the previous chapter, Ipleted and edited it.)


    The system''s words brought him back to order and he began to read the manual.


    Unknown to ke, his flirtatious act had put the blonde receptionist''s mind in disarray.


    ''What does that look, mean?''


    ''Is he interested in me?''


    ''Even if I am a year or two older than him, it is still within the eptable range.''


    ''After all, if I can date an adventurer that can bring in 2000 gold coins in a single hunt, who will care about the age difference.'' Thoughts that would make ke shiver if he got to hear them, were all over Susan''s mind.


    [E rank: 0 and above contribution points


    D rank: 1500 and above contribution points


    C rank: 50000 and above contribution points


    B rank: 250000 and above contribution points


    A rank: 1.5 million and above contribution points


    S rank: 20 million and above contribution points.]


    ''What a spike!'' ke was shocked when he saw the sudden increase from twenty thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand contribution points.


    ''What is the need for the E rank, I just got the points in one mission.'' ke scoffed.


    [The E rankmissions on the billboard are mostly delivery missions which give little contribution points, the only reason you got past so easily is that youpleted the C rankmission.


    From my analysis, E rank adventurers are weak or in some cases students just like you, but they are not as strong as you and would have a tough time killing a morg with their low-grade equipment and powers talk more of killing a knox.]


    The system''s words made him realize how stressful it would have been if he hadn''t killed the knox, especially when he had only two free days for his personal life.


    Seeing how much time he had wasted, he dropped a gold coin for Susan as a tip and left.


    ''A gold coin¡­ Oh no! Mister Langford said I should notify him when he arrives¡­ What am I to do now? When ke arrived, she went straight to business and kept the information for thest, but ke''s flirtatious actions and the gold coin had thrown her mind into disarray.


    ''I will just say, he declined because he was in a hurry.'' Susan began weaving lies.


    "Susan you remain beautiful as always." A familiar, but irritating voice interrupted Susan''s thought.


    "What is it this time Lambert?" She retorted at the slim brown hair D Rank adventurer, who was poprly known as a yboy and depended on his family''s wealth toplete missions.


    "You see, after a week of tracking and nning, my team and I killed a knox¡­" Lambert paused waiting to see an awed expression form on Susan''s face but all he saw was a disgusted look.


    ''I am very sure his team did all the work and he hid at a corner with his tail in between his legs.'' Susan gave him a contemptuous look.


    "Go tell chief appraiser Langford about the spoil, and get my contribution points ready, love..." Lambert said licking his lips and checking out Susan''s voluptuous curves.


    ''Pervert!'' Susan felt disgusted, but she had to keep calm and act professionally. "I will inform chief appraiser Langford about your bounty and he will attend to you when he is free and as for the contribution points, the C rankmission had already beenpleted..." Susan said with a grin on her face.


    "What by who?!" Lambert asked sounding frustrated.


    He had nned on using the money gotten from the knox to settle the mercenaries he had hired for the mission and the contribution points would be his alone. He didn''t care about the money because even if they didn''t get the gold, he could still settle them with his family wealth, but the contribution points couldn''t be bought.


    That meant he had wasted close to a week without anything to show for.


    ''Curse that idiot! I will surely make him/her pay!'' Lambert couldn''t get the contribution points back but at least he could make the adventurer suffer, so far as he was in the D rank or below.


    "Whopleted themission?" Lambert asked


    "It was the newly promoted D rank adventurer Zero, Susan said with a smirk when she saw Lambert''s shocked face.


    ''So, this is the Zero everyone has been talking about, but how can an E rankplete a C rank mission? Nevertheless, it makes my revenge easier.'' Lambert''s shock soon changed to an evil grin.


    ¡­


    ke who was making his way past the school''s gate sneezed all of a sudden.


    "Why do I have the feeling that someone spoke about me? Maybe it was the cute receptionist." ke smiled before brushing it off because he was excited about the beast cores he got.


    [This rarely happens but let''s pray it''s just a normal sneeze.] The system thought to itself after seeing ke brush it off so easily.


    Not wasting more time ke proceeded to the concealed space to test the efficiency of the beast cores.


    He took out a light blue crystal from his dimensional space and after taking a closer look, he was intrigued by the energy he felt within the crystal. "How are beast cores formed?" ke asked.


    [All magical beast usually starts at the regr beast rank, and because everything and everywhere has mana the more they at the flesh of other beasts and the longer they live the more mana that is stored in their body, hence the stronger they get.


    When the amount of energy stored in their body gets to a certain level which varies from different beasts, their body will undergo an evolution that will refine and strengthen it (just like how you humans advance), turning them into magic beasts and forming this crystal-like core.


    The same goes for the other beast ranks, but with more requirements and conditions before the advance.]


    (AN: Just like the human rank that stops at the deity level (check earlier chapters for why the All-father rank can''t be counted), the beasts also have their ranks which include;


    *Ancestral rank


    *Emperor rank


    *King rank


    *Elite rank


    *Magic beast rank


    *beast rank.)


    After the system exnation, ke didn''t dally any longer, he began absorbing the energy within the crystal. He absorbed the energy for three straight hours before it was empty and turned to dust.


    "Beast cores are mind-blowing!" ke felt ecstatic after seeing his 6th star was half-filled. "Just a little more and it would be 10 more to go." Normally it would have sounded depressing, but with this kind of speed, he would be done in no time.


    The amount of time needed to fill up a star had reduced whenpared to his preschooler days because he had gotten better control over mana which was evident in his double and triple casting.


    The reason it took a week and somedays just to fill up the fourth star was that it was harder and his mana control was poor at then. Now that his mana control had increased and when coupled with the beast core his cultivation speed will skyrocket!


    [You like it, huh? You should soon get used to it because when you go higher in realm, the amount of nature''s energy in the environment will be negligible, forcing you to search forrger energy sources.]


    "Till then..." ke said as he took out the second beast core and continued cultivating.


    ¡­


    The next day, it was the end of his ss free days and the beginning of a new week.


    ke and other members of the elite ss were seated waiting for their homeroom teacher, professor Gibson for their basic magic ss.


    "Seems a lot had happened during the week, but one thing I am sure of is that no challenges urred during the first week." ke thought while looking around.


    [The tension is high, but not for the top three. From the way they look at those two, they seem afraid to challenge them, but from how they re at you with killing intent, some think you don''t deserve the rank 1 title.


    They feel you are being protected by them, but they are in for a surprise when they meet. That is if they can beat Luciano¡­ Hahaha.] The system sounded like an evil maniac seen in movies who were scheming against his enemies.


    "Good day ss." Professor Gibson walked out of a warp gate.


    ''Why do I have to do this, most of them already know about the process, some had alreadypleted it. Curse nobles and their politics.'' Professor Gibson cursed while maintaining a smile on his face.


    "You all must have experienced a kind of resistance or simply put it a barrier when you attempt to fill up your 5th star right? Today we will handle that." He said while looking at the students


    "The process by which this barrier will be destroyed is what we call the fusion process."

 Chapter 67: Does he have a heart?

    <h4>Chapter 67: Does he have a heart?</h4>


    "You all must have experienced a kind of resistance or simply put it a barrier when you attempt to fill up your 5th star right? Today we will handle that." He said while looking at the students.


    "The process by which this barrier will be destroyed is what we call the fusion process."


    Professor Gibson began exining the downgraded version of the fusion process, just like the system had told ke.


    Unlike the real fusion process which was more precise and straight to the point, the "fake" version of the fusion process was more like a trial and error process before the cultivator identally triggers the reaction.


    The downside was that it took more time to identally start the process and it would take longer toplete it, giving the nobles and whoever knew of the real process more time to widen the gap.


    ''This ss would be more useful for those in the normal sses who have little or no background, but for the elite ss, it is a massive waste of time. At least it is better than the history ss.'' ke said while trying not to dose off because of the boredom.


    ''Come to think of it, this act of suppressing themoners by teaching them a whack version of the fusion process may not look like much, but when coupled with the other nefarious ns which they have and will stillmit, it bes a big deal.


    If all their ns get executed without any problems, themoners will be nothing but pawns in the empire, while the nobles will have control over all the key positions. I must confess prince Bryon is really doing a good job for themoner, if not things would have been way worse.'' ke thought.


    [That may be what you see, but you are looking at the matter from the wrong angle.] The system chimed in. [What if that is what they want you to think? One thing for sure is that the nobles can''t be more powerful than a royal family unless the emperor is foolish, but judging from how long the empire has existed it is impossible.]


    ''Your point?'' ke asked in confusion.


    [How many times do I tell you, stop interrupting!


    I was trying to say that the actions of the nobles are monitored and being used against them by the royal family. When the noblesmit crimes just like the incident of the ruin stones, themoners get angry which when piled up may cause a revolt; then the royal family uses someone like Bryon to paint the nobles as the bad guys and solving the problem.


    Earning themselves the people''s trust, quelling any form of revolt, and reducing the influence of the nobles on the people.] The system exined.


    ''My God! That''s a lot of deception, the royal family practically have the nobles in their hands!'' ke was shocked to the core by how much politics was being yed behind the scenes.


    [Hehe¡­ What do you expect from a family that has been in existence for so long? Even the 3 top noble families are kids in their eyes.] The system chuckled.


    ''How do you know this without even having much information about the matter? ¡­and doesn''t your statement imply that Bryon isn''t as good and righteous as they say?'' ke asked with a raised brow.


    [I have seen the rise and fall of many empires; I have even been an emperor so all these are not new to me. I am not too sure about him, but I will say don''t trust anyone, it''s better to be safe than sorry.] The system warned him.


    ke was so engrossed in the conversation that he didn''t know when the ss hade to an end. ''Sometimes, it''s really nice to have a voice in your head.'' ke thought as he stood up and left the ss.


    After having his lunch and taking a quick rest ke rushed to the forge for his next ss. Thest sses with professor Tacitus were all theory sses exining the do and don''ts in a forge. Also, he had exined the process of forging a basic weapon paving way for the beginning of their practical sses.


    Although they were about to forge basic weapons without any form of enchantments, which was basically cksmithing, ke was quite excited.


    For someone like him who came from a world where kids were sent to normal schools and technology had made a lot of things easier, ke was aplete beginner when it came to cksmithing, but he was eager to learn.


    He arrived at the forge 10 minutes before the time for the ss and unlike when they were in the ssrooms, professor Tacitus was already there waiting. Immediately it was time for the ss he waved his hands and with him having full control over the forge, the doors were shut barring those outside from entering


    "If you want to be a foragemaster you are meant to be punctual and time-sensitive. Without being time-sensitive how will you know the right time to add material or when to remove an item from the furnace. I will¡­" professor Tacitus ''speech'' was interrupted by students banging on the door.


    ''Morons! They already know he is out for our blood, why would you anger him.'' ke couldn''t help but shake his head and pity for the idiots at the other side of the door.


    With a wave of his hand, the door was open, but a force field was stopping them from moving even an inch into the ss.


    "I only wanted to deduct 100 points for you guys missing my ss, but since you empty skulls dare to anger me, I will be deducting 300 more points.


    ''I didn''t bang on the door.''


    ''It was those at the front, we have nothing to do with it.'' A girl protested.


    ''400 points?! I don''t even have half of that.'' A boy cried in despair.


    ''My God! 400 points!'' ke couldn''t help but shiver.


    Throughout the first week, he had gotten a little bit above 500 points for his attendance in sses and his awesome performance, having 400 points deducted just like that meant a weeks'' worth of work had gone down the drain.


    Many of them protested, while some had already epted their fates and began crying, but the reply they all got was that of the door shutting in their faces.


    ''Does he even have a heart?'' This was the question on the minds of ke and those in the forge, but none of them dared to voice their thought or show any form of displeasure.


    "Now the pests have been taking care of we shall return to the lesson for today." Professor Tacitus said while checking the expressions of those in the forge.


    "Last week I taught you all the theory aspect of forging non-enchanted items, today you all shall forge a sword with the materials supplied. Depending on the quality of your creation, you shall be awarded points and for those who didn''t study the theory, if you end up making a mess, points will be deducted for wasting the school''s materials." Professor Tacitus said thest part with a stern look on his face.


    "Remember the 6 processes; Forging, Annealing, Grinding, hardening, tempering, and Polishing?You may begin!" Professor Tacitus announced the start of the exercise.


    The school''s forge was incrediblyrge; it possessed mini forges and pieces of equipment that were enough for all the students in the specialization.


    Not wasting any time, ke selected a work station and began the forging process. Unlike most students, ke wasn''t nervous at all, because he had the system to tell him what to do.


    [The length of the material has already been cut, so all you have to do is light the furnace.] Following the system''s instruction, ke cast a simple fireball and threw it into the furnace.


    [Now take a bar of your desired metal(s) and heat it in the sword forge. You should leave the metal in the forge until you have a yellow heat. After it is heated up, you begin the hammering process, which may take a long time because you have to hammer it in sections; hammer repeatedly, heat again, repeat the process until the sword takes the shape you want.]


    When it was at the right temperature, the system informed him and he brought it out began hammering it. His full attention was on the sword, not knowing him being the first to begin hammering had gotten the attention of professor Tacitus.


    ''At least someone knows what he is doing.'' Professor Tacitus couldn''t help but nod when he saw hitting the sword at the right angles.


    [STEP 2: Annealing: This process is done by heating the sword ¨C until it loses all maic attraction ¨C and allowing it to cool very slowly.


    Heating it is up is a fairly simple process, but cooling it down slowly and evenly can get moreplex. You can wrap up the sword in an insting material, as this will slow down the cooling. Or you can take the sword and bury it in the sand.]

 Chapter 68: Triple casting.

    <h4>Chapter 68: Triple casting.</h4>


    [STEP 2: Annealing: This process is done by heating the sword ¨C until it loses all maic attraction ¨C and allowing it to cool very slowly.


    Heating it is up is a fairly simple process, but cooling it down slowly and evenly can get moreplex. You can wrap up the sword in an insting material, as this will slow down the cooling. Or you can take the sword and bury it in the sand.]


    [STEP 3: Grinding: This part involves a lot of work. Now you have achieved a uniform thickness across the length of the de. It is at this point; you create the edge and point of the sword. You should start with big power tools. Use the 6" belt sander, start with it as it will do most of the work for you. Afterwards, you can use a 1" belt sander to file.]


    The whole process was meant to take around 3-7 hours, depending on the size of your sword, but because of the enchantments on the sander, it took close to an hour.


    The forge had a special cooling system because of the heat that was generated by the furnaces, but it wasn''t enough because ke was literally sweating buckets.


    The heat and the highly tasking physical actions like hammering were factors, but he couldn''t care less because his full attention was on the grinding process in order to give it a in level with equal angle across the surface of the sword.


    [STEP 4: Hardening: At this point, the sword is still very soft and needs to be hardened. The hardening process can be unique for the type of steel you are using, but you can employ a more general method.


    So, you can proceed by heating the sword to the point of austenitization. As soon as the de is removed from the forge, you must immediately ce it into a quench tank allowing the de to cool evenly and quickly.] At this point, ke soon noticed that the system was giving him much more information than what was in the textbook, but remembering the All-Father was once a great forge master he felt d.


    [STEP 5: Tempering: This step is important because, after the hardening process, the steel is very brittle and can shatter or crack if used to strike an object, at this point, therefore it needs to be given some flexibility. Tempering will bring about the much-desired flexibility to your sword. This process involves heating and monitoring the color of steel.


    You want the edges to be a wheat color (not too soft) and a plum color for the centerline of the sword (soft enough for soft flexibility and durability). Quench afterward and then clean with a coarse Emory paper to give it a smooth and shiny surface.] The system exined in detail.


    After tempering the sword, ke had reached the final process, which was to do more grinding that will add the final touches to the sword to make it durable, ssy, visually appealing.


    This step gave the sword a nice and polished look. He wanted it even shinier, so he continued with finer grinds and used a polishing wheel.


    When it was polished to his heart''s content, he added a handle and other designs marking the end of the process.


    ''Mehn! That was tiring.'' ke said as he wiped off the sweat on his face.


    When he was done, he looked around to see how far others had gone, but that was when he saw professor Tacitus who had been standing by his side for over an hour.


    "What?! Professor, I am done." ke was startled but soonposed himself before someone would say ''A good forge master should always be aware of his surroundings, minus 200 points!'' because he was afraid of getting his points deducted for no good reason.


    ''With the way, he was working with so much control and finesse, I would have mistaken him for a cksmith with over 50 years'' experience If the school didn''t have a maximum age for those admitted.'' Professor Tacitus only nodded before heading to other work stations.


    He had seen everything ke had done, the heating of the metal and repeated hammering was what shocked him, it was as if ke had a heat indicator for a pair of eyes, but he had no idea it was the workings of the system.


    He wanted to ask a few questions and also inspect the sword, but he had to make sure some numbskulls didn''t burn down his forge.


    After 30 more minutes, professor Tacitus walked to the center of the forge and announced the end of the exercise.


    "For all thoseining about insufficient time, if you take a look at ke Wilson you would notice he was done with he''s thirty minutes ago. By the way, making a sword takes a week with normal tools, but you were given enchanted tools which would drastically reduce the effort and time taken for the process, so you can only me your ipetence for not finishing on time." Professor Tacitus snorted.


    "Now, remain at your work station and I shall move round to grade your works. Remember what I said about making a mess and getting your points deducted, I wasn''t joking." Professor Tacitus''s evil grin sent chills down their spine.


    Professor Tacitus moved around, picking up some swords and waving them in the air before assigning points, while some swords, he didn''t pick them up or take a second look at them before deducting points.


    "A ymore, nice thrust, and superb cutting ability. The guarding capacity great, speed is standard for a double-handed sword¡­" The professor said while waving ke''s sword.


    He hadn''tmented when he checked the work of others and from his enthusiastic tone, it was sure that he liked the sword.


    "I must confess, this is a masterpiece! 400 points for making the best sword." Professor Tacitus announced.


    [Although he is a monster in human skin, he is quite generous with points.] ke couldn''t help but mind nod at the system''s words.


    "I will be keeping this." The professor ced the good swords including that of ke into his dimensional amulet, before saying. "Now for those who made trash in the name of a sword that wouldn''t be able to slice a loaf of bread, you can keep it as a reminder of your ipetence. ss dismissed!"


    ''I take back your words, he is just a monster.'' ke felt a sting in his chest when the sword he had worked on for hours was taken away just like that.


    ''On the bright side, I got a weeks'' worth of worth of work in a day.'' ke thought as he ignored the killing intent being emitted by some of the students ring at him.


    Although some of those in the ss were out for his head and title as the rank 1, some didn''t have a grudge against him and wanted to approach him to know how he did things, but his solo and stern personality scared them all away.


    The door to the forge was finally opened and they were free to go. When those who had failed in the forging exercise saw the students outside, they stoppedining, because they had lost nothing more than 200 points.


    ¡­


    After having a long nap due to the stress that apanied a physically tasking process like forging, ke immediately headed to the concealed space to cultivate.


    He had started off with his sword training, then the Raiju breathing technique before practicing triple casting.


    He had tripled cast when he fought against the knox, but that was because his life was on the line. He tried casting lightning reinforcement, me bursts, and injecting space mana into his sword while maintaining his breathing rhythm for the effects of the Raiju breathing technique.


    It was a mammoth task that was mentally draining, causing him to fail multiple times, but that didn''t mean it was impossible. Although he couldn''t achieve it in one day, he didn''t n on giving up.


    After training his different techniques and casting abilities, he began cultivating with the beast cores.


    By the time he was done cultivating for the day, he had filled up the 6th star and was closing in on the half mark of the 7th star. The good thing was that he had only used 2 out of the 7 beast cores and he still had an elite grade beast core in his inventory.


    ¡­


    The next day was the advancedbat ss and the boring history ss.


    What instructor Zirrack had said in the introductory ss about working on their bodies, he meant it. He made them undergo hellish body workouts that made them beg for mercy, but it was not much to ke who had to undergo 2 fusion processes.


    Those who ended up fainting during the exercises had their points deducted and ke who seamlessly performed the exercises was award 100 points boosting his total points to a little above 1000 points.

 Chapter 69: Blink.

    <h4>Chapter 69: Blink.</h4>


    By the time he was done cultivating for the day, he had filled up the 6th star and was closing in on the half mark of the 7th star. The good thing was that he had only used 2 out of the 7 beast cores and he still had an elite grade beast core in his inventory.


    The next day was the advancedbat ss and the boring history ss.


    Whatever instructor Zirrack had said in the introductory ss about working on their bodies, he meant it. He made them undergo hellish body workouts that made them beg for mercy, but it wasn''t much to ke who had to undergo 3 fusion processes.


    Those who ended up fainting during the exercises had their points deducted and ke who seamlessly performed the exercises was award 100 points boosting his total points to a little above 1000 points.


    When it was time for the history ss they were in another round of trouble. The demonic exercises had physically drained them causing most of them to doze off in the ss. Professor Bach the history teacher wasn''t aware of what they had done, so he thought they were being disrespectful by sleeping in ss.


    At first, he had warned the first two he caught sleeping, but after seeing more people doze off, he began deducting points from anyone he caught sleeping.


    It was after deducting points from almost half of the ss that he knew there was a problem.


    "Can someone tell me what''s going on here?!" Professor Bach was both confused and angry as he mmed his fist on the table.


    "¡­" The students would have loved to exin, but there was no one to bell the cat. After having three sses so far with professor Tacitus, an instinctual fear had been instilled into them especially when the professor was angry.


    "Why is no one answering?" Still seeing the stunned students, professor Bach felt the urge to face-palm but he resisted it.


    "Okay, what ss did you have before mine." He handled different sses across all the years, so it was impossible for him to know the schedule for the first years.


    ''From the looks of things, something can be done about the advancedbat ss.'' Although the exercises didn''t affect him that much, if there was a boring ss like this one after the advancedbat ss, he would have to battle just to stay awake.


    "Advancedbat handled by instructor Zirrack." ke ratted out the instructor by adding the extra information.


    ''That exins everything! Who in their right senses would put the ss of that beast before another ss?!'' Professor Bach face-palmed before opening a warp gate that led to the principal''s office.


    ''But I must say they are very unlucky to have him as of other instructors.'' He shook his head and pitied the students.


    "Professor Bach, what brings you to my office?" Principal Lovren asked with a smile.


    "Why assigned Zirrack as the instructor of the first years, do you want to get these innocent students killed?! Why was he even removed from handling the 3rd, 4th, and 5th years?"


    "Although his methods are ''quite'' harsh, the results are the best whenpared to that of other instructors, and because this set of first years are special, we are giving them the best training." Principal Lovren answered with an unchanged expression.


    ke''s set was considered as an experiment to know how the new rules and activities would affect their growth; they were just the prototypes of a new system that would soon be implemented.


    For example, in the early days of the magic school, the position of a student was dependent on the points they get during their sses, but after a few years, the school saw that the students were only improving in the theory aspect of magic while their field andbat experience was close to nothing.


    So, they beefed up theirbat sses, assignments, and trimester tests which would take the students through all types of scenarios, but ke''s set was even tougher.


    The points gotten from the ss activities didn''t fully determine whether one passed or fail, they were still other determinants like their ranking, field assignments, and trimester test, which increased thepetition by a whole lot.


    (AN: The rankings y an important role in their final points because every rank has a number of points attached to it, which means the higher the rank the higher the points.)


    "So, what did he do this time?" Principal Lovren said with a tired expression.


    "I caught many students sleeping¡­" Professor Bach narrated everything that happened in the ss, which left the principal shaking his head.


    "He agreed he would go easy on them, so why? Judging from his nature, this might be his easy." Principal Lovren sighed. "Well, we can''t do anything to him because he is not wrong. He is here of his own free will and his skills are highly needed so I can''t do much about it." Principal Lovren said with a helpless look on his face.


    "I request that the advancedbat handled for the first years which is handled by Zirrack should be moved to the second ss of the day." Professor Bach requested.


    "That will be done then." The principal said with a reassuring tone.


    ¡­


    Back in the ssroom.


    ''Does that mean the ss has ended?'' He thought the matter will be handled after the ss, but he never thought it would be immediately.


    After some minutes of waiting, professor Bach warped into the room announcing the end of the ss and informing them of the change in their schedule.


    ''That makes things better, I guess¡­'' ke would have loved it if the boring history ss was canceled entirely, but he could manage to have it in the morning hours then ending the day with a fun-packed advancedbat training.


    ¡­


    Just like every other student of the elite ss, ke slept early because of the training and woke up with a sore body, but him being roomies with pain, it was just another day for him.


    "Let''s hope the ss holds this time." ke remembered that the knowledge of array ss didn''t hold because the professor meant to handle the course was absent for some reason.


    "What has gotten over me?" The castle walls hindered ke from checking if the sky was inverted because he was beginning to¡­ like school.


    He didn''t like the education system of Earth because it mainly focused on the student''s ability to recall in order to pass their exams and not what they could actually do with that knowledge. He loved the magic school because they bnced both the theory and practical aspect of magic because if one knew the theory but couldn''t cast a spell, they would be useless and those who didn''t know the theory wouldn''t be able to cast a single spell making everything bnced.


    "Good day kids, I am professor Mack and I will be taking you all on the mystery known as the knowledge of arrays." Professor Mack who was the same age as professor Tacitus appeared in front of the ss without using a warp gate.


    Unlike Professor Tacitus who was muscr for a man his age, professor Mack wasn''t muscr but was taller than the grumpy professor and had a gleeful smile on his face.


    If he waspared to the homeroom teacher, professor Gibson''s smile was a gentle one, but that of Professor Mack was a fun one with a tinge of madness in it.


    "Let me guess, you are wondering how I appeared here without a warp gate?" He walked up to a student before snapping his fingers and appearing at the same spot he was at when he entered the ss.


    "It wouldn''t be fun if I just said it. Can anyone guess? Ah¡­ ke Wilson, the rumors about you raking up all the points are true. Let''s see if you can rake in 100 points too." Professor Mack gestured to him to continue.


    "Judging from the position you appeared in front of the ss and you reappearing at the same ce, I would say there is something like a beacon or mark at that point." ke exined.


    "Your observation skills are as good as they say! Plus 100 points to you kid." The professor said while apuding.


    "The mark acts as a beacon for the spell which opens a path in space towards it. Unlike the warp gates and arrays that require a controlled space and arge mana supply, it doesn''t because only one person gets warped requiring less energy and the mark acts as the controlled space." Professor Mack exined the spell.


    "But it is not for your level." He said with a grin.


    ''This isn''t the first time! Why will you disy a spell if you wouldn''t teach it!'' ke felt like pulling out his hairs, but he managed to get himself under control.


    "At least can we know the name?" ke asked with his fingers crossed.


    "Of course, I call it Blink."

 Chapter 70: Mack hoffenheim

    <h4>Chapter 70: Mack hoffenheim</h4>


    "But it is not for your level." He said with a grin.


    ''This isn''t the first time! Why will you disy a spell if you wouldn''t teach it!'' ke felt like pulling out his hairs, but he managed to get himself under control.


    "At least can we know the name?" ke asked with his fingers crossed.


    "Of course, I call it Blink."


    "You¡­ You created the spell?" ke asked out of surprise. The more the professor spoke the more he was liking him.


    "Take a guess." Professor Mack said with a smirk.


    [I must say the blink spell is ingenious! In my time, warping during fights was impossible for those who didn''t awaken the space element, giving us a huge edge above them.


    Its only downside is that it needs the mark to be ced before the user will be able to blink, meaning if you get into an unexpected fight against an opponent it won''t be of much use, but if ites down to a prepared and nned fight the spell will go a long way.]


    ''He must be a genius to develop such a spell, he reminds me of Mack Hoffenheim the array genius of this era... Wait!'' ke was shocked when he just realized something.


    Ever since he saw prince Bryon use his dimensional space, ke had been reading a lot of books on dimensional magic, but the name of an author kept on reurring and that was Mack Hoffenheim.


    "Professor Mack are you Mack Hoffenheim the author of Mysteries of array?!" ke blurted out.


    His question quickly made the eyes of everyone in the ss glitter when they heard the name.


    Mack Hoffenheim was a genius known all around the realm for his vast knowledge in arrays. He was the one that ''perfected'' the theories behind warp gates and arrays being used all around the realm.


    (AN: The All-Father was the one that designed the castles and of course warp gates and arrays were included, the problem was that they ran on high energy sources which are very scarce in this era (Infinite realm''s cycle mentioned in chapter 57.), but professor Hoffenheim perfected the arrays (downgraded) and made them consume less energy.)


    He was well known but only a few people had the privilege to see him in person because he was very busy, with his research and rarely attended social events.


    "You know me?! Didn''t know I had a fan in my ss." He too was surprised.


    The reason he had declined teaching in the magic school at the capital was to avoid people who knew him from pestering him, that was the reason he had decided to go with his first name which wasmon and less suspicious.


    (AN: The students at the capital''s magic school are more learned than those at the other magic schools, meaning there was a higher chance of his cover getting blown.)


    ''Seems my little act of showing off my new spell had blown my cover, but hopefully my research wouldn''t be disturbed.'' Professor Mack was sweating on the inside.


    ''All I just wanted was the extra resources the royal family promised if I became a professor.'' He sighed.


    He had been recruited by Prince Bryon because of his unparalleled knowledge in arrays and had been promised more resources to further his research.


    "Alright, today we will be looking at the basics of arrays." He said to the ss, but he was soon interrupted by ke''s hand which was up in the air.


    ''This was what I prayed against, why are the heavens always against me!'' Professor Mack cursed. "Yes?"


    "Is it possible to make arger array containing many blink marks at different points to enable the user to blink in a short-range in a fight?" ke asked with a hopeful expression.


    ''This kid is amazing! Although I just recently perfected the spell, I was only thinking about upgrading it, but didn''t think of such an application!'' It took some time to ponder before the professor could reply to his question.


    "Hmm¡­ That is a very nice question, but you see I justpleted the blink spell recently and haven''t thought of it from that angle. From my quick calctions, it is possible and for that, I will be awarding you 1000 points for the ingenious idea."


    The words of the professor made a lot of the students in the ss gasp.


    "1000 points!" ke and the other students blurted out in unison.


    "I know it might be too little, but If I award more points, there will be a lot of questions to answer (From the school and the readers. XD). As I research this idea of yours, you will be awarded more points depending on how much it yields." Professor said apologetically, thinking the reason for their sudden was that the points awarded were too low.


    ''Are you kidding me I will still receive more points!'' ke couldn''t help but smile.


    Seeing ke''s smile Professor mark began the ss meant for the day.


    "Before I was interrupted, I was talking about the basics of arrays. An array is abination of symbols which arouse the energy of the mother-stream, and different symbols brings about different reactions, just like this." Professor Mack drew a series of symbols in a perfect circle at equally spaced intervals on his desk, before connecting them at the center.


    Immediately he was done with the array, the students felt the mana in the room moving towards the array.


    "This an array normally enchanted on magic conducting stones like delwart to form a type runic stone which can help the user to easily gather mana towards himself/herself." The professor exined to the ss.


    ''Seems he isn''t aware of the incident that happened in the preschool.'' The professor''s words brought back memories.


    "Apart from knowing the symbols that can arouse energy from the mother-stream, a good array master must know the perfect materials that can handle the power of such arrays. That is why the forging specialization is rmended. Yes?" He permitted a girl to ask her questions.


    "Professor Mack, the table you drew the array on isn''t a good mana conductor, so how is the array able to work?" She asked.


    ''Only if all these students were like ke Wilson, I wouldn''t have to answer silly questions.'' Professor Mack didn''t like questions, all he wanted was to end the ss and begin his new topic of research.


    "The reason a good mana conductor is rmended during an enchantment is that the effects of the arrays are boosted because the mana flows through it easily. But that doesn''t mean an array wouldn''t work if it was enchanted on a bad mana conductor, it just means that its effect will be lessened." He quickly went back to his exnation.


    "There are two types of arrays; sustained and intermittent arrays. Sustained arrays are arrays that require a constant supply of energy to function, examples are the mana gathering I used on the table, the warp gates and warp arrays in the castle and if their mana supplies are cut off, they would stop working.


    Most arrays known to man are sustained arrays, but a few of them do not need constant mana supply, they are called the intermittent or poprly known as forbidden arrays.


    Forbidden arrays are forbidden because when they have been trigger they would continue to work non-stop, but the problem is that all of the known forbidden arrays are evil and cause a lot of destruction." He said while looking at the fascinated look on the student''s faces.


    "ss dismissed!" His announcement came with grumbles, but he couldn''t care less because after reporting to the principal it would be research time!


    In the principal''s office.


    "Professor Hoffenheim, how was your first day as a professor?" Principal Lovren asked with a warm smile.


    "It was better than I expected. Did you know that kid ke Wilson is amazing, he proposed a great idea about my new spell blink, so I award him with a thousand points¡­" Hoffenheim was immediately interrupted by the principal.


    "A thousand points?!" Principal Lovren blurted as he felt his headache.


    Professor Hoffenheim had been recently employed as a professor in the magic school that was why he was tasked to report to the principal after the ss and since he was the best at what he did, he was assigned to the experimental year.


    But Principal Lovren never imagined that he would award a thousand points on his first day.


    Seeing the principal''s shocked expression, he quickly exined everything that happened in the ss.


    ''He should have started with that, he almost gave me a heart attack.'' Principal Lovren sighed as he made a mental note of professor Hoffenheim''s poor social skills.


    "The credit points were well awarded and he should be given more, but like you said as the research goes on."


    ¡­


    Back in the ssroom.


    ''Wow, a thousand points.'' ke was shocked by what had happened.


    ''Guess I will soon make a trip to the exchange point.'' ke thought after realizing how many points he had.

 Chapter 71: Elemental mastery.

    <h4>Chapter 71: Elemental mastery.</h4>


    Back in the ssroom.


    ''Wow, a thousand points.'' ke was shocked by what had happened.


    ''Guess I will soon make a trip to the exchange point.'' ke thought after realizing how many points he had.


    A student''s points had two uses; one was for his/her position at the end of the trimester and the other was used to exchange for items at the exchange store (AN: Let''s call the exchange points EP.).


    They were both the same value but when the EP was used at the exchange store to purchase an item, the cost of the item will be deducted, but the value of the total points gotten in the trimester would remain the same unless deducted by a professor.


    When he got to the exchange store, he went straight to one of the transparent orbs in the store. When he injected mana into the orb, he saw a list of items form in his mind. It was the same as when he chooses a destination when using a warp array.


    The mind link with the orb prevented those around from knowing what the user purchased. There were bullies in the school, especially when there was a possibility of those in the elite ss bullying the normal students, and to prevent being robbed after the purchase, the items bought would be sent to his/her room by staff.


    ke took his time and scanned through the list and saw hundreds of items on the list. On the list were items like potions, swords, amours, materials, and so on. The list was so huge that he used the filter function to filter out materials for the different specializations.


    "With my points, I can buy materials to practice my specializations and be more proficient." ke thought as he scanned through the list.


    "What if I forge a sword on my own and then enchant it?" ke sought the system''s opinion.


    [It is a great idea to practice forging without much of my guidance, but for the enchantment part, I don''t think so. The thing is that to enchant a forged item, one must have knowledge of different arrays and their functions in order tobine them, giving the item different abilities.


    A perfect example is Reaper, which possesses multiple arrays like the weight lightening array, mana projection array, mana gathering array, and many more, but you barely know the basics of arrays so it will be a waste of points to buy materials for it.] ke had a dejected look on his face after hearing the system''s words.


    [But since you still have to study arrays, I would say you should buy a lot of array tes because won''t want to dent surfaces in the name of practicing arrays.]


    To draw an array, one needed to indent the different symbols that form a pathway for the mana to flow, but to do this the array master has to condense mana at his/her fingertips to make the indent perfect.


    The problem was that ke wasn''t yet able to manipte mana in such a way, that was why the system had rmended array tes. The array te is a work of forge mastery, which helps any novice array master just like ke, to practice how to draw the arrays without mana maniption.


    All the user needed to do was draw on the tes and the indents would be formed just like a normal array, but the only downside was that it was a one-time use item.


    ''So how many are we looking at?'' ke asked.


    [A hundred array tes should be enough.] The system replied.


    ''An array te is 5 EP, if I am to get a hundred that would be equal to a week''s worth of work.!'' ke couldn''t help butin when he thought of parting with 500 points in not less than 10 minutes.


    [Stop being cheap and buy them. Not only can you use it for practice, but you can also use it to prevent mistakes when you are working on a project.] The system harrumphed at how cheap ke was.


    ''Can''t we make it 50? 70? 80? Curse you!'' ke cursed at the unflinching system.


    Immediately he decided to make the purchase, his badge glowed and 500 points were deducted. ke''s heart bled as he saw 500 points vanish just like that, but he consoled himself because he knew that for him to get stronger, he had to pay some prices.


    ''Let''s just pray that the amount needed for the materials needed to forge a sword isn''t that costly.'' ke crossed his fingers and searched for the required metals and alloys.


    ''Wow, it''s way cheaper than the array tes!'' ke said in surprise.


    [I told you magical items and materials are way costlier than normal resources and you can''tpare a finished product made by a forger to metals. If it were materials for a mid-grade weapon it would be a different story, but these are for amon grade sword.]


    Seeing how cheap they were, Bake decided to buy 5 sets of materials which cost him 200 EP. After confirming the purchase his badge glowed once again and the transaction wasplete and his goods will be delivered to his roomter that evening.


    Once he was done, he left the exchange store and went to the canteen for lunch. After that, he hurried to a hall where the elemental mastery ss was to be held.


    The elemental mastery ss was meant for both those from the normal ss and those from the elite ss, so he had to be early for the ss in order to get a nice spot.


    After everyone had settled down, eight professors stepped out of different warp gates in front of the ssroom.


    ''I wonder how they know everyone is settled before they entered the ssroom and why is there more than one professor'' ke thought.


    [It''s most likely a mirror spell since this is a controlled area and they are able to open warp gates, they should be able to use a mirror spell and for the second part you have to listen.] The system answered.


    (AN: See the chapter about the beginning of thepetition for details on the mirror spell.)


    Professor Gibson came up and spoke to the students. "Good day kids, as you all know this is the elemental mastery ss and from your confused faces, I know you may be wondering why there are so many professors for a single ss?"


    "The answer is that this course is a vast one and needs special attention for each element. That is why you all would be divided based on your main elements and before that happens, I would exin what I mean by one''s main element." His words brought about murmurs in the hall, but they soon quietened down and he continued.


    "When we talk about a person''s main element, we mean the element which the person has a greater affinity to and that is determined by the first element one has awoken." Professor Gibson exined.


    [That is true but the reason why the first element is the main element is because that is the element the soul reacts to the most.


    When you absorbed nature''s energy which is made up of the mana of all elements and filled up the first star, the reason you began sensing the lightning mana was that your soul had a greater affinity with it whenpared to the other elements.] the system gave a more detailed exnation.


    ''They what will you say about the space inheritance?''


    [Because you have a greater affinity to two elements, doesn''t mean you don''t have at all with the others. Your body didn''t reject the inheritance because of the little affinity you had, but it caused an imbnce in the system.


    The little affinity you had was not able to use the power of the inheritance and for you to be able to use it, your body''s affinity had to increase, breaking the bnce of the system and you know, for every action, there is a reaction.]


    ''That exins why I felt so much pain... I have suffered a lot.'' ke sighed helplessly.


    "Each of the professors, including myself will be handling an element. I will be handling the wind element, professor Anderson will be in charge of the earth element, professor Pam for the water element, Professor Zirrack for the fire element, Kaarina for the light element, professor Vadik for the darkness element, professor Sachi for the nt element and finally professor Langston for the lightning element."


    ''Too bad for the fire ss.'' ke sincerely pitied them, especially those from the normal ss that didn''t know of him nor the fact that the professor title was used to mask the demon he was.


    When the students started gathering ke noticed that the element with the highest number of students was the fire element, while the on with the least was the darkness element which had only one student and that was Damon.

 Chapter 72: Lightning Mastery.

    <h4>Chapter 72: Lightning Mastery.</h4>


    "Each of the professors, including myself will be handling an element. I will be handling the wind element, professor Anderson will be in charge of the earth element, professor Pam for the water element, Professor Zirrack for the fire element, Kaarina for the light element, professor Vadik for the darkness element, professor Sachi for the nt element and finally professor Langston for the lightning element."


    ''Too bad for the fire ss.'' ke sincerely pitied them, especially those from the normal ss that didn''t know of him nor the fact that the professor title was used to mask the demon he was.


    When the students started gathering ke noticed that the element with the highest number of students was the fire element, while the one with the least was the darkness element which had only one student and that was Damon.


    The professor in charge of the darkness element, Vadik, had an average man with a height of 1.5 meters and had pitch ck hairs. He had a normal body build and sharp brown irises that could re into a person''s soul.


    Everything on him was ck, from his hair to his shoes. He had a cold and gloomy aura that sent chills down the spine of anyone that came close to him.


    ''Jezzz! Is it me or is their obsession for ck on another level?'' ke looked at the duo who looked like father and son.


    [The awakening of an element brings about some minor changes to one''s behavior, that is why a pyromancer is more prone to anger, and aquamancer is peaceful, a geomancer strong-willed, a dark bringer is devoid of emotions, a photomancer is more inclined to nature, an aeromancer always goes with the flow, a reinforcer is always ecstatic and filled with energy, a lightweaver happy and an astromancer is more observant.] The system said.


    (AN: Just noticed that I hadn''t mentioned the name for some of the elements. I hope the new names can be easily understood.)


    ''Too bad there isn''t any professor for the space element, if not I would go even though lightning is my main element.'' ke shook his head in disappointment.


    The space element was the rarest element so he had expected this oue. It would be considered a miracle if there was a teacher and also a student who had awakened the space element in the same school.


    As for the darkness element, Damon was pretty lucky because he was the first student under professor Vadik in more than 20 years.


    [Why would you need a teacher, when you have the greatest astromancer and chronomancer that had walked the face of infinite realm? Also, I would be able to train and check out your development all day without waiting for a ss.] The system said in a proud tone.


    ''AN: Chronomancer is for the time authority.''


    ''I guess you are right.'' ke said with a smile.


    ''But doesn''t that mean the other elements would also have an effect on my behavior?'' ke asked with a puzzled look on his face.


    [Well that depends on the level of affinity with the element.] The system replied.


    ''Doesn''t that mean I am meant to be more of a hothead?'' ke was more confused by the reply.


    [Nope, among the three elements you have the least affinity with the fire element and that is because of the adaptation process that increased your affinity with the space element to second ce.] Seeing that ke was further confused the system spoke. [The All- father''s inheritance came with the time authority making it a special one. Meaning you must have a high level of affinity to be able to use it and the adaptation process did the rest.]


    ''Oh.'' ke nodded, as he went over to where the side meant for the reinforcers.


    After everyone had been divided into their various elements, the professors opened warp gates that sent them to different sses.


    "I am professor Langston, which you already know and I will be taking you on Lightning mastery." The professor said quickly.


    Professor Langston was a slim young man with a height of 1.77 meters. He had long blonde hair that fluttered as he walked, his tanned skin and square chin gave him a unique charm.


    ''Now I get what you meant by energetic.'' ke said as he listened to the professor.


    "We shall go straight into the business of the day; let''s talk about your basic spells as reinforcers. You all know the function of the lightning reinforcement, so I won''t be going into that, rather we shall look into its mastery.'' Lightning arcs began squirming all around the professor''s body.


    "Normally when the lightning reinforcement has been cast, the lightning envelops the body, but for you to boost your mastery over it you must be able to do this¡­" All the arcs of lightning around his body moved to his right arm.


    ''How did he do that?!'' ke was stunned as he saw that the lightning arcs were not moving out his arm region.


    "You are surprised huh? Don''t worry I will teach you guys." Professor said with a smirk.


    "For you to able to move the reinforcement to one part of your body, you need to have a fine mana control to be able to draw the power to one point.


    When the lightning reinforcement spell is channeled, it activated at the center of your body before it spreads to the other parts of the body. Now all you have to do is manipte the mana at the parts one at a time toe to your arm." Professor Langston exined.


    ''Hmm¡­ Mana control is very important for the spell, but thanks to Professor Gibson and the system it wouldn''t be that hard to achieve.'' ke smiled because he had found something to y with.


    "You guys should give it a try." With his words, the students that were eager to try out the spell stood up and activated lightning reinforcement.


    ke activated lightning reinforcement and focused his intent on his left leg trying to change the flow of mana to his right arm. When he managed to change the flow of energy to his torso, but before it could move further, he lost control of it making it return to his leg.


    "F*ck me!" ke cursed as his effort was wasted. ''Let''s try something else.'' ke said as he thought of a new approach.


    Focusing on his intent on his left hand, ke began changing its flow of energy towards the right and after a few seconds, he felt the effect of the spell on the right-hand increase.


    ''Sess! That means I should go for the part closest." ke was happy about the baby step he took and continued to change the flow, but it was difficult to change the flow at the center of his body.


    ''System, what happened? Why isn''t it harder when ites to changing that of the center?'' Whenever he tried to rap his will around energy at the center, it was too heavy for him to change.


    [Remember what he said, all spells are generated at the center before moving to the other parts of the body, and since the lightning reinforcement is a spell that requires continuous use of mana you can''t wrap your will around it because more keepsing out.


    To entirely change the flow of the spell to supply only your arm with the energy requires a higher level of mana control which you do not possess.] The system answered his question.


    ''That means I have no other option than to try again to change the flow of the legs.'' ke was disappointed that his approach of going for the closest part had failed.


    After two times of trying to change the energy flow of his left leg to his right arm, he finally seeded and when he tried to change that of his right leg, Professor Langston made an announcement.


    "200 points to Cami Karius for being the first toplete the task."


    ''Shit! Only if I hadn''t tried that approach.'' ke was disappointed because he had lost the opportunity to get 200 points which could get him 5 sets of forging materials.


    Channeling his anger towards his task, ke quickly changed the energy flow of thest leg, iming the second position.


    "100 points to ke Wilson for being the second." Professor Langston announced.


    [There is no harm in trying things out and at least you got 100 points.] The system tried to cheer ke up.


    ''I am meant to have an advantage over her, I mean I have three elements, and being an astromancer gives me greater mana sensitivity and control whenpared to others. Even if I wasted a few seconds trying something else I should have beaten her.'' ke said with a serious look.


    [First of all, when did you be sopetitive and why do you think you are the only one special? Everyone has their secrets just like you, I mean shees from a major family known for their lightning prowess, so what makes you think this is her first time of trying this?]

 Chapter 73: The old man?

    <h4>Chapter 73: The old man?</h4>


    "100 points to ke Wilson for being the second." Professor Langston announced.


    [There is no harm in trying things out and at least you got 100 points.] The system tried to cheer ke up.


    ''I am meant to have an advantage over her, I mean I have three elements, and being an astromancer gives me greater mana sensitivity and control whenpared to others. Even if I wasted a few seconds trying something else I should have beaten her.'' ke said with a serious look.


    [First of all, when did you be sopetitive and why do you think you are the only one special? Everyone has their secrets just like you, I mean shees from a major family known for their lightning prowess, so what makes you think this is her first time of trying this?]


    "¡­" The system''s words put ke into deep thought.


    He had always thought that because he had the system, he was better than the nobles from the major families, but the system''s words just made him realized that it only gave him a fighting chance against them instead of being in the pool ofmoners that were bound to be normal for the rest of their lives.


    "50 points to Lyris Karius for bring the third toplete the task." Professor Langston''s announcement further reinforced the system''s words.


    ''Guess it was wrong to use d as a standard for all nobles.'' ke let out a low chuckle


    "20 points for the rest who were able toplete it, for those that were not able to finished the task 10 points for attempting it." Professor Langton said with a smile and went on to exin thest part of the lesson.


    "Most of you must have seen that it is very difficult to change the flow at the center, this is because that is where the spell is being generated making the amount of will needed triple the normal amount. If you have enough will to change the flow, it will be the same as changing the flow of the spell immediately it was cast rather than doing it one after another time."


    ''It would be way way better. I better put more time into increasing my mana control.'' ke knew how important a second was inbat, he couldn''t tell his opponent "Will you hold up a second, let me focus and change the flow of the spell?"


    And if he did no sane person will agree, rendering the new found knowledge useless, unless he practices enough to reduce the time of changing the flow of a body part or having enough will to change everything at once.


    ''Old man is there any way to increase my mana control quickly?'' ke asked.


    (AN: It sounds odd for him to keep calling it system and it wouldn''t be nice naming part of the consciousness of the All-Father, so calling it old man feels better.)


    [There are two ways to increase one''s mana control; Continue with your normal training or you drink a bottle of Schweitzer''s rejuvenating potion.] The system replied.


    ''Who the heck is that?'' ke asked with a confused expression.


    [You don''t need to know about the history. Schweitzer''s rejuvenating potion increases one''s mana control very quickly without training, but someone who works hard always beat those that take shortcuts.


    Apart from that, Schweitzer''s rejuvenating potion is very rare and costly because of its effect, meaning you wouldn''t be able to afford it. Even if you manage to get your hands of the rare ingredients you are no alchemist.]


    ''That means I would have to stick to the n.'' ke sighed when he saw their were no shortcuts.


    After the ss had ended, ke returned to his room just in time to receive his package. When he was done with dinner, ke began practicing how to draw the mana gathering array.


    He put forging on hold because the system told him that practicing the array would also help increase his mana control.


    [When using the array tes, you can decide whether to use it normally or you can decide topress mana at your finger tip and make indents.


    Using it normally has no effect other than helping you master how to draw the symbols perfectly, but if you chose the second option you would learn how to control and steady your mana in order to draw the symbols perfectly.


    The second option is tasking, so I advise you to start with the normal process and familiarize yourself with array.] The system exined all he needed to know before he started.


    Drawing the mana gathering array needed a lot of focus and precision, ording to professor Mack the effects of the array depended on how perfect the symbols were.


    If the symbols were perfect the power of the array would be at its peak, but if they were not perfect the power would be mediocre. He also said that explosions and other dangerous effects could ur if the symbols were not in the right order or if some symbols were missing.


    At first they were scared of an array blowing up in their faces, but the professor calmed them down by exining it was only mid to high tier arrays that could cause explosions.


    "Now I know why you insisted on buying nothing less than hundred." ke threw away the 5th array te after meeting another failure.


    Practicing the mana gathering array was time consuming, ke had been on it for more than 5 hours but had not even gone half. It was after his 12th trail that turned out to be another failure that he decided to call it a day.


    ''60 points had been turned into scrap metal just like that.'' ke couldn''t help but sigh as he went under his sheets and slept with a heavy heart.


    ¡­


    "This would be thest ss we would have on mana control as we would move to another topic. With everything you''ve been taught so far, you should have gotten enough insights that would make training on your own easier.


    From next week we will be looking at some arcane spell and how to cast them. For you to fare well in the sses, you need to have a decent level of mana control." Professor Gibson addressed the students at the end of the ss.


    "Before I go, I would like to inform you all about the field assignment that would be on the weekend." The sudden announcement of the field assignment brought about murmurs.


    "Yes, Brian?"


    "Professor Gibson, what will the assignment be based or what should we expect?" Brian wanted to get as much information as possible in other to prepare.


    "Good question. I can''t tell you what it will be based on, or let me put it this way, expect anything. ss dismissed!" Professor Gibson said while leaving the ssroom.


    ''Why say it''s a good question if you are not going to answer?!'' Brian cursed as the professor gave him nothing to work on.


    Because of his elements and nature, Brian nned for everything like when he fought against the pyromancer in the awakening test. He was against going with the flow, because time and time again luck had proven not to be on his side.


    "Hey, do you have any info on the test?" ke askes as he approached Brian.


    "Nothing more thanmon knowledge." Brian said shaking his head.


    "Common knowledge like?" ke had no clue of what the so calledmon knowledge was.


    "A team exercise or a solo exercise. It could be to escape when ced in a tight situation, to survive for a certain amount of time or achieve something in a given amount of time and so on." Castiel joined the conversation.


    "How is thismon knowledge if I haven''t heard a thing about them?" ke began wondering if they were still in the same magic school.


    "Do you have friends apart from us?" Both of them asked in unison.


    [Do you ever leave your room or the concealed space?] The system snorted.


    "You were meant to be on my side!" ke retorted.


    "Who is meant to be on your side?" Both Castiel and Brian were confused by ke''s words as they asked in unison.


    "Oh, its the old man." ke replied.


    "The old man? Do you mean the system?" Brian was even more confused.


    "Yeah the one that always win arguments¡­" When he saw they were still confused, he couldn''t help but ask. "Wait you guys can''t hear the old man?" ke began wondering if he had lost his mind when he saw them shaking their heads.


    Everyone that was summoned to the this world from Earth, had seen battle angel Alcane who had gifted them the All-Father''s blessings which was the system, so it was quiet weird that they didn''t have the AI features in theirs.


    ''What is going on?'' ke couldn''t help but ask the system because he felt something was wrong.

 Chapter 74: Preparation.

    <h4>Chapter 74: Preparation.</h4>


    "The old man? Do you mean the system?" Brian was even more confused.


    "Yeah, the one that always wins arguments¡­" When he saw they were still confused, he couldn''t help but ask. "Wait you guys can''t hear the old man?" ke began wondering if he had lost his mind when he saw them shaking their heads.


    Everyone that was summoned to this world from Earth, had seen battle angel Alcane who had gifted them the All-Father''s blessings which was the system, so it was quite weird that they didn''t have the AI features in theirs.


    ''What is going on?'' ke couldn''t help but ask the system because he felt something was wrong.


    "I think we should talk about this over lunch." Castiel proposed when he noticed their chat was getting a lot of attention.


    [When you guys were summoned, you were given a little part of the All-Father''s consciousness in form of the system. The system is meant to help you know the basic things about infinite realm so that you won''t bepletely lost and ignorant about your purpose for being summoned.


    Why your system is different from theirs is because you absorbed the All-Father''s inheritance. Inheritances contain part of the consciousness of higher beings in order to give a little guide on how to use it and when the two parts of the All-Father''s consciousnessbined after you fully assimted with the inheritance it formed me.] The system exined as they went to the canteen.


    Both Brian and Castiel saw how quiet he was, but decided not to disturb him because they knew a lot was going down in his head.


    ''So you are saying, if they are able to get inheritances of their own, an AI would be formed?'' ke asked.


    [Yes. The process of making an inheritance is aplex one, but one thing you should know is that each deity can make one inheritance for each of its elements.


    Now, for an ''AI'' to be formed they have to acquire an inheritance from the same deity. This means their only option would be the All-Father''s lightning inheritance, but I am not sure if it has been acquired or not.]


    ''You are saying that only one more person can get an ''AI'' and apart from that, there is a possibility that it has been taken already?'' ke couldn''t help but ask again because what it was trying to say was that their chances of getting it were close to zero.


    [Yes.] The system answered.


    Inheritances were not like cabbages that could be gotten anytime it was needed. They were very rare because not everyone could be a deity to make one and sometimes it would take millions of years before an inheritance was found.


    Deities don''t just ce their inheritance anywhere, they were usually ced in very secured areas with traps, arrays, and sometimes beasts that served as both protection and tests for those who think they were worthy.


    This caused the deaths of many and the branding of the area on the map as dangerous, but if anyone managed to pass the ''tests'' they woulde out very powerful. But it was too good to be true for ke to have found the All-Father''s inheritance so easily.


    "This is what the old man said¡­" ke exined everything the system had told him, including the part about their near-zero chances of getting the about getting the lightning inheritance.


    ''Why wasn''t I the first to think about splitting up then? I would have been the one with three elements.'' Both of them couldn''t help but shake their heads in disappointment.


    "Ask him if there would be any problem if we get the inheritance of another deity?" Castiel couldn''t help but ask, because he feared having his head explode because of two consciousness in his head.


    ke shook his head as he ryed the system''s words. "He said nothing will happen to you because the consciousness in an inheritance only acts as a guide."


    "About the field assignment, what''s the n?" After seeing 60 points turn to scrap metals under 5 hours, ke realized that his activities will require a lot of points and he needed to get more. That is why he wanted to prepare for the field assignment and get the maximum points obtainable.


    "Actually, there is no n. The school is known for being unpredictable which means the only thing we can do is to prepare for all scenarios just like professor Gibson said." Brian sighed.


    "That will be difficult, but we have no other option than to leave it to fate." ke was disappointed.


    After they were done with lunch they all headed to the castle''s training ground for their advancedbat ss.


    "In our previous sses, you were taught how to adapt and identify your opponent''s weakness in situations when you are fighting with no weapons, and when you are fighting with a weapon.


    Since we have been teaching you how to battle against a human for a long time now, we will look at when you are up against a beast, and withmon sense, you should know they are different things altogether." Instructor Zirrack announced the topic of the day.


    "By now you are expected to know of beast ranks¡­" Seeing some of the students shaking their heads, instructor Zirrack felt like face-palming.


    "Then you should go read it up in the library." The instructor said with a stoic expression.


    He had wanted to say it, but if he told them everything the students would useless and some will never visit the library.


    (AN: I am not sure if I have mentioned it in previous chapters, but one thing for sure is that you guys don''t have to go to the library :)


    Beast ranks;


    Ancestral beasts


    Emperor beasts


    King beasts


    Knight beasts


    Elite beasts


    Chief beasts


    Common beasts.)


    "You don''t have to worry about knight level beasts and above because before you get to see them you would have been turned to mincemeat." Instructor Zirrack''s words sent chills down the spine of the students, ke included.


    ke freshly remembered his near-death experience with the knox, imagining how powerful something stronger than it, and with the warning the instructor had given which was most likely true, he couldn''t help but shiver.


    "Well, you don''t have to worry much about them, because they are nowhere near the Mina forest at least until the next beast tide." ke calmed down after hearing these words because he had almost considered not hunting in the forest again.


    "As for an elite beast, you should run immediately you see one because you are not its match, but I still doubt you would be able to escape.


    If you encountered one with a team, please run for your lives so that at least one of you could live to tell the tale." Instructor Zirrack didn''t try to hide how they could all die.


    "Isn''t he overhyping an elite beast?" ke felt that the instructor''s exnation of an elite beast was stronger than the real thing.


    [Not everyone has a high-quality sword or three elements like you. Remember you almost died if it wasn''t for me releasing the barrier at thest moment.


    The only reason you were able to kill it is that it underestimated you and had no idea of the effects of the space element, but I must confess you do have skills.] ke wanted to retort the system but when he heard thest part he couldn''t help but smile.


    "As for magical beasts, you should be careful when facing them. Some are solo hunters, but many of them hunt in groups, so depending on the magical beast you face you should always expect another waiting to ambush you when you let your guard down." ke couldn''t help but nod.


    "When you go up against a beast using a weapon, anything you conjure at your level won''t do much damage, and remember you need a speedy kill.


    Their hides are very tough that''s why weapons are rmended and once you have a weapon you should go for the vitals and end them quickly because those bastards have monstrous vitality.


    Aim to decapitate its head or go for the heart, brain, eyes and if they all fail, try to reduce its mobility by chopping its legs off." The students shuddered when they heard him mention lots of gruesome ways to kill beasts, but he couldn''t care one bit about their feelings.


    After 30 more minutes, the ss came to an end and ke went straight to the exchange store.


    "I have to make preparations for the field assignments, what do you think I need to buy?" ke didn''t want to spend money, but since it was for something important he could only pay with a heavy heart.


    [You should go for mana and healing potions. I would have said you should go for a light armor that takes some damage and not affect your mobility, but you are too broke for that.] ke agreed with the system when he saw the price of the cheapest body armor which was 30 thousand EP.

 Chapter 75: Survival Exercise.

    <h4>Chapter 75: Survival Exercise.</h4>


    "I have to make preparations for the field assignments, what do you think I need to buy?" ke didn''t want to spend money, but since it was for something important, he could only pay with a heavy heart.


    [You should go for mana and healing potions. I would have said you should go for a light armor that takes some damage and not affect your mobility, but you are too broke for that.] ke agreed with the system when he saw the price of the cheapest body armor which was 30 thousand EP.


    "Since it is a field test, it means the assignment will most likely be in the forest that means I would need a tent and a lot of food ke thought." ke thought as he considered a lot of scenarios that could ur.


    "The magical tents on the list are quite costly, but I should be able to get one with my gold coins." ke began nning on making a trip outside the school.


    He had still had more than two thousand gold coins sitting in his dimensional space waiting to be spent, so it was better for him to save his EP''s since they were harder to get.


    "What else do I need?" ke asked checking if he had forgotten anything important.


    [I have run a quick check on the battles of yourst hunt. I noticed that most of your attacks need you to be at close range with the enemy, which wouldn''t be ideal when facing multiple opponents or monsters.] The system analyzed.


    "You are trying to say that I need to get myself a ranged weapon?" ke felt his chest tighten when he saw the price of the cheapest ranged weapon.


    [You don''t have to worry about the prices because you can''t afford any. I meant you should forge yourself one.


    Considering you don''t have much knowledge about forging yet, making you incapable of forging anything apart from a sword. I say you forge throwing knives and a short sword for just in case you end up losing your katana.] The system analyzed.


    "Old man you are a genius!" ke was ecstatic about the ideas brought up by the system, he hadn''t evene close to thinking about them.


    [I know.]


    ke Ignored the systems remark and bought five more sets of forging material, before heading to his room.


    ¡­


    After taking his bath and having dinner, ke returned to his room to begin forging his throwing knives.


    "How exactly do I forge a throwing knife?" ke hadn''t thought how to nor has he read anything about throwing knives, so he needed the system to lead the way.


    [There isn''t much difference between a normal sword, a short sword, and a throwing knife. For starters, their length varies, weight, sharpness, pration, and other things that I would guide¡­] The system was interrupted by ke''s badge that light up.


    "Announcement to all students in the elite ss. All sses for tomorrow will be canceled, in order to, but help you prepare for the field assignment." After the announcement, the badge lost its glow and the room became quiet.


    "The way the field assignment is being hyped it is putting more pressure on everyone, but I must say it gives me more free time to go shopping and to cultivate..." ke said with mixed feelings.


    [With the way everything is going, this test is a big deal, we have to make more preparations.] The system said in a pondering tone. Not wasting more time, the duo began forging.


    ¡­


    In a room with arge round table at the center, all teachers handling one course or more in the first year were present and in their midst was Principal Lovren.


    "What is the use of a free day if the assignment is just meant tost for only two days and considering it isn''t that difficult, they don''t need many preparations." Being the homeroom teacher of the elite ss that was taking the field test, professor Gibson couldn''t help but voice his thoughts because the students had just lost a day''s worth of learning.


    "I agree with Gibson." Some of the other professors could only agree with him.


    "No, they need as many preparations as they can get, because the assignment has been changed by the prince. They will no longer be staying in the mina forest for 2 days, but a week because it has been changed from a beast core gathering exercise to a survival exercise." Principal Lovren exined.


    "A survival mission?! This is sending them to their deaths!"


    "This is too much!" The professors in the room began objecting to the principal''s words.


    Out of all the professors in the room, it was only instructor Zirrack, Principal Lovren, Professor Mack, Professor Gibson, and Professor Vadik who were silent.


    When the noise had gotten to an irritating level, Instructor Zirrack released his fiery aura that silenced everyone in the room, giving the principal an opportunity to speak.


    "Now tell me what is the difference between you all and the kids now?" Principal Lovren waited for his words to sink inside them, before continuing.


    "This is an order from his highness, so it can''t be changed unless he decides to. As for the assignment, it would be monitored by you professors to save them and make sure that no one loses their lives.


    As for what I think about the test, I would say it is not too much for them because what will be the use of calling them elites and giving them a lot of resources if they can''t handle this. This exercise is meant to train them on how to be true elites, that is why they would get greater points and resources whenpared to the normal ss." The Principal said while looking at the lowered faces of the professors.


    ¡­


    Back in the room, ke was currently in the final grinding stage of making his short sword.


    After 20 more minutes of grinding ke was finally done with the short sword and couldn''t help but cut through the air to check out.


    "At least no one is taking this." ke chuckled because he had been saving that line for a long time.


    [You never change.] The system shook its head.


    [For the throwing knives you should aim at lightening its weight and increasing it prative ability. Also, why don''t you stop try using different designs for heaven''s sake! You should pick the one you like and use it as a trademark design for your weapons.]


    "Easy, I was just trying them out." ke smiled sheepishly as he began forging the throwing knives.


    He conjured a fireball and threw it into his personal forge and began monitoring the heat to make sure it was at the temperature, before putting in the alloys.


    It took him an hour to make a single throwing knife, but it was much lower whenpared to making a normal sword. The problem was that he still had nine more to go.


    "So, what do you think about the design?" ke asked with a smirk on his face as he looked at the thunder design on the hilt of the throwing knife.


    [Not too bad for a beginner.]


    ¡­


    ke continued forging the throwing without taking a break. He worked fromte into the night to the early morning of the next day. After hepleted thest one, the dropped dead and fell asleep


    He woke up when it was almost noon and after having breakfast from his dimensional space, ke dressed up and left for the adventurers association, to check out their store.


    When he got to the association, ke went straight to the store without even meeting Susan.


    "Most of the items here can be found in the exchange store and the other I have no use for them except for the tents." ke thought as he browsed the list.


    On the lost were basic dimensional tents, intermediate dimensional tents, and advanced dimensional tents. Just like everyone, ke wanted the best quality, but the problem was that he could barely afford the basic dimensional tents talk more of the advanced dimensional tents.


    ''Now really understand what you meant when you said non-magical items were cheap.'' ke found it hard to breathe when he saw the price of the basic dimensional tent.


    [Stop being cheap, 1700 gold coins isn''t that much.] The system snorted.


    ''Last time I checked I am the one paying for it.'' ke still had more things to say, but he decided it save them forter because the attendant was looking at him in an awkward manner.


    "I will have one basic dimensional space, please..."


    [Please don''t do it...]


    "And I will love to check it out." ke ignored the system''s words.


    [He f*cking did it!] The system ''face-palmed.


    All items sold in the association''s store were tested and trusted, regr checks were done to make sure defective products that may ruin the association''s image were not given to any customer. That was why the system felt ashamed of his cheap and paranoid host.

 Chapter 76: Survival exercise 2.

    <h4>Chapter 76: Survival exercise 2.</h4>


    ''Last time I checked I am the one paying for it.'' ke still had more things to say, but he decided it save them forter because the attendant was looking at him in an awkward manner.


    "I will have one basic dimensional tent, please..."


    [Please don''t do it...]


    "And I will love to check it out." ke ignored the system''s words.


    [He f*cking did it!] The system ''face-palmed.


    All items sold in the association''s store were tested and trusted, regr checks were done to make sure defective products that may ruin the association''s image were not given to any customer. That was why the system felt ashamed of his cheap and paranoid host.


    ''I won''t take chances, what if it doesn''t work when we are in the forest?'' ke didn''t care about what the system thought.


    The attendant brought out a dark green tent and poured in a bit of mana, automatically setting it up. On the outside, it was the size of a two-man tent, but when they got inside it was more than the size of a 5-man tent.


    "The basic dimensional tent has a length of 7.2 meters and a width of 5 meters. It has a basic defense system that allows those inside it to see what''s happening on the outside and also alerts the user if it takes any form of damage." Usually, not many people asked to check out the products because most of them were adventurers who already know about the products they wanted and because they could always return them if faulty. But since a customer asked the attendant had to do her job and exin the features of the product.


    ''If a basic tier dimensional tent has so much space and nice features, I wonder what features the advanced and intermediate dimensional tents would possess to have such price tags.'' ke thought when he remembered that the advanced dimensional tent cost 200 thousand gold coins and the intermediate tent cost 50 thousand gold coins.


    ''Imagine if I was able to forge dimensional tents, we would be f*cking rich!??? ke fantasied.


    [Learn how to forge something other than a sword or master the mana gathering array before thinking of that.] The system snorted.


    ''Must you be a party pooper?'' ke asked as he paid for the dimensional tent and imprinted it with his mana before heading for the exit.


    On his way out he walked past the slim brown hair D rank adventurer, Lambert who went straight to Susan.


    "Hello gorgeous, has adventurer Zero been here recently, or has he epted anymission?" Lambert asked while enjoying the sight of her ample curves.


    ''Why is he so interested in Zero, he has been asking about him since that day, but one thing for sure he is up to no good.'' Susan ignored Lambert that was trying to rip out her clothes with his eyes, as she thought of what to say that would not drag Zero into any trouble.


    "He just left." Susan couldn''te up with anything and if she wasted more time it would be suspicious.


    ''F*ck!'' Lambert couldn''t help but curse at his bad luck, this wasn''t the first time he came looking for this mysterious Zero that no one had set their eyes on. He had tried getting information from different sources, but none of them had any info about Zero.


    ¡­


    When ke returned to the school, after he finished up with his preparations, he used the rest of the day for cultivating.


    During the week he had used all the beast cores he had except for the elite beast core. His n was to go farm for more on his ss free days so that he could save the elite beast core, but since the field assignment day had reced it, he had no other choice than to use it.


    [When you get stronger hunting elite grade beasts would be a piece of cake, but first you have to survive the assignment first. The more strength you can get the safer you would be.] The system advised.


    "I wonder how far it would go." ke looked at the beast crystal that was twice the size of his fist.


    With the help of the normal beast sores he had absorbed, ke had filled up both the 7th and 8th stars. When it was time for dinner, ke took a break and headed for the canteen I order to stock up food for the assignment.


    After stocking up more than 5 days'' worth of food, ke returned to cultivating tillte in the night when decided to rest for the big day.


    "Only if I had more of elite beast cores, I would be in the champion realm by now." ke couldn''t help but sigh. The effects of the elite core were magical, he had gone from almost half of the ninth star to almost filled 11th star.


    (AN: hope it isn''t confusing? For ke to enter the champion realm he has to fill 16 stars and remember to enter the warrior realm you have to fill up 4, leaving him with 12 stars which he has almost filled up 7.)


    That was more than 2 stars and considering the fact that stars get harder to fill as one rises, ke was more than satisfied.


    ¡­


    The next day.


    All the students of the elite ss were assembled at the main hall, standing behind the principal were all professors that handled them in one course or another.


    "Your field assignment is a team survival exercise and it willst for a week¡­" murmurs were heard all around the hall, but they were soon silenced by a spine-chilling aura that washed over them when Principal adjusted his monocle.


    "I hope you all have made necessary preparations because you will be sent to an unknown part of the mina forest, you are to survive for a week before you will be brought back.


    Unless you are in life-threatening danger you will not be saved and once you are saved by a professor, consider it the same as failing the exercise." Principal Lovren''s words caused the students to gasp at the strict conditions.


    ''C''mon, why is it a team exercise, everyone knows I am a solo guy.'' ke felt like wing at the Principal.


    [Maybe this is the school''s way of teaching people like you how to work as a team because you will one day work with a team.] The said in support of the school''s decision.


    ''Having teammates means having a lot of unknown variables and since I have a big target on my back for being rank 1, it is most likely they would gang up against me. Even if they are not out for my neck, most of those in the elite ss are nobles who know nothing about the wild meaning they will be nothing but dead weight.'' ke made a proper analysis and listed out a lot of demerits in having teammates.


    [You have a point. It means you have to be very careful of both the beasts and humans, but if worstes to worst you can leave the team and solo.]


    "Because you will be saved by the professors doesn''t mean you should be careless, because a professor might not be able to reach you in time so be careful.


    A team will consist of 5 randomly selected students, everything gotten in the exercise would be for the team alone and whatever the team does isn''t any of the school''s concerns. Good luck to you all." After Principal Lovren was done, Professor Gibson took the center stage and began announcing the teams and their members.


    After some minutes, Professor Gibson was now at the second to thest team. "Esmeralda, La, Luciano, Ansgar, and ke." The lineup caused a lot of murmurs.


    Normally when the first and second rank were in the same team, people expected a lot of friction, but it was awkward because the number 1 hadn''t even been challenged and it seemed as if they were best of friends instead of sworn enemies.


    "Each team will be warped to different areas and for those asking who is the team leader, the team is to decide not the school. All teams gather and move to your assigned warp array." Professor Gibson


    "Seems fate wants us to be together." Luciano gave out a low chuckled as he came to ke''s side.


    ''You were meant to say no homo man.'' ke gave him a smile and said. "I don''t believe in fate."


    Esmeralda the rank 10 was the first to join them, followed by the aquamancer La the rank 12, and Ansgar the rank 9.


    ''I must say this team is really overpowered. We have a great attack and a nice defense, but not too sure about this Ansgar guy.'' ke noted their strengths and weaknesses.


    They took their positions in the warp array before being warped to an unknown part of the forest.


    (AN: Seems no one reads the author''s thoughts :-(?check it out.)

 Chapter 77: Survival exercise 3.

    <h4>Chapter 77: Survival exercise 3.</h4>


    "Seems fate wants us to be together." Luciano gave out a low chuckled as he came to ke''s side.


    ''You were meant to say no homo man.'' ke gave him a smile and said. "I don''t believe in fate."


    Esmeralda the rank 10 was the first to join them, followed by the aquamancer La the rank 12, and Ansgar the rank 9.


    ''I must say this team is really overpowered. We have a great attack and a nice defense, but not too sure about this Ansgar guy.'' ke noted their strengths and weaknesses.


    They took their positions in the warp array before being warped to an unknown part of the forest.


    [This is the elite ss, so of course, it would be an overpowered team.] The system said as both of them began checking the new environment they found themselves in.


    ''Scan the area for life forms.'' ke had a stern expression because there was a chance that they had been warped in the midst of beasts. So, he had to be careful and not let his guard down.


    [No life form detected within 100 meters of host.] The system replied.


    ''It is better I make the first move by mentioning the need for a leader, which will make them see me as the perfect one for the job¡­'' Ansgar schemed. "I think it is best for us to chose a leader..." Ansgar said with a serious expression.


    "And let me guess you want to be the leader? Pitiful¡­" Esmeralda snorted.


    ''This bitch!'' He cursed at Esmeralda who had seen through his n. He was not sure if his n was too obvious or if it was just Esmeralda, but just a few words couldn''t just stop his agenda.


    If a team managed to win the survival exercise, most of the praises and more points will go to the leader. And since rank 1 and rank 2 were in the same team, Ansgar felt they had a higher chance of winning the exercise.


    Even if the extra points and praises, he could still use his position as the leader to grab extra shares of the spoils when they killed beasts or so he thought.


    "What made you think I want to be the leader?" Ansgar retorted.


    "Does that mean you should be exempted?" Esmeralda said with a provocative smile.


    "Say what you want to, but I think it is better a leader is elected now because it will go a long way in helping us in being coordinated and winning the survival exercise." Ansgar said in an attempt to dodge the question.


    ''Why did I have a feeling this would happen?'' ke couldn''t help but facepalm.


    [It is clear this red-haired prick named Ansgar is up to no good, but I must say he must be as na?ve as a kid to think that the others don''t have brains to see through his flimsy n.] The system chuckled at Ansgar''s stupidity.


    ''This was what I was talking about. These numbskulls are nothing but dead weight, like why the f*ck will you be screaming in the forest? Are they trying to get us killed by announcing our arrival?'' ke smacked his face when he saw them bickering.


    Just like ke, Luciano and La seemed indifferent about the whole thing. They had no ns of joining the argument so they decided to just see how everything goes.


    "What makes you think you are the best candidate for being the leader when we have the rank 1 and 2 in the team?" Esmeralda sneered at Ansgar''s futile efforts.


    "Not interested in being the team''s leader ." Luciano said in a calm and indifferent tone.


    "Same here, it''s too much hard work." La said with azy tone but got res in return from both Esmeralda and Ansgar that said ''she had no say in the matter''.


    ''I expected something like this to happen. I don''t want to be the leader, but neither do I want a?princess who I doubt had ever gone out of the city walls or a red-haired fool who can only boast of his sheer stupidity.'' ke was seriously thinking of what to do, he had expected Luciano''s indifference because that was his nature to practically everything, but had hoped he would have sensible teammates.


    [A fraxen has entered my range of perception and is closing in fast.] The system''s sudden notification put him under alert and into further thought.


    "You see his silence is can be taken as him rejecting the post, which means I am next in line for the leadership position." ke had a decision he still had to take and coupled with the system''s rm, He had wasted so much time, causing Ansgar to use it in his favor.


    "Shut up!" ke said while looking around their environment.


    [The fraxen is circling you guys preventing you from locking on its presence and waiting for when you let your guards down.] The system warned ke about the fraxen hunting traits.


    "How dare you tell me to shut up? I am the scion of the Ulrik family and you are nothing but a lowlymoner!" Not knowing about the impending danger, Ansgar thought ke''s words were an insult so heshed out at him.


    ''I never expected him to ept, but this gives me a good reason to subdue him and be the leader since Luciano isn''t interested.'' Ansgar thought as he feigned his anger.


    "Today I will show you that the only reason you are still the rank 1 is that you were left there not because you merit it!" Ansgar said as he conjured fireballs and made the wind around him to churn faster.


    ''What a pain in the ass.'' ke ignored Ansgar''s ranting and tried to predict the fraxen movement. ''Since it''s waiting for us to drop our guards, it should be here!'' ke activated lightning reinforcement and dashed at Ansgar at a blinding speed.


    ke spawned behind him and gave him a spinning back kick that sent him flying out of the way.


    Immediately he was kicked out of the way, the fraxen came dashing through the spot with its maw wide open.


    The fraxen was an orange-haired creature with a ttened skull, upright triangr ears that gave it uncanny hearing perceptions. It had a slightly upturned snout, a long bushy tail, and a pair of high-speed wings. Due to its streamlined features, fraxens were known for their high speeds and maneuvering ability, but theycked a lot of defense.


    Seeing it has failed hit his target, the fraxen quickly scanned the area and knew that the other humans were ready for it, so it decided to go for the shocked Ansgar in an attempt to make a quick kill and leave before it got encircled.


    ''That''s a f*cking mutated fox!'' Could help but think as he went into position to intercept the fraxen.


    ''Shit how can it be that fast?!'' ke had tried to intercept the beast but it was just too fast for him.


    Luckily for Ansgar, before the fraxen could grab him and take off, thick nt vines broke out of the ground and grabbed its limbs causing it to fall and graze its skin on the rough ground.


    Having gone through worse, the fraxen managed to get on its feet and try to tear the vines, but it was more than enough time for ke to seal the deal.


    ''Nice timing girl!'' ke couldn''t help but praise Esmeralda''s quick thinking. He instantly spawned to the fraxen''s side before unsheathing Reaper and beheading the beast.


    "How did you know a beast was here?" The whole team except for Luciano were surprised by what just happened.


    "If you all were not announcing our location to all the beast while you were struggling for the leadership position, you would have been able to know!" ke lied through his teeth, If not for the system''s detection he wouldn''t have been able to sense the fraxen unless it came within 25 meters range from him.


    "First, let''s get out of here before more beasts get attracted by the smell of blood." ke stored the corpse of the fraxen before leading them out of the area.


    "Before things get out of hand again, it''s time I address some problems because we are stuck with each other for a week." ke decided to take the ''mantle'' of leadership since the only person he felt was okay for the position, Luciano, was not interested.


    "And who made you the leader to address those issues." Ansgar snarled at ke for posing as the leader.


    ''Does this guy think through his b*tt hole?'' ke was considering giving him a proper beating, but luckily for Ansgar Luciano gave him a re that made him shut up and listen.


    "First, let''s talk about the rules of the forest. Don''t make unnecessary sounds, leave immediately after you kill a beast because the smell of blood might attract other beasts to the areas..." ke took his time to exin the does and don''ts of the forest before he emphasized thest part.


    "If you see a prey know that there is a chance that another predator is around and also remember that the members of its pack might also be around so be careful."

 Chapter 78: Survival exercise 4

    <h4>Chapter 78: Survival exercise 4</h4>


    Does this guy think through his b*tt hole?'' ke was considering giving him a proper beating, but luckily for Ansgar Luciano gave him a re that made him shut up and listen.


    "First, let''s talk about the rules of the forest. Don''t make unnecessary sounds. Leave immediately after you kill a beast because the smell of blood might attract other beasts to the areas..." ke took his time to exin the does and don''ts of the forest before he emphasized thest part.


    "If you see a prey know that there is a chance that another predator is around and also remember that the members of its pack might also be around so be careful."


    ke went on setting ground rules. The team had no leader and no one could boss each other around, meaning everything a person does is by their will. The spoils were agreed to be shared based on how much damage one inflicted on the beast, which meant if he was to kill a monster, he was to keep all the spoils.


    As for food issues, everyone was to keep the food supply they got for themselves and if that of anyone finished before the exercise was over, they were free to hunt, besides they were in the forest.


    Most of the rules he had created were to prevent those who didn''t work hard or made little preparations to reap from those that did in the name of being a team.


    "Now that all the rules have beenid out, what is our main goal for the exercise? We can''t just hole ourselves up because we have to survive, I propose we go out on regr hunting." The whole team was looking at him as if he had lost his mind.


    Seeing the looks on their faces, ke couldn''t help but ask. "Don''t tell me that was your n?"


    "The forest is swarming with beasts, not only I may lose my life or the exercise, but if I end up getting injured, I will have to consume more food for my injuries to heal up." Because her dimensional amulet was not of high quality like the 3 nobles in the team, she couldn''t store much food meaning she had to ration them for it to be enough and the same went for the entire.


    [What were you expecting from kids who haven''t been in life-threatening situations.] The system was not surprised by their reactions.


    ''I thought them being elites meant they were above average students but seems I overestimated them.'' ke sighed.


    "Well that makes things easier for me, but you have to stay put for me to regroup with you guys." ke said to the group.


    "But what if we get attacked by a beast and we have to move?" Esmeralda asked. She didn''t like his idea of hunting for beasts, but since she couldn''t order anyone the next best thing was to prevent the team from permanently being divided when a member got lost.


    "Don''t worry I will find my way." ke said as he leaped unto a tree and left the area.


    ''The rumors about him being weak is totally false, Luciano might not even be his match and that may have been the reason he hasn''t challenged him.'' Esmeralda couldn''t help but think as she watched ke''s figure leave their line of sight.


    When Ansgar was about to attack ke, she saw the indifference in his eyes, it was as if Ansgar wasn''t even a threat to him. Even from the way ke had responded to the fraxen''s attack she saw him brimming with confidence.


    ¡­


    A hundred meters away from the team''s position, ke was on a tree scanning his environment.


    The team was still within the system''s detection range, but he was contemting if he should move further because he hadn''te in contact with any beasts since he left.


    "Make a map of the area I just passed; I wouldn''t want to get lost." ke didn''t want to take chances of getting lost, because everywhere in the forest looked exactly the same because of the tall lush trees that blocked out most of the light.


    [11 students detected 58 meters east.] The system reported.


    ''Let''s see what happens when the two teams meet each other.'' ke dashed towards the area.


    When he got close to the area, with the help of the system he concealed his presence. After checking that no one else was nning on ambushing them, ke decided to spectate from a distance.


    ''Idiots.'' ke shook his head when he saw them making the same mistake as his team.


    "As you can see my team is greater in numbers and in more high rankers, so hand over your food, and no harm will befall you." A brown-haired muscr boy who stood in front of his team which had 6 members spoke up.


    (AN: remember the exam is only taken by the students of the elite ss and remember they are 64 in number meaning thest set won''t make up a team of 5. So the 4 remaining students were added to random groups.)


    When they were informed that the exercise was tost for a week, many had tried to leave the hall in order to store more food, but they were stopped from doing so, meaning that some hadn''t taken enough food.


    ''This reminds me of the walking dead. The zombies hunt humans and humans hunt humans, that makes me wonder what is the difference between humans and beasts?'' ke had no ns of saving them because he had nothing to gain, neither was he a hero to work for free so he decided to watch how everything unfolds.


    [Humans are truly despicable because they have power, they chose to oppress those weaker.] The system said in a disappointed tone.


    "But here we are waiting to capitalize on their misfortune." They both inwardlyughed at the system''s acting skills.


    ¡­


    "If you decide to fight us you won''t be getting anything because a professor will save us if our lives are in danger." A female member of the oppressed group said in an attempt to make the oppressors realize their actions were futile.


    ''You idiot, why will you speak of such vital information to your opponents!'' The leader felt like pausing this so that he could have a one on one fight with this moron he called a teammate.


    The leader knew that they stood no chance against the oppressors, but he didn''t want the enemy to leave unscathed. His n was to let himself get hit so that a professor woulde to save him, making his opponent''s actions futile, but a daughter of a thousand fathers decided to talk.


    ''How na?ve, because of a few words you expect someone that''s fighting for survival to back down so easily.'' ke was trying his best to hold back hisughter, at this moment he was wishing he had a bowl of popcorn.


    "You heard him guys don''t shoot to kill." The leader sneered at how na?ve the girls were.


    "Okay we agree, don''t attack." Seeing there was a high chance for them to be tortured by the oppressors, the leader decided it was best to give them what they wanted, but there was still a chance that they will go back on their words and still attack them.


    "Now that''s what we are talking about." The muscr brown-haired leader smiled when he heard his opponent''s words.


    He truly didn''t want to fight because it would have been difficult for them to win if they were holding back their strength to make sure they didn''tnd non-lethal blows, but thanks to his inexperienced opponents his team will be getting food supplies without raising a finger.


    Following their leader''s footsteps, all the members of the team brought out their dimensional amulets, but before they could activate them, two sdes which were lizard type beasts with exoskeletal skull armor and a thick tail with a spiked end came dashing towards them.


    The sudden appearance of the hideous beasts left both sides rooted to the spot, giving the sdes enough time to close in. It lowered its head and crashed into one of the oppressors, causing multiple fractures, internal bleeding, external bleeding, and losing consciousness, but he was not dead.


    Luckily for the student, sdes preferred eating their prey alive, so it went after its next target which was the muscr brown-haired leader.


    Immediately, the sde turned to the leader, it used its tail to m another student behind it rendering her unconscious before dashing forward.


    ¡­


    Prior to the sudden attack, ke had already been informed by the system about the sdes, but since beasts attacking them was expected and him not being their targets, ke remained concealed and prepared to take advantage of the situation.


    ''Are there only 2 sdes?'' ke asked as he prepared to take action.


    [Affirmative. No other beast is in my detection range.] The system''s report put a smirk on ke''s face as he unsheathed Reaper.


    ''Let''s go.''

 Chapter 79: Big error please dont read.

    <h4>Chapter 79: Big error please don''t read.</h4>


    ''Does this guy think through his b*tt hole?'' ke was considering giving him a proper beating, but luckily for Ansgar Luciano gave him a re that made him shut up and listen.


    "First, let''s talk about the rules of the forest. Don''t make unnecessary sounds. Leave immediately after you kill a beast because the smell of blood might attract other beasts to the areas..." ke took his time to exin the does and don''ts of the forest before he emphasized thest part.


    "If you see a prey know that there is a chance that another predator is around and also remember that the members of its pack might also be around so be careful."


    ke went on setting ground rules. The team had no leader and no one could boss each other around, meaning everything a person does is by their will. The spoils were agreed to be shared based on how much damage one inflicted on the beast, that meant if he was to kill a monster, he was to keep all the spoils.


    As for food issues, everyone was to keep the food supply they got for themselves and if that of anyone finished before the exercise was over, they were free to hunt, besides they were in the forest.


    Most of the rules he had created was to prevent those didn''t work hard or made little preparations to reap from those that did in the name being a team.


    "Now that all the rules have beenid out, what is our main goal for the exercise? We can''t just hole ourselves up because we have to survive, I propose we go out on regr hunting." The whole team was looking at him as if he had lost his mind.


    Seeing the looks on their faces, ke couldn''t help but ask. "Don''t tell me that was your n?"


    "The forest is swarming with beasts, not only I may lose my life or the exercise, but if we I end up getting injured, I will have to consume more food for my injuries to heal up." Because her dimensional amulet was not of high quality like the 3 nobles in the team, she couldn''t store much food meaning she had to ration them for it to be enough and the same went for the entire.


    [What were you expecting from kids who haven''t been in life threatening situations.] The system was not surprised by their reactions.


    ''I thought them being elites meant they were above average students, but seems I overestimated them.'' ke sighed.


    "Well that makes things easier for me, but you have to stay put for me regroup with you guys." ke said to the group.


    "But what if we get attacked by a beast and we have to move?" Esmeralda asked. She didn''t like his idea of hunting for beasts, but since she couldn''t order anyone the next best thing was to prevent the team from permanently being divided when a member got lost.


    "Don''t worry I will find my way." ke said as he leaped unto a tree and left the area.


    ''The rumors about him being weak is totally false, Luciano might not even be his match and that may have been the reason he hasn''t challenged him.'' Esmeralda couldn''t help but think as she watched as ke''s figure leave their line of sight.


    When Ansgar was about to attack ke, she saw the indifference in his eyes, it was as if Ansgar wasn''t even a threat to him. Even from the way ke had responded to the fraxen''s attack she saw him brimming with confidence.


    ¡­


    A hundred meters away from the team''s position, ke was on a tree scanning his environment.


    The team was still within the system''s detection range, but he was contemting if he should move further, because he hadn''te in contact with any beasts since he left.


    "Make a map of the area I just passed; I wouldn''t want to get lost." ke didn''t want to take chances of getting lost, because everywhere in the forest looked exactly the same because of the tall lush trees that blocked out most of the light.


    [11 students detected 58 meters east.] The system reported.


    ''Let''s see what happens when the two teams meet each other.'' ke dashed towards the area.


    When he got close to the area, with the help of the system he concealed his presence. After checking that no one else was nning on ambushing them, ke decided to spectate from a distance.


    ''Idiots.'' ke shook his head when he saw them making the same mistake as his team.


    "As you can see my team is greater in numbers and in more high rankers, so hand over your food and no harm will befall you." A brown haired muscr boy who stood in front of his team which had 6 members spoke up.


    (AN: remember the exam is only taken by the students of the elite ss and remember they are 64 in number meaning thest set won''t make up a team of 5. So the 4 remaining students were added to random groups.)


    When they were informed that the exercise was tost for a week, many had tried to leave the hall in order to store more food, but they were stopped from doing so, meaning that some hadn''t taken enough food.


    ''This reminds me of the walking dead. The zombies hunt humans and humans hunt humans, that makes me wonder what is the difference between humans and beasts?'' ke had no ns of saving them because he had nothing to gain, neither was he a hero to work for free so he decided to watch how everything unfolds.


    [Humans are truly despicable, because they have power, they chose to oppress those weaker.] The system said in disappointed tone.


    "But here we are waiting to capitalize on their misfortune." They both inwardlyughed at the system''s acting skills.


    ¡­


    "If you decide to fight us you won''t be getting anything because a professor will save us if our lives are in danger." A female member of the oppressed group said in attempt to make the oppressors realize their actions were futile.


    ''You idiot, why will you speak of such vital information to your opponents!'' The leader felt like pausing this, so that he could have a one on one fight with this moron he called a teammate.


    The leader knew that they stood no chance against the oppressors, but he didn''t want the enemy to leave unscathed. His n was to let himself get hit so that a professor woulde save him, making his opponents actions futile, but a daughter of a thousand fathers decided to talk.


    ''How na?ve, because of a few words you expect someone that''s fighting for survival to back down so easily.'' ke was trying his best to hold back hisughter, at this moment he was wishing he had a bowl of pop corn.


    "You heard him guys don''t shoot to kill." The leader sneered at how na?ve the girls was.


    "Okay we agree, don''t attack." Seeing their was a high chance for them to be tortured by the oppressors, the leader decided it was best to give them what they wanted, but their was still a chance that they will go back on their words and still attack them.


    "Now that''s what we are talking about." The muscr brown-haired leader smiled when he heard his opponents words.


    He truly didn''t want to fight because it would have been difficult for them to win, if they were holding back their strength to make sure they didn''tnd non lethal blows, but thanks to his inexperienced opponents his team will be getting food supplies without raising a finger.


    Following their leaders footsteps, all the members of the team brought out their dimensional amulets, but before they could activate it, two sdes which were ?lizard type beasts with exoskeletal skull armor and a thick tail with a spiked end, came dashing towards them.


    The sudden appearance of the hideous beasts left both sides rooted to the spot, giving the sdes enough time to close in. It lowered its head and crashed into one of the oppressors, causing multiple fractures, internal bleeding, external bleeding and losing consciousness, but he was not dead.


    Luckily for the student, sdes preferred eating their prey alive, so it went after it next target which was the muscr brown-haired leader.


    Immediately, the sde turned to the leader, it used its tail to m another student behind it rendering her unconscious before dashing forward.


    ¡­


    Prior to the sudden attack, ke had already been informed by the system about the sdes, but since beasts attacking them was expected and him not being their targets, ke remained concealed and prepared to take advantage of the situation.


    ''Are there only 2 sdes?'' ke asked as he prepared to take action.


    [Affirmative. No other beast is in detection range.] The system''s report put a smirk on ke''s face as he unsheathed Reaper.


    ''Let''s go.''

 Chapter 80: Survival exercise 5

    <h4>Chapter 80: Survival exercise 5</h4>


    ¡­


    Prior to the sudden attack, ke had already been informed by the system about the sdes, but since beasts attacking them was expected and him not being their targets, ke remained concealed and prepared to take advantage of the situation.


    ''Are there only 2 sdes?'' ke asked as he prepared to take action.


    [Affirmative. No other beast is in my detection range.] The system''s report put a smirk on ke''s face as he unsheathed Reaper.


    ''Let''s go.''


    ¡­


    Because of their inexperience, the oppressors and the oppressed were in disarray. Out of fear, they shot spells randomly at the sdes, but because of the beast''s exoskeleton and thick scales, most of the damages were negligible.


    The fear of death could have different effects on people. There were people who were calm and still able to reason even when they were at hell''s gate. The second group was those so gripped by the fear of death that they lost all their thinking abilities and made desperate attempts that usually ended up futile.


    Unfortunately, both teams were in the second category. In the face of danger, both teams had forgotten all about their lessons on advancedbat. Even the advice of using weapons against beasts with thick hide was thrown out the window, their judgment was clouded by fear. If not for the nature of the sdes the professors in charge of the team would have warped in by now to save the students.


    ke rushed out of his hiding spot and silently weaved through the panicking students and went straight for the sde attacking the leader of the oppressors. Just like how he had dealt with the fraxen, he wanted to use the leader as a distraction to end the sde quickly, but not everything happens as nned.


    Sdes had the unique ability of the reptile family which was a high perception of vibrations from the ground. If though ke had tried to be as silent as possible, it still created some vibrations that alerted it.


    The sde suddenlyshed its thick spiked tail with the intent of taking the human by surprise, but ke had already predicted such a move from the beast, so he jumped and cast a me burst to further propel him away from the tail and towards its body.


    ke was so fast, that when hended on its back in a blink of an eye, he was already at the top of its head with the reaper plunging down towards its skull. The sde was shocked by ke''s speed and couldn''t react, he could only watch as the katana pierced through its exoskeleton and into its brain reaping its life.


    ''Such speed!'' The team leader''s eyes were wide open in disbelieve, but before more thoughts could form in his mind, ke zoomed past him, and before he could react, the hilt of Reaper knocks him out.


    ''Don''t want idiots getting in my way.'' ke thought as he dashed towards the second sde while charging a me burst.


    The second team was in a worse situation, more than half of the team were unconscious, while the sde was charging at the one, the other was on the run. Immediately, ke got into range he fired the me burst which knocked it a few meters away.


    The me burst was a strong explosive fire spell that carried a punch. The only reason it looked like itcked power was that ke usually reduced the time of charge so that he could be propelled instead of having his limbs blown to bits.


    HISS!


    The sde was enraged by the human''s sneaky attack, it quickly rushed charge at ke, but before it knew what was going on ke threw a throwing knife at its eye, blinding it and inflicting on it a mind-numbing pain.


    HISS!


    The sde hissed both in both pain and rage, as the fight had turned to a vendetta against the human. First, it had killed its brother now it had taken one of its eyes, the amount of hatred it had for the human had transcended to a different level. "Not even the heavens could break up this fight!" The sde hissed as it charged towards ke in a frenzy.


    ''Seems I pushed the wrong button.'' ke was surprised by the sdes renewed vigor, but he didn''t worry much about it. With ke''s speed and the sdes impaired vision, all he needed to do was to stay on its blind side and wait for an opportunity to strike.


    It tried using its thick skull to ram ke into oblivion, but it was easier imagined than done especially against a speedster like him. ke dodged the charge with ease and spawned behind it, but the sde wouldn''t let him go so easily, it whipped it tail in all direction in order to squash the human.


    But contrary to the screams it had expected, it felt a sharp pain at its tail and when he tried to move again, there was nothing there to move.


    HISS!


    The sde hissed in pain as its cursed ke''s entire generation, but even if ke could understand the beastnguage he wouldn''t care because this was a perfect time to end the battle.


    Seeing the sde was still in pain, keshed forward. He shed at its leg leaving a deep cut that destabilized it for a second giving him an opportunity to cut the forearms causing it to lose its bnce and fall, but before it crashed to the floor, ke was already in front of it with his sword in his hands.


    From the moment ke cut its tail, Dread filled the sdes heart as it watched the human chain his attacks without even giving him an opportunity to react. The sde could only wish it was an elite beast so that it could beg for its life in human tongue, but before it could even make a screech its head was already meters up in the air.


    ''Next up, thepetition.'' ke didn''t stop moving when he killed the sde, he wanted to use the opportunity while itsted and that was to eliminate thepetition while they were still in shock.


    "Thank you so much for saving us from¡­" The leader of the oppressed team wanted to thank their hero, but he noticed that ke was moving too fast for someone that was done with a fight.


    ''Is somethinging? or is heing to me?!'' The leader soon realized what was going on, but it was way toote. The moment ke zoomed past him, he fell on the ground and lost consciousness.


    ''4 more to go.'' ke calcted as he remembered the member of the oppressed team that was still on the run.


    ''What is going?'' The team of oppressors was still in shock after seeing ke kill too sdes with such finesse, but his action of knocking out the other team''s leader put them into further confusion.


    It was when their leader was knocked unconscious that they managed to react, but it was toote, ke quickly dispatched another member and for thest member who was the quickest to react by channeling a spell, ke threw a knife at hisp making him lose concentration, hence canceling the spell.


    ''rookie mistake.'' ke sneered as he approached the bleeding student with his katana.


    "Why are you¡­ doing this?" the student stuttered in fear as ke drew closer.


    "Hmm." ke snorted and knocked him unconscious without say a word.


    "Time to go catch our runaway student." ke said with an even grin as he dashed towards the direction the student went.


    ''I can''t believe, she is stupid enough to run in the same direction.'' ke felt like face-palming. It meant that if he was really out to kill her all he needed to do was to follow the same direction to get his target.


    ''Well that makes things easier.'' ke couldn''t careless, he was running out of time so he had to be quick in capturing her.


    [¡­] The system had many things to say about his statement, but he decided to be quiet. ke was using the system''s detection ability to locate the student, that meant even if she made a thousand turns they still be able to locate her as longer as she was in the 100 meters range, rendering ke''sment useless.


    With his speed, it didn''t take time for him to catch up to the girl. She ?was sweating profusely and regrly looked back with a frightened expression as she ran for her life.


    ''Omg! I wonder what''s going on in her head. She really is a damsel in distress, but too bad I am the cause of her distress.'' ke could see the frightened expression on her oval face.


    With lightning arcs squirming all over his body, ke dropped in front of her like lightning god.


    [Nice entrance.] The system said with a ''smirk''.


    ''That''s what I do best.'' ke replied.


    "Are¡­ Are the beasts gone?" Tessie stuttered when her eyes met with that of her crush.

 Chapter 81: Survival Exercise 6.

    <h4>Chapter 81: Survival Exercise 6.</h4>


    "Are¡­ Are the beasts gone?" Tessie stuttered when her eyes met with those of her crush.


    Ever since she saw ke beat d with so much ease, she had been getting a tingling feeling in her heart anytime she saw. The problem was that the aura ke emitted any time he was in ss always made those trying to approach reconsider their actions.


    Also, she was rank 47 and she wasn''t sure about how ke would react when a low ranker approached him. That was why she was surprised that her prince charming came to save her at her time of need, but


    (AN: As you, all know their badges have many functions which include disying the owner''s rank on its surface. That was how the leader of the oppressors stated his team was stronger than there''s.)


    "Sorry love..." ke said apologetically as he knocked out the girl. He felt like Jack the reaper instead of being her prince charming.


    When ke lifted her in his hands, he couldn''t help but admire her silky jet-ck hair and feel her smooth beige skin. Although she wasn''t a flirtatious stunner like Cami, she was a gentle beauty.


    [Remember you don''t have much time, so please focus!] The system''s words snapped ke out of his reverie. He carried her and quickly dashed towards the area the battle had urred.


    ''It''s time to test this out.'' ke said as he brought out his katana from his dimensional space.


    While they were watching the episode between both teams, they hade with a theory about the exercise; ording to the system the survival exercise was meant to teach the students how to survive from both beasts and their fellow humans, and that led to the idea that what mattered was which teamsted longer.


    It meant that if all teams except one were to be wiped out, there would be no need for the exercise tost any longer, which meant for his team to win the exercise they could either wait for the other teams to get wiped out or he could speed up the process by eliminating them but this brought about a question. How was he meant to eliminate them without killing them?


    ording to what the principal said they were allowed to do whatever they wanted, but they shouldn''t kill one another, also he mentioned there was a possibility that the professors wouldn''t make it in time so he was afraid of killing a student by mistake.


    "She''s too pretty for this." ke had nned on stabbing her to carry out the test, but after seeing her gentle pretty face, he decided to pick another guinea pig since they were many. "Let''s move over to the oppressors," ke said as he walked up to the unconscious leader.


    [The principal said only those in life-threatening situations will be saved, which means we can stab them let bleed out, and get saved by a professor, but we don''t have much time waste. We have to make sure that anyone knocked down is crippled in order to prevent them from rising again and it requires us to look for a way to eliminate them quickly.] ke could swear that for a moment the system sounded like a psychopath.


    [From my deduction, there should be a mechanism the school must have ced to ensure that the students don''t die from instant attacks giving the professors time to save them. So, you should give them a killing blow.]


    "How sure are you?" ke was stunned by the system''s words. There were just a lot of things that could go wrong.


    [There are two things that could happen, either our n works or you be wanted by the empire to kill a student, then you end up hiding in the jungle and surviving on beast meat. There''s absolutely nothing to lose.] The system said with an ironic smile.


    ke was regretting why he bothered to ask, but he decided to get this over with and leave the area. "Here I go..." ke said as he stabbed the katana at the leader''s heart, but before it could pierce its body the leader''s badge glowed and a barrier blocked the de.


    "Guess you were correct..." ke said.


    [I am always correct.] ke couldn''t deny its words but it would hurt his pride to admit it, so he decided to be silent.


    Just a second after the barrier protected the leader, professor Vadik the darkness mastery professor appeared, then he disappeared with the student.


    "That answers our question." ke thought as he went over to the next student and did the same thing. After waiting for the next student to be warped away by the professor that he went to the next.


    After ke had repeated the same procedure for the third time, the professor couldn''t help but speak up.


    "I would really appreciate it if you do this quickly so that I can get this over with." ke could feel the frustration behind his emotionless expression.


    "Sorry¡­" ke couldn''t help but scratch his head as heughed sheepishly.


    [Why do you always keep doing this to me.] The system face-palmed.


    ''As is if anyone knows you exist.'' ke retorted.


    After ''crippling'' them and the professor had taken them out, ke quickly stored the corpse of the sdes and quickly went out of the area, because the system had already alerted him of the beasts that were making their way towards his location.


    The only reason he had the confidence to attack both the beasts and students was that he had the system that prevented both humans and beasts from taking him by surprise, if not he wouldn''t have even had the guts to watch that episode.


    ¡­


    In the principal''s office.


    "As expected of the rank 1." Through an array that allowed all everyone in the school including those in the normal ss to watch how the exercise was going, Principal Lovren had seen everything that had urred, from when ke began spying on both teams till when he had knocked out thest student.


    "Seems I was wrong in thinking he was behind the rest of the students in the elite ss." Principal Lovren was more than pleased with his performance.


    When all the action was over, Principal Lovren shut off the live feed and contacted Prince Bryon.


    "Your Highness¡­" Lovren bowed before he continued. "His performance was more than splendid, only if the other students could learn from the exercise instead of extorting from each other."


    "Well, I am not too surprised because it was as expected," Bryon said with a smile.


    "As expected?" The Principal said with a confused expression.


    "Have you heard of the E rank adventurer Zero?"


    "You mean the one that slew the elite ranked knox?" His expression change from confused to shocked.


    "Yes, that''s him." Prince Bryon replied.


    "¡­" Principal Lovren was shocked to the core, not only was he an E rank adventurer, ke was a first-year who was meant to be weak and inexperienced. He wanted to make be sure his ears were not failing him, but he didn''t dare to ask the prince to repeat his words.


    ¡­


    Principal Lovren wasn''t the only one shocked, except for professor Vadik every other professor was astonished by ke''s performance.


    The normal reaction they saw in previous years when the students were put against beasts, was fear, but all of ke''s actions were done with confidence and precision. It was quite disappointing that the newly formed elite ss were no different from the reaction those in the normal ss would have, but ke''s action made almost all of them nod in satisfaction.


    ¡­


    Back to the forest.


    With the help of the system''s detection ability, ke had managed to evade the beasts that wereing his way and returned to their camp.


    ''Today''s harvest wasn''t that great, but it should be enough for today.'' ke sighed. Now that he was in the forest, he didn''t have the concealed space to fall back on in case he was out of beast cores, but he could do nothing about it.


    "You''re back?" His arrival alerted the whole team, but they soon calmed down when they saw that it was ke.


    "While you were gone, we think we came up with a theory..." Luciano said with a calm tone, but it managed to pique ke''s interest.


    "Am all ears..." ke sat crossed-legged.


    (AN: Remember to vote and feel free to give the Lord of Xtraordinary Impulse a befitting gift. ????)

 Chapter 82: Survival Exercise 7.

    <h4>Chapter 82: Survival Exercise 7.</h4>


    After exining it turned out to be the same theory ke and the system hade with, but the difference was that they had gone more into the topic.


    ''They are quite impressive to be able to think of it.'' ke couldn''t help but give them some credit.


    [There is nothing impressive about it, but I am pretty sure that it was the blonde boy that came up with the thought and the rest had little input on the matter.] The system said in a condescending tone.


    After seeing how Esmeralda and the team reacted to the fraxen''s ambush, ke had stopped thinking of them as much of dead weight, but the system still saw them as unreliable. Although the system could be said to be pessimistic, it caused ke to not let down his guard.


    The aim of the exercise wasn''t to only survive from beasts and other teams, but also his team. Because of his position as rank 1 ke had a big target on his back, if he let his guard down there was a very high chance that someone like Ansgar would use the opportunity to backstab him.


    "I thought of the same thing and have some tests, but there is no way to confirm this theory." Ansgar almost burst a blood vessel when heard ke say those words casually as if it was nothing.


    "All hail the all-knowing leader!" Ansgar said sarcastically but was quickly ignored by the rest of the team.


    There was no way he couldn''t be mad at ke because he had caused him so much shame to the point that the team didn''t care about his opinions. After themotion he had caused while he was scheming to be team leader, he was beaten with so much ease that he began wondering if he was the rank 90 and the height of it all was that ke still saved his life from the fraxen.


    Esmeralda rolled her eyes when she saw that once again Ansgar had nothing reasonable to say before she turned to ke and ask. "You said something about carrying out some tests?"


    "Yeah, I met a team trying to extort food supplies from the other team, but made a lot of noise like you guys and eventually got attacked by 2 sdes, so I used the opportunity to kill the sdes and eliminate the students..." ke answered.


    "You did what?!" The whole team asked in shock. Even La who seemed to be uninterested in the conversation eximed in shock.


    "He is surely making it up." Ansgar would normally rebuke all of ke''s words, but this time it wasn''t on purpose.


    It was just that ke''s story was just unbelievable, he couldn''t even imagine how two teams made up of 11 elite ss students to be wiped out by a single student. Even if he was rank 1, the power gap shouldn''t be that absurd.


    "I agree with him this time¡­" La and Luciano nodded to Esmeralda''s words.


    Seeing that none of them believed him and from the looks, they needed an exnation. ke decided to recount his little ''adventure'' in full detail, from the moment he left the team to how he escaped the other beasts that were moving towards the area the fight urred.


    His exnation helped removed some doubt, but it couldn''t clear itpletely because he couldn''t exin how two beasts that had great perception were unable to discover his location without exposing the existence of the system.


    The reason ke had done so much without meeting many problems was because of the system''s ability to detect enemies and its ability to conceal his presence as long the enemy''s perception skill wasn''t off the charts and he wasn''t in their line of sight.


    The system''s abilities and existence were a top-secret that no one was allowed to know of. If he hadn''t told Castiel and Brian about the extra abilities he had gotten from the systems upgrade, then why should he tell a bunch of people he was paired up because they didn''t believe his story?


    [You don''t owe them any exnation.] The system reminded ke.


    ''I know.'' ke stood up before saying. "If you don''t believe me then that is up to you because I owe none of you an exnation..." ke said as he walked out.


    "Where are you going?" The team couldn''t help but ask.


    "To harvest the cores of 2 sdes..." ke said as he left.


    "¡­"


    ¡­


    ke looked for a nice spot away from the group in order to drain its blood and harvest its core. The best ce would have been the area the fight had urred, but he had to leave because the system had alerted him of the iing beasts.


    ''Now I am regretting why I didn''t attack kill the iing beasts.'' ke shook his head in disappointment when he realized he had lost the opportunity to get more beast cores.


    [Don''t get cocky, what if when you decided to attack them the battle gets prolonged and an elite beast appears. What will you do?


    Infinite realm is a dangerous ce, when you feel you are finally strong just bear in mind that there is something out there that is stronger than you.] The system warned ke.


    "I know you have been following me, there is no need to hide." ke didn''t need the help of the system to sense that Luciano followed him from the camp.


    "Just like I guessed, your sensory skills are amazing if not how would you have been able to know about the fraxen?" Luciano praised as he came out of his hiding spot.


    ke didn''t border to turn to see Luciano, he just brought out his short knife and began the process of harvesting the beast core which the system had taught him.


    "You know, turning your back against a potential enemy isn''t the best of ideas..." Luciano said calmly.


    "If you were one, you would be acting instead of talking..." ke said with an unworried tone. Normally, he wouldn''t even dare, but the system acted as an eye behind him and if something he could not react to was to happen, the system could deploy its barrier at the nick of time.


    "Let me guess, you are here to confirm they were real sdes?" ke asked with a low chuckle.


    "Haha¡­ Partly, I came to chat they are really boring." Luciano admitted with a wry smile.


    ke had to pause and turn to look at Luciano to be sure he wasn''t speaking to another person. "You chat?" ke asked with a confused expression.


    Everyone in the first year knew that Luciano was a chatting type, unless spoken to him he would usually remain quiet and just observe, but it was surprising that he was the one trying to start the conversation.


    "Don''t look at me that way, I do talk you know." Luciano couldn''t help but sheepishly smile when he saw ke''s ''I know you do¡­'' face.


    [Remove the log from your eye, before removing the speck in his.] The system said snorted.


    Ignoring the system''s remark, ke gestured for Luciano toe closer before he asked. "So, what''s on your mind?"


    "Do you have someone you admire so much you try to be like him, but everything you aplish seems to go unnoticed?" Luciano asked in a reminiscing tone.


    "Hmm¡­ Let me guess this person you admire is Prince Bryon?" ke looked at him with a smirk.


    "How did you¡­ Is it that obvious?" Luciano was both shocked and confused by how ke knew.


    "Well it isn''t that obvious, but for someone who hase in contact with you two and heard your story, it is quite obvious." It wasn''t as obvious as he said, but with the amount of experience he had gotten from watching drama series, it was quite easy for him.


    "About your question, I think it is great to admire someone because they do motivate you to keep pushing forward, but for you to want to be like him, it isn''t bad but it''s not a great idea.


    I would advise you to find and tread your own path, you shouldn''t give a damn about what they say because you are the one living it." When ke was done talking, they both stared at the blood in silence as they went through different emotions.


    "Thank you..." Luciano said in a sober tone.


    "Anytime." ke couldn''t fully understand what was going on in his head, but he could feel a kind of bound had been formed between them.


    When ke was done it was already getting dark and as the two strongest in the team, it wasn''t wise to be away for long.


    When they returned to the camp, Luciano gave the others a nod before he sat at a corner.


    "It''s time to set camp and please no fire we don''t want to be a beacon for all the beasts in the vicinity..." ke said to his team.

 Chapter 83: Survival exercise 8.

    <h4>Chapter 83: Survival exercise 8.</h4>


    When they returned to the camp, Luciano gave the others a nod before he sat at a corner.


    "It''s time to set camp and please no fire we don''t want to be a beacon for all the beasts in the vicinity..." ke said to his team.


    "¡­" His teammates stared at him with a nk expression.


    [This is infinite realm, not earth.] The system remaindered.


    Dimensional tents had a lighting function, so the team was wondering why they would need a campfire.


    ''Oh!'' ke gave a wry smile when the system told him. Setting a campfire whenever he went camping in the woods had be a habit, it was a reflex action since he was ''babysitting'' them, and also there was the threat of being attacked by magic beasts.


    Just like him, every member of the team had purchased a dimensional tent and after setting them close to that of each other, they began deciding who was to stand watch. After a few minutes of going back and forth, they finally came to a conclusion.


    "The first set to stand watch will be I and Ansgar, while the three of you especially ke should get some rest before the next shift." Luciano''s word received nods from the team members. If it was someone else Ansgar would have made somements, but it was Luciano that was speaking so he could helplessly nod in agreement.


    ''I guess it is best for the dumbass to be paired with him because he wouldn''t dare to try anything funny.'' ke happily agreed to the arrangement.


    Even when thepetition would be over, Luciano was still a prince and someone like Ansgar wouldn''t dare to offend him. It was certain he couldn''t beat him inbat and if he somehow managed to silence him the school was still watching, so he could only quietly obey.


    "What a day!" ke gave out a loud sigh as he wanted to prepared to have a rest before it was his turn to stand watch.


    "I normally do so more than this when I am back at school, so why I am this tired?" keined as massaged his temples to help reduce his headache.


    [Well you''ve been on the edge throughout today. From not letting your guards down against both your teammates and beast, to fighting against two tricky magical beast and also escaping other beasts, I will say you were bound to be tired.]


    The system''s evaluation of the day''s work, made him realize that he had actually done a lot. With the help of the system in fights, ke made everything look so easy, but unknown to most it was very tasking for him.


    During fights apart from pushing his senses to their limits, ke still had to listen and react to the opponent''s weak spots disyed by the system and also listen to exnations given to him by the system.


    After getting close to 6 hours of sleep it was La and ke''s turn to stand watch.


    ''Guess she isn''t much of a talker too.'' ke thought when he saw that La had no ns of starting a conversation.


    ''Well me too.'' ke shrugged as he brought out a magic beast core and began absorbing its energy.


    ke would have loved to use this as an opportunity to hunt for beast cores, but considering he couldn''t see in the dark unlike most magical beast, ke decided to use the time to cultivate.


    ''Inform me if anythinges within range.'' ke said to the system as he sat in a cross-legged position and began cultivating.


    ''Is it a good practice to close one''s eyes while standing watch?'' She felt ufortable with ke''s actions, but she was toozy to speak up.


    ¡­


    The night was peaceful, they weren''t attacked by beasts, giving ke more time to cultivate.


    After taking a quick nap, ke left the group once again and began hunting for more beast core. This time he didn''t get to meet any team, but his harvest was much better than the previous day.


    "4 beast cores not bad¡­ I have too said the survival exercise is a blessing in disguise, normally I would have to wait a week to hunt beast cores because of my busy schedule, but now I am at the source it won''t be long before I advance to the champion realm." ke said in a tone brimming with joy.


    With the help of the two beast cores he had gotten from the sdes, ke had filled up the 11th star. Although it took more beast cores to fill up a single star, he didn''t worry that much because he could get always hunt for more.


    For the rest of the team, the second day wasn''t eventful and quite boring. The thought that they still had 5 more days of doing the same, they began considering joining ke on his adventures.


    ¡­


    On the morning of the third, the group decided to change move to another area. If they decided to stay in the same area for a long time, it would be easier for the enemy to locate their camp andy an ambush.


    ke expected some resistance to the notion, but surprisingly they all agreed so easily, that he began wondering if his teammates had been reced overnight by aliens. Unknown to him his teammates were bored and itching for some action. They even prayed that on their way they would be attacked by beasts so they could have some fun.


    Later that day their prayers were answered when the system detected a pack of rok not too far away from them and with their great sense of smell ke was certain that they would being for them.


    ''I guess it wouldn''t hurt to get beast cores on the way.'' ke couldn''t help thankdy luck for making things easy for him.


    "Prepare for battle, beasts are close." His words made them be on alert. Esmeralda would have liked to know how ke could sense beasts so far away because this wasn''t the first time it was happening, but it wasn''t the best of times to do so.


    [Be careful, the pack has 5 roks, a beta, and is being led by an alpha.] From their heat and energy cirction, the system was able to identify the power level of the iing beasts.


    The alpha rok was a chief rank magical beast and in terms of power, it was a little bit above the chief morg ke had faced in the past.


    "Let''s try not to make much noise..." ke said as the pack of rok charged them.


    Rok''s were the mutated version of the Labrador wolves that were way more ferocious. A normal rok was the same height as ke, while the alpha was a full head taller than him.


    The razor-sharp ws and their physical capabilities were bnced. They were as strong as morgs but their flexibility was as limited, they were pretty agile and their speed was greater than those of morgs.


    "Leave the alpha to me..." ke said with a grin as he unsheathed Reaper and activated lightning reinforcement.


    No one in the group objected to ke''s request, not even Ansgar because they hadn''t gotten used to fighting magical beasts, so if they went against a chief rank beast it would be suicide.


    "I''ll handle the beta..." Luciano said as he began charging towards the beta rok that was standing at the back of the pack with the alpha rok.


    With ke''s speed, it was easy for him to maneuver his way through them and to the back, but before he got close to the alpha a rok lunged at him with its razor-sharp ws.


    ke didn''t panic at the sudden attack, he poured more mana into the lightning reinforcer and dodged the attack with ease, before cutting its head off and continued his charge at the alpha.


    Seeing the human curb charging for the pack''s alpha, the beta wanted to stop him but before it could move an inch, a ball of scorching golden mes was hurling towards it. The beta rok managed to dodge the fireball, but mes of rage erupted in its eyes as it turned to a shameless human curb that tried using underhand tricks.


    Having no one else to fight for it, the alpha rok engaged ke in close quartersbat. It swiped its ws and tried multiple times to tear him up with its fangs, but he couldn''t get its hands on him which enraged it.


    It went on for sometime before ke surprise it with a fireball to the face, before giving it a bone-deep cut to its arm reducing it''s movement and fighting capabilities.


    AWOOOO!


    The alpha rok howled in pain, as it pulled back, but ke wasn''t letting it go anywhere. He threw out knives aiming for its eyes and hands. It was quick enough to dodge those heading for its eyes but was slow to dodge the others.

 Chapter 84: Survival Exercise 9.

    <h4>Chapter 84: Survival Exercise 9.</h4>


    Having no one else to fight for it, the alpha rok engaged ke in close quartersbat. It swiped its ws and tried multiple times to tear him up with its fangs, but he couldn''t get its hands on him which enraged it.


    It went on for sometime before ke surprise it with a fireball to the face, before giving it a bone-deep cut to its arm reducing it''s movement and fighting capabilities.


    AWOOOO!


    The alpha rok howled in pain, as it pulled back, but ke wasn''t letting it go anywhere. He threw out knives aiming for its eyes and hands. It was quick enough to dodge those heading for its eyes but was slow to dodge the others.


    ¡­


    Several meters underground, nature''s energy was chaotic as they all gathered at the center of the cave, forming a pir of energy, and at the center of it was a drax.


    If the system was here it could easily tell that it was an evolutionary process, which knight rank beasts would have to undergo to be king rank beasts.


    For beasts to evolve they had to undergo a different process that would help refine their genes, which will, in turn, strengthen their physical bodies, and depending on their evolution, grant them powers.


    "Just a little longer¡­" The drax gritted its teeth in pain as its bones and muscles were forcefully being destroyed and reformed into new shapes and sizes. The pain was 10 times what it had ever gone through in its entire life.


    The only reason it hadn''t lost its sanity to the pain was because of its ambitions and sheer willpower.


    "No no no, something is wrong!" The drax screamed in despair as the whole process was going out of control.


    "I can''t die like this!" The drax screamed in desperation, its consciousness began slipping away as its entire life shed before its eyes.


    ...¡­.


    The drax was the spawn of a sde, so it started off as a magical beast, but unlike most of its brothers that were hunted down by predators, it managed to survive. With enough food and time to absorb enough nature''s energy, it became stronger than its pairs and attained the chief rank.


    With its strength it subdued a number of sdes in the area, forming its own lounge and after many near-death battles with other beasts of the forest, it finally obtained its own territory which beasts below the chief rank dared not to trespass.


    After a few decades of absorbing and refine nature''s energy from both corpse of beasts and the environment it underwent its first evolution and evolved into a Cerate. Its new evolution possessed scales that were 3 times thicker than the previous evolution and the most important part of the evolution was that it gained poisonous abilities.


    A centuryter it went through its second evolutionary process which is its current form a drax. It underwent many physical changes; like its bones became lighter hence its speed increased, its venom was more deadly, and most importantly it got wings that gave it the ability of flight and an affinity to the wind element.


    With every evolution it underwent its life span increased, but after a few more centuries its life span was nearing its end but it hadn''t attained the required gene purity to evolve to the next rank.


    Just like most living things that have tasted power, it was unwilling to die so as ast-ditch to elongate its life span it forced the evolution process with hopes that he could pull through.


    ...¡­.


    The end of the unsessful evolution was marked by a loud bang when the pir of energy exploded. When the cave returned to normal, an unconscious wyvern was on the ground.


    A few hourster the body began writhing before it got on its feet.


    ROAR!


    The wyvern roared in anger as it charged out of the cave''s only exit.


    When the process failed, the body of the drax evolved into a wyvern but its consciousness was gone. The body was now that of an insane beast whose eyes were filled with madness and anger.


    ¡­


    Back to the battlefield.


    The alpha''s fur was died red from the multiple cuts inflicted by ke''s katana. Because of its injuries, the rok was losing its vitality and ability to fight by the second.


    It looked around the battlefield and saw that all the members of its pack had be corpses. Some had been scorched to death, one had died in the clutches of thorny vines, some had so many cuts all over their bodies that their mothers wouldn''t be able to recognize them.


    Seeing that it wouldn''t be receiving any support, the alpha epted its fate and charged at ke with the intention of trading its life for his.


    ''A cornered beast shouldn''t be underestimated.'' ke said with a smirk as he weed the rok''s charge.


    With a confident smile on his face, ke lunged forward at the beast fearlessly. Upon arrival, the alpha stomped the ground, pouncing at ke, but it was well within ke''s expectations.


    ''Idiot, you are defenseless in mid-air!'' ke chuckled lightly.


    Gripping his katana firmly with both hands, ke slide under the beast by thrusting upwards, thereby splitting its belly wide open.


    "Well, that was easy..." ke said as he lightly knocked off the dirt on his shirt with his hands.


    Even though he was the victor of this battle, he couldn''t help but feel anxious since their battle may have attracted the attention of other beasts nearby.


    "Gather the loot let''s get out of here, we can''t afford to waste any more time here..." ke said to his team as he ced the corpse of the alpha rok into his dimensional space.


    They quickly moved to a different area. After scanning the area for any hidden danger, the team set up camp and began talking about how to share the loot.


    "Like we agreed the loot goes to those that contributed to killing the beast." ke''s reminder prevented anyone from getting funny ideas.


    ke took the corpse of the alpha and normal rok he beheaded, while Luciano took that of the beta. The rest got themselves normal roks, but then came the question.


    "How are we meant to harvest the beast core." Esmeralda stared helplessly at the ok without having any ideas of how to handle it.


    ''That''s my queue.'' ke made an evil grin in his mind and decided to capitalize on this opportunity.


    This was the reason he tried to persuade them on the first day to hunt with him, but it seemed them needing his help was inevitable.


    "I can help you guys, but what''s in for me." ke maintained an indifferent expression to make them feel he had no use for them.


    "You can take meat but I get the beast core." Esmeralda tried to bargain, but ke didn''t give her the chance.


    "If your rok was sold in the market, it would only worth a few gold coins. Your nt vines messed up its body. So, here''s my proposal, I take the beast core and you take the meat to supplement your stock." ke gave a counter offer.


    "Damnit! Alright!" Esmeralda unwillingly agreed to his offer.


    [I must say you have grown to be a scammer.] The system apuded his sessful scam.


    "La, would you prefer the best core or more food?" Like a sniper, ke hit her weak spot immediately making her yield.


    "You can keep mine, not that I have any use for it." Luciano''s decision to forfeit the entire corpse left the team bbergasted, but only ke could understand his reason.


    ''Maybe it''s a form of payment for my advice.'' ke thanked him before gathering the corpses.


    "Alright let''s get to work." ke wanted to move out to a different location but was stopped by Ansgar.


    "What about mine?" Ansgar was waiting for ke''s offer but never got so he had to ask.


    "The beast core or no deal." ke didn''t care to sugar coat his offer since he was dealing with Ansgar.


    "But¡­" Ansgar wanted to mention how good his rok was, but when he saw ke walking out he immediately agreed to the offer, since it would be as good as useless if he didn''t get anything out of it.


    ''Am on a roll!'' ke grinned from ear to ear, before returning to his indifferent expression turning back to collect the loot.


    ¡­


    Three dayster, in a different side of the forest¡­..


    At the center of a clearing stood a youth with ck hair, slightly pale skin and an indifferent look on his face as he gazed at the dead jackler, a hyena type beast. His ck leader jacket bearing the school emblem fluttered in the win, revealing his white shirt and a ck pendant hanging loosely across his neck.


    "I guess its time I meet up with the others" Damon muttered as he pulled out his two short swords from the body of the beast. His eyes narrowed as he looked towards the general direction where his team should be camping.

 Chapter 85: Survival Exercise 10.

    <h4>Chapter 85: Survival Exercise 10.</h4>


    Three dayster, on a different side of the forest¡­


    At the center of a clearing stood a youth with ck hair, slightly pale skin, and an indifferent look on his face as he gazed at the dead jackler, a hyena type beast. His ck leather jacket bearing the school emblem fluttered in the wind, revealing his ck shirt and a ck pendant hanging loosely across his neck.


    "I guess it''s time I meet up with the others" Damon muttered as he pulled out his two short swords from the body of the beast. His eyes narrowed as he looked towards the general direction where his team should be camping.


    His team had offered him the position of team leader, but he rejected it without a thought. Just like ke, he was a solo yer that felt the more people he moved with the more burden ced on his shoulders. But unlike ke who ''cared'' a bit for his team, Damon didn''t give a shit about them.


    From the first day, he had split up from the team and began hunting beasts, only returning at the end of the day to check if they had been wiped out. For the past five days, this had been his daily and till thest day of thepetition, nothing was changing.


    When he was a few meters away from his team''s campsite, Damon instinct was telling him that something was very wrong. He quickly hid in a corner for some time before activating darkbringer''s stealth skill and approached the campsite.


    ''Why is everywhere so quiet¡­ Isn''t that the smell of blood?!'' As he got closer, the smell of blood got stronger and his hunch of something being wrong was confirmed.


    When finally got to the campsite, he scanned the area from a distance for safety reason, but what he saw shocked him to the core.


    ''My God!'' Damon was rooted to the spot as he saw the corpse of his gruesomely murdered ''teammates''.


    The corpse of the only girl in his team had blood spurting out of the areas of its two missing limbs and head. The corpse of the team leader had the upper part of its body missing and close to it was the corpse of a team member who had been ripped into two.


    The entire ground was dyed red, brain fluid, limbs, and heads were scattered all around, this was nothing short of a massacre.


    ''Their only 3 bodies here, did thest one escape?'' When Damon came out of shock he quickly realized that a member of the team was missing, but when he turned to the far end of the campsite the hope of his teammate escaping the massacre was shattered.


    He saw his teammate''s eyes wide open as it was being chewed on by a wyvern!


    "Grrr¡­" When the wyvern felt something staring, it quickly turned to Damon''s direction but didn''t see anything.


    ''Shit!'' When the wyvern looked in his direction, Damon was shocked that it could sense even when he was in the stealth state. Seeing how it had massacred his team without receiving a scratch on its scales, Damon knew he was no match for it.


    Seeing that the wyvern was staring at his location with increasing intent, Damon clenched his hand on the ne artifact given to him by his father and poured in mana into it. With a low hum, the artifact produced a dark glow beforepletely wiping out his presence.


    "Hrrr¡­" Feeling the stare gone, the wyvern continued to munch on the limbs of the student.


    The wyvern had lost its sentience and ability to reason, bing something lesser than the shadow of its former self. It was filled with rage for anything that moved and waspletely driven by bestial instincts, it''s reasoning could be said to be lower than that of amon beast.


    ¡­


    Back in the magic school.


    The live feed had recorded every single thing that happened from when the students were being dismembered to when thest student was being eaten alive.


    Right now, many students were throwing up at the gruesome scene, most of the members of the normal ss began thanking their gods that they were not in the elite ss, and those who were nning to challenge them began having second thoughts.


    Even after watching the gruesome scene, the horror kept reying in the heads of the students, the atmosphere of the entire school was gloomy.


    The situation wasn''t looking good on the side of the professors.


    When the wyvern appeared, it didn''t give them enough time to react, even the defense mechanism set up to buy them some time toe rescue the students was shattered like a sheathe of paper by a single strike by the wyvern.


    "Where did a king rank beaste from!" Principal Lovren mmed his fist on his desk in anger almost shattering it in two. Being unable to save the students as they screamed for help made him tremble in rage.


    They had nned on rescuing the kids from the wyvern, but since they were all dead their new objective was to hunt it down before they recorded more casualties.


    "Vadik take some professors with you and hunt down the beast." Principal Lovrenmanded with an enraged tone.


    ''I hope he is still alive.'' Professor Vadik nodded before leaving for the warp array with professor Anderson and professor Langston.


    ¡­


    After losing the wyvern''s attention when he activated the artifact, Damon struggled to stop his body from shaking as he left the area. He had no idea of where he was to go, but he wanted to be as far as possible from the wyvern.


    A few minutes after Damon had escaped the area, a warp gate opened up and the three professors walked out.


    The wyvern''s anger was rekindled when it noticed the humans interrupting it''s feeding. with mes of rage burning in its eyes, the wyvern threw the half-eaten corpse at the trio before lunging towards them.


    Still maintaining his indifferent expression even in the face of battle, professor Vadik conjured a wall made of shadows as he scanned the area in search of his student, Damon.


    "We can go all out he isn''t here." After making sure that Damon wasn''t in the area, he didn''t care anymore for coteral damages.


    The half-eaten corpse was thrown with so much force that when it mmed on the wall made of darkness its bones were crushed turning it into minced meat, following the corpse was the wyvern, but before it could m into the barrier, it was gone and so was professor Vadik.


    Zzzg! Zzzg!


    Before the wyvern could understand what happened, several arcs of lightning struck it, but that wasn''t enough to put down a king rank beast.


    It turned to the source of the lightning, Langston, and lunged at him with renewed rage, but Langston had no ns of moving as he stood on the same spot weing the attack.


    Just before the wyvern was a few meters away from Langston, a meter-thick rock wall erupted from below with thick spikes protruding out of it, but by the time the wyvern saw it, it was toote for it to react.


    Bam!


    It mmed into the rock wall, but the strength and vitality of a king rank beast was not something a simple trick could extinguish. Its steel-like scales minimized the damage it took, leaving only little wounds that immediately close.


    Before it could even roar in rage, Langston wrapped in hundreds of lightning arcs like a thunder god, was already behind it.


    Zzzg Zzzg


    The buzzing sound of hundred lightning arcs resounded in the area as they all converged towards the wyvern.


    HISS!


    It hissed in pain as the numbing charges coursed through its body, but that was when professor Vadik appeared out of nowhere and conjured 5 darkness tendrils that held the wyvern down while draining its vitality.


    With the trio''s perfectbination attacks the wyvern wasn''t given any chance to react and it knew if things went on like this it would die a helpless death.


    Out of instincts the wyvern gathered all its energy and tore out of the darkness tendrils and ignored its numb body because its objective had changed to running for its life.


    Calling up the corrosive liquid in its body, the wyvern sprayed an acid breathe at the professors who managed to block it with barriers from their artifacts. The attack wasn''t meant to kill them but to stall them, it quickly spread its wings and took into the air moving towards the direction of ke''s camp.


    When the drax had advanced to the king rank it had unlocked the ability to control poison and the ability to control wind which boosted its flight speed.


    (AN: When a beast reaches the king rank they ''awaken'' their elements depending on the beast. Also, poison control is one of the advanced paths of the nt pathway, so we will get to meet itter in the book.)


    Except for Langston, the professors were speed-type magicians meaning they couldn''t give chase and since Langston wouldn''t be a match for it on his own he didn''t border chasing it.s


    Taking out hismunicator, professor Vadik contacted instructor Zirrack. "It''s all up to you."

 Chapter 86: Survival Exercise 11 (King slayer Zirrack.)

    <h4>Chapter 86: Survival Exercise 11 (King yer Zirrack.)</h4>


    Except for Langston, the professors weren''t speed-type magicians meaning they couldn''t give chase and since Langston wouldn''t be a match for it on his own, he didn''t border chasing it.


    Taking out hismunicator, professor Vadik contacted instructor Zirrack. "It''s all up to you."


    ¡­


    The past three days had been quite peaceful for his group, even when they had moved to a new campsite they weren''t attacked by beasts.


    His hunt for beast cores was bountifulpared to usual, it was as if the more magical beast were in the area. The team had finally yielded and began hunting with him, but even though he still got more beast cores than usual.


    During that period, he began praying the days went by slowly so that he could hunt for more beast cores before the exercise was over. He was d about his bountiful harvest but his hunch kept telling him that something was wrong.


    It was quite odd because most beasts were territorial and seeing them in rtively the same area was strange, it was as if they had no other choice. Although he was weary of the cause, ke saw it as an opportunity.


    Unknown to him an insentient king rank beast was born and the forest had to pay the crime of the over-ambitious drax who wanted to against the will of the mother-stream.


    Immediately the evolutionary process went wrong and the abomination was formed, it flew out of the underground cave and went on a rampage against every living thing in its path.


    With the strength of a king rank beast, it was unstoppable and with its extremely corrosive abilities, it polluted many paths of the forest rendering many beasts homeless, leading to the mass migration of a lot of beasts in the forest.


    The increase in a magical beast made the systems dimensional space almost fill up and also caused the increase in his cultivation speed.


    Just like the weapon grades, that of dimensional amulets were the same, High-quality amulets were used by top tier nobles and had thrice the space of arge room. But the system''s dimensional was 4 times the size of that, so for it to be almost full showed how many beasts ke had hunted.


    (AN: the grade for weapons and other items are the same (unless I say otherwise) and in case you have forgotten; Mythical grade, Legendary grade, Epic grade, High-quality grade, middle grade, low grade, andmon grade.)


    As for his cultivation, the problem was no longer beast crystal but only the time to absorb the energy. He hunted during the day and absorbed during the night, he even had to reduce his sleeping hours to absorb energy.


    With the passive of the space element that gave him greater sensitivity and control over mana, coupled with the abundant beast cores, his cultivation speed was heavenly! With 5 days he had gone from the 11th star to half of the 16th star.


    He was nning on using the night to advance to the champion realm, but it seemed it wouldn''t be possible anymore because big trouble was on its way.


    [A beast had entered detection range; from its mana and heat flow it is a¡­ Oh MY God.] The system was stunned and short of words when it identified the iing beast.


    ''A what?'' ke felt tensed by the words of the system; this was the first time he ever heard the system speak in a grave tone.


    [Its¡­ It''s a Wyvern¡­] The system stuttered in fear.


    ''Do you mean a king rank wyvern?'' ke''s heart dropped into his stomach when he heard the system''s words.


    He was quite sure he could defeat an elite rank beast on his own depending on the beast, against a knight rank beast he wasn''t too sure if he could escape, but against a king rank beast, it was surely a death sentence.


    The news of one heading his way made his courage as the rank 1 of the magic school crumble. Fear had taking over him and having no idea of how to react in such situations, ke turned to the most reliable person he knew, the system.


    ''What should I? Run?'' ke asked the system as he began sweating profusely.


    [There is nothing we can do¡­ It should have already sensed all living things in the area by now, running isn''t even an option.] The system sounded helpless.


    If it was something that wasn''t so many leagues above them, it would have surely found a way to survive, but unfortunately, there was no hope.


    "Why are you like that?" Luciano couldn''t help but ask when he noticed how much ke was sweating, drawing the attention of the other members of the group, but before he could answer a wyvernnded in the front of the group.


    "Is¡­ Isn''t that¡­ a wyvern?" Esmeralda stuttered in fear as she took several steps back before tripping.


    The king rank beast thought to be only myth was standing right in front of them staring at them with a twisted hungry look on its face.


    The other members of the team had simr reactions to the wyvern''s arrival, La was on her knees as she stared at it with horror and disbelief in her eyes. Ansgar was the worst, his dder had been let loose at the sight of the beast before he fainted.


    Out of the 5, it was only ke and Luciano who were still on their feet. Although they were shocked to the core, they still stood in the same spots as they passed through different emotions.


    ''I can''t die just like this.''


    ''How can I die just after choosing my own path?''


    ''That means I won''t be able to see mom again?''


    ''I still have many things to aplish¡­''


    "I can''t die just like that!" Both of them screamed in unison, as their fear had turned to rage. Scorching golden mes covered Luciano, lightning arcs squirmed all over ke''s body, but before they could charge to their deaths a familiar voice came into their ears.


    "It was a simple job, but they couldn''tplete it!" The familiar voice roared in an enraged tone.


    When they turned to the source of the voice, they saw instructor Zirrack walking towards the wyvern with his whole body enveloped by darkish-purple mes twice the size of that of Luciano''s. His eyes were burning with rage, literally, his iris could no longer be seen because they were burning with darkish-purple mes.


    [That is the darkish-purple mes and he is rage mode!] The system suddenly came to life when it saw instructor Zirrack.


    "If I was you guys I won''t be around here!" Instructor Zirrack yelled in a rage with his eyes locked on the wyvern.


    The rage mode gave the user immense firepower and prevents them from dying in a berserker state, but it had a disadvantage which was that the user would be angered by anything and wouldn''t be able to control much of his/her thoughts.


    (AN: I think I''ve been confusing a lot of people. The berserk state kills the fire user, while raged mode cures it. If your cure sounds flimsy to you, drop your suggestion in thement section and I will change it.)


    Getting back to their senses, ke and Luciano dispelled their spells before carrying their teammates before getting far away from the area as possible, because even the chaotic aura that would be produced from their sh would be enough to kill them.


    "Hmmm¡­ A berserk king rank beast wants to fight the kingyer, pitiful!" Zirrack was enraged more by the weakness of its enemy.


    HISS!


    The Wyvern was enraged by the humans that continued to interrupt its feeding time. At least This time it was only one human and no one else.


    Taking a deep breath, corrosive liquids came up its lungs before spewing it at the human, but because the air 3 meters from Instructor Zirrack was literally on fire, the corrosion breath evaporated before it could even touch.


    "Like I said a berserk king tank beast is no match for me!" Instructor Zirrack roared as the fire enveloping him red up bing a pir of darkish-purple mes which could be seen by ke''s group that was more than a hundred meters away.


    "Haaaaa!" Clenching his fist tight, Zirrack rushed towards it, but the wyvern was rooted to the spot because the heat being released by Zirrack made it feel like the sun wasing towards it.


    After Zirrack had released his oppressing aura, the wyverns anger had changed to fear, and out of instincts, it crossed its arms in an attempt to block the attack, but when Zirrack''s burning fist came in contact with its arm an explosion urred that incinerated within 50 meters and sending a powerful shockwave that traveled hundreds of meters.


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred but this time it came wyvern. A pir of darkish-purple mes burst through its crossed arms and out from its back, turning all the trees behind it into ash.

 Chapter 87: End of survival exercise.

    <h4>Chapter 87: End of survival exercise.</h4>


    After Zirrack had released his oppressing aura, the wyverns anger had changed to fear, and out of instincts, it crossed its arms in an attempt to block the attack, but when Zirrack''s burning fist came in contact with its arm an explosion urred that incinerated within 50 meters and sending a powerful shockwave that traveled hundreds of meters.


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred but this time it came from the wyvern. A pir of darkish-purple mes burst through its crossed arms and out from its back, turning all the trees behind it into ash.


    The dried-up carcass of the wyvern stood for a while before its ashes were blown away by a gale.


    "Pfft." Instructor Zirrack snorted. He was already out of the raged mode but wasn''t sure if it was the side effects of the raged mode or it was just him acting up.


    He had thought it would have been a serious battle since he was about to face a wyvern but finding out that it was just another over-ambitious knight-level beast who had failed the evolutionary process disappointed him.


    If he had known he wouldn''t have needed the raged mode to do what his moniker implied, but since it was already done, he decided to end it quickly.


    "That makes it 26..." Zirrack added the incinerated wyvern to the count of king ranked beasts that had been in by his hands.


    ¡­


    In the principal''s office¡­


    "He really is excessive¡­" The principal helplessly sighed when he saw hundreds of acres of trees burnt to ashes.


    Turning to the left side of his desk, principal Lovren ced his hands on a transparent orb causing the badges of all members of the elite ss to glow.


    "This is principal Lovren speaking, the survival exercise is over please all students should remain in their current location staffs woulde to pick you up." After the announcement, he opened a warp gate leading to the main hall where the students would arrive.


    ¡­


    During the instructor Zirrack''s fight ke and the team had moved close to a hundred meters away from the area, but that was when a pir of darkish-purple mes shot up into the air, causing them to stop and turn.


    [Don''t stop, keep moving!] The system yelled at ke who was captivated by the disy of raw power because he knew what wasing their way.


    "Keep moving!" ke snapped his teammates out of their reverie, but before they moved 5 meters from the spot, they saw a shockwave of hot air wasing their way.


    The shockwave wasing with so much force that thin trees were broken and those that were strong enough had only their branches broken by the shockwave, but this was a problem for the team.


    With the enhancements their bodies received after their awakening and fusion process, they could survive the force of the shockwave, but the problem was the debris it carried along. there was a high chance they would be impaled or smashed to death.


    "Conjure a nt and water barrier quickly!" Being the quickest to react in the face of danger ke quickly releasedmands to his teammates who were still in a daze.


    In this situation ke, Luciano, and Ansgar were useless. ke only had offensive abilities, even with his lightning reinforcement he couldn''t dodge something like this. As for Ansgar, he had awakened the earth and fire element just like the scions of the Ulrik family, but still, they were both useless in their current predicament.


    Luciano had awakened the fire and wind elements. Just like ke the fire element was useless even though it was stronger and for the wind element, he couldn''t generate enough wind to counter the shockwave leaving the hopes of the team''s survival on the shoulders of Esmeralda and La.


    Snapping out of their daze both Esmeralda and La began channeling their spell. Before the shockwave got to them a wall of intertwined nts erupted from the ground and a water barrier was conjured behind it.


    BAM!


    The shockwave along with the debris smashed into the barriers and as ke had suspected it wasn''t enough.


    The nt wall crumbled and the water barrier had turned to water when it had taken too much damage, but they had helped reducing its momentum. When shockwave finally got to them, it mmed them into trees and themselves, but it wasn''t lethal anymore.


    "This is principal Lovren speaking, the survival exercise is over please all students should remain in their current location staffs woulde to pick you up." Their badges glowed and the principal''s announcements rang in unison.


    "Right about time¡­" ke said as he began shaking off the groggy feeling.


    After resting for some minutes, a warp gate opened up in front of them and a professor stepped out gesturing for them to enter the portal.


    ¡­


    When all the teams had been brought back to the main hall, they were shown the recordings of all the interesting moments of the survival exercise, starting with ke stopping the fraxen''s ambush and wiping out 2 teams on the first day.


    The students in the elite ss were shocked including his own teammates, they were all staring at him as if he was a monster. They had always thought that he was only in his position because he was being protected by Luciano and Damon, but now the recordings had erased those thoughts from their minds.


    Their shock soon changed to sadness when they saw the recordings, they now understood the reason the exercise was canceled before the 7th day. They couldn''t help but me the school for being unable to save the students, but they couldn''t voice their thoughts in fear of being punished, except for ke that is.


    "Yes, ke?" Principal Lovren gestured for him to ask his question.


    "From the recordings, it is clear that the school could see every part of the forest the students were in and more, so why didn''t the school move to save the students when they saw the wyvern around the area?" ke asked with a dead serious face because if the school did the ughter would have been prevented and the 4 students would have been in the hall with them.


    His question shocked everyone in the hall including the professors and principal Lovren himself. Some professors like professor Gibson couldn''t help but look at principal Lovren in search of an answer.


    If not for him being busy at the time of the incident, he would have been in the control room ready to warp in to save the students, but he still wanted to know why they hadn''t been saved on time.


    "This is a survival exercise; you are meant to learn how to survive in the wild on your own. If they had obeyed the rules of the forest just like you had exined to your team, they would have still been alive." Principal Lovren was looking at him with a stern look.


    Principal Lovren wasn''t wrong because they had broken many survival rules, but even if they were careful it wouldn''t have saved them against a king rank beast.


    "Everyone knows those rules are useless against a king rank beast, even instructor Zirrack had told us that if one were to meet a king rank beast they wouldn''t even know when they were dead. There was no survival exercise there, it was just letting a bunch of kids get ughtered!" ke was in a rage as he spoke out his heart.


    The entire hall was shocked by ke''s bravery, even the professors couldn''t help nod at his words.


    "Minus a thousand points for raising your voice against the principal, minus a thousand points for disrespectfully staring at the principal." The principal''s stern expression didn''t change as he deducted points from him.


    Some of the students who were angered by the school''s decision had wanted to join ke held back their words and quickly calmed down after seeing 2 thousand points being deducted in the blink of an eye.


    [Calm down you are no hero, don''t let your emotions get the best of you. They are dead and even if a million points were deducted from you, they won''t be raised from the dead rather it makes things worst.]?Hearing the system''s words, ke stopped staring at the principal in anger.


    "Since everyone is on the edge, the results of the survival exercise would be announced on a different day. Dismissed." Principal Lovren turned and left the hall.


    ''Fuck this shit!'' ke cursed as he stormed out of the hall in anger.


    ''He has a lot of exnation to do.'' Professor Gibson thought as he stared at the principals back''


    Almost all the professors had the same thought as the professor, they had been opposing the idea of sending the kids to the Mina forest as their first fieldwork, but the prince had insisted on it, now look at the effect of the decision.


    ¡­


    ke returned to his room vexed, after taking a rxing bath which he had missed for how long, He decided to cultivate in order to take the principal''s action out of his mind.

 Chapter 88: Champion Realm.

    <h4>Chapter 88: Champion Realm.</h4>


    ¡­


    ke returned to his room vexed, after taking a rxing bath which he had missed for how long, He decided to cultivate in order to take the principal''s action out of his mind.


    The amount of energy needed to fill up the 16th star was astronomical, but there was nothing that couldn''t be solved by excess beast cores. Because of the mass migration of beasts caused by the wyvern ke had more than a bountiful harvest.


    He had 12 normal beast cores, 3 chief rank beast cores, and an elite rank beast core. The team had met a klye, an elite rank beast that looked like a coyote and it was also on the run from the wyvern. With the help of the team and with ke leading the charge it wasn''t difficult for them to put it down.


    The team had decided to give him the beast core since he had done most of the work, but on the condition that he sold the corpse in the market and shared the profit equally.


    "Come to think of it am actually rich, with so many corpses in my dimensional amulet I won''t feel the effect of losing 2 thousand points since I can buy all I need from the adventurer''s association with gold." ke tried consoling himself.


    [It kinda sounds weird when it ising from the mouth of a stingy person.] The system chuckled. It was quite happy that ke''s morale wasn''t dampened.


    "I am not stingy, is it wrong for me to want my money''s worth?" ke retorted.


    [I believe you¡­ Yea you are right.] The system''s voice was oozing with sarcasm.


    Ignoring the system''s sarcastic remarks, he said "Why should I be worried about 2 thousand points when the forest is still in a mess and I can always return and make a bountiful harvest." ke said with a grin.


    "All I need to do now is to advance to the champion realm so as to increase my hunting speed," ke said with an excited look on his face because he was just a few steps away from the champion realm.


    Not wasting more time, ke brought out a beast core and began absorbing its energy.


    ¡­


    After 4 straight hours of absorbing energy, ke felt a burst of energy in his body causing the 16 stars and 34 pathways to lit up, forming a 2d diamond and at the center was ke''s'' core where all the mana was generated before being distributed through the 34 pathways.


    (AN: Not sure if you can visualize it, but see it as a 2d diamond with 4 cardinal points, two lines on each side cross to the other. A star was located at every intersection and the lines connecting them are the pathways.)


    "Why is it looking like the base of a construction?" ke asked with a confused expression.


    Apart from the burst of energy, he didn''t feel much pain at least whenpared to the fusion process, but the formation of the stars and pathways gave him the feeling it was the foundation forrge construction.


    [Well it is. The champion realm is considered as the foundation of a mage. It is at this realm that one can call him/herself a mage, the warrior stage can be considered as receiving buffs, while the champion realm is the beginning of the real deal.


    The abilities of the different elements would be more prominent especially the earth, lightning, and space element.] The system confined his hunch.


    "Finally!" ke eximed in joy. Finally, he would be able to act as one with the power of three elements.


    ke quickly contained his excitement and asked. "So, what am I expecting in the construction?"


    [Well the so-called construction is that of an hourss. The Azkelwart hourss to be precise.


    For you to advance to the hero realm you have to fully construct the protective frame of the hourss which includes; the base, the 4 pirs, and the top.] The system replied.


    "I guess there''s no time to rest¡­" ke helplessly sighed. Right now, he needed his mom''s hug because everything seemed to be endless and tiring, but the problem was that everything he was doing was to get back to her.


    "Well, time to test out these abilities!" ke quickly prepared and headed for the concealed space.


    ¡­


    "Let''s begin with fire." ke wasn''t in a rush, so he decided to leave the best for thest.


    He started off by conjuring a simple fireball. He discovered that both the fire''s hotness and his casting speed had greatly increased.


    ke decided to try out a few things. He first conjured a ball of me at his right hand before charging up a me burst at his left, them he executed a semi me burst to propel himself forward.


    "Seems all I needed was to advance in other to triple cast." ke was marveled by his ability to triple cast.


    [Once you advance in realm you will gain an increase in your mana control and since you were not too far from learning how to triple cast it now looked as if it came with your advancement.] The system corrected him.


    The system was right, ke had gone through a lot of fights in the past few days that help him gain some insights and experience in mana control especially when it came to casting spells. coupled with his array drawing training and other simr training aimed at increasing his focus ke was just a step away from triple casting which his peers were still far from.


    "I guess you I right but I still need to work on my mana control, because I still kind of stiff when triple casting." ke now understood why both the professors and the system ced great importance on mana control.


    "Alright, let''s get to the main course." ke''s smile was full of anticipation as he wanted to test the powers of an ignitor.


    ording to the information gotten from both the books on the 2nd floor of the library and the system, the champion level of the fire pathway was the ignitor which mostly dealt with the will of the user. An ignitor had the power to control mes both foreign and the one cast by the user as long as they had enough will.


    Normally, pyromancers have the power to conjure mes as long as they had enough mana, but once the fire spell had been released no other changes could be made to the spell. An ignitor had the power to make alterations to the fire-based spells. For example, if a candle was lit, an ignitor can increase the intensity of the me or cause it to explode by using both his will and mana tomand the surrounding fire particles to add up with that of the candle me.


    (AN: Just a reminder. Nature''s energy is made up of all the particles ''smaller energy units'' of all the elements.)


    The stronger the me in both intensity or size, the greater the amount of will needed to alter it and the will be needed to do all these came from one''s psyche. The stronger one''s psyche was the stronger he would be as an ignitor.


    "Shit what the fuck am I doing?" ke yelped when he realized his mes were scorching the areas around the ancestral tree, he quickly used his will to turn off the mes.


    (AN: I think it sounds kind of weird for an ignitor to extinguish mes but it is better to name it that rather than extinguisher.)


    "I need a safer environment to practice my spells, the power of my spells are increasing and if things get out of hand the concealed space might be ruined. The castle''s training grounds were ruled out because people will know I have advanced, leaving me with the forest as the only option left." ke sighed helplessly.


    He hadn''t thought that being ahead of his peers will cause so much difort, unless he was to reduce the intensity of his mes he wouldn''t be able to train his fore element in the concealed space.


    After trying out a few more things, ke went over to the lightning element. Although he had the greatest affinity with the lightning element, the space element was still the strongest so he decided to leave it forst.


    Just like the system said, the warrior stage was just buffing the cultivator, while the champion realm was the real deal.


    The name of the champion realm of the lightning pathway was, electrode because he had truly be a living electricity conductor.


    His lightning abilities had under major changes, it had gone from being buffs to being active damage-dealing spells. He could now release the electricity generated from his body like a bolt of lightning, dealing both physical and stun damage to the target.


    The chances of getting stunned was dependent on the target''s resistance and one''s resistance to an element was dependent on his/her level and element.

 Chapter 89: Champion realm 2.

    <h4>Chapter 89: Champion realm 2.</h4>


    His lightning abilities had under major changes; it had gone from being buffs to being active damage-dealing spells. He could now release the electricity generated from his body like a bolt of lightning, dealing both physical and stun damage to the target.


    The chances of getting stunned were dependent on the target''s resistance and one''s resistance to an element was dependent on his/her level and element.


    Compared to other elements, aquamancers had the lowest resistance to lightning-based abilities meaning he was their bane.


    If the target wasn''t stunned at the first try, the stunning effect was able to stack up. That meant even if the target had a high resistance either because of his level or his element, it would only be a matter of time till he/she was stunned as long as they kept being hit by lightning.


    While familiarizing himself with his powers, a thought came into his mind causing him to pause and try it out.


    "ording to physics, a moving maic field generates an electric field and vice versa." ke brought out one of his throwing knives and made a field of electricity to cover his hand before he began waving it some inches above it.


    Just as he had expected, the throwing knife trembled a bit before he increased his power output pulling it straight into his hands.


    "Vi!" ke eximed in excitement as many applications began forming in his head.


    After his experiments, he went for the finale, the space element.


    He wasn''t able to get any information about the champion of the space element, but he had the system with him.


    [The champion level of the space pathway is the space coalesce. It grants you the ability to freeze or solidify space and not time, so don''t get confused, and just like the fire element, it deals a lot with one''s will.


    For you to solidify the space of a certain area, you have to imagine the shape you want it to take, then you focus on the spot while using both your will and mana tomand the space.] The system exined the process to him.


    It was after going over the system''s exnation twice and making sure he understood the principles; did he try casting the spell.


    The image of a block began forming in his mind before he began focusing on the spot he wanted to solidify. After making sure he was focused, he began pouring mana into the spot while using his will to make it take shape.


    "Damn!" ke cursed when he lost control of the spell because the spell ced an unexpected amount of strain on his mind.


    He was doing okay in the beginning, but when it came to the part that involved using his will to make the spell take shape, he lost his focus for a second causing him to increase the spell''s mana supply.


    "Why is the spell so hard, why can''t it be as simple as the other elements..." ke said with a tired expression.


    The spell was quite tasking and because he had done a lot of tests on the fire and lightning which involved him using his will, he had to take a break before he continued.


    [You were the oneining that the space element had a useless ability, now you areining it is hard. If you want power you have to sweat for it.] The system snorted.


    "I know." ke sighed helplessly.


    [On the bright side, if you are able to master the spell your mana control and your will, would be leagues above those on your level.


    After analyzing your attempt, I would say not bad for a first try. The reason the spell failed was because of your sudden and irregr mana supply.


    When you are to supply mana to the spell don''t send arge amount of mana to a spot, try circting around the imagined shape, for it to obtain bnce and not dissipate.]


    After having a quick rest ke went back to trying out the spell, this time he was trying out the system''s advice.


    "Let''s try this again."


    He began forming the shape in his mind and focused on the desired spot, before proceeding with the most difficult part of the spell. The strain that came from using his will and regting his mana supply had returned but he was ready for it.


    He gritted his teeth and endured the pain while circting the energy around the block shape, just like the system had told. As his mana was being circted around the rectangr shape, it began getting an ethereal outline, before a transparent rectangr block was formed.


    "Phew¡­" After seeing the spell was finallypleted, he sighed, but that didn''t mean it was over because he still had to supply a lesser amount of mana to prevent it from dissipating.


    "I wonder how strong it is." ke thought as he walked towards the block.


    Immediately after he stepped on the block, he felt a sudden migraine that caused him to lose his concentration causing the block to dissipate, sending him crashing on the floor.


    "Ouch!" ke eximed as he caressed his waist.


    [What are you doing?] The system asked in confusion, with ke''s body being enhanced by the fusion processes and his advancing in realm, falling from that height wasn''t meant to hurt.


    "I can''t help it, It''s instinctual." ke ruffled his hair as heughed sheepishly.


    "Why did I get a migraine? Although it was nothing, it took me by surprise causing me to lose focus." ke asked.


    [Isn''t it obvious? It was created with your will, which means your will is what is keeping it the same suspended position and when you stepped on it the added weight caused the strain on your will¡­]


    "That means if my will was to increase my constructs will be stronger and will be able to handle more weight." A smile formed on his lips as he received a renewed energy to keep practicing.


    ¡­


    The next day the elite ss was called to the hall for their assessment in the survival exercise.


    The positions of each team were announced based on their activeness and correct decisions are taken. The teams that had decided on holing themselves up in a single location while they waited for the exercise to end received the least points.


    More points were awarded to teams who had hunted beasts and like ke''s team made the correct decision of changing their campsites regrly.


    The main goal of the exercise was to help the students learn how to survive in the wild in the case by any chance they were stuck in the jungle and learning how to hunt for food was vital for survival.


    The team of oppressors came in thest position for being the first team to be wiped out followed by Tessie''s team because ke had eliminated herst.


    As expected, ke''s team came in the first position, Cami''s team 2nd, then Damon 3rd. Damon had single-handedly gotten all the points for hunting for his team. Normally the points he got on his own weren''t meant to put him in 3rd, but it was because the other teams weren''t into hunting like the top three teams.


    "As for individual actions, kees in first ce, Damon 2nd, and Kade 3rd." Professor Gibson''s announcement shocked many in the hall when they heard Kade''s name in 3rd position.


    They all agreed that ke and Damon merited their positions because of their ranks, but for Kade who was rank 25 and was amoner at that made many brows furrow.


    "I know you may be shocked because ke hade top in all rankings, but his achievement both in his team and alone was too outstanding to overlook. Take look at this¡­" The professor had mistaken their shock to be for ke instead of Kade.


    The screen showed recordings of only ke''s actions, the previous one had only shown selected interesting parts of the exercise, but this one was all about ke.


    They saw how he made the entire team coordinated and his crazy performance when he hunted both solo and with his team. The entire hall was amazing, even his sworn enemies couldn''t help but nod at his performance and those with the ns to go against him began thinking twice.


    "As for the rewards, each team will receive theirs based on their positions.


    As for individual actions, 1st position is to receive 4000 points and 12 hours in the cultivation room, 2nd 2000 points and 8 hours in the cultivation room and 3rd 1000 points in the cultivation room." Professor Gibson announced the rewards which caused almost all the students to gasp in shock.


    ''Only if I hadn''t lost 2k points I wouldn''t get the same points as the second position, but on the bright side I still have 24hrs in the cultivation room.'' The professor''s announcement reminded him of his forgotten reward.


    ording to principal Lovren, he coulde for it anytime he wanted, and with his busy schedule and eyes on beast cores, it didn''t take long before he forgot about it.

 Chapter 90: You Player!

    <h4>Chapter 90: You yer!</h4>


    ording to principal Lovren, he coulde for it anytime he wanted, and with his busy schedule and eyes on beast cores, it didn''t take long before he forgot about it.


    ''I wonder if the cultivation rooms are as good as beast cores?'' ke was praying his so-called reward wasn''t a waste of time.


    [I bet you will still go even if they are not as effective as beast cores.] The system rolled its ''eyes''.


    "¡­" ke had wanted to retort the system''s words but not even a sentence could form in his mind. The system had once again at a sore spot and his silence was a confirmation of the allegation.


    "Now to address the rank issue, since we lost 4 students in the survival exercise the vacant spots would have to be reced." Professor Gibson said in a sad tone when he remembered the murdered kids.


    This made ke furrow his brows, but he had no beef with professor Gibson he didn''t stress much about.


    "The 8th, 11th, 34th, and 59th ranks are empty. That means from the 9th to the 64th rank will move up in rank." Professor Gibson inwardly shook his head in disappointment when he saw some students rejoicing because of the increase in rank caused by the death of their fellow students.


    ''That means Ansgar will move to the 8th rank, Esmeralda 9th, and La 10th. So, I know 6 out of the top ten. It will really be a nice idea to form a cult with the top ten students as its member who their main goal is to prevent anyone else from entering our ranks. But Hehhh, too much politics involved.'' ke fantasized.


    From this chain of thought, the system thought that ke would make a nice schemer if not for his innateziness.


    It didn''t take much longer before the meeting was dismissed and as usual, he didn''t hang around to chat like others, he headed straight for the door.


    "Hey, can¡­ can we have lunch?" A somewhat familiar voice asked while he was on his way out.


    After he had advanced to the champion realm, the space coalescer increased the effects of the locator ability, boosting his perception range to more than double the previous range. He could hear a lot of conversation in the hall, but it was hard for him to believable that the question was for him.


    ''That isn''t Cami''s voice, are you sure it was meant for me?'' So, he had stop and slowly turn to the voice.


    ''That''s the girl I knocked out in the forest! Isn''t she meant to be angry?'' ke was confused by everything happening.


    "Were you talking to me?" ke asked with a confused expression.


    "Ye¡­ Yes." Tessie stuttered with her cheeks burning red. She was trying her best to keep her facial expression in check, but ke who hasn''t yet answered her question was making the situation worse by every second he wasted.


    ''I don''t know how she will do it, but why do I have the feeling she wants to poison me. Because it is unthinkable for someone to go on a ''date'' with the person that knocked her out.'' ke''s paranoia didn''t let him notice the flushed color of her cheeks.


    Because of his rank, Tessie had been afraid that she would be rejected without a thought if she asked, but rather than being eaten on the inside by her emotions it was better she got rejected so that her feelings for him would quickly fade away.


    So, she mustered enough courage and approached him with the mindset that she would be rejected, but ke''s reply put her mind in disarray for a moment.


    "Sure." Feeling that he had wasted a lot of time thinking ke agreed to her request.


    "Really?!" Tessie asked in surprise.


    "Ehh¡­ Yeah?" ke replied with a raised brow.


    "Oh, where are my manners¡­ Sorry, I am Tessie nice meeting you ke." She felt like smacking her head for not letting him introduce himself, but since he wasn''t stressing over it, they both went to the canteen.


    "So, are you angry at me for being knocked?" ke felt it was pretty awkward to have lunch with the damsel he had eliminated. ''Scan the food for anything harmful.'' ke was paranoid and couldn''t eliminate the thought that he could be poisoned.


    [When did I suddenly have the ability to check if your food is poisoned?] The system was confused, for a second it began wondering if he had gotten another system that could that.


    ''Out of everything you can do, you can''t check if your host is about to be poisoned. Useless.'' ke shook his head in disappointment.


    [Well I can, but that is when you have tasted it, only then will I be able to.] The system said with an evil grin.


    "Well, it doesn''t because I would have still been eliminated by either the sdes or that team of jerks. So, you knocking me out made things easier for me." Tessie said while caressing the path of her head that was struck by ke, not noticing that ke was in a ''mind conflict'' with the system.


    "So, how do you it?" She asked snapping ke out of his reverie.


    "Do what?" ke''s mind went to a topic totally different from what she was thinking, because from where he came from, ''It'' had a lot of definitions.


    "I mean¡­ how are you so good at everything?" She asked with a blush as she tried to hide her face by ying with her vegetables.


    "Hmm, I haven''t thought of that." ke began pondering over the question for some time before he answered. "Well I can say that; I work very hard and smart."


    [Idiot, that is what anyone will say. Can''t you see from her expression that she is expecting a lot from your answer.] The system was now the one shaking its ''head''.


    ''But that is exactly what I do, what else do you want me to say, I have a system that guides me?''


    [I can see why you never got a girlfriend in your world.] The system face-palmed.


    "Are you alright?" Tessie couldn''t help but ask when she saw ke suddenly paused. She had no idea that a certain voice in his head had struck another sore spot twice in a day.


    ''C''mon enough with the punchlines.'' ke was now begging; he wasn''t sure if he could take more of it.


    "Sorry, I was just stunned." He said apologetically.


    "Stunned by what?" She asked with a raised brow.


    Her question put ke between a rock and a hard ce, he couldn''t say he was arguing with a voice in his head neither think up a reason because further thinking would make him look weirder, so he quickly went with the first thing that popped up in his mind.


    "Your beautiful smile¡­"


    Both he and Tessie were taken aback by his words. He couldn''t help but put on a mind shade because of his quick thinking. While he was feeling himself, Tessie''s mind was thrown into total disarray.


    Her face had be beet red and felt sensitive parts of her body heating up. She was literally stunned, she had no idea of how to react because this was her first time of feeling this way, but luckily for her, she was saved from being embarrassed.


    "OH! That was slick."


    Both ke and Tessie turned to the voice and it was none other than Brian, apanied by Castiel.


    "Seriously?!" ke couldn''t help but face-palm. He began wondering if Brian was stalking him because anytime he was with a girl Brian would show up from nowhere.


    "Sorry man, I couldn''t help it, but I must confess that was a killer!" Brian kept on giving multiple nods.


    Having gotten used to Brian''s way of apologizing ke introduced his friends to Tessie. "Tessie meet my friends, Brian and Castiel. Guys meet Tessie."


    "Nice to meet you guys. Never thought ke had friends." Tessie said with a giggle.


    "We could say the same." Both Brian and Castiel said in unison causing ke tough sheepishly.


    "So, how was the survival exercise for you guys?" Being in an awkward spot ke decided to change the topic of discussion.


    "Heh¡­" Both of them helplessly sighed.


    "Alright, I''ll go first. My team wasprised of mostly nobles who hadn''t meant hardship in their lives. Immediately we came in contact with our first beast, most of them crumbled to their knees, while some even wet their pants." Castiel said while shaking his head.


    "If not, I had at least a reliable teammate, we would have wiped out on the first day. Also, our points weren''t that impressive because they were more of sass nobles than elite students¡­ No offense." Castiel said to Tessie.


    "None taken¡­"

 Chapter 91: Friends.

    <h4>Chapter 91: Friends.</h4>


    "None taken¡­"


    Although it hurt a bit because she was in the same category as the nobles, it was useless taking an offense over what was the truth.


    "Well, my team performed poorly because of a whole different reason and that isck of trust. We had two members struggling for the team leader position, so we had a vote and one was elected. The problem was that the loser didn''t like the result, so he began sabotaging the team in order to eliminate the three of us that voted against him.


    "Long story short, the team got divided into two, but there was a lot of pressure because we were trying to survive from both our team and magical beasts." Brian shook his head in disappointment when he recounted how frustrating his survival exercise was.


    "Why didn''t you three silence them?" ke''s question caused both Tessie and Castiel to look at him with surprised expressions.


    "We tried that but we failed. The problem was that the two were high rankers, but our greater number made it difficult for them to also wipe us out, so we were stuck in a stalemate." Brian said.


    "Wow, I had thought of many things that could go wrong in a team, but a civil war within a team was way past my imagination..." ke said as he munched on his pot-roast beef with fresh onion gravy.


    "What''s the name of the mad man that could incite a civil war in his team?" Castiel asked because he wanted to be as far as possible from a possible suicidal maniac.


    "His name is d." Brian had a bitter taste in his mouth when he mentioned the name.


    "Hahahahahahahah!" ke couldn''t hold back hisughter when he heard that name, causing more than half of the canteen to look in their direction.


    Castiel and Tessie felt like strangling him to death for attracting so much attention, while Brian couldn''t care less because he was used to such a level of attention. As for ke, he couldn''t see their awkward expressions because he wasughing so hard that his eyes had begun to tear up.


    "Well, you just made it easy for me to find you¡­"


    Hearing the arrival of a new guest, ke cleaned the tears on his cheek, before looking up to see Luciano and d.


    "We were just talking about you..." ke almost burst into another, if not from the re he received from everyone.


    "Idiot! what are you doing here!" Brian stood up from his chair in a rage.


    Seeing the tension in the air and not wanting a fight to break out especially when he was enjoying his meal, he decided to be serious. "Calm down, Luciano is here so he would be less of a d*ck."


    d would have loved to retort ke''s remark but if he did Luciano would be more pissed. So, all he could do was lower his head and ept all the insults.


    At first, when Luciano had heard the news about d inciting a team civil war he wasn''t concerned, but when he heard that Brian a friend of ke was in the team, He red up in anger and went in search of d.


    He thought d hadn''t listened to his warning and went on to vent his anger on a friend of ke. He would have pondered d to a pulp if not for his self-control. So, he forced d toe to apologize andpensate him for his loss.


    "I heard about what he did in your survival exercise, so brought him here to apologize..." Luciano said to Brian, gesturing for d toe forward.


    The four of them sitting on the table and more than half the students in the canteen that were attracted by their noise were still trying to process what Luciano had said when they saw him slightly bow to Brian while apologizing.


    "Ahem!" When d heard Luciano clear his throat, he immediately went from a slight bow to a deep bow.


    "Is there something you are forgetting?" Luciano asked while looking at d with his usual indifferent expression.


    After hesitating for sometime d finally spoke up. "Since I have caused the team to lose so much, I willpensate the team with my own share of the allocated resources."


    "¡­"


    For a moment the entire canteen was silent, they couldn''t believe what they just heard. A tyrant noble like d was made to apologize and forfeit his shares of the team rewards.


    Not even nobles of the top 3 families could force him to do anything, but the way he obeyed Luciano without a fuss showed how powerful he was.


    ''So, this is the power of a member of the royal family.'' These were the thoughts of most of the students in the area.


    They had no idea that Luciano''s title and that his authority surpassed that of many in the royal family. Only those in the royal family and those with high enough status in the empire in the 3 families were allowed to know about this.


    It was also part of the reason he was sent to Calton city for his schooling, till he was 20 his existence wouldn''t be known to the public and this rule was made by the founder of the empire, Synder.


    It was made to make sure that all of his descendants passed through all scenarios in order for them to unlock their true potentials, just like he had done and his case wouldn''t be different since emperor Cinder and Prince Bryon had gone through the same process.


    "You are now free to leave..." Luciano said as he joined them.


    "For a moment there I thought you would force him to apologize to every member of the team." ke chuckled as he continued enjoying his lunch.


    "They can go get their own apology. The only reason I forced him to apologize was that he is a friend of yours." Luciano said while ordering his lunch.


    "So, the rumors about you not challenging him is because you guys being friends, are actually true." Tessie blurted out.


    "Well, we just became friends recently, but before that, I couldn''t defeat him so I didn''t bother to challenge him." Hearing Luciano''s words, everyone at the table couldn''t help but look at ke who was ordering a second serving.


    ''Seems my hunch about having a bound was right.'' ke thought while ignoring the stares he received.


    "By the way, you are?" Luciano looked at her with a nk expression.


    "My bad, Luciano meet Tessie, Tessie Luciano..." ke said.


    ¡­


    "What an eventful afternoon, but I must say, having lunch with people is kind of fun..." ke said as he boarded a carriage.


    After having lunch with his friends, he went on with his ns for visiting the adventurer''s association. He had a lot of things to sell off and he still had to give his teammates their own part of the share of the elite rank jackler.


    When he got to the adventurer''s association building, he went straight to Susan who was delighted to see him. He told her the reason for his visit and they both proceeded to the appraiser''s workspace.


    This time he wasn''t sent to appraiser Wadsworth, but straight to chief appraiser Langford who had been waiting to see him for a long time now.


    Immediately he heard that the promising adventurer was in the building he asked Susan to quickly bring him up.


    "Good day adventurer Zero!" Chief appraiser Langford said with a joyous smile as he weed ke.


    "Good day chief appraiser Langford?" ke was confused by how he acted as if they were old-time buddies.


    "Just call me Langford no need for the tittles¡­" Langford said with a smile as he gestured for him to take have a seat. "So, how may I be of help?"


    ''Wow, they gave me a seat! What is going on here?'' ke couldn''t help but notice the difference in how he was being treatedpared to thest time he was here.


    "I would like the association to appraise and sell my spoils..." ke replied tactfully.


    "Is this space big enough?" Knowing the number of beast corpses, he brought thest time, he had decided they should meet in a room the same size as thest one they used.


    But funny enough, ke shook his head to the question inwardly shocking him for a second before they went to a muchrger room.


    ''Let''s hope that him being inactive for more than a week now meant he had a bountiful harvest.'' Langford thought as he led the way.

 Chapter 92: 42 stars?!

    <h4>Chapter 92: 42 stars?!</h4>


    ''Let''s hope that him being inactive for more than a week now means he had a bountiful harvest.'' Langford thought as he led the way.


    By the time they had moved to a muchrger room, Langford had prepared his mind for both shock and disappointment, but the moment ke began taking the corpse out of his dimensional space all his preparations were for naught.


    ''12 magical beasts, 3 chief ranks, and an elite rank Jackler!'' Langford''s mind was in turmoil. He couldn''t help but switch nces between the corpses and ke.


    He had expected, a higher number of magical beasts and maybe one chief rank beast, but seeing him bring out another elite beast shocked him. It now looked as if elite beasts were now cabbages, that anyone could head into the forest and get themselves one.


    ''Apart from the elite beast, 12 magical beasts, and 3 chief rank beasts¡­ Someone tell me why he is still in D rank?!''


    Snapping out of reverie Langford began appraising the corpse and just like thest time, they didn''t sustain much damage to their hides. It was only the Elite jackler that had sustained multiple damages to its hide because the whole team had unleashed their most powerful spells on it.


    "Are you the one that harvested the beast cores?" After seeing how perfectly they were extracted he confirmed that it was no fluke and would really like to know who was responsible.


    The problem with extracting beast cores was that the less skilled the extractor was the lower the amount of energy the beast core would contain.


    The extraction process involved perfectly using mana to cut both the pathways that connected the core to the organs that allowed the beast to absorb nature''s energy and those that distributed its pure energy to other parts of their body.


    If the pathways were not cut urately and quickly the beast core was bound to lose some of its energy and to the environment and the quantity lost was dependent on how skilled and efficient the extractor was.


    "Yes, I am¡­" ke''s reply stunned him for a second.


    ''He is only 16 and is able to extract a beast core with it still retaining 80% of its energy, if not 90%'' Langford thought. One of the reasons he was the chief appraiser of the adventurer''s association Calton branch was because of his ability to judge the quality of a beast core just by looking at how the pathways were cut.


    But unknown to him, the beast cores extracted by ke had retained 100% of their energy thanks to the help of the system. Even if ke had heard his thoughts and corrected him, Langford wouldn''t believe him unless he was shown the core, because only those that could do that were at the saint rank alchemist.


    "Who taught you how to extract beast cores? I mean, from the way that the corpse was extracted they seemed almost perfect. So, I would like to know who taught you?" Such skills brought about 2 possibilities; either he was a genius or he had a saint rank alchemist as his mentor.


    [From his shock it seems he doesn''t know about the 2-point extraction technique¡­] The system said in a pondering voice.


    The point extraction technique was amon technique in his era. It was aplex but efficient technique used to prevent mana from dissipating through the pathways and once all of them had been cut with high precision mana de the core would regenerate itself blocking all the mana leakages.


    "It''s a secret..." ke said with an indifferent expression.


    Seeing that ke wasn''t nning on telling him, he decided not to pry further. He began making a list of the corpses and attached their prices.


    "With the association''srgework, you wouldn''t have toe backter because there are request for them already. Alright, check the list so that we canplete the transaction." Langford handed him the list containing the appraised items and their prices.


    ''220 gold coins for the magical beasts except for the sdes that have a price of 270 gold coins. Seems in both worlds the scales of reptiles are highly sought out for." ke thought as he skimmed through the list.


    "The jackler only costs 670?" ke asked with a confused expression. The knox he had killed was 970 gold coins, so he wondered why this had to be so low.


    "Oh, that''s simple. The hide of knox was still intact, but this was received a lot of damage reducing its worth. Also, the hides of a knox are highly sought for." Langford exined.


    "Alright, I agree with the price." As ke confirmed everything, Langford gave him a parchment to hand it over to Susan at the desk in order to retrieve his coins.


    "Thank you." ke made a bow before leaving for the desk.


    "After deducting his appraisal fee and the association''smission, your payment is 5700 gold coins." Susan handed him a leather bag filled with gold coins.


    "Thanks for your help..." ke said as he dropped 2 gold coins as a tip and headed for the exit, but that was where he met Lambert.


    "Are you Zero?" Lambert said while offering his hand.


    "Yes, and you are?" ke said leaving his hand hanging.


    "My name is Lambert and will like to invite you for a jointmission." Lambert hid his killing intent as he retracted his hands, but this didn''t go unnoticed by both ke and the system.


    "Sorry, mister Lambert I am not interested. Have a nice day." ke said as he ignored Lambert who was beckoning for him to wait.


    His harvest was huge; hence the appraisal had taken a lot of his time. He didn''t have time to waste on someone who had an ill motive and besides he just came back from the survival exercise and was in no mood for missions.


    Taking a carriage back to the school, ke used his power as a locator to find the room of his teammates and gave them their own share of the gold coins gotten from the jackler, and as expected Luciano had forfeited his part for ke since he wasn''tcking gold coins. When he finally returned to his room, he was 5239 gold coins richer.


    "The life of hunting beasts is quite alluring, I would have considered it a future upation, but that isn''t my reason for being here." ke sighed as he still hadn''t figured out his reason for being summoned.


    He took a short nap before heading to he concealed space to train his newfound abilities in order to gain profound mastery over them.


    ¡­


    Since they had been given the remainder of the week to rest before school activities resumed in full. ke decided it was high time he visited the cultivation room.


    When he was done with breakfast, he went straight to the administration building and requested to use the cultivation room.


    After having his badge scanned and it was confirmed that he had 24hrs to spend in the cultivation room, he was sent to a warp array which warped him into the building.


    When he had regained sight, he was in a well-lit corridor. On the sides were rooms numbered from one to twelve and on the far end of the corridor was ager door leading to a different part of the building.


    Being eager to see useful the prize was given to the top positions of the awakening test, ke went up to door number 7 and after seeing it the number was green signify it was empty and ready for use, He let it scan his badge before entering.


    "It seems the cultivation rooms are of great importance to the school." ke thought as he noted the double security measures ced to prevent those without permission from entering.


    "Not bad¡­" ke nod as he got into thepletely white room.


    The room waspletely padded just like those found in a psychiatric hospital. Thepletely empty room had the size of a normal room with a length of 3.2 meters and a width of 3.5 meters, but its most impressive feature was the density of mana in the room.


    "Now I know why they are double security measures." ke blurted out in surprise.


    The amount of mana coursing through the room could be said to be double that of the concealed space. He couldn''t help but question his reason for not being here the moment he was given the prize.


    Not wasting more time, ke sat in a cross-legged position. "So how am I to proceed?"


    [Alright, it''s just the same thing you''ve been doing for a long time, but this time you have to fill in 42 stars.] The system said.


    "What! 42?!" ke blurted out in shock.


    [Yes, 42. The aim of the champion realm is to form the protective case of the Azkelwart hourss.] The system replied.

 Chapter 93: Levitate.

    <h4>Chapter 93: Levitate.</h4>


    [Yes, 42. The aim of the champion realm is to form the protective case of the Azkelwart hourss.] The system replied.


    ''Who the f*ck is this Azkelwart?!'' ke asked in frustration.


    He knew the next level of his cultivation was bound to be harder, but not this level of hard. The number of stars he had to fill was more than the previous level!


    [Azkelwart was the greatest human researcher before and during my time, and from what I have seen even, I will say till date. Unlike normal researchers that went into 3 to 4 fields of specialization, Azkelwart was known to be the best in 7 specialization fields, but they were rumors that believed he was into 10 specializations.


    His researches and theories improved the primitive foundation of magic for humans. Among many of his theories was the Azkelwart hourss which when he shared with the human race it shook the entire world. It was then that the whole world found out that not only was he a researcher, but also a genius cultivator.]


    [The Azkelwart hourss made cultivators aware of the path they needed to follow in order to obtain godhood and that included the fusion process.]


    "So, he was the one that discovered the fusion process, but how did people of those eras pass through the bottleneck I faced in my cultivation?" ke asked.


    [Before the theory was free for all, human cultivators knew nothing about the fusion process. So, they used high energy sources like etherium to overload their stars and forcefully break the barrier and forcefully open up their pathways, but this sometimes brought about manyplications like crippling one''s pathways if not done well.


    Those who had better luck had their mana pathways a little bit damaged by the process. It was considered a sessful process even at that because the injuries would eventually heal up when mana passed through them, but it was a very slow process.


    Apart from the injuries they sustained to their mana pathways, they had their cultivation speed halved and those who were unaffected by the process were those who had masters that helped guide the energy.]


    "That means he practically made magic free for all..." ke said in a tone of realization.


    "How does the Azkelwart hourss help one''s cultivation?" ke asked.


    [Like I said it shows the cultivator the path to godhood by showing the requirements of each level. For your level, it isn''t that useful, but when you advance to the hero realm there wouldn''t be stars to fill and that is when you will need it.] The system replied.


    "Are you serious? no stars?" ke asked in ecstasy because he was tired of stars, but when he realized that things got harder the higher one went, his smile disappeared.


    The system chuckled when it saw his reaction.


    ke felt his heart bleeding when he saw that 5 minutes had gone out of the timer. He had more questions to ask but since they could still be answeredter, he began absorbing the energy.


    He spent close to 12 hours in the cultivation room before he decided it was enough for the day. After he left the building through the other door, he went straight to the concealed space and had ''lunch'' from his dimensional space.


    "Now I know why time in the cultivation room is awarded to top students after events¡­" ke thought as he clearly felt the difference between the mana density in the cultivation room and that of the concealed space.


    (AN: So, here''s what I will do. Instead of calling it the 17th star, I will call it the 1st star of the champion realm or the 1st star depending on the situation, so as to prevent you guys from getting confused.)


    He was already there for only 12 hours, but his gains showed that the cultivation rooms were twice more effective than the cultivating with beast cores. He had gone from an empty 1st star to close to half of the 3rd star.


    The reason he had gone up so fast was because of his increased mana perception and control from his advancement into the champion realm, but his only problem was that it wouldn''t be consistent. He wouldn''t be granted permission even if he performed well in sses, but only from events like the awakening test and assignments.


    "Seems the higher I advance in realm, the more obsolete this ce bes." ke sighed as he nced around the concealed space.


    When he was done with his lunch and began training on his powers, ke sensed that something was different about his powers.


    "Why do I have a feeling that my powers have gotten stronger?" ke asked in a confused and excited tone.


    [It is a normal urrence, so eliminate the thoughts of you being special.] The system scoffed at ke''s thoughts. [As for the increase in power, like I said it is normal for anyone in the champion realm. Once you fill up a star, the power of your spells and other buffs will have a substantial increase, unlike the warrior and human realm when the increase is unnoticeable till the breakthrough into another realm.]


    "Is that so¡­" ke said in a tone of realization and continued his training.


    ¡­


    He followed the same routine for the next day, spending 12 hours more and exhausting his time in the cultivation room, he continued with his training.


    When their break was over, ke had filled up 4 more stars with the help of both the cultivation room and his beast cores.


    He had used almost 6 beast cores just to fill up a single star. At that time, he felt his heart tightening with every beast core that turned to dust. He knew that he would need more energy, but he had no idea that it was this much.


    ''Need more ways to get ess to the cultivation room.'' ke thought as he made his way to the basic magic ss.


    "Good day students, hope you all had a nice rest during the break because this will be one hell of a week." Professor Gibson said with a creepy smile.


    "The school has decided to step up your sses because most of your performances were very poor for elite students. Apart from ke and a few others that their performance was splendid, the rest were trash." His smile changed to a stern expression causing most of the students to gulp.


    ''Not a fan of being the center of attention, but if I be a professor''s pet, I would gain a lot.'' ke thought as he ignored the gazes on him.


    "Like I told you all, this week we will go into arcane spells and as expected of elite students you are meant to have enough mana control to cast a simple spell like levitate." Two girls who were chatting rose up into the air.


    "We won''t be trying to levitate people because that is above you, so we will start small." With the girls still in midair, he began exining the principles of the levitate spell.


    The levitate spell was just like that of the space coalescer, it needed the maniption of mana, and the casters will to wrap around the object before lifting it.


    Unlike the constructs of space coalescers that couldn''t change their positions, those created by mana were able to move as long as the caster had a will equal to or above the task.


    After exining and demonstrating the procedures of how to cast the spell, it was the turn of the students.


    Having ns of bing professor Gibson''s pet student, ke wrapped his will around his notebook while supplying his mana causing it to rise to his eye level than staying in the same position.


    "What!"


    "How?!"


    The sound of students gasping caught the professor''s attention, causing him to look towards ke''s directions.


    ''What!'' If not for his self-control he would have gasped in shock just like the students. There was no way he would have expected someone toplete the spell under 2 minutes, even if it was the number 1 student.


    "How?!... 300 points to ke for being the first toplete the spell." He had wanted to ask how he did so quickly, but at thest moment, he was able to control himself.


    ''This isn''t up to half the difficulty of space freeze¡­'' ke thought as he too was shocked by how quickly he cast levitate.


    Space freeze was twice more difficult than levitate if not thrice because it required the caster to manipte space with one''s will which was way more difficult than manipting mana which was everywhere.


    [What do you expect from the strongest element, also don''t forget you are in the champion realm already.] The system said with a ''smirk''.


    After some more minutes, Luciano was announced as the 2nd, followed by Damon.


    [From the moment I saw the way he controlled his golden mes; I knew he had a strong will.] The system had already expected this oue.

 Chapter 94: You are brave.

    <h4>Chapter 94: You are brave.</h4>


    [From the moment I saw the way he controlled his golden mes; I knew he had a strong will.] The system had already expected this oue.


    ''Seems heh knew a bit about will before all this¡­'' ke made a mental note.


    "Well, this is just the basic of arcane magic hoped you enjoyed it." Professor Gibson said with a smile. "You can keep practicing till you can be able to lift a person. As for the next lesson, we will be moving to something more difficult."


    "As for you two¡­" Professor Gibson said looking at the two girls who were still in mid-air. "Minus 200 points for talking without given permission to speak. You won''t get the 50 points for attendance because you didn''t take part in the ss activities, hence you were as good as absent."


    ''Damn! That was harsh. Either he is getting strict or it is a change that all I should expect from other professors.'' ke thought as he watched professor Gibson step into the warp gate.


    When he turned around to leave the ss, he saw Tessie standing behind him. "Wow! You shocked me." ke lied through his teeth. He was aware of the moment Tessie had stood up from her seat and walked up to him, but he had to act ''normal''.


    "Oh, sorry..." Tessie said with an apologetic expression.


    "So, what''s up?" ke said as they walked out of the ss.


    "I wanted to know if you could teach me the levitate spell?" Tessie said with her head lowered and her hands tangling with her hair.


    "Well, I can''t teach because I am very busy, but I can give you some tips," ke replied.


    "Really?! Thanks a lot."


    "Let''s talk overunch..." ke said as his stomach grumbled, causing Tessie to giggle.


    While ordering his beef and vegetable casserole, with a beef wellington, he began his exnation.


    "So, what part of the spell are you having a problem with?" ke asked the moment his food appeared.


    "Not part of the question, but may I know why always eat a lot of meat-based food?" Tessie asked out of curiosity because everything on his side of the table was practically beef.


    "One, to maintain these babies¡­" ke said as he flexed his biceps, causing Tessie''s face to turn beet red. "¡­ and gives me more energy." ke gave a simple because he couldn''t exin the effects of amino acids in the body.


    When Tessie finally regained, she went straight to the question. "I have enough mana control to steadily supply the construct with mana but the problem is that I don''t fully understand how one''s will work."


    ''Just like I suspected the difficult question¡­'' ke sighed but didn''t it show on his face.


    "Your will is how much you can affect the environment with only your mind and how strong it is, is dependent on one''s psyche..." ke exined.


    "So that means my will is not so high?" After seeing ke nod, she asked. "So, how do I train my will?"


    "Well there is no straightforward process, but you should be more open-minded, pass through as many emotions as possible and learn how to restrain them,st but not least train your mind power..." ke replied.


    [You that''s a lot of random crap and little information.] The system chuckled at how he was spewing a lot of random stuff that came to his head.


    ke didn''t wasn''t to be too straight forward so he tossed in some random stuff and two main points, which were mind power and self-control.


    If they were on Earth, he would have asked her to y more puzzles like chess and others, but in infinite realm, the only way of improving mind power he knew so far was fighting which made him make split-second decisions and put a lot of stress on his minds when he was always aware of his environment.


    After enjoying his lunch, Tessie went for her alchemy ss, while ke went for his forgemastering ss where he was taught how to forge other basic items.


    "Next ss we would be looking at crafting items with special materials and how to prepare those special materials. ss dismissed!" Professor Tacitus announced causing the door of the forge to open letting the students.


    He spent the rest of the day training and when it had bete, ke continued practicing drawing the mana gathering array on the array te.


    He had expended more than half of his stock, but he wasn''tining because he had more gains than losses. He was now able to perfectly inscribe all the symbols with the help of the array tes and hand gone over to learning how to inscribe with mana.


    ¡­


    The next day, while they were waiting for Professor Mack, their badges glowed in unison announcing that he would be absent and the ss was canceled.


    ''Well, that gives me a lot of time to do what?'' This was his first time having a free period and due to his workaholic nature, he began thinking of what next to do.


    (AN: Note, the first-time professor Mack missed his ss, they had no idea that he wasn''t going to arrive, so they waited for him till the period was over.)


    But his chain of thought was soon broken by amotioning from the other side of the ss.


    "I challenge to battle you¡­" Haldor said with his fingers pointing at Luciano.


    Haldor had red-hair with hazel eyes and a roman nose. He had a muscr build; he was hairier than normal and his skin was nowhere near smooth.


    Haldor was amoner and was known in the phoenix dormitory for being a savage. He didn''t care if one was a noble or not, as long as they weren''t strong, they were trash in his eyes. Haldor wasn''t a friend of themoner nor was he on the side of the nobles, he was just like ke, a solo yer.


    ''So, this is the rank 4, Haldor the beast boy.'' ke thought as he watched how the scene would unfold.


    "Finally, someone has challenged the number 2."


    "His 5 chances of receiving challenges are still full, so the only thing he can do right now is to postpone the fight."


    The entire elite ss was pumped up from the thought of getting to watch the rank 2 and 4 in battle.


    "I have been waiting for this. It''s time to show those of you below the top 3 your ce." Luciano said with an unchanged expression as he stood up and proceeded to the training grounds for the fight.


    "What! He epted the challenge?!"


    The members of the ss were stunned by Luciano''s actions. Normally when one was challenged, they would wait till the sses for the day were over, but Luciano had the intention of fighting when they had advancedbat ss next.


    "Don''t get corky¡­" Haldor said with a smirk on his, but Luciano didn''t react to his remark as he kept on moving.


    Not like being ignored, a deep frown formed on Haldor''s face as the thought of trashing him came to his mind, but he decided to save his anger for the battle.


    "When this over you will be next..." Haldor said drawing everyone''s attention to the direction in which his finger was pointing to, ke.


    "Hmmph!" ke scoffed at Haldor''s wishful thoughts, pissing him off.


    ''I would have loved to do something else, but this should be interesting¡­'' ke stood up and proceeded towards the training grounds.


    ''ke ising to watch!''


    The students that saw keing were shocked. Ever since they entered into the main school, except when he was in ss, eating or jogging people hardly saw ke and unlike the other top rankers he had nevere to spectate.


    ''Seems I am already a superstar.'' ke smirked as he overhead their conversations.


    [More like a local champion.] The system snorted.


    When they finally got to the training grounds and the challenger and challenged took their positions and waited for the referee toe.


    Rank battles were very important, and to stop any side from cheating, every battle was meant to be supervised by a professor to ensure fairness and to also save anyone who was in life-threatening danger.


    "Alright let''s end this quickly, I still have a ss in the afternoon." Instructor Zirrack said as he stepped out of a warp gate, but when he saw it was his students he was shocked for a moment.


    "Wait¡­ You guys are aware that we have a sster today and you decided to have a rank battle?" Seeing them nod made him shake his head. "You must be brave¡­"


    His words sent chills down the spine of everyone in the elite ss, including ke.


    ''Why do I feel that is the "You guys are f*cked up'' tone.'' ke thinking about the implications of the instructor''s words.


    "Well, it''s toote now to cancel the fight. So, let''s get this over with." Instructor Zirrack said with a creepy smile that put that of Professor Gibson to shame.

 Chapter 95: Hellish to Abysmal.

    <h4>Chapter 95: Hellish to Abysmal.</h4>


    When the match was signaled to start, golden mes began surging from Luciano''s hands, while Haldor pumped his muscles and awaited the attack.


    When the mes were meters from Haldor, He pped his hands together and surprisingly, an earth wall erupted from below.


    "He is already at the champion realm!!" A student close to ke blurted out in shock.


    ''Seems am not the only one in the champion realm¡­'' ke was slightly surprised because knew he wasn''t the only one with secrets and trump cards.


    Luciano was unfazed as he kept on pouring in mana, causing the mes to crash into the unmoving moving wall, but before anyone knew what was going on, the mes squirmed and by passed the rock wall heading for Haldor.


    "Like I said you are corky¡­" Haldor sneered at the iing golden mes and shot out his orange me, causing them to counter each other.


    ''Why do I have a feeling that Luciano''s mes were put out so easily?'' Having gotten a close view of how powerful the golden mes, ke didn''t need his high perception to know something was up.


    [I must say Luciano is one hell of a cunny b*stard, but this Haldor of a kid has more muscles for brains.


    Like the beast boy said it would have been pretty stupid to use the same tactics he had used in the awakening test.


    This time the mes me going around the wall wasn''t to win the match, but for him to show his trump cards and the numbskull brought out everything on disy. Now Luciano knows he is in the champion realm eliminates all surprises and with the knowledge of his second element he can make further ns.] Just like a chess engine the system quickly analyzed the reason for Luciano''s actions.


    "Now, it''s my turn." He said with a smirk on his face as he dashed towards Luciano while casting earth rendering to increase speed as he slid on the slippery floor.


    When he got within range, he cast earth rendering again turning the ground below Luciano into quick sand before conjuring a rock more than a meter thick, before using his momentum to lunch it towards Luciano with a powerful kick.


    Although he mana perception wasn''t as good as that of ke, Luciano didn''t need to look down to see the ground was about to turn to quick sand.


    Without panicking, Luciano used the fire around to increase the surrounding temperature so much that the loose ground was turned ss. Seeing the ming rock was a few moments from mming into him, Luciano employed the same technique used by ke, and cast 2 mini me bursts propelling him out of the way in the nick of time.


    But all this was part of Haldor''s n, when Luciano dodged the ming rock with the mini me bursts, Haldorunched himself forward with a meburst appearing in front of Luciano who was still in mid-air with his right fist enveloped in mes.


    ''Got you now!'' Luciano being in mid-air made it impossible for him to dodge the attack and even if he decided to protect himself with a wall of me, mes weren''t solid and Haldor was ready to getting?burnt to end the fight.


    "Too predictable¡­" Luciano said with indifferent expression with a hint of disappointment.


    "Gale st¡­" Luciano said in a t tone as a ball of wind formed in between them, before it exploded sending Haldor flying away while pushing him so meters back.


    Having lost interest in the match, Luciano thought it was high time he ended the match. He raised his igniting the golden mes still lingering on the battle ground.


    The mes heeded the ignitor''s call, as they increased in size before squirming towards the groggy Haldor. When they got to him he had regain his senses but it was already tote.


    "Be gone!" Luciano clenched both fists causing the glow of the golden mes to increase, indicating they were about to blow!


    BOOM!


    The sound of the explosion rang all around the training grounds causing most of the students to gasp in shock as they tries to see past the thick smoke to make sure Haldor wasn''t dead.


    When the smoke had finally settled, they saw Haldor enveloped in a purple ming halo?as he curled up in a ball using his hands to protect his head.


    "Winner Luciano. Minus 300 points from the loser Haldor for wasting both our time, Plus 300 to Luciano." Instructor Zirrack said with a yawn as he stepped into a warp get and left the training grounds.


    "That was quick, but exciting¡­" ke thought


    [That makes more sense¡­] The system said in a pondering tone.


    ''What makes sense?'' ke asked.


    [If you noticed the move he used in both the awakening test and now defied thews of realms¡­] Seeing that ke wasn''t following the system had to continue. [In the warrior realm a cultivator can''t use the power of his will even if he knew everything about it, that means he shouldn''t have been able to make the mes go round the girls water barrier back in the awakening test because it broke the rules of realms.]


    ''That means to achieve that effect he had used the wind element direct the mes¡­ That''s ingenious!'' ke was amazed by the system''s revtion.


    [Exactly, and him keeping his second element a secret will make the enemy unable to handle the situation well. I must say he really is worth to be a member of the royal family.] The system acknowledged Luciano''s strength.


    ''Well theirs no need to keep the secret since he is no able to bend his mes with his will.''


    Just like he had thought, Luciano was already any ignitor, because their was no way the rank 4 will be higher than the rank 2 in realm.


    ''The reason he didn''t want any share of the spoils back in the forest wasn''t fully as a act of goodwill but because he had more than enough. Be it beast cores or gold coins, they were all at his beck and call.'' Right now Luciano was a walking bank.


    "This is to all those trying to get into the top 3, I won''t go easy." Luciano''s short but powerful messy sent chills down the spine of all those below the top 3.


    After he speech he walked up to ke under the gaze of everyone before they both left for the canteen reinforcing the rumors of them being close friends.


    "What was the speech for?" ke asked as he was munching down on the creamy chicken stew.


    "It is scare away those who just want to waste our time and to also instill fear into the hearts of those who are strong enough to face us, their by giving is an edge over them."?Luciano said with a smirk.


    "Mind games, I see¡­" ke chuckled.


    When they were done with lunch, they waited for sometime before heading to the training ss for advancebat ss.


    Instructor Zirrack''s appearance marked the start of the ss and just like professor Gibson, he told them that the school was disappointed by their performance in the survival test.


    He also brought with him a piece of bad news for the students but good news for him. The news was that the school had given him permission to step up the difficultly of his training and that meant more time was given to his ss and the students training will go from hellish to abysmal.


    After their usual exercises, live beasts were brought to the training grounds. The exercise of the day was for the students to fight against a beast one vs one.


    The aim of the exercise was to get this students ovee the fears of beasts majority had shown in the survival exercise.


    ke and almost all of those in the top 20 passed the exercise with ease and for those who weren''t able to defeat the beast matched up against them had their points deducted for the instructor saving their lives and they were also given more hellish exercises toplete.


    When the ss was finally over, some had fainted and were taken to the light department for healing, while some had to be carried back to their rooms by their friends.


    As for ke, all over his body was aching but he was still able to return to his room, but the problem was that when his body met his bed his mind drifted off to dreand.


    ¡­


    The rest of the days quickly passed by and ke couldn''t help but thank God that it was finally his ss free day.


    The week had been a very difficult one, not only because of instructor Zirrack but all their professors. They all told them the same thing and made their lives more stressful.


    A lot of students had been punished and had gotten their points deducted, while some had broken down due to Zirrack''s torture, but it was finally time for him to rest and hunt beasts.

 Chapter 96: Weapon enchantment 1

    <h4>Chapter 96: Weapon enchantment 1</h4>


    The week had been a very difficult one, not only because of instructor Zirrack but all their professors. They all told them the same thing and made their lives more stressful. A lot of students had been punished and had gotten their points deducted, while some had broken down due to Zirrack''s torture, but it was finally time for him to rest and hunt beasts.


    After making sure that he was done with everything he needs to do, ke left the school and boarded a carriage that took him to the adventurer''s association. He nned to check if they were anymissions heplete while he was hunting.


    Normally he would head straight to the forest to hunt for beast cores, but after seeing how tight and tough the school was he knew at this rate it would take months if not a year for him to advance to the C rank.


    ''Well, since I have no family to return to during the first-semester break, I might as well use the opportunity toplete as manymissions as possible.'' ke thought as he pushed the door open.


    [If rise in rank you should be able to get more information about the empire and with the help of the association you should be able to get information of the world atrge.] The system said.


    ke''s problem was a big deal because he was searching for both answers and questions. He didn''t know much about infinite realm neither did he have a clue what his purpose on the was.


    All he had been doing throughout his stay so far was to get stronger so that he could face anything that maye his way.


    ''Can''t you give me a clue of what I am meant to do?'' Thinking about his hardship he was facing and the ones yet toe, ke was getting frustrated. If he already knew the goal things would have been much easier for him, but with the way things were going he had no idea how long he was going to stay in infinite realm.


    [I wish could tell you, but I am in the same situation as you are.] The system replied.


    ''Who the f*ck will summon random people to a world asrge as infinite realm without a clue!'' ke felt like cursing the All-Father''s entire lineage aloud, but he wasn''t too sure if he had one and also seeing that he was alone he decided to bottle everything up and move to the billboard.


    [ording to Bryon''s statement and the books we have read so far, they all say that he was in a weakened state and to protect infinite realm from a serious predicament that was to befall it he summoned you guys.] The system said as they both searched the billboard formissions rted to beasts.


    ''So let''s set questions for ourselves. One, what sought catastrophe would infinite realm be in that they would need the help of outsiders to solve?


    Two, what happened to the other races? If they were wiped out the face of infinite realm, then why weren''t the humans the weakest amongst all the races go extinct as well?''


    "This 2 should do¡­" ke sets his eyes on 2missions. The first one requested the gall dders of 4 bruks, while the second requested the talons, feathers, and beaks of?pelcars.


    Bruks were the lesser evolution of knoxs and for ke defeating them would be easy. Their strengthy in the power-packed behind each of their attacks and since their hides weren''t as thick as that of a knox, it would be a walk in the park for him.


    As for the pelcars, they were birds twice the size of eagles on Earth. They had talons and beaks that can pierce and tear a human with great ease. The bones are rtively long, and the wings taper to a point to allow for high flight speed with low drag, and low energy consumption during flight, but their weakness was that theysted stamina and couldn''t fly for long.


    ke was nning on capitalizing on their weakness by using his throwing knives to hunt them.


    He saw amission that was requesting beast''s cores, but since they were the main reason he was hunting in the first he decided to leave themission and left for the forest.


    Unknown to him, it was d who had ced themission through his servant.


    ¡­


    Hourster, ke was done with his hunt and had begun harvesting the beast cores.


    ''4 bruk cores, 3 pelcar cores, 6 morg cores, and 2 sde cores with the corpse of a coreless bruk.'' ke felt bad when he spoke of the little bruk he had killed.


    After locating and killing the first two bruks, he went in search of thest one and found 2. It was after killing them that he found out they were mates and they had a youngling which he eventually killed.


    "Seems the wounds caused by the berserk wyvern to the forest hasn''tpletely healed." ke felt sad when he realized that he was killing families for his gain, but once he saw the beast cores all those thoughts were erased.


    ¡­


    When the ss free days were over, his paused journey through ''hell'' continued.


    During the new week, they had begun lessons on the mirror spell that let them see a spot from a distance, but it was useless to ke when he found out its ws.


    For the mirror spell to work, there had to be a transmitter and receiver just like a radio. It meant someone had to be close to the area meant to be spied on and in addition to its ws was that the two mirror spells had to be within a range which was dependent on the strength of the one casting the spell.


    Apart from the basic magic ss, professor Tacitus had shown them how to process magical materials that enhanced the attributes of forgemastered items. This made ke purchase some of the items he needed to practice with, but unlike before he wasn''tining because he had a lot of exchange points and he was too exhausted toin.


    With everything that was going on in the school, ke was nearing his limit. With the stress that came with Zirrack''s training and other professors, ke had been sleeping veryte daily and that was affecting him.


    For him to keep up with his training, power mastery, forgemastering, and practicing drawing arrays he had to stay up till the early hours of the morning. The ces he could rest a bit were in the canteen, history ss, and array mastering ss that professor Mack had missed for the 4th time.


    ''I wonder how those who are offering 3 specializations are faring?'' ke couldn''t help but chuckle. He was thankful to the system for advising him to chose only 2 specializations.


    [Your mental health isn''t great, you need some rest¡­]


    ''Obviously!'' ke rolled his eyes at the system for stating the obvious.


    [You need to cut down on the activities you indulge in or maybe reduce the frequency at which you practice them.


    For example, you can reduce the number of times you practice forgemastering and most importantly don''t use all your free days for hunting beast take some rest.]


    "¡­."


    ¡­


    The next week professor Mack finally showed up to the ss, with heavy bags under his eyes.


    "Sorry for missing so many sses,?I was so engrossed in my research that I wasn''t aware of much time had passed." Professor Mack said with an apologetic smile.


    The students weren''t angry in any way instead they were grateful. His absence had given them some time to rest and hearing that the greatest dimensional researcher of their time, was busy with research meant discovery was about to be made.


    "As for you¡­" Professor Mack said looking at ke. "The school has awarded you with 4000 points for aiding a professor''s research, but that isn''t all. Since I felt that the reward wasn''t enough, I decided to give you an extra reward but that will be after this ss."


    "Now for today''s ss, we will be talking about how to enchant a weapon with an array." Professor Mack went straight to the topic of the day because he just wanted to get this over with before heading back to rest.


    ''Finally!'' Just a little more and ke would have screamed out.


    The previous week he was finally able to inscribe the array with mana at his fingertips, but when he tried to enchant the array one of his throwing knives it ended up as a total disaster.


    The system had told him the reason for the process failing, but even after trying the system''s method, it failed. ording to the system, he needed more practice, and most importantly he needed to see how an expert did it.


    "First things first, don''t try enchant an already forged weapon, because the chances of it failing are very high."

 Chapter 97: Weapon enchantment II.

    <h4>Chapter 97: Weapon enchantment II.</h4>


    "First things first, don''t try enchant an already forged weapon, became tall use the chances of it failing are very high." ke nodded in approval.


    "The reason is that every material possesses a certain resistance to mana and as you all know an array deals with mana. This amount of resistance a material has to mana is dependent on the nature of the material.


    Wood has the highest resistance because it''s isn''t a mana conductor, while the mythical metal called, kranus is said to be the best mana conductor. As for the rest, you can go read them up. Professor Mack didn''t care about the snarls some of the students made, neither did he have any ns of punishing them.


    "As for the best opportunity to engrave an array on, let''s say a sword. That would be immediately the sword has been hammered to its desire and you have to make sure it is still red hot.


    The reason for this is that when a metal reaches a certain temperature it loses some of the impurities that cause its resistance to mana."


    At this point, everyone in the ss was taking notes and had their undivided attention on Professor Mack. Not only was this a crucial point in the lesson, but for them to miss the free opportunity of having a free lecture from the greatest dimensional researcher of their time, was meant to be sentenced to death by castration before skinning them alive.


    "Note, that it losing some of its impurities doesn''t mean it will be easy, it just means that your chances of it being a sess will increase and your chances are based on your mana control, how much you''ve practiced, and most importantly the materials used topose the sword we use as an example." Professor Mack said while bringing it out a sword from his dimensional amulet.


    "Now to show you all how much materials used to forgemaster an item determines if the process would turn out to be a sess or a failure.


    I crafted this sword for our demonstration and it was made with a searingva crystal¡­" The entire ss gasped in shock.


    They weren''t surprised that he crafted a sword, but by the fact that he had used a searingva crystal to forgemaster the sword.


    ording to the information ke had read about the searing mana crystals, they were very expensive and rare, because they could be only found at ces with hellish temperatures. The problem was that those kinds of environments were extremely hard to find and if eventually found they were protected by high-level beasts.


    These factors added a whole new level of difficulty to it. Some of those that were both strong and fortunate enough to get their hands on some of the searingva crystals wouldn''t even want to sell them.


    "Hahaha¡­" Professor Mack couldn''t help but chuckle when he saw the expressions on the faces of his students. "I know what''s on every one of your minds, but it isn''t so¡­ After seeing how poorly you guys performed in the survival exercise the school decided not to spare any expenses in training, you guys." He exined the situation.


    ''Hehe, and I was a genius who capitalized on the situation and requested more materials to further my research, with the excuse that it will go a long way in helping the students.'' Professor Mack wore a mind shade with a smirk on his face as he thought to himself.


    "Now as you all know, the reason why the searingva crystal is expensive and highly sort for by forgemasters is because of its property that helps the item attain very high temperature from little heat, also it helps removes more than twice the impurities that normal heating process will eradicate, thereby increasing the effects of the array engraved on the weapon.


    They are mostly used in forging fire-based items, to increase their quality by a whole lot. Now watch closely¡­"


    The professor began inscribing the mana gathering array unto the sword and the entire ss watched closely without making a single sound.


    Professor Mack tried to be as slow as possible so that the students could follow up, but still, his speed was astonishing.


    "Now for a sword forged without a searingva crystal¡­" He brought out a normal sword this time and repeated the process.


    ''The resistance was higher than the first sword and so was the mana.'' ke thought as he observed the process.


    "Any questions?" Professor Mack asked as he ended the process.


    After a few questions from some of the students, Professor Mack took ke to his office through a warp gate.


    ¡­


    "I will have to say a big thank you for suggestions because they helped me a breakthrough in the barrier I have been facing in my research." Professor Mack said with a bow, showing his gratitude.


    "Professor Mack you don''t have to thank me, all I made was a suggestion I am pretty sure that you would have found it out on your own," ke said with a modest smile. He was very happy that his idea had helped professor Mack in his research.


    "Maybe, maybe not¡­ I might have but the underlining factor there is time and in the world of researchers, time isn''t always on our side.


    Without your idea, I might have died in one of my experiments before I could have discovered anything. That is why I am thankful and to show my appreciation I have prepared gifts for you." The professor said while bringing out 2 brown covered notebooks and handed them to ke.


    "The schools might have given you some measly points, but I say that isn''t enough.


    The first book is on how the principles of the blink spell and how it works, while the second is the advanced version of blink or you can call it to point blink." Professor Mack said with a smirk.


    (AN: As I said, I am horrible at naming things ?, so if you have a better name please leave your suggestions in thement section. Oh¡­ you have to know how it works before naming.)


    "This¡­ isn''t this too much for a single idea?" ke was utterly shocked by the gifts. In no way did he expect that the gifts he was talking about were the theories and spells of both his idea and that of professor Mack.


    "There is no time to be modest, remember I still have to get some rest." Professor Mack said with a yawn, before bringing out 5 throwing knives.


    The knives had the designs of a kunai he usually saw in anime series, but there was a little orb at the end of kunai instead of a hole.


    "I modified the Blink spell and instead of cing marks as beacons for the spell, I decided to make the beacons in the form of knives and I call them void daggers."


    The void daggers acted as a beacon for blink, so all ke needed to do was to throw it at a certain point before casting the spell. If there were multiple daggers, all he needed to do was direct his will to the void dagger he wanted to appear at.


    "For the point blink that isn''t at your level for now so I would exin the theory." The professor said as he began removing his shirt.


    ''What the¡­?!'' ke was immediately on his guard when he saw him undressing.


    "Calm down¡­" Mack said when he noticed ke''s expression. A secondter after pulling off his shirt his quite pale skin was full of many symbols that were like tattoos.


    "Are those arrays?!"ke blurted out in shock when he sensed the mana being emitted by the tattoos.


    [Oh my!] The system was rendered speechless. Unlike ke who didn''t know the arrays he saw, the system knew everything single thing about all of them.


    [He is a walking array¡­ literally!]


    "Yes, they are arrays and one of them is concealment array that prevents people from seeing and sensing their presence unless I want them to see it.


    Back to the topic¡­"


    Professor Mack quickly exined how the point blink worked and the reasons for the arrays on his body.


    Just like ke had suggested, the point blink was arge array, but unlike others that needed to be stationary this was movable and Professor Mack was the node.


    For the point blink spell to be cast the array must be activated and when it was activated a holographic image that was 30 meters wide and invisible to the eye will appear and at the center would be the caster.


    The array allowed the user to blink anywhere within the array and it was continuous and had no cooldown, but it cost a lot of mana to cast one blink, but ording to both the system and professor Mack, it was worth it.


    ¡­.


    While Professor Mack was teaching ke the spells, something was happening in a faraway location.

 Chapter 98: Blink.

    <h4>Chapter 98: Blink.</h4>


    Behind many-dimensional doors and past corridors that were protected by different traps, arrays, and defense mechanisms, there was a room lit up by arge Thranium crystal at the center of the room.


    (AN: In chapter 16 (Azeroth war I mentioned the thranium age and what a thranium crystal is, so check it out if you have forgotten.)


    The pink crystal was twice the height of a man and its width was greater than that of two men standing side by side. The huge thranium crystal was floating at the center of an array that powered the entire facility, if one took a closer look at the crustal they would be able to notice the cracks that had formed on the crystal.


    If someone was here, they would have been able to notice the energy leaking from the crystals and if that someone was ke he would have been tempted to cultivate in the room because the amount of energy in the room would put that of the cultivation rooms at the school to shame.


    Apart from the defensive mechanisms like golems nothing else in the entire facility was moving, it waspletely void of life but that didn''t mean anyone could walk in there anyhow because of the traps and that was if they could locate its position in the first ce.


    ¡­


    Back in the school¡­


    A week after professor Mack had given him the notebooks on the blink spells, ke was still unable to cast the blink spell and because of that, he didn''t dare to look at the point blink notebook because it was way above his league.


    He didn''t have substantial knowledge about arrays neither did he have the skills to enchant an item with multiple arrays, talk more of turning himself to a walking array. He saw there was no roundabout way to understand the knowledge contained in the book so, he decided to put it aside for the moment since his hands were already full.


    Speaking of his hands being full, ke had taken the advice of the system to cut down on his activities. He had dropped hunting beasts with both of his 2 free days and took one of them to rest just like the system gad advised him.


    He had reduced the number of times he forgemastered in a week and the number of times he practiced hoe to draw arrays, but that was on the condition that there wasn''t any new thing he had to learn.


    As for his cultivation and training in both the Raiju breathing techniques and mastery over his element he had reduced the number of hours he spent training from 7 to 6 hours (cultivation included). Also, once his beast cores were depleted he wouldn''t bother absorbing nature''s energy in the concealed space because it wasn''t that efficient, and rather than wasting that so much time to get a mediocre result he preferred doing more productive things with his time.


    "What are you thinking about?" Luciano asked as he joined him at his table.


    "I am still trying to figure out why the enchantment process fails when I try to add a third array to the forged item," ke said as he gave Tessie a nod, gesturing for her to join them on the table.


    After he mastered drawing a mana gathering array, he had gotten better at drawing arrays making it easier for him to learn arrays at the level of that of the mana gathering array, but he had learned only 2 extra.


    After inscribing both the mana gathering and weight lightening array while the metal was still red hot it worked but once he inscribed the pration array that was to increase the swords piercing, the sword would always explode when he tested it.


    The system taught him how to arrange the arrays and link them, but he was still met with nothing but more failures.


    ording to the system, ke needed more mana control and capacity but wanted to know what professor Mack had to say about the process. After seeing that the professor had done something that had been considered to be impossible or hadn''t even been thought of, ke had a fleeing he had a different approach to the problem.


    "You can already inscribe 2 arrays to an item?!" Both Brian and Castiel asked in unison as a shocked expression was written all over their face.


    "Yeah?" ke asked with a confused tone.


    ''Oh, I forgot that not everyone had the space inheritance that boosted their mana control.'' ke thought.


    "I have the same problem and I hope professor Mack can help us in our next ss," Luciano said getting the same shocked look, but this time it was alsoing from ke.


    The reason ke was at his current level in enchantment was because of the All-Father''s inheritance, but hearing that Luciano was at the same level surprised him.


    ''He is either talented in forging or he has secret¡­ or maybe both.'' ke felt he was underestimating Luciano.


    Seeing that Tessie didn''t have an idea of what they were saying and couldn''t be part of the conversation because she was offering the alchemy specialization, ke decided to change the topic. "So how far have you gone with the levitate spell?"


    "I can now cast the spell but haven''t mastered itpletely because of how stressful the school is¡­ I am just tired, I want the school to be over so I can return to my family and have a good sleep." Tessie helplessly sighed.


    "That''s true¡­ The first semester is about to be over, so what are your ns for the break?" Brian asked while looking at ke.


    "I n on taking as manymissions as possible before the school resumes." ke sighed because there was no resting time for him.


    "You are an adventurer?!" Everyone on the table except Luciano blurted out in shock.


    "Yes, but sadly I am still a D rank adventurer," ke said while shaking his head, but his casual words sent them to another round of shock.


    "Seriously?!"


    "Yeah, what''s so shocking?" ke was confused by their reactions.


    "Nothing¡­" They said in unison, as they ''focused'' on eating their food.


    ''Wtf?!'' ke was more confused, but since they were not talking he decided to enjoy his meal.


    Since it was thest ss free day of the week, they spent more time chatting before they all dispersed to their various rooms, while ke head for the concealed space.


    It was meant to be his rest day, but that didn''t mean he would sleep all day, it just meant he wouldn''t stress himself.


    "It''s Blink time!"


    ording to the first notebook, for him to cast blink he had to open a dimensional corridor just like a warp gate, but the difference between them was that blink was short-distance teleportation, while a warp gate was for rtively longer teleportation and required more mana and for a lot of conditions to be right.


    Blink a very dangerous spell because one could get lost in the void, but with the void daggers, it became very safe. The void daggers were the beacons and made all the conditions right for teleportation.


    "Although I have been stuck in the first step for a week now, I feel am about to make a breakthrough."


    [Your will isn''t strong enough to make a connection with the void daggers, so I advise you to not enter the dimensional corridor even if you can create one.]


    The first step was opening the dimensional corridor, while the second step was to locate and connect ones to the beacons which were out of his reach for now.


    "I have only 2 trials for the day, so let''s get this over with."


    ke stretch forth both of his hands and began using his will to make his mana interact with space before pumping in more to cut the fabric of space.


    The temperature of the space in front of him began rising quickly, before the outline of a circle the size of a ser ball was formed by sparks.


    The outline continued increasing as ke continued circting his mana around the circle. When the circle had grown to half the height of ke, the perfect circle was bing irregr.


    [It is bing unstable! Stop poring on mana, try to use your will to prevent the edges from copsing!] The system quickly gave him instructions when he noticed the dimensional door was about to copse.


    At this moment ke was sweating buckets as he followed the system''s instructions. The strain that was on his mind was more than twice what he had felt when he tried space freeze.

 Chapter 99: Binding process.

    <h4>Chapter 99: Binding process.</h4>


    At this moment ke was sweating buckets as he followed the system''s instructions. The strain that on his mind was more than twice what he had felt when he tried space freeze.


    He gritted his teeth as an agonizing pain assaulted his mind, his breathing had be ragged and his clothes were soaked in sweat.


    It went some more minutes before ke fell to the ground causing the dimensional door to close shut with a loud bang!


    "I wonder what realm professor Mack is at for him to be able to use blink to show off," ke said as he was panting while still on the floor. Just a single blink spell had drained more than half of his mana and have left him mentally exhausted.


    [If I was at a higher level I should have been able to detect his level, but one thing for sure he is not below the Demi-God realm.] The system replied.


    "Demi-God!" ke was surprised he had thought that researchers would be the same as those on earth who didn''t have much wealth or power because they were engrossed in their works.


    [Don''t get me wrong, not all researchers have an amazing cultivation level. They are very few, but one thing for sure the geniuses are rtively high.


    The reason why I mentioned Azkelwart was both a genius researcher and a genius cultivator was that he had attained godhood.] The system said.


    "If that is so, then researchers are OP¡­"


    After seeing the applications of the blink spell, ke realized how powerful the spell was. Researchers were unpredictable, meaning they wouldn''t rely only on their elements, because they would have a lot of surprises in their arsenal.


    If he was to master the blink he would be unbeatable when facing those in the same realm and if he was to master point blink, he would be able to stand or escape when he was against someone a level above him.


    After absorbing nature''s energy for more than an hour to replenish his mana, ke was back at full strength he continued practicing blink.


    Although he failed multiple times he didn''t stop. ording to the system, if his mind was continuously subjected to strain the body will naturally adapt to being able to carry that particr amount of strain.


    [Remember it''s your day off so this should be yourst try before you rest.] The system reminded him of his 4th trial.


    ¡­


    In array mastery ss, professor Mack was exining the key to enchanting an item with 2 arrays.


    "If you n on inscribing two arrays on an item, you have to have 2 things in mind. One is it an array that affects the entire item or is it one that affects a certain part of the item.


    Second, you have to make sure that it isn''t arrays of opposite natures. For example, a mana dispersing array and a mana gathering array.


    If all these conditions are met you wouldn''t have any problems with engraving 2 arrays." Professor Mack exined while pacing around the ss.


    "Yes?" He gestured for a girl from the normal ss to ask her questions.


    (AN: Remember,pulsory sses, are only attended by those from the elite ss, and specialization sses are for both the normal and elite ss.)


    "I followed all the instructions you have mentioned but before I could finish inscribing the second array it was already a failure. What I am doing wrong?" The girl asked.


    "I will never know if I don''t see you in action." He said with a smile as he gestured for her toe forward and inscribe 2 arrays.


    The time he had demonstrated how to inscribe an array to the ss he didn''t need the sword to be red hot, because although it may have more resistance and may cost more mana it was nothing to someone his level.


    When the brown-haired girl came up, drew an array on thin air without making any hand movements before he brought out a normal sword from his dimensional array and ced it at the center of the floating array.


    The floating began heating up at a rate visible to the eyes. Less than a minute the floating sword was already red-hot, entrancing the entire ss.


    "Before you all start raining your questions on me, I will exin.


    Arrays cane in 2 forms; the inscribable arrays which you all know and practice, then have the floating arrays. To draw these kinds of arrays you have to know how to interact with space with both your will and mana and trust me that is very difficult if not impossible for your level." The professor''s words shut up everyone that wanted to ask about the floating array.


    ''Why is he saying that interaction with space impossible when that is what I do whenever I cast space freeze?'' ke couldn''t help but ask the system.


    [He is right, space interaction is impossible for those at your level. The only reason you can interact with space is because of the space inheritance.


    Only those at the hero realm and above would be able to manipte and interact with space, but theirs would be mediocre whenpared to someone who had awakened the space element.] The system replied.


    "Professor Mack if you say we can''t interact with space then how do you now exin what we do when casting levitation spell?" The beast boy, Haldor asked.


    "Haha¡­ That is amon mistake made by most people. You don''t interact with space, you only control the mana in a particr to take a shape around an object before lifting it." After making sure that he understood it, he told the girl to proceed on inscribing both arrays on the red-hot sword.


    Nothing changed about the result, it was another failure.


    "From what I have seen you don''t have enough mana control that is why when you are done with the mana gathering array, you lose concentration while drawing the symbols of the weight lightening array." Professor Mack exined.


    "By the way, minus 100 points for wasting my time on such an easy task." He sent the girl back to her seat before taking ke''s question.


    "Professor Mack, I have been trying many ways to inscribe 3 arrays onto a sword but every approach I tried turned out to be nothing but a failure," ke said with a bleeding heart because he had spent a lot of exchange points on forging materials.


    His question shocked a lot of people in the ss, most of them were still struggling to inscribe two arrays, while some were just getting the hang of 1, but he was already at the third one!


    "I am impressed that you are ahead of the ss, but that isn''t part of the curriculum for this semester. So, I am sorry I can''t be of help." Professor Mack''s words made ke receive many envious res. His words sounded normal to ke but to others, it was something else.


    Impressing the greatest dimensional mage wasn''t easy but the problem was that ke wasn''t even happy about professor Mack''s praises.


    ''So much for hoping. That means I would have to wait for when my Mana control was enough¡­ bute to think of it, he didn''t say I needed to increase my mana control or something else which means there is another way.'' ke looked at the professor in realization and noticed a smirk on his face.


    ''He was able to realize the message in my words, seems I made the right decision.'' Professor Mack thought as he continued the ss.


    When the ss was over, ke was on his way to his room. He made a turn the lonely corridor before his room, but that was when a warp gate opened and professor Mack came out.


    "Thank the heavens you move alone if not it would have been troublesome." Professor Mack said as he took him through the warp gate and into his office.


    "Tell me the problem you faced while inscribing the 3rd array."


    ke began recounting his experiences while he was forgemastering. "So, I wanted to know if you have another way to do inscribe the 3rd array without having the required mana control?"


    "Of course I do, of I didn''t have a roundabout method for something like this then why am called a genius?" The professor said with a smirk.


    "Before I answer the question do you know about the fusion process? I mean the real one, not the crap the school teaches?" His words stunned ke for a second before he nodded.


    "Good, that is your answer to your question. Arrange the arrays in the right manner and when you are done inscribing the 3rd array, instead of leaving it that way you should bind the array with the other by supplying mana to it." Professor Mack said with his trademark smile.


    His words sent both ke and the system into deep thought.

 Chapter 100: Exams 1.

    <h4>Chapter 100: Exams 1.</h4>


    His words sent both ke and the system into deep thoughts.


    ''What do you think it?'' ke asked.


    He hadn''t heard or read about binding an array to another, which means it is a method only known to him, and having little knowledge about forgemastering and arrays the clue professor Mack had told him made no sense at all so he decided to ask the system.


    [From the little knowledge I have as the consciousness of the All-Father, I haven''t heard of binding arrays, but I can take a guess. I don''t know how he ns on doing it, but by binding 2 arrays together they will both function at the same time as long as one is on.


    It may work because if it works it should make the process less tasking, meaning your current energy and mana control should be enough toplete the process.]


    After hearing the system''s deduction, ke ryed it to the professor who was shocked that he was able to make such a deduction.


    ''I was damn right about giving him my legacy!'' Professor Mack thought.


    "Your deduction is close to being right but there is more to the real process." Professor Mack said with a smile as he brought out a normal sword and cast a floating array when he ced the sword on.


    "How many swords do you carry around?" ke couldn''t help but ask because it seemed like the professor''s dimensional amulet loaded with a lot.


    "Hehe¡­" The professor could only chuckle at the question. "Watch closely." Professor Mack said as he avoided the question.


    When the sword had be red-hot, the professor began engraving the mana gathering array on the sword and since his goal wasn''t to teach him how to draw the array but to teach him the binding process, it took only a minute for him to get done with the 3 arrays.


    "If it was you that engraved the 3rd array on the sword it will explode because you don''t have enough mana to empower the array, so I made sure not to empower the 3rd array with enough mana." Professor Mack pointed out as he began the binding process.


    "The process of triggering the binding process is the same as when you triggered the fusion process." Professor Mack exined, but this confused ke.


    The fusion process obeyed thew of electrical charges, which was that like charges repelled while unlike charges attract, but the problem was that when one was to forgemaster, they made use of normal mana and since they are of the same charge there is no way to begin the fusion process.


    (AN: For those that are confused, mana and nature''s energy are the same thing. When theponents mana or nature''s energy are broken down, it contains energy particles of all the elements. To simply put it, mana is the perfect state where all the elementsbined to be one.)


    "Are you saying, instead of using mana to empower the inscribed arrays I should use a different element for each array?" ke blurted out in realization and Professor Mack was nodding with a smile on his face.


    "You are a genius!" Both ke and the system blurted out in unison.


    "I know." Professor Mack said with a smirk.


    Seeing that ke had understood the theory behind the binding process, he went ahead toplete the process. cing both of his hands above the 2nd and 3rd array, professor Mack shot out a ray of light and arcs of lightning on the arrays respectively.


    His elements reminded the system about someone, and that was Azkelwart but he shrugged off the thought and focused on the process.


    When the arrays werepletely empowered with the energy from the lightning and light element, they both lit up and after a while could sense a force of attraction between the 2 arrays.


    "Unlike the fusion process, which took more than a week the binding process for arrays only takes minutes and that is depending on the level of arrays¡­" While Professor Mack was still talking an explosion came from the sword.


    When they both turned to the sword, they saw that new pathways connecting both arrays had been forcefully opened up.


    ''It is practically the same as the fusion process in the human body and the for the newly formed pathways it should be the same as maic flux lines for the elements since they obey thew of electric charges.'' ke thought as he witnessed the entire process.


    "Does that mean I can add as many arrays as possible?" Bake asked because if he could, the only thing holding back the strength of his forgemastered items would be the number of arrays he knew.


    "Great minds think alike¡­" Professor Mack chuckled. "That was what I thought when I found about the binding process but unfortunately, reality is a b*tch. As you know the more arrays you inscribe on an item, the more resistance it develops. The reason is that the more arrays added the amount of energy needed to empower all the arrays would make the material used in making the item crumble.


    And from what you have seen, the binding process just reduces the amount of energy needed to empower the array so, eventually, the energy needed will still surpass what you can handle." Professor Mack exined.


    [I checked the amount of energy needed toplete the binding process and from my calctions, you should be able to add a fourth array with the binding process.]


    ''That''s great, but that means I will have to go array hunting.'' ke sighed helplessly. The problem was that he couldn''t just inscribe any random array on any of his forgemastered items. He had to check the level of the array to make sure that it was one that he could handle and check the ones that were more suitable for his sword.


    "Alright, that should be enough for today, time to get back to research¡­" Professor Mack said with glittering eyes.


    ''He sure does love his research¡­'' ke thought as he left through the warp gate professor Mack had prepared for him.


    "Before I go hunting for a new array, let''s test out the binding process¡­" ke said in an excited tone.


    [You sure do love forgemastering¡­] the system chuckled.


    ¡­


    2 weekster¡­


    Their lessons hade to an end and all students of the first year were currently in the hall waiting for Principal Lovren to make his announcements.


    It was time for the exams of the first semester and knowing how unpredictable the school could be when it came to taking tests, they had prepared for all situations.


    Both the elite and normal sses performed different assignments, but when it came to exams they were taken together by both sses and that meant a higher probability that something bad could happen.


    "Good day¡­ You all are waiting for the announcement about your exams, but fear not because I bring good news." Principal Lovren smiled when he noticed how tensed the atmosphere was.


    "The elite ss had a rough exercise in which we lost some students, so the school has decided that your exams would be an easy one." Although his words were meant tofort the students, it had the opposite effect on them.


    "The school has decided that there wouldn''t be any field exams. The exams would be a practical type and courses that are theory-based will be theory. As simple as that¡­" Principal Lovren said.


    Hearing how simple it truly was the students finally calmed down, then he continued. "As for what the practical and theory exams will be that is dependent on your professor and not the school.


    Now, we move over to grades. As you all know, your final points will be determined by how well you have performed from the start of the semester to the end of the exams. Your exams ount for 50% of your final grade while your assignments and ss activities ount for the other 50%.


    Your points from both of them will be added up and your overall positions will be determined by your score. Remember, as long as someone has the highest points they will be in the first position, the ss you are in doesn''t matter." The principal quickly left after giving his speech.


    ''So much for all the preparations and expectations.'' ke couldn''t help but sigh.


    He had been expecting another field exercise so that he could obtain a bountiful harvest of both gold coins and beast cores, but the school had to mess up his ns.


    [You should be happy; at least you wouldn''t have to stress yourself, besides Having practical and theoretical exams means they wouldn''tst long. That means you will still be able to hunt for in short while and then you will have enough time to hunt for an entire day if you wish that is.] The system couldn''t help but chuckle at all of ke''s wasted efforts.

 Chapter 101: Evil Pair!

    <h4>Chapter 101: Evil Pair!</h4>


    [You should be happy; at least you wouldn''t have to stress yourself, besides Having practical and theoretical exams means they wouldn''tst long. That means you will still be able to hunt for in short while and then you will have enough time to hunt for an entire day if you wish that is.] The system couldn''t help but chuckle at all of ke''s wasted efforts.


    "The exams will involve both yourpulsory courses and all your specializations and as the principal said they will be decided by your professors. The exams for thepulsory sses will be taken separately while the specialization exams will be taken together by all the members of the specializations." As the supervisor of both the elite ss and the entire first-year professor, Gibson made sure everything was clear.


    The exams he had for the day were forging and array mastery. The rules and nature of the practical exams were based on the decisions of the professors. Since forging alone to a lot of time, both professor Mack and Professor Tacitus decided they should have a joint exam for those offering both of their courses.


    Just like their first day in the forge, they were told to forge a sword, but this time they were to inscribe nothing less than 2 arrays onto the sword. The exam was aimed at testing the student''s uracy and speed whenpleting the task.


    The swords cutting ability, thrusting ability, guarding Capacity, speed, technical versatility, and Durability were to be inspected by professor Tacitus, while the effectiveness andplexity of the inscribed arrays were to be checked out by professor Mack. This meant the moreplex the arrays were the higher the points awarded.


    This was great news for ke because with the help of the system he would surely be the fastest to forge the best sword and since he learned how to draw 2 more arrays during the past 2 weeks he would be able to stand a chance when facing off against Luciano.


    [You should focus more on your speed because the fastest will normally be rewarded the highest point and since you now know of better arrays your odds of getting the first position in both courses are pretty high.] The system said while ke was psyching himself for the task ahead.


    "What the...?!" ke was shocked when he saw raw ores appearing at everyone''s work station.


    "This is an exam not a ss exercise, so you should have already expected it to be harder." Professor Tacitus said with an evil grin.


    In their ss exercises, they were already given treated and prepared metals, so all they had to do then was to cut the desired length of metal. This time professor Tacitus decided to give the students a shock of their life andugh at their horrified expressions.


    ''Doesn''t make much difference and since I have the fire element things will be way faster.'' ke thought as he waited for the exam to start.


    ''Haha, the sadist type professors. I must say it''s nice being loved by all.'' Professor Mack said with a beaming smile.


    When the exam was signaled to start, ke used his fire abilities to quickly purify the ores given to him, before melting all the materials and pouring them into a mold.


    Since they were in a magical forge ke didn''t have to wait for the melted ores to cool he quickly picked up a cooling device that was in the shape of a hairdryer. All he needed to do was steadily pour mana into the device to make sure that the melted ores were evenly cooled to solidification.


    The sensory abilities of the system helped him mark out hotter spots that he had missed and after making sure that the melted ores had solidified a yellow heat, ke began the hammering process.


    It took him close to an hour to perfectly hammer the shape of the sword into perfection, but immediately put it back into the fire to prepare the metal to be worked on by other tools.


    After making sure that the sword was evenly heated and had lost all its maic properties, he brought it out to begin inscribing the arrays.


    ''Too bad I can''t steal thepetition by inscribing 4 arrays, but this should be enough.'' ke sighed as he gathered the surrounding mana to envelope his fingers as he began inscribing the weight-lightening and mana dispersion array.


    He would have gone for 2plex basic arrays like mana dispersion array that nullify a certain amount of mana that came to the sword and the razor array that used the user''s mana to coat the sword with a thin line of mana that made the sword twice sharper.


    But the problem was that metals of infinite realm were naturally heavier than those on earth meaning that a forged sword would also be heavier and of what use was a sword when you can''t swing it properly. That was why he had chosen the weight-lightening array and aplex array to avoid making the sword to basic.


    Normally, it would have taken him less than an hour to engrave 2 arrays, but since the mana dispersion array was one of the mostplex arrays when it came to basic arrays, It took him almost 2 hours to perfectly engrave the arrays on the sword.


    While the students were in a race against time toe out as first to finish the forging process, the professor''s were moving around the hall inspecting their works so far.


    The exam was nearing 5 hours from the start and since then they had been moving all around the hall. Being experts in the 2 different fields, they had developed a virtue that was very difficult to possess and that was patience.


    If ke was in the shoes of the professors he would have been extremely bored watching a bunch of students doing a basic thing which he could perform without much effort, but the professors weren''t in any way bored.


    Apart from professor Tacitus that mostly sneered with contempt in his face when he inspected the works of the students, professor Mack had a smile on his face as he checked out their work and from his expression, it seemed... as if he was enjoying watching them forge.


    Two hours thirty minutester, ke hadpleted the grinding and polishing process, before calling the 2 professors over to his work station.


    "ke, Always the first as usual. Let''s see what we have here..." Professor Tacitus said with a proud smile as he picked up the sword and swung it a few times in the air.


    "A Katana... Nice cutting ability, splendid thrusting ability, great guarding capacity, excellent speed, and very durable... Nice job." A rare smiled that always appeared on his face whenever ke submitted a work, was on his face before he passed the sword over to professor Mack.


    "As usual your arrays are perfectly inscribed and you made the perfect choice in choosing a basic and a moreplex array. You see, I am not only to inspect how perfect your arrays are, but I am to inspect the arraybinations because a good forgemaster should know what is perfect for an item.


    A katana is known for its speed and your choice in choosing the weight-lightening array perfectlyplements its speed. As for the mana dispersion, it is also great especially when used against low-level protections." The professor said with a smile as he praised ke''s work.


    When the other students heard professor Mack''s words they weren''t even in the mood to envy ke because most of them had made the mistakes ke had avoided. Most of them had used twoplex arrays that didn''tpliment the attributes of the sword because they had thought they would get higher points.


    "What should I do now..."


    "Fuck! It''s toote to change."


    The entire exam hall had gone into a panic, but when ke looked at the faces of the 2 professors they had a simr expression and that was a grin.


    ''They are Evil!'' ke held back hisughter when he understood what was going on.


    The reason professor Mack had said that secret so openly was because it was toote for any of them to go back to the array inscribing process and if someone was foolish enough to do so they wouldn''t finish before time.

 Chapter 102: 10000 points richer.

    <h4>Chapter 102: 10000 points richer.</h4>


    The reason professor Mack had said that secret so openly was because it was toote for any of them to go back to the array inscribing process and if someone was foolish enough to do so they wouldn''t finish before time.


    "We can''t decide without seeing the others, but you will surely get bonus points for being the first toplete a perfectly functioning sword." Professor Tacitus said to ke.


    ''Patience isn''t one of my virtues, but if this is what I get for being 1st so be it.'' ke thought as he took a seat and waited.


    [I guess we overdid it¡­] The system chuckled.


    The exams ounted for more than half of the semester''s points so he couldn''t take any chances. If he was to flop at this time of the semester it would have been better, he didn''t try at all.


    After waiting for 30 minutes more, Luciano submitted his work just as expected. He had inscribed the weight-lightening array and the ripple array that cause a molecr level distortion to objects making it easier for the weapon to pierce the target.


    Just like ke, professor Tacitus had the same smile on his face as he praised Luciano''s work, but an hourter when the others were getting their works inspected contempt was written all over his face.


    "They are submitting 1 hour 30 minutester after the rank 1 had submitted, 1hr for Luciano, 40 minutes from Castiel, 30 minutes from Brian. How can they be so ipetent¡­" Professor Tacitus'' words were heard by everyone in the forge.


    Professor Mack didn''t see it in that way, rather he saw that ke, Lucian, Castiel, and Brian were more talented in forgemastering.


    After both Professors had a conversation between themselves and ranked the weapons, they finally made the announcements everyone had been looking forward to.


    "Before I start, I will like to tell those below the 1st five to not get their hopes high because I won''t be announcing your positions. So, if you don''t hear your name from this list and you still want to know about your puny scores you can go check your names in the general list."


    His words made the hearts of most students burn in rage, but knowing that the professor was looking out for those that reacted to his taunts they could only hold it in and keep a poker expression.


    "The points awarded will be based on these 5 categories; cutting ability, thrusting ability, guarding capacity, speed, and durability, but that will be based on the type of sword. A thousand points have been allocated to each category so, if you score 9 points in durability you will get 900 points and so on."


    "Starting from 5th position, Haldor. A great sword with 8 points awarded to cutting ability, 6 points for its thrusting ability, 9 points for its guarding capacity, 6 for speed, and 9 for durability. That totals 38/50, that means 3800 points."


    [The more I see his actions, the more I believe he is a beast boy.] The system couldn''t help but shake its ''head''. From the points awarded to the thrusting ability and speed of the sword, the system saw Haldor as a primitive beast that thought that brute force could solve everything.


    "4th position, Castiel. A¡­ sword with 9 points awarded to cutting ability, 7 points for its thrusting ability, 8 points for its guarding capacity, 9 for speed, and 8 for durability. That totals 41/50, that means 4100 points." Professor Tacitus had no idea of what type of sword it was but as long as it was effective there was no problem grading it.


    The sword Castiel had forgemastered was a replica of the Jian sword that was gifted to him by his great grandfather Chang Nakamura. The Jian is a double-edged sword thates from a family of small ancient arms, it was also ornamental,bining both elegance and lethal power.


    "3rd position, Brian. A ymore with 9 points awarded to cutting ability, 8 points for its thrusting ability, 9 points for its guarding capacity, 9 for speed, and 8 for durability. That totals 43/50, that means 4300 points."


    ''Me?'' Brian was shocked that he was above Castiel. Castiel awakened the fire element and that would surely give him an edge when purifying the pores and it also gave him more perception to heat energy making it easier to monitor the heat of the metal.


    After the 3rd position had been announced, they didn''t need a diviner to tell them that the struggle for the 1st position was between ke and Luciano.


    "2nd position¡­ Luciano." Hearing Luciano''s position most nobles in the ss shook their head in disappointment. Although they weren''t close to him he was still a noble and it was better than amoner besting them for the umpteenth time.


    "An Estoc with 9 points awarded to cutting ability, 10 points for its thrusting ability, 9 points for its guarding capacity, 10 for speed, and 9 for durability. That totals 47/50, that means 4700 points."


    "And finally first position goes to ke. A Katana with 10 points awarded to cutting ability, 9 points for its thrusting ability, 10 points for its guarding capacity, 10 for speed, and 9 for durability. That totals 48/50, that means 4800 points and since he was the first to submit he gets an extra 1 thousand points."


    ''Although everyone knows that the 1 point difference between us is quiterge, I have to say that was a frigging close one.'' ke let out a sigh of relief as he waited for the final announcement.


    Since it was a joint exam, when Professor Tacitus was done it was professor Mack''s turn to announce the top for the array mastery section of the exam. The points awarded were based on how perfectly the arrays were inscribed and thebination of arrays with the kind of weapon.


    Brian came in third 4 points going to array perfection, while 5 points went to arraybination. He had inscribed the weight-lightening array because of the ymore''s weight and the razor array to increase the ymore''s cutting power, earning himself 45/50 which was 4500 points.


    (AN: Everything is over 5 thousand points and since there are only 2 categories to judge, it is the initial score multiplied by 5 then by a thousand.)


    Unlike Brian who had gotten 4/5 in the array perfection category, ke and Luciano had gotten perfect scores. With the system and mostly his hard work, ke was able to perfectly draw an array even if he was woken up from sleep and it was the same for Luciano.


    "You may be asking why am I not announcing it in an ascending order, but the reason which most of you have guessed already is that, it is a draw."?The forge quickly became rowdy as the students couldn''t help but talk about such a controversial issue.


    Some believed that Professor Mack was partial and when he saw that his favorite student was about to be beaten he had to call it a draw since he would be discovered if he took him above Luciano. Another group didn''t care if they were partial or not, all they wanted was for ke to be the 1st again but since he was to share the position with someone it was eptable.


    "Silence!" As the controller of the forge, Professor Tacitus''s voice reverberated all around the forge causing all the students to shut up and listen.


    "The reason is that ke''s weight-lightening and mana dispersion arraybination makes the katana a natural mage killer. As for Luciano''s weight-lightening and ripple, array makes the Estoc an excellent armor buster and since I am not partial I decided to call it a draw." Professor Mack said with his signature smile.


    Those in the first group of students could only mind snort at the professor''s words and remain because even in a thousand years toe their opinions wouldn''t matter.


    ''Calling it a draw makes life easier and most importantly saves a lot of research time.'' When he thought of his next task in hisb he was excited and couldn''t wait for it to end


    When the entire exercise was over it was already evening. A wide brimming smile was on his face as he walked out of the forge ten thousand points richer.


    ''There isn''t much time to do anything. Guess I am forced to take a rest.''

 Chapter 103: Knockout.

    <h4>Chapter 103: Knockout.</h4>


    Those in the first group of students could only mind snort at the professor''s words and remain because even in a thousand years toe their opinions wouldn''t matter.


    ''Calling it a draw makes life easier and most importantly saves a lot of research time.'' When he thought of his next task in hisb he was excited and couldn''t wait for it to end


    When the entire exercise was over it was already evening. A wide brimming smile was on his face as he walked out of the forge ten thousand points richer.


    ''There isn''t more time to do anything else, guess I am forced to take a rest.''


    Having not much time for any other activity, ke went to his room and had a quick bath before heading to the canteen for dinner.


    ''Wow, so much peace¡­'' ke thought as the aroma of onion beef with noodles and honey garlic chicken breast wafted into his nostrils.


    The veryrge canteen that could easily fit more than a thousand students was almost empty. After a long and stressful day, the silence was soothing to ke''s nerves.


    "Seems a lot of pressure is on them¡­ Uhmmm! ¡­ but at least they should¡­ get something to eat. Why haven''t I tried the honey garlic chicken breast before?!" ke muffled.


    [The pressure will surely be on them because not all of them have a system that can remember every single thing they have been taught.]


    The courses he had for the next day was history and advancedbat. Just like Earth, history was boring and filled with many dates to memorize, but in the case of Infinite realm, the difficulty was literally on another realm.


    Unlike earth that was only 4 billion years old, infinite was eons older than it making history 10 times more difficult than math.


    [Andstly, don''t talk with a full mouth!]


    "¡­" Hearing the system''s words, ke paused for a moment as the memories of his mom telling him the same thing.


    [Am sorry¡­] the system apologized when it realized the mistake he had made.


    "There is no problem, just that the food tastes different now¡­"


    Although he was in a sad mood and the food didn''t taste as good as before, he still finished the food without asking for seconds, before heading to his room.


    ¡­


    The next day¡­


    All the students of the elite ss were focused on their papers, as they answered close to 500 questions on history. It was just like any other theoretical exam and luckily for ke, it was an objective exam, if not he might have died of boredom.


    As long as ke had heard or seen anything, even if he was absent-minded the system would able to recollect. Thereby making the exam a piece of cake.


    The history exam was tost for 4 hours but ke was done within 1 hour 30mins but decided to wait in order not to raise suspicions. An hourter after he was done, ke had run out of patience and decided to submit the booklet that was close to half the size of a textbook.


    ''Patience isn''t one of my virtue¡­'' ke said to himself as he stood up and submitted.


    "Are you done already?" The history professor was shocked, but nevertheless, he still collected the booklet and let ke leave the ss.


    Unlike the array mastery and forging ss, the results of the exams couldn''t be announced immediately because there was no way the professor alone could mark all of these works with so little time.


    ''I wonder what Instructor Zirrack will give us as the final exam?'' ke thought as he heads towards the canteen for a bite before heading to the training grounds.


    [There are many variables but one thing I am sure of is that it will be troublesome.] ke could only agree.


    With everything that has been going on in the advanced training exercise, Instructor Zirrack had been branded the name, Beast. If Haldor and instructor Zirrack were to bepared, Haldor was a puppy while Zirrack was a hydra with 20 heads!


    He was too radical and unpredictable. ke had a feeling that if instructor Zirrack was to be principal more than half of the students would be dead before the end of the 1st semester.


    "What is going on here?!" ke blurted out when he reached the training grounds and saw that the different battlegrounds were enchanted with water barriers that protected powers from escaping the battleground.


    ''Are you thinking what I am thinking?''


    [Yes I am¡­]


    "You are here already, take a seat and wait for the rest of the ss to arrive." A familiar voice that made him shudder came from behind.


    "Good day instructor Zirrack¡­" ke said with a bow as he turned and saw the beast. Instructor Zirrack nodded to his greetings before leaving without saying anything.


    After waiting for 30 minutes, Castiel, Brian, Luciano, and a few others arrived at the training grounds.


    "We are screwed, or let me put it in the right way I am screwed..." Brian said as they joined ke.


    "You''ve already guessed it¡­" ke said with a wry smile.


    From how the battlegrounds were set it was already clear that the advancedbat exams were a knockout battle.


    "Why are you like that, I should be the oneining. With my elements, I won''t go far!" Brian cursed the heavens for his rotten luck.


    "Like my brother always says, the element doesn''t matter only the user does. Besides you have proved that point already in the awakening test." Luciano said in a calm tone.


    Brian wanted to retort Luciano''s words but they were true. The problem was that their levels have gone up and people have gotten wiser which means he had to make better ns.


    When the history ss was finally over and everyone in the elite ss was now on the training grounds, instructor Zirrack came to the center and began his announcement.


    "As you all can see, this is a knockout exam and it will proceed as follows; two students will be picked at random, and whoever wins proceeds to the next round until we have only 2 students standing. The higher your position in the knockout exam the greater the points awarded to you.


    For the rules; you can make use of your powers and weapons, no artifacts allowed. If any is found you shall be disqualified and punished ordingly." Instructor Zirrack said with a creepy grin.


    "To ensure fairness of the exam and also the safety of every student, different professors would be in each battleground acting as the referee. Their job is to save anyone in danger and to spot any cheats." After making sure there wasn''t anything he was forgetting he decided to begin the exams.


    "Let''s get straight into thepetition. If you hear your name, please proceed to the designated battleground and wait for the signal to begin¡­"


    Names were called for some minutes before it got to Luciano''s turn who was assigned to the 12th battleground.


    "Let''s get this over with..." Luciano said with a bored expression.


    ''It is certain that I would meet either Damon or Luciano in the finals.'' ke began imagining what would happen if they ended up meeting.


    [We haven''t seen that darkness kid in action, so we should be wary of him.] The system warned him.


    Brian, Castiel, or any other student were to hear his conversation with the system, they would have a fight to the death with ke, but it wasn''t his fault.


    He didn''t put anyone else in his eyes because they were weak and he had neither the time nor strength to care about their feelings.


    While ke was thinking about his opponents, Castiel was trying to make a tough decision.


    ''If I am to use only fire, I wouldn''tst long even if I am to use the ignitor powers. Guess I have no other choice. It is time to show them the darkness powers.'' Castiel sighed as he made his decision.


    From the beginning of the semester when he had awakened the darkness element he had kept it hidden even in the survival exercise, but this time a lot of points were on the line and without it, he would surely lose.


    "Castiel, proceed to battle-ground number 20."


    "¡­"


    "Brian, proceed to battle-ground number 27."


    After all the battlegrounds prepared for the exam were upied, ke was still seating at his original spot.


    ''I forgot, the advanced ss is 63 in number meaning one has to watch, but why is it me?'' ke was kinda happy because he was going to save some energy while the rest fought their hearts out, but he was quite disappointed since he was itching for a fight.

 Chapter 104: Knockout 2.

    <h4>Chapter 104: Knockout 2.</h4>


    ''The only difference between the knockout exams and the awakening test is that most students have advanced to the champion realm which means more abilities, also we allowed to use our weapons¡­'' A grin appeared on his face.


    [You forgot about the point about the awakening test being grander.] The system said as all the battles were signaled to start.


    "If you intend on fighting me like that you might as well save both our time and surrender..." Luciano said to the trembling auburn-haired girl who was meant to be his opponent.


    After waiting for a minute and the auburn-haired girl didn''t surrender, Luciano ran out of patience and released a wave of scorching golden mes.


    "I surrender!" The auburn-haired girl screamed in fear.


    ''As expected¡­'' Luciano mind smirked as he walked out of the battleground and returned to ke''s side.


    "Seems your psychological tactics are finally paying off." ke chuckled.


    "At first she didn''t want to quit but with a little push she gave up..." Luciano said with a smile.


    "Well, I guess the first round is to weed out the lower part of the rankings. From the second round upwards the realpetition would begin." Luciano nodded to his words.


    Just like ke had said, the first round was very easy especially for those at the top half of the rankings. Castiel and Brian had easily won their matches without Castiel even showing the darkness element.


    The number of points one was to gain was dependent on when they were eliminated. That was why those who knew they would lose their match tried as much as possible tost as long as they could.


    ¡­


    "Not manymoners in the elite ss made it into the 2nd round." Principal Lovren said to the image of prince Bryon that appeared above the translucent orb.


    "It isn''t much, but the numbers are within our range of expectation. Let''s see how they fare in the other stages of thepetition." Prince Bryon said with an optimistic expression.


    "Not allmoners have weapons as good as those used by nobles, so I don''t think you should be too optimistic." Principal Lovren replied.


    "Don''t you think those without good weapons wouldn''t have trained for those with¡­" Prince Bryon chuckled.


    "There might have trained for such situations but in reality, there is a very high chance they would still be beaten." Principal Lovren made an unarguable point.


    Everyone had their trump cards but what mattered was when and how they used them. Even if we assume that both their trump cards were equal, weapons would undoubtedly give the nobles an edge over themoners and this put the odds against themoners.


    "We can only see how it goes then." Both Prince Bryon and Principal Lovren turned back to the screens disying everything happening in the training grounds.


    ¡­


    To show how easy the first round was, 20 minutes after the start of the exam the first rounds were already up and the students were given a break before the second round began.


    Unlike the first round, ke wasn''t lucky to be left out. The numbers were still odd and the person selected to be left out was chosen at random. This time it was Cami who ke hadn''t talked to in a while.


    In the second round, ke was assigned to battleground No. 14 and his opponent was his former teammate, Esmeralda.


    ''Seriously! What kind of rotten luck do I have to face the rank 1 on the second round?!'' Esmeralda cursed her bad luck.


    "We meet again¡­" ke said with a smile when he saw the look on her face.


    "Don''t worry I will make it quick and painless..." ke said with a grin which sent chills down her spine. He wanted to end it quickly because a lot of eyes were on his battleground


    No one had seen ke in a 1v1 fight against any student, but from what they had seen from the recordings of the survival exercise they knew ke was a beast.


    To make matters worse ke was the perfect counter for her. She awakened the nt and water elements which were naturally weak against fire and lightning elements respectively.


    "Begin!" The professor in charge of the match announced.


    ke wasn''t in a rush so he took his time as he brought out Reaper from his dimensional space. Taking off the sheathe, ke flexed the katana in the air before looking at his opponent.


    ''Esme Don''t get scared, his trying to y mind games. Take a deep breath and calm down¡­'' Esmeralda tried to psyche herself, but it all proved to be useless.


    It would have worked if he was against anyone else, but she had seen ke perform magic with the katana and his skills had been etched into the back of her mind.


    "Let''s go!" ke said as he activated lightning reinforcer before dashing towards her.


    ''Shit!'' Esmeralda cursed ke''s speed as thick thorny vines erupted from below and crept around each other forming a sturdy thorny nt wall before she prepared offensive water spells to nk the sides in case he decided to circle the nt wall.


    ''Hehe¡­'' ke chuckled as he waved at the nt wall with the lightning infuse Reaper in his hands.


    Swish!


    The nt wall was immediately turned to shreds as arcs of electricity made their way through the nt wall and to the other side of the wall attacking the shocked Esmeralda.


    ''So much power!'' Although she was shocked by ke''s disy of power, as the rank 9 she quicklyposed herself and conjured nt vines a water wall that intercepted the arcs of lightning.


    Although the water element was naturally weak against the lightning element because it was a conductor, it wasn''t that weak as long as the user didn''te in contact with the electrified water.


    [End this quickly, you have to conserve energy for the next match.] The system sent ke a reminder.


    "Time to get serious." With the boost from the lightning reinforcement, ke dashed to the side andunched himself forward with a mini me burst while charging a me burst in his left hand.


    When he got within range, instead of continuing with the predictable which was to charge on, ke released two mini me bursts propelling himself upwards beforeunching the full charged me burst at Esmeralda.


    "Fuck!" Esmeralda had no idea of why he did that but that was not her greatest concern at the moment because she sensed that the me hurling towards her packed a punch.


    Not holding back anymore, Esmeralda began triple casting as thorny nt vines erupted from below forming a wall and two water barriers appeared in front of her. Unfortunately for her, this was ke''s n all along.


    Boom!


    The me burst crashed into the barriers taking down both the nt wall and one of the water barriers while leaving a cloud of smoke behind which ke who was in midair took the opportunity of.


    Seeing his n had gone smoothly and the stage for the final strike had been set, ke released 2 mini me bursts, and with the help of gravity, he was propelled towards Esmeralda with the speed of a bullet.


    "Shit!" Esmeralda cursed when she sensed what wasing, but it was already toote.


    When he was meters away from Esmeralda, ke pumped in more mana to Reaper and pierced through thest water barrier like a hot knife through butter, before making its way through Esmeralda''s chest.


    Ding!


    Before Reaper coulde in contact with Esmeralda''s top, a golden barrier that prevented the Katan from moving any further covered her.


    "Ahhhh!" Esmeralda''s scream rang around the battleground as she fell on the ground and started to spasm.


    ''Strange¡­ I expected the barrier but with the amount of force I use, shouldn''t she have been sent flying.'' ke asked as he watched Esmeralda continuously twitch from the effects of the Raiju breathing technique.


    [The schools badge has an array that prevents that. What do you think will happen when a strength type beastnds a blow on the student and he/she dies because they collided with an immovable object?] The system exined.


    ''Hmm¡­ I wonder if I would be able to break it with the space element.'' ke thought as he walked out the battle ground.


    "Didn''t both of them just triple cast?!"


    "Seems we had no chance at all."


    Those who were defeated at the first round could only shake their head when they saw the level of powers shown by the rank 1 and 9.

 Chapter 105: Knockout 3.

    <h4>Chapter 105: Knockout 3.</h4>


    ''I thought they were fighting so why are all eyes on me.'' ke shook his head when he saw that some fights yet to begin and some that weren''t that serious had paused because the students were watching his fight.


    [Not everyone has seen you fight and the explosion was totally captured their attention.] The system exined.


    To the students, ke''s fight was bigger than a blockbuster movie. They were shocked by how easily he defeated Esmeralda, the rank 9, and also, they had a lot of questions.


    Sitting in the resting area, Cami had a question that was more important than anyone on or watching the training grounds.


    [AN: for those who hadn''t noticed, I made a mistake in the matching up. There are 63 students and after the 1st round (which ke was exempted), there are meant to be 31 students plus ke making it 32.


    That means Cami was meant to battle, but since she who she fought won''t make any difference because she is the rank 5, I''ll say let''s move on.]


    ''Wasn''t that the Raiju breathing?!'' Not everyone had noticed Esmeralda twitching like a fish that had been out of water for a long time and those who had noticed didn''t think much of it because that was meant to happen when someone was shocked by electricity.


    For someone like Cami who came from the Karius family who had the strongest lightning cultivators, she knew that it wasn''t any electric shock. If it was, then the safety array in the school''s badge should have been able to protect her from the shock, but it didn''t and that was how she knew it was the Raiju breathing technique.


    The Raiju breathing technique''s true powery in its ability to ignore the opponent''s defenses move straight for the internal organs and that was something the school badge couldn''t protect hence confirming her suspicion.


    ''That is surely the Raiju breathing technique, but how did he find what the Karius family had been searching for centuries now?'' Cami couldn''t wrap her head around how ke would have been able to get his hands on such a technique.


    ¡­


    At battleground 16, Luciano had watched ke''s match and had decided to get serious.


    "Just like he said, things will get serious from here on." Luciano thought aloud which confused his opponent.


    Not wasting more time, Luciano enveloped his arms with golden mes beforeunching himself towards his opponent with mini me bursts.


    His opponent was a submerger, which was the champion level of the water pathway. Normally, Aquamancer had the ability to conjure water from thin and just like pyromancers once the spell had been released it couldn''t be controlled, but a submerger was more powerful.


    Just like the name implied, a submerger had the ability to cover their entire body with water while controlling it like an extension of their bodies. The greater the volume of water, the stronger they would be and if they had a me versus waterbat they would waste a lot of time and mana, so he decided to go with his fists.


    When he was 5 meters away from the submerger, the mes on his arms red up as his fist collided with the water barrier.


    BOOM!


    ''Shit! He cast a me burst on his fist!'' The submerger cursed as the water dome protecting him shook vigorously from the me burst strike.


    Not giving his opponent any time to react, Luciano kept onnding blows after blows on the water dome that began developing cracks all around it. When he raised his right hand tond the final blow that would shatter the dome and leave the submerger defenseless, thick spikes erupted from the water dome and ground surrounding them, but Luciano had expected something like this.


    ''Do you think I would go all out when I don''t know the opponent''s full strength?'' Luciano shook his head in disappointment as heunched his head backward.


    ''Fuck! I wasted so much mana defending thinking that he would fall for the trap¡­'' The submerger cursed. The water dome he had cast came from the water membrane covering him and to prevent it from copsing so easily, he had to keep supplying it with mana. Meaning the more hit it took the more mana expended.


    ''Now for the finale¡­'' When his feet finally touched the ground, he raised both his hands, causing the golden mes he had purposefully dropped around the submerger to re up with great intensity.


    "Ignite!" Luciano shouted as he used his will and mana to make the golden mes instantly increase in size causing a massive explosion that rang through the entire training grounds.


    Boom!


    ''Not done yet!'' Luciano jumped into the air and made multiple flips and twists that sent ming wind des to the area covered with thick smoke.


    ''Fuck me.'' The submerger couldn''t help but curse when he saw the number of injuries he had sustained. The mes were too strong, causing both the water dome and the water membrane protecting him to shatter, leaving his body to take the brunt of the unblocked mes.


    Most of his clothes had been burnt off and his skin had received a second-degree burn making all of his movements extremely difficult.


    ''I knew the golden mes were powerful but this is just too much¡­'' The submerger gritted his teeth in pain as he got up from the ground. ''Let''s hope he thinks am out¡­ Shit!''


    He sensed multiple wind des hurling towards him, but with the pain and having used most of his mana, he could neither dodge nor cast a spell to protect him leaving him with the only option and that was epting his fate.


    DING! DING! DING! DING!


    When the wind des were about to slice him into bits, a golden halo protected the submerger, marking the end of the battle.


    ''The badge is really interesting I wonder how it knows when the wearer is in a life-threatening situation?'' ke said in a pondering tone as he watched how the wind des ended the match.


    [They should be able to scan the wearer''s to know how strong he/she is and also be able to detect the iing attacks to know if the wearer can withstand the attack.] The system exined from his knowledge.


    ''Then it really is a godly tool!'' ke was shocked by the badge''s mechanism.


    [You have no idea how powerful a godly tool is¡­ The badge is really nice but it needs a high supply of energy and maintenance. Seeing that every student has one, the only thing that can power the badges is the castle and if you get out of range it won''t be able to work if not there would have been no need for me to have released the barrier when you were hit by the knox.]


    ''Then why didn''t it work in the survival exercise?'' ke asked.


    [For the exact process, that I am not sure, but they must have used an array that extends the connection, but things like that cost a lot of energy maybe that was why it onlysted for a week.]


    ''Why are they both beasts?!'' Cami shook her head when she saw both Luciano and ke seating together.


    Their little disy of power had caused quite somemotion in the training grounds. They had the strength to beat their opponents but they all made it end with a bang!


    From her perspective, Luciano finishing the submerger with the wind des were unnecessary, while ke propelling himself upwards to stab Esmeralda to the cake.


    Some minutes after Luciano''s disy, most of the other battles hade to an end. Brian had once again made it to the next round, while Castiel was as lucky as always to be paired up with a lower rank student that faced another lower rank student in the first round. Meaning he still had the darkness element as a hidden trump card.


    "What if we get paired against each other?" Brian''s question made everyone ponder.


    "May the best man win then..." ke replied.


    "Don''t give me that bullshit, all I ask of is that you should take it easy on me..." Brian said with a wry smile.


    "Then your wish will be mymand." He saw the look on Brian''s face and knew he had already epted reality, so he agreed to his request.


    The second break was made to be longer than the first because things were more heated and students needed the rest.

 Chapter 106: Knockout 4

    <h4>Chapter 106: Knockout 4</h4>


    Unlike the awakening test that each student had only one fight, the knockout exam had six stages before a winner was decided and each stage was more tasking than the previous one.


    Apart from minimizing their mana usage, they had to make sure they didn''t sustain damage that would decrease their fighting ability because no one was to be treated by the school''s healers unless they had been eliminated.


    ''At this point, I really wished I had a friend that awakened the light element.'' ke sighed when he now realized how useful they were.


    [With your rank anyone that isn''t your sworn enemy would love to be your friend, but someone decided not to have friends.] The system snorted.


    ''Well I am not a fan of using people¡­ and don''t give me that na?ve kid pep talk. As long as I am not in dire need of something, I am not using anybody. Besides even if Ie second my position as the overall 1st position is still safe as long as I don''t flop in the basic magic exam.'' ke rebuked the system''s idea.


    "By the way who knows about the light pathway and why haven''t I seen them in action?" ke asked.


    "That''s true, I heard there was a student that awakened the light element that had won all rounds, but I didn''t get to see him..." Brian replied.


    Seeing no one had the answer to ke''s question, Luciano decided to speak up. "The warrior level of the light pathway is the Radiant therapist. They have the power to heal injuries, but their fighting is zero or even less because they don''t even get buffs, unlike the other elements¡­"


    "That was why we didn''t get to see anyone during the awakening test." ke blurted out.


    "Exactly, that was why no there was no radiant therapist in the elite ss." Luciano nodded to ke''s words.


    "But everything changes when they advance to the champion realm. The champion realm of the light pathway is called Lumomancer and they have the ability to manipte light to create illusions." Luciano said with a t tone as he stared at the empty grounds.


    "That exins why the radiant therapist rose up in rank after entering the elite ss." Brian blurted out in realization.


    [The illusion is more deadly than it sounds. With how strong your will has be you can easily break out of the illusion, but the most troublesome part of a lumomancer''s illusion is knowing when one was in an illusion and if you don''t know you won''t border to break out.] The system''s exnation made ke shudder.


    ''Beating your opponent without them having an idea of what happened.'' ke had to admit that the ability was overpowered, it was for people who didn''t have an idea of its weakness.


    After few more minutes of rest, the 3rd round was signaled to start. There were 16 students left, meaning 8 matches going on.


    ke was paired against the rank 17, who had awakened the same elements as him and this attracted more attention to their battle.


    "May the best man win." Qadir the rank 17th said to ke as the match was signaled to start.


    "Then that means I am the winner..." ke said with a smirk as he took a boxing stance.


    "I might not be a top ranker but don''t get corky!" Qadir activated the lightning reinforcement and dashed towards ke with 2 short des in his hands.


    Since both of them had the same elements and since fire and lightning weren''t solid elements, ke decided to go with his fists.


    When Qadir was 5 meters away from, ke activated his lightning reinforcement which had twice the number of arcs as that of his opponent.


    Seeing that ke had no ns of using his Katana, Qadir couldn''t help but smile as he thrust his short sword forward aiming for his heart.


    ''Hehe...'' ke mind-chuckled when saw that his opponent hadn''t noticed the difference between the powers of their lightning reinforcement.


    Having no ns of dodging the attack, ke waited for thest moment before holding Qadir''s wrist and delivering a blow that took him off his feet before pulling him back and giving him a second blow to his abdomen.


    "Ahh!"


    The Raiju breathing technique took effect the moment ke''s fist made contact with Qadir''s body, sending lightning through his skin and into his organs. The lightning spread to all parts of his body sending him to a world of pain.


    ''That didn''t end it?'' ke thought as he easily dodged Qadir''s left strike and in the process releasing his grip on him.


    [Don''t forget his resistance to lightning is greater than that of that nt girl.] The system gave him a reminder.


    If not for Qadir''s resistance being high because he awakened the lightning element, he would have been on the floor twitching from the effects of both the electrode''s stun effect and that of the Raiju breathing technique.


    ''Fuck!'' Qadir gritted his teeth in pain as he conjured mes in front of and with the powers of an ignitor, he increased the size and intensity of the mes creating a wall of mes to prevent ke from chaining his attacks.


    Unknown to Qadir his action marked the beginning of the end because he had blocked his line of sight and his wall of mes was useless to someone like ke.


    [They all keep making the same mistake.] The system shook his head in disappointment.


    Without hesitating, ke quickly enveloped his entire body with mes with the help of his will and dashed towards the wall of mes before diving right through mes and grabbing shocked Qadir by the neck.


    "Ho¡­ how?!" Qadir blurted before getting he was bombarded by multiple blows that made him spasmed in pain from excess electricity that made his way into his organs.


    Although his resistance to electricity was high, it didn''t mean he waspletely immune to electricity. All ke needed was to give him enough dose of his blows.


    [I must say that was dangerous but Damn!] The system praised his bravery.


    ke had many ways of defeating his opponent, but when the system remaindered him of everyone''s resistance to elements and Qadir had conjured the wall of mes a n that quickly ended the match quickly formed in his head.


    That was to use the mes on his body, coupled with his resistance to significantly reduce the damage he took from the mes. It saved him time, mana and it gave the battle that was meant to be boring a little re.


    "I told you, I am the best man." A smirk was on his face as he walked out of the battleground.


    ''I must say, I am getting addicted to the thrill thates with fighting.'' ke thought as he watched Castiel''s battle.


    ¡­


    Back in the principal''s office¡­


    "When I first saw that the effects of his lightning element, I thought it was suspicious because they had gone past the level of an electrode. This match has confirmed my suspicions, He has the Raiju breathing technique." Principal Lovren said in a pondering tone.


    "A kid being in possession of a breathing technique that even the top lightning family is in search of, that is odd. Unless someone had something to do with it." Principal Lovren said while looking at prince Bryon''s reaction.


    "Hehe." Prince Bryon chuckled as he kept his eyes on the battleground.


    Hisughter had confirmed his thoughts but he didn''t mind less to go too deep into the matter so he decided to drop it and continue watching the students'' performance.


    ¡­


    Castiel''s fight had gone on for some time now and from the way, things were going he knew that he couldn''t beat his opponent with on fire element. He had already decided he would use the darkness element but the problem was that he was looking for the perfect opportunity.


    His opponent was the rank 20 and had awakened the lightning and earth element. The earth element made his mes ineffective and the opponent''s lightning element put him in a tight corner.


    ''How can I lose without showing the darkness element. I have to do something before it''s toote.'' Castiel was panting as he thought of a n.


    ''His mes are ineffective, but that reminds me what is Castiel''s second element?'' ke couldn''t help but ask because even when he watched the survival exercise reys he had only seen Castiel use fire.

 Chapter 107: Knockout 5.

    <h4>Chapter 107: Knockout 5.</h4>


    Whenever Castiel used his mes, either it was blocked by earth or dodged with the increased speed granted by lightning reinforcement. The fight had gone on for a while and his opponent who had been ying safe because he was still yet to see Castiel''s second element, had decided to end the match.


    He pumped in more mana into the spell causing the lightning arcs to squirm more vigorously as he dashed towards Castiel with his saber in his hand. When he got within range, he made the ground beneath Castiel to quicksand as he followed with a quick jab to his chest.


    ''Now''s my chance...'' Copying Luciano''s trick, Castiel used his mes to heat his surroundings preventing the ground from softening. His mes were not as hot as that of Luciano''s to turn the sand to ss, but once he got his footing, he quickly analyzed the attack and knew this was the chance he had been waiting for.


    "Darkbringer!" When he activated darkbringer, both Castiel and his presence were erased from all of his opponent''s sensory organs.


    ''How?! The darkness element!'' Castiel''s opponent was shocked to the core. Although it looked like his attack had left him defenseless, he still had many countermeasures because he was wary of Castiel''s unknown element.


    He had already thought of different measures he would take for every possible element to prevent any surprises, but to his utmost surprise, Castiel had one of the 2 elements he thought would have been impossible for the rank 22nd to have awakened.


    Having no ns of wasting such an opportunity, Castiel used his increased speed gotten from the darkbringer to dodge the jab and move behind him.


    The rank 14 could not see or sense him, meaning he had no idea of the direction in which Castiel''s attack woulde from and since he had no area of effect spells, he no other option than to conjure earth barriers around him.


    It was quite slow to conjure rock walls all around him, but the more walls he conjured the lesser the attacking options his invisible opponent.


    When he wanted to cast a rock wall, he felt an eerie feeling behind him, but before he reacts four dark ethereal tendrils strapped his limbs, and instantly, he began feeling his energy leaving through the tendrils.


    "Dark siphon." Castiel''s voice was heard behind him as he finally revealed himself.


    Dark siphon allowed the user to produce dark ethereal tendrils that drain the energy of anything theye in contact with. The energy siphoned from the target can be used to replenish the mana of the user and can also be used to increase the grip of the tendrils.


    His opponent tried forcefully to break out of the grip of the tendrils but Castiel had used the energy siphoned to increase the strength and rate of energy absorption of the dark ethereal tendrils, leaving him to be rooted to the spot.


    After few more minutes of helplessness, a golden glow was produced from his opponent''s badge freeing him from the tendrils and causing him to fall to the ground unconscious.


    ¡­


    "What an interesting development¡­" Prince Bryon said in a pondering tone as he instinctively looked at ke who was spectating the match.


    "I thought that either his second element was a nonbatant element like the light element or he had awakened the wind elements just like his highness Luciano who used it as a supportive role, but the hiding the darkness element is quite pointless." Principal Lovren said in a calm tone because he has lived for a long time and things like this couldn''t surprise him.


    "What do you think about moving him from the fire mastery ss to the darkness mastery ss after the exams?" Prince Bryon asked.


    "I must say he is quite skilled in the fire element for being able tost so long with only fire, but getting training in the darkness element is a must." Principal Lovren replied.


    The darkness element is close to being on par with the space element, but unlike ke who had the ''AI'' as his mentor, Castiel had none which would increase the difficulty in mastering the darkness element.


    "Alright enough of talking about him, besides even with his darkness element he didn''t make it into the category of the stars of the day." Prince Bryon said as he looked at the screen with an expectant look on his face.


    ¡­


    The four had returned together, but there was an awkward silence between them because they were all experiencing different feelings.


    Castiel was feeling kinda guilty for not telling them about the darkness element, Brian felt betrayed because he was the only one withme elements, while Luciano and ke were in a different category altogether.


    Luciano was in no way thinking about Castiel because if he was to worry about someone with the darkness element it was Damon and as ke, he didn''t wrong because he knew everyone had their secrets, but the funny thing was that he was looking for a way to counter the abilities of the darkness element.


    [To counter the dark siphon you have to do everything in your power to avoid the tendrils, but if you eventually get caught you have to use a burst of energy to release yourself and that should be done immediately because the longer you are held the lesser your chances of escaping.]


    ''Damn! That is deadly. Now I know why the darkness element isn''tpared to light element just like everybody thinks.'' ke became wary and decided to be more cautious when facing either Damon or Castiel.


    ¡­


    Unlike the 3rd round that was long, the 4th round was quite shorter. Luciano and Castiel had easily won their matches, but there was a littleplication when it came to that of ke and Brian.


    Brian had them being paired against each other. The match went very smoothly, literally.


    When their match was signaled to start they both stood a the same spot for some time before they finally decided to sit down and watch the matches of other students.


    Their action was dumbfounding and even though the spectator wanted to end the match, it wasn''t against the simple rules made by instructor Zirrack so the professor in charge of their match had no other choice than to sit and watch too.


    It was after the other matches were over did Brian decide to surrender, finally bringing the match to an end giving Brian the 5th position.


    The break (match) had helped ke rest and replenish some of his mana because the next fight was a tough one.


    After some minutes of rest, the 5th round was signaled to start.


    ke was paired against Beyoni the student with the light element that everyone was talking about.


    ''Seems the heavens aren''t happy about his sudden rise, so they sent me to put an end to his run.'' ke chuckled.


    [Although your conjecture is self-praising I have to agree because apart from the darkness kid and the golden mes boy no one else can counter his illusions.]


    "Why the smirk on your face?" Beyoni asked with a furrowed brow.


    "Nothing..." ke maintained his smirk as he scanned his opponent.


    Beyoni was an average height, blonde-haired boy. He was quite skinny, with brown eyes and abnormally smooth skin for a boy.


    Ever since he made it into the normal ss, he had been looked down upon and bullied by those who had offensive elements. He had bid his time until he had advanced to the champion realm before he began settling old scores and pushings his way through the ranks with his newfound powers.


    "You are no different from them, well its time to show you your ce." Beyoni''s furrowed brow changed to an evil grin as he spread out his hands sending for rays of light towards ke.


    The rays moved at very high speeds that even ke was unable to dodge and when they hit him a sharp pain spread to every part of his as the rays of light had solidified and became two light rods that pierced through him.


    ''So this is the illusion of a lumomancer, it feels so real.'' ke was fascinated but didn''t let it show.


    Although he could break out of the illusion, it would be quite troublesome if he was continuously put under an illusion. So he decided to act like he was under the illusion to make Beyoni let his guard down and to make a convincing act he had to be under the illusion.

 Chapter 108: knockout 6.

    <h4>Chapter 108: knockout 6.</h4>


    (AN: Made another mathematical error in the previous chapter. Brian was thest to be eliminated in the 4th round which consisted of 8 students.)


    Although he could break out of the illusion, it would be quite troublesome if he was continuously put under an illusion. So he decided to act like he was under the illusion to make Beyoni let his guard down and to make a convincing act he had to be under the illusion.


    Seeing ke grimace in pain made Beyoni smile from ear to ear as he dashed towards ''entranced'' ke.


    "You are no different than Damon, you guys might be strong but mentally you are just weaklings," Beyoni said with a sneer as he conjured a water sword to quickly end the battle.


    The illusion of a lumomancer didn''tst forever. Its duration was dependent on how strong-willed the target was. Knowing this fact, Beyoni knew it was better to be safe than sorry so he decided to end it as quickly as possible.


    If it was any other person his n would have worked, but unfortunately he was facing both ke and the system.


    ''If he had decided to walk instead of dashing forward, it would have been a replica of anime scenes where the boss wants to end the mc but he ends up telling him his entire n then the mc surprises him then stops his evil n.''


    [How you can think of such things in such a situation amazes me.] The system said in disbelief.


    ''Simple, he isn''t a threat¡­'' Before the water sword could stab him, ke activated lightning reinforcement and dodged to the side, before clenching the utterly shocked Beyoni by his throat before mming him on the ground causing the webs of cracks to spread out.


    ''What kind of will does he have?!'' Beyoni stared at ke in disbelief. He couldn''t believe that someone was immune to his illusions that he had thought to be unstoppable.


    Although he was still in shock, he managed to muffle out a word. "How?"


    "Figure it out yourself." Having no ns of wasting much time, ke unleashed a barrage of me punches on Beyoni.


    ''What the fuck?! Why did he be a beast all of a sudden?'' The brain was stunned by ke''s sudden outburst.


    "Winner, ke." The referee quickly announced when the golden barrier from the badge protected Beyoni.


    [Is it now you realize what he said.] The system chuckled.


    ''But how could Damon lose to him?'' ke asked in disbelief.


    He had been so engrossed in making countermeasures for his fight against Luciano that he wasn''t aware of those that had been eliminated.


    [It is obvious, his will power was weak.]


    ''For someone who had an outstanding performance when casting will intensive spells, it is very unlikely he couldn''t break out of the illusions.


    So that brings us to the most important question. "What happened to Damon?" ke pondered.


    [Well you are in the right direction.


    The lumomancer kid can''t beat him inbat, which means his illusions were the only possible line of action. That implies that the dark kid is surely suffering from a huge psychological problem.] The system too was trying to figure out what could have affected his psyche so much.


    "How did you counter the illusions so easily? I have seen Beyoni use it on others and immediately they get captured in the illusion the match is as good as over." Brian asked.


    "It''s easy, the illusions are light-based and trick the eyes which transmit it to your brain which sends the false signals to the rest of your body. That means if you have enough willpower to realize that you are in an illusion, your other sensory organs would be free from the illusion, and with a little more push you will regain your sight." ke didn''t have the energy for the full exnation so he told Brian the simplified version.


    A lumomancer''s illusion was more deadly than ke made it sound. When he was under the illusion, he found out that it was quite troublesome to break out of it in a short time and since Beyoni was already dashing towards him he went for n B.


    His n B involved using the system''s sensory skills instead of his. The system was immune to a measly illusion like that of Beyoni''s l, so ke had the system guide him with a holographic representation of everything within 100 meters just like a VR game.


    "How did things get out of hand? The most promising students were eliminated while the average students took the spotlight.


    No offense." ke said to Brian who could only chuckle.


    "None taken¡­ I must confess the tournament is quite chaotic, it isn''t what most people had expected.


    Haldor was eliminated in the first round by Beyoni, Cami in the 3rd round by Damon who was defeated in the 4th round by Beyoni." Brian''s words show ke how chaotic the knockout exam was.


    "The number 4 had been defeated in the 1st round! How the f*ck did I miss that?" ke was shocked by the price of news.


    One''s position in the knockout exams was not based on strength, luck was also needed. Just like Esmeralda whose luck wasn''t that nice to have been paired against ke in the second round, anyone could be paired against someone who was stronger or naturally countered their elements.


    "How are they doing?" ke asked as he watched the fight between Luciano and Castiel.


    "Although Castiel hade so far with the help of the darkness element, Luciano came prepared for this. From the way, he is countering Castiel''s fire and darkness spells I am pretty sure he had used Damon as a reference, but he was given a lesser version of Damon." Brian replied.


    Although Brian calling Castiel a lesser version of Damon was quite offensive, it was the bitter truth. Damon''s main element was the darkness element while Castiel had awakened it second, also Damon had received lessons from both his father who was a powerful darkness cultivator, and professor Vadik the darkness mastery teacher, but Castiel was still self-taught.


    Whenever Castiel used the darkbringer''s stealth skill, Luciano used area of effect skills to prevent him from executing any surprise attacks.


    Apart from his area of effective tactics, Luciano hade prepared for darkness type spells. Luciano''s sensory abilities were second to that of ke, making him able to notice abrupt movements made by Castiel, but his main n to counter Castiel was to use the wind element.


    The champion realm of the wind element was wind whisperer and they could make a wind domain. In the wind domain, the user would gain better control over the wind and the power of his or her spells would significantly increase.


    The first time Castiel had gone into stealth mode, Luciano had activated the wind domain and was using it to keep his distance by checking if the wind flow in the area had been disturbed.


    As for Castiel, he wasn''t faring well. His fire element was useless in the battle because Luciano had more control over the golden mes and they were more powerful leaving him with the darkness element as hisst option, but it still wasn''t much of an option.


    Luciano was countering all of his moves. With the wind domain on, he couldn''t make any abrupt moves and if he decided to leave the range of the domain that spanned over 20 meters his dark siphon spell was way out of range and since Luciano''s mes were superior he would be suppressed in a long-range battle.


    To cast and maintain his stealth state cost a lot of Mana. He had little time left before he would run out of Mana so he decided to put his all in this final attack.


    "Thought you were nning to hide forever." Luciano chuckled as Castiel came out of his stealth state.


    "Why don''t we put an end to this?" Luciano said.


    "One more go I guess..." Castiel said as he dashed forward and shot a me burst that got countered by a simr golden me burst shot by Luciano, but this was part of his n.


    Using the smoke as cover, Castiel enters the stealth state and used his increased speed to reduce the distance between them, but before he could get to Luciano a wall of golden mes blocked him.

 Chapter 109: knockout 7.

    <h4>Chapter 109: knockout 7.</h4>


    Seeing the wall of golden mes, Castiel could only smile because victory was only a step away.


    "I win!" Castiel cast me cloak and just as ke had done, he risked his skin and stepped into the mes.


    "No, you don''t¡­"


    When Castiel dashed through the wall of golden mes he couldn''t help but curse because not only were the mes hotter than expected, but there was another wall of mes.


    ''Shit!'' Having no intention of bing barbeque, he used his remaining mana to increase the power of the me cloak to reduce the hotness of the mes but to his utmost surprise, the moment he crossed through thest wall of mes he saw multiple wind desing his way.


    "F*ck me!" Having run out of energy and close to zero mana, Castiel could only watch the wind des assault him causing the golden barrier from the badge to protect him from the attacks.


    "Winner, Luciano!" The activation of the life-saving mechanism of the badge marked the end of the match.


    "You need to be more original. I had prepared for ke''s suicidal attacks, so dealing with you was easy." Luciano gave Castiel a hand and lifted him from the floor.


    "Nice match guys, that was breathtaking..." ke said with a smile as Castiel and Luciano joined them.


    "I feel good knowing we all made it into the top 5..." ke said with a rxed expression.


    "It would have been the top 4 but Beyoni was lucky enough to be paired against his weakness sote into the tournament." Brian shook his head in disappointment.


    "How am I his weakness?" ke asked with a confused expression.


    "I don''t know how you do it but you are everyone''s weakness. I have a feeling you would have even handled Damon or Castiel way better than Luciano." All of them nodded at Brian''s words, Luciano included.


    [Not sure how they know you can easily counter the darkness element, but I agree with what he says.] The system could only agree to Brian''s words.


    Without including the space element, ke''sbination of fire and lightning element made him a force to be reckoned with. If he was to face a submerger he would easily win the fight with the help of lightning element.


    Even if he was to fight against a water and Earth user which is meant to be his counter he would bombard him/her with a barrage of attacks and since water and earth aren''t offensive they wouldn''t able to do anything but wait for their defeat.


    As for the darkness element, it was the easiest for him to counter. All he needed was the systems sensory skills and the darkness users location will be as clear as day, that was why he didn''t worry much about Damon.


    ''I guess he is right¡­'' ke thought.


    ¡­


    Back in the principal''s office. After the 5th round, a warp gate suddenly opened.


    "Your Highness, what brings you here?" Principal Lovren asked as he stood up and bowed.


    Just a moment ago he and the prince were watching the match between Luciano and Castiel. So it was quite surprising that he came to meet him because if there was a problem themunication link was still on.


    "To watch the finale one needs a drink." Prince Bryon said with unhidden enthusiasm as he found a seat and took out a 2-century old wine from his dimensional amulet.


    "¡­" Principal Lovren was stunned by prince Bryon''s reaction and didn''t know how to react.


    "Don''t stand there the wine won''t drink itself." Prince Bryon beckoned for Principal Lovren to take a seat.


    "Who is your bet on?" Principal Lovren asked.


    "ke of course¡­ What of yours?" Bryon nced at him before he turned his attention back to the screen.


    "¡­" Once again Principal Lovren was stunned. He didn''t expect Bryon to deny his brother so outrightly. Although he knew the prince must have weighed the advantages and disadvantages of both fighters, he didn''t expect him to be that blunt.


    Quickly getting out of his reverie, Principal Lovren answered. "ke¡­"


    From everything he had seen so far, principal Lovren couldn''t deny that the odds we''re against Luciano. Apart from ke having superior firepower, Luciano had used a lot of mana from his fight with Castiel.


    He had used a lot of AOE spells and had maintained the wind domain for quite some time and even though a lot of time was given to them to rest, ke''s mana reserve would be greater than that of Luciano giving him an added advantage.


    "Nice choice. You should already know that there should be a reason that Luciano hadn''t challenged ke yet. There might be other reasons but knowing him full well, Luciano isn''t someone that would fight a losing battle." Bryon said.


    "This should be a match to test ke''s strength without many repercussions and even if he is strong enough to defeat ke he would still lose not to give away his true strength before the real challenge... That''s what I would do, don''t know about him." Bryon chuckled when he realized he had been thinking aloud.


    ¡­


    In a room in which the professors of different years were watching the live feed, instructor Zirrack entered through a warp gate.


    "You all were here when I proposed the bets should be only on the top 3 students to keep things simple and mitigate everyone''s loss, but the greater majority decided to make things more exciting. So, I am here to collect what''s mine." Instructor Zirrack said with a grin that made many in the room frown.


    The main reason he had organized the knockout exam was to host a bet where he could get a lot of rare materials from the professors who were unlucky enough to lose their bets.


    At first, theyined that their options were too simple so they included the option of predicting how far a student of their choice would go in thepetition and this increased the odds of the bets meaning greater returns, but things didn''t go as most had expected.


    Almost all of the professors had ced their bets on the top 10 students to reach at least the 4th round, but things began going downhill when Haldor the rank 4 lost in the first round to Beyoni, while the rank 5 lost to the rank 3 in the 3rd round while the rank 3 who many had bet to reach the 5th round lost in the 4th round.


    Chaotic!


    That was the entire knockout exam in one word, but Instructor Zirrack didn''t care about what they thought of the exam.


    ''Hand them all to me¡­ Haha.'' Instructor Zirrack''s usually dull eyes lit up when he saw the number of materials he collected from those that lost their bets.


    "Now for those who are still in the bets, we shall know the winners and losers after this match." Instructor Zirrack announced before turning to Alfred the alchemist professor. Alfred was a man with a slim build, standing at 193 cm (6¡ä4¡å). He had brown hair and a perfectly shaved goatee with emerald-colored eyes.


    (AN: You guessed it right. It is the same Alfred that gave Instructor Zirrack a potion that caused him explosive diarrhea¡­ XD)


    "Since you ced your bet on Luciano and mine on ke, why don''t we make a personal bet. If Luciano wins you get 2 king-ranked beast cores, but if ke wins I get 2 bottles of your rejuvenation potions. So what do you think?." Instructor Zirrack proposed an offered that shocked the other professors in the room, professor Tacitus most especially.


    Zirrack had the moniker "Kingyer" because he had a record of having hunted and killed over 20 king-ranked beasts. This also meant he might have that same number of king ranked beast cores which were sorted out by many but had no market price. Beast cores of that rank could be used by high-level cultivators since the cores of lower ranks were proving to be inefficient, also they could be used to make powerful arrays and enchantments to weapons, amours, etc.


    On the other hand, there was the rejuvenation potion that almost on par on rarity whenpared to the king ranked beast cores.


    The rejuvenation potion was able topletely replenish the mana, energy, and mental strength of the user. It might not sound like much to those in low realms but when it was used by those with astronomical mana capacity its effects could be said to be heavenly.


    "Make it one bottle of the rejuvenation potion and it is a deal." Professor Alfred counter proposed as he stroked his goatee.


    Not only were the resources needed to craft the rejuvenation potion rare, but there were a lot of troubles in harvesting them even after finding them.


    "Deal!" Instructor Zirrack said with a smile as he shook professor Alfred''s hands to seal the deal.

 Chapter 110: knockout 8.

    <h4>Chapter 110: knockout 8.</h4>


    "Deal!" Instructor Zirrack said with a smile as he shook professor Alfred''s hands to seal the deal.


    ''I am putting a lot on that kid. If he wins we both win, but if he loses more exercises¡­ hehe.'' Instructor Zirrack grinned as he returned to the training grounds through a warp gate.


    ''Patience isn''t one of my virtues¡­'' He was eager to start the final match right away but he had to follow the rules he had set.


    ¡­


    "I bet the entire school is watching." Brian looked around training grounds and could feel the anticipation in the air.


    "Even if the entire Calton city was watching it doesn''t matter..." Luciano said.


    "Yup¡­" ke nodded in agreement.


    "I just want to get this over with. The rest is quite helpful but it isn''t the real deal." ke said while yawning.


    "I just hope basic magic and elemental mastery exams aren''t tasking or else we would surely have a poor performance..." Castiel said with a worried expression.


    The knockout exam was draining especially for those who had made it into the 4th to 5th round. All parts of their bodies were aching from the hits they had sustained, they felt like taking a week off but unfortunately, they had thest 2 exams the next day.


    "The finalists should step up for the final battle." Instructor Zirrack called up Luciano and ke for the highly anticipated match.


    This was the match which the entire first year had been looking forward to since the beginning of the semester. ke had been on the top since the beginning and hadn''t been challenged once and since no one could force Luciano to challenge him, they could only imagine the fight between them.


    But now, both of them had been forced to fight and even though it wasn''t going to affect their ranks they would get to satisfy their fantasy.


    "May the best man win¡­" ke said to Luciano as they both walked up to the battleground. "Oh, and don''t quit¡­" ke''s words stunned Luciano for a second before they took their positions on the battleground.


    "The rules are still the same. Keep things clean the match continues. On my mark, begin!"


    With the match signaled to start, both Luciano and ke brought out their estoc and katana from their dimensional amulet.


    "Let''s get this over with, shall we¡­" Unsheathing their swords they both darted towards each other.


    Ding! Ding! Ding!


    The sound of metal shing against each other echoed all over the arena as ke and Luciano disyed their sword skills.


    After gauging each other sword skills, they both withdrew and began preparing different spells. ke activated the lightning reinforcement and infused Reaper with the lightning element. Since his fire was inferior to the golden mes, ke had no intentions of wasting time in a losing battle so he decided to focus more on speed.


    On the other hand, Luciano knew his weakness and that was hisck of speed to keep up with ke and in other to remove such a disadvantage, he cast the wind domain.


    [You can''t defeat him in a ranged battle because of his superior mes that mean you have no other option than to face him in the wind domain, but be careful wind and fire is a deadlybination.] The system quickly analyzed the situation.


    ''Noted¡­'' ke darted towards Luciano with the speed of a bullet, but before he could reach him Luciano conjured a me wall in his path.


    Even if he had a rotten brain, ke knew that if he passed through the wall with me cloak only danger awaited him, so he quickly cast a mini me burst that propelled him to the side before casting another mini me burst that propelled him towards Luciano before giving a vertical strike.


    Surprisingly, Luciano didn''t cast another me Wall to keep his distance instead, he weed his attacks.


    When ke''s vertical strike was about to hit its mark, a gust of wind pushed Luciano out of the way, and using the momentum from the push, Luciano stabbed at ke''s side.


    ''Shit!'' ke cursed as he finally understood why he didn''t bother blocking, but a petty trick like this wasn''t enough to affect him. ke cast an electromaic field on his hand, pulling the short sword from its sheathe to his left hand before using it to block the side jab.


    After sessfully dodging the surprise attack, ke had no ns of being on the defense so he didn''t give Luciano any breathing space. He made the electricity squirming around his body increase, forming an electromaic field in the form of a white halo.


    He tried stunning Luciano by using the electricity from the halo to connect with the estoc, but that was when the symbols on the estoc lit up stopping the electricity from continuing on its path, but that wasn''t the main reason ke cast the electromaic field.


    Seeing his attempt to stun Luciano had failed, ke instantly let go of his katana and punched Luciano on his abdomen activating the effects of the Raiju breathing technique.


    Before he could chain more punches to increase the damage of the technique, Luciano swung his estoc at his hands.


    Ding!


    Before the estoc could chop ke''s handoff, the katana was pulled back to his hand perfectly defending the attack and forcing both of them to withdraw.


    ''Yep, he is surely the most troublesome person I have a face so far.'' ke couldn''t help but admit that Luciano was a tough opponent.


    ''This match is meant to be a walk in the park, but I can''t use the space element because it may be considered cheating. Also, I can''t use Blink because no one knows professor Mack gave Me the spell.'' ke was trying to devise a winning n.


    ¡­


    "I must say that is a brilliant way to use the lightning element. I wonder what he calls that technique?" Prince Bryon said as he took a sip of his wine.


    "It is for his level, but techniques like that have little or no effect in high-levelbat." Principal Lovren chipped in.

 Chapter 111: End of knockout exam.

    <h4>Chapter 111: End of knockout exam.</h4>


    "It is for his level, but techniques like that have little or no effect in high-levelbat." Principal Lovren chipped in.


    "I don''t think so. The only reason you say you talk that way is that you haven''t met a master using the technique and what if he is going to be the master?" Prince Bryon''s words made principal Lovren ponder for a second.


    "Then let''s see how it goes¡­"


    ¡­


    Back to the battleground¡­


    ''His aggressive nature forces me to be on the defense and with the way things are going I will surely lose." Luciano didn''t let his eyes off ke even for a second as both of them locked their as on each other while panting.


    The only reason Luciano was able to keep up with ke''s speed was because of the wind domain, but the problem was that maintaining it costs a lot of mana and at this rate, he would surely run out of mana long before ke does.


    ''Guess I will have to go all out before I run out of mana.'' Luciano cast me cloak engulfing his entire body in golden mes before dashing forward.


    [With the amount of mana he has spent in the previous matches and the amount of mana it costs to maintain the wind domain, he will soon run out of mana. That means he would try to end it quick, so y it safe.] The system made a quick analysis when it saw Luciano taking the initiative to attack.


    ''Noted.'' ke injected more mana into the lightning reinforcement causing the lightning aura and lightning arcs to squirm more vigorously before dashing forward to meet Luciano.


    "Damn¡­" Brian and Castiel were entranced by their disy of power. The scene looked like a battle between the majestic God of mes against the imperious lightning God.


    Ding! Ding! Ding!


    Immediately they met each other, their swords collided multiple times as they both wanted to gain an advantage over each other but they were stuck in a stalemate.


    Ding! Ding! Ding!


    Luciano was superior to ke when it came to swordsmanship because of his training with sword masters of the royal family, but ke was faring way better than him with the help of the speed boost granted by lightning reinforcement and If not for the wind domain that helped him dodge and block dangerous attacks the match would have been long over.


    Seeing that this approach wasn''t working, Luciano blocked ke''s strike and before pouring more mana into the me cloak causing the mes on him to burn with intensity.


    ''Shit!'' ke cursed when he realized what was going on.


    BOOM!


    The explosion sent ke flying out of the thick cloud of explosion and onto the ground.


    ''That sly bastard! If I didn''t cast me cloak on time I would have been knocked out either by the explosion or by my impact on the ground¡­ Fuck me!'' ke was still getting back on his feet when he sensed iing danger. Not minding his four-legged position, ke''s muscles bulged as he flipped out of the way of the iing wind des.


    Ding! Ding!


    Wind des kept on raining as ke didn''t stop moving and blocking those that were hard to dodge with his katana.


    [Two options; wait for him to expend all his mana or pressure him to spend more mana.] The system analyzed the situation and gave him two paths to victory.


    ''You already know the option I will choose.'' ke thought with a smile on his face as he dodged a wind de lunged into the thick smoke.


    For someone like ke who had the best sensory skills in the entire first year, the smoke didn''t affect his vision in any way. Once he located Luciano in the thick smoke, ke charged a lightning bolt in his free hand and threw it at Luciano.


    Immediately the lightning bolt entered his perception range, Luciano quickly controlled a gust of wind to push him out of the way.


    Zzzg Zzzzg


    A split second after Luciano was pushed out of the way, a lightning bolt zoomed past his previous position


    ''Close one¡­ Shit!'' Before Luciano could even celebrate he sensed another lightning bolt entering his range of perception, but before he could react he was sent flying by the lightning bolt.


    ''C''mon, give¡­me a¡­break.'' Luciano was finding it hard to formplete thoughts from the numbing pain when another lightning bolt hit before he touched the ground.


    BOOM!


    Luciano heavily crashed into the ground as he started to spasm from the effects of both an electrode and the Raiju breathing technique.


    "Monster!" Many in the crowd began shouting in shock.


    "Huh?" Luciano who was still spasming and hadn''t fainted due to his strong will managed to look up to see ke in mid-air with a lightning bolt twice the normal size in his hand.


    Zzzzzg! Zzzzzg! Zzzzzg! Zzzzzg!


    The sound of crackling lightning echoed all over the training ground as ke threw the lightning bolt to Luciano who helplessly watched as the lightning bolt drew nearer.


    Ding!


    Before the lightning bolt could end his life a golden hue from the badge appeared and neutralized the power of the iing bolt.


    "Winner, ke!" Instructor Zirrack announced with an unbridled smile on his face. He couldn''t care less about the injured student, because the only thought on his mind was that of professor Alfred handing over a bottle of rejuvenation potion.


    [I thought you guys were friends? That was overkill!] Even the system was stunned by ke''s action, it was unnecessary.


    ''One can never be too sure¡­'' ke smiled sheepishly when he realized that he had gone overboard.


    When he returned to Castiel and Brian, the looks on their faces was the same expression when one saw a monster.


    "Good game."


    "Well yed."


    Castiel and Brian congratted ke in thenguage of gamers.


    ¡­


    "He is way stronger than I expected." Principal Lovren was slightly surprised.


    "Me too¡­ but I must confess his growth speed is amazing." Prince too was surprised by ke''s strength. Even though Luciano had lower, Prince Bryon had thought ke would use a little bit of the space element but to his utmost surprise, ke had won without it.

 Chapter 112: Overboard.

    <h4>Chapter 112: Overboard.</h4>


    ''Guess there was no need to disable the school''s space detection array...'' Prince Bryon thought with a proud smile on his face.


    No one, not even principal Lovren knew that Prince Bryon had used his supreme control over the school''s core as the councilman in charge of the east zone of the Synder empire to shutdown detection on foreign interference (in this case the space element) to give ke a fair fight and to assess both of them.


    But surprisingly, ke had beat the most likely to seed member of the royal family, Luciano without the need of a third element.


    ¡­


    After making sure that Luciano had been healed from both external and internal injuries, the healer let him return to ke.


    "Sorry man¡­" ke immediately apologized when he saw Luciano.


    "You don''t have to apologize, it was a match and things like these happen." Luciano stopped him.


    ''Mhen! I am getting too battle frenzy...'' ke couldn''t help but worry.


    "Why didn''t you surrender when you were hit by the first lightning bolt?" Brian asked. He didn''t understand why Luciano had to go through all that when he could have surrendered.


    "Firstly, things were too sudden. Second, I don''t surrender halfway. If I decide to fight, I fight to the end and if I don''t want to fight I don''t start only to end halfway." Luciano replied.


    ''Pheew¡­ For a moment I thought it was because I told him not to surrender.'' ke let out a sigh of relief.


    [Or maybe that is what he wants them to know¡­]


    "The method by which the points would be awarded is very easy¡­"


    ke ignored that line of thought and focused his attention on Instructor Zirrack who was making an announcement.


    "Those that made it into the 6th round will get 10000 points while the winner gets a bonus of 2k points. For those that made it into the 5th round 9000 points will be the starting point and the farther away you are from the top of the round determines the number of 2 hundred that will be deducted."


    For Castiel who was at the top of the 5th round, he would get 9000 points while Beyoni the 4th position would get 8800 points. The scoring system was used for the other rounds, the difference was that their starting points were reduced by a thousand and when it got to those in the 3rd round only a hundred points were deducted.


    "Why do I have the feeling that this scoring system was picked after a single thought and is it only me that feels Instructor Zirrack is itching to leave?" Castiel asked.


    "Maybe he had had a long day and wants to get some rest." All of them turned towards ke with a ''seriously?'' expression on their faces.


    "Just kidding, that beast doesn''t get tired. That is just what I want to do¡­" ke''s description of Instructor Zirrack as a tireless beast was urate to the point causing them to burst intoughter.


    ''Finally, I canplete thest preparation needed for my adventure when the school closes.'' Immediately he was done with the announcement which marked the end of thepetition Instructor Zirrack didn''t waste even a second more in the training grounds before warping to out to collect his long-awaited price.


    ¡­


    The next day a lot of people woke up feeling drained and tired. Although the healers made sure that every student was healed after the match, the healing spell only worked on physical and internal injuries and not psychological.


    Many were tired but the most predominant feeling most people had was fear.


    After the knockout exam, most of them had even skipped dinner and went straight to sleep because of the stress, but the problem was that they had 2 exams the following day.


    Some didn''t remember, while those that did were unable to prepare for anything.


    ''The space and time inheritance is Godly!'' A broad smile was on ke''s face as he saw people who if not for their clean clothes he would have mistaken for zombies.


    [I know, this is the third time you are saying it.] The system snorted. Just some months ago ke had been calling the space element useless, but ever since he advanced to the champion realm he could only sing praises about it.


    ''I know that everyone has their secrets, but how is he not drained like the rest?'' ke couldn''t help but ask the system when he saw Luciano brimming with energy.


    The passive of the space element, returned ke to his peak condition both mentally and physically, all he needed was just time, but seeing Luciano''s perfect condition made him ask a lot of questions.


    [There are many ways for someone to regain himself both mentally and physically, but when some factors are put into y and if an elimination is carried out. It can be zeroed down to pills.]


    "How do you guys do it?!" When the four of them met before the basic magic exam couldn''t believe his eyes.


    "Do what?" Both ke and Luciano asked in unison.


    "¡­" Brian couldn''t help but face-palmed.


    "How do you guys look like peopleing back from a vacation?"


    "Oh, that¡­" ke sheepishly smiled as he tried to cook up a lie, but before he could tell a lousy lie, Professor Gibson entered the ss through a warp gate.


    "Calm down, I can already see the fear in your eyes¡­" Professor Gibson chuckled as he saw their reactions.


    "The school had decided that Instructor Zirrack had gone too far, so the school had asked us to go easy with thest exams." Professor Gibson''s words gave them a glimpse of hope.


    "Now for those afraid that it would be a theory-based exam you have nothing to fear. My exam is simple, just cast all the spells we have treated so far and you will pass.


    Easy right?" Professor Gibson said with a smirk as some of the students couldn''t believe their ears.

 Chapter 113: That was too smooth.

    <h4>Chapter 113: That was too smooth.</h4>


    "Now for those afraid that it would be a theory-based exam you have nothing to fear. My exam is simple, just cast all the spells we have treated so far and you will pass.


    Easy right?" Professor Gibson said with a smirk as some of the students couldn''t believe their ears.


    ''Well, that makes things a lot easier for me.'' ke saw the basic magic exam as a way by which professor Gibson wanted to give them free points.


    Even if they were mentally drained, casting arcane spells wasn''t meant to be difficult for students of the elite ss, and?for people at the top half of the elite ss it was a walk in the pack.


    After close to 1 hour 30 minutes of waiting for his turn, ke was finally called up to cast all arcane spells they had treated. He started with the levitation spell and within 5 minutes he perfectly cast the arcane attack spell, mana ball. The mana ball is a concentrated ball of mana that would explode on contact.


    Thepletion of the mana ball marked the end of the exam for him, and after receiving his 10000 points, ke went to the lightning mastery ss.


    Members of the elite ss had faced one of their fears, but it was time to face thest for the first part of the trimester and that was elemental mastery ss.


    With the elemental mastery ss divided into different elements, the elite ss divided into different groups as they branched to their different elemental sses.


    It was after every member of the lightning mastery ss was seated did professor Langston walk out of a warp gate.


    "Good day everyone." Professor Langston said with a smile and his usual energetic tone.


    "I am here to announce the results for the lightning the mastery exam so let''s get this over with. Coming in 3rd position..." Before professor Langston could continue with the announcement, he was interrupted by murmursing from the members of his ss.


    "Is this a dream?" A blonde student couldn''t help but ask because even the basic magic exam seemed too good to be true and with professor Langston''s announcement, it being a dream was more convincing.


    "Announcement for which exam?"


    "Did we have an exam that I wasn''t aware of?"


    The entire ss was confused and with everyone talking at the same time, it became quite rowdy.


    "Oh, so sorry I forgot to tell you what the exam was. Seems I was faster than my shadow, yet again." Professor Langston immediately apologizes when he realized what was going on.


    "We the elemental mastery professors have decided to use every one of your battles in the knockout exam in grading your level of mastery over your main elements."


    "That is not fair!" Those who hadn''t performed well in the knockout exam protested against the decision.


    "I know many wouldn''t agree with the decision but it is the only option unless you all want another knockout exam that is?" Immediately they heard about the possibility of another knockout exam everyone calmed down and listened to him because they were in no condition for another knockout exam.


    "For those that are afraid because they hadn''t gone far in the knockout exam, you don''t have to worry because the mode of assessment isn''t based on how far you went in the tournament, but by your performance with your main element." Professor Langston exined.


    "Even if you were knocked out in the first round it doesn''t matter, as long as you put on a good fight and disyed your prowess in your main element, you passed." Professor Langston smiled when he saw the students were ready to listen.


    "Back to where I stopped. Coming in third position, La, with 6000 points.


    The second position, Cami with 8000 points.


    And in first position, ke with 10000 points." At this point, no one was surprised that ke was at the top of the lightning mastery ss. All the feats he had aplished since the beginning of the trimester made them wonder if it was the same lightning element they had awakened.


    The same thing had happened in the other elemental mastery sses. For the fire ss, Luciano had undoubtedly gotten the first position followed by Castiel who had gone quite far in the knockout exam with only the fire element and then Ansgar 3rd.


    As for the earth elemental ss, Brian came in first position for disying his prowess with the earth element and alsosting to the 4th round even though he didn''t have many offensive abilities. In second ce was Haldor even though he was knocked out very early in the exam.


    ...


    After the supposed elemental mastery exam, ke met up with the rest at the canteen where they had lunch together.


    "So the exams are over just like that?"


    ke was feeling quite odd. He had been expecting an action-packed day, but everything had gone on too smoothly.


    "I still finding it hard to believe that the same school trying to kill us some days ago are making things so easy." Brian couldn''t help but voice his thoughts.


    "I love the free points so I don''t mind..." Luciano said before taking a bite of his steak.


    "Right now their motive doesn''t matter because I will finally get a good night''s sleep..." Castiel said with dted eyes.


    "Yeah, that reminds me. With the number of points I have gotten, I can finally get a high-grade armor at the exchange point." ke became excited when he remembered about the armors and their functions.


    "Now that you mentioned it, I am not yet sure of what to get with my points..." Luciano said with his hand on his chin.


    "Unlike you guys that can afford almost anything at the exchange point, some of us can''t, so don''t rub it in our faces..." Brian said with a bleeding heart.


    "Sorry..." Both ke and Luciano smiled sheepishly when they realized that they were making the others jealous.

 Chapter 114: Fear of Luciano.

    <h4>Chapter 114: Fear of Luciano.</h4>


    ¡­


    The next day after everyone had a good rest, the atmosphere of the first floor of the castle was bubbling. Currently, they had no sses or any other kind of burden so far, allowing them to do whatever they liked, and that included ke.


    He was ying the popr spin ball game with Luciano, Brian Castiel, and Tessie. The spin ball game involved the yers continuously controlling a ball using mana to rotate it while they passed it on to the next yer who would take control of the ball before it touches the floor. Whoever lost control and caused the ball to touch the floor was out.


    The regr one ball was way too easy for them, so they added 2 extra balls and juggled them toplete 2 cycles before passing them.


    "What are your ns for the break?" Tessie asked as she passed the ball to Castiel.


    "We n on following ke to take as manymissions as possible from the adventurer''s association. Oh, we have to register first." Brian was the first to speak up and Castiel nodded in agreement.


    "What about you? Don''t tell me you will just rest for the entire break?" ke asked as he took control of the balls from Luciano.


    If it was back on Earth it would be believable because it was a normal thing for him and other gaming teens to spend close to 15 hours or even more ying videogames, but this wasn''t earth it was Infinite realm.


    Unlike Earth which had its entire poption indulging in one form of entertainment or another, the indigenes of infinite realm focused mostly on cultivation and their research, leaving the entertainment industry very underdeveloped. Even the spin ball game which was a very popr game was also a way to train one''s mana control.


    (AN: Lol... That''s too much training XD)


    "I said that because I had no idea of what I wanted to do for the break. Now I have decided to practice a lot of alchemy for the break and to train my fighting capabilities I will head to the forest to gather what I can find and fight beasts that might attack." Tessie said with an excited look on her face as she took control of the balls and began the first cycle.


    ke would have loved to remind her to be careful when she was in the forest where anything could happen, but saying so would make him look overprotective and will surely bring strange ideas into the mind of people like Brian.


    "I will be returning to the Capital for more training..." Luciano answered.


    Although it was a short answer, they appreciated the fact that Luciano had begun opening up to them.


    Before he would ignore things that he didn''t want to talk about and there were a lot of things he didn''t want to talk about, thereby forcing the group to awkwardly change the topic, but recently he tried to answer them and if they were too private and ufortable he would say it.


    "Who do you guys think will be the overall first position between the two of you?" Tessie asked as shepleted the second cycle and passed it to Castiel.


    "Undoubtedly ke."


    The group turned to the direction of the voice came from, lo and behold it was the ''forgotten'' Cami.


    Cami intercepted Castiel''s pass andpleted the cycle before passing it to Brian, causing Luciano to slightly furrow his brows.


    The others didn''t like how Cami badged into their game without permission, but they didn''t want to ruin the mood so they decided to keep calm.


    "The first position doesn''t matter to me. The reason I am the first position is that I train hard to be stronger, thereby making me outstanding when I try to gather points for things I need and mostly because Luciano lets me." ke said while looking straight into Cami''s flirtatious eyes.


    He wasn''t trying to be modest, the truth was that if Luciano decided to get more serious about the ranks and points, ke would have a harder time because, with his unlimited resources and talent, he could surpass ke with just the right amount of beast cores, artifacts, pills, and potions.


    "Let''s forget about that. Tell me why you haven''te to see me in such a long time?" Cami asked while ring at Tessie.


    ''Why did I have the feeling that shit like this will happen¡­ Wtf is wrong with her?!'' While he was cursing Cami, he soon noticed that the pressure that she was putting on Tessie.


    "Leave¡­" At this point, Luciano couldn''t hold back his anger anymore, he was just looking for an excuse to lit the intruding Cami. Not only did she intrude but she also had the guts to make one of his friends ufortable in his presence.


    What impetus!


    Everyone was surprised when they turned to Luciano who was fuming with anger.


    ''And mom said I was a hothead.'' ke thought. ''Ops won''t want the game to end so quickly.'' ke quickly controlled the 3 balls that Tessie had lost control of because of the too many unfolding events.


    "¡­" Cami was shocked by Luciano''s reaction.


    The Luciano she knew was indifferent to almost everything, except for things that concerned him and recently, ke. That was why she had targeted Tesse because Castiel and Brian couldn''t do anything because of their rank.


    If ke would try to interfere, he would feel a bit awkward because of their past ''rtionship'', giving her more time to oppress herpetition but everything had gone down the drain all because of Luciano.


    Cami was brought out of her reverie when she saw Luciano conjured a ball of mes in his hand.


    "I am leaving!" Cami quickly hurried out of the area in fear of Luciano''s reaction.


    ''Just like father said they are all mad. They may seem calm but they are always raging within.'' Cami thought as she began thinking of the consequences of the turn out of events.


    ''Why is he angry, is it because of the girl or did I in any way say something bad about ke? Anyways, I have angered him, so I have to be more careful how I act around him¡­ and those 4.'' Cami thought in genuine fear for Luciano.


    ¡­


    ''I must say she is one scheming b*tch¡­''

 Chapter 115: Finally free.

    <h4>Chapter 115: Finally free.</h4>


    ''I must say she is one scheming b*tch¡­'' ke would have loved to drop one of his snarkyments, but he knew this wasn''t the right time, so he dropped the idea.


    All of them knew what happened, but Luciano was the one to voice their thoughts. That was why no one tried to calm him down, but after they finally calmed down the atmosphere became awkward.


    [I knew she had ulterior motives from the time she stopped hanging out with you.] The system said.


    ''Well I don''t see it like that, yes she might be scheming but don''t forget she was hanging out with me even when I was nothing special.


    To me, she is just like a high school bad girl who is jealous that her boyfriend is being snatched away from her by another girl and since she has more power she makes the other girl pay.'' ke shared his thoughts.


    [What side are you on? Team Cami or Team Tessie?] The system had to ask because from ke''s tone it seemed like he was supporting Cami.


    ''I am not taking any side¡­'' ke felt like smacking his forehead, but he held back himself he didn''t want to make the atmosphere more awkward.


    ''The funny thing is that I have always wanted a girlfriend back on Earth, but over here Nah. I don''t have time for rtionships especially when I don''t belong here and when I have my mom waiting for me.'' ke thought with a sigh.


    "All first-year students report to the hall for the final meeting of the first part of the trimester." The voice of principal Lovren echoed through their badges.


    "Finally!" ke immediately sprung up from his seat.


    The rest thought that he was excited that they would soon be free, but they had no idea that he had been praying for something to happen in other to get out of this awkward situation.


    When all members of the first year were all seated, and professor Gibson stepped out of a warp gate.


    "It is the school''s tradition to reward excellence. That is why we will call out the top 3 of the first trimester and reward them for the effort they had put."


    The professor''s words made all the top students tensed. They already knew that the 1st and 2nd position was between ke and Luciano, but the 3rd position was still untaken.


    The position was still open for the top students and since one''s rank didn''t determine their points, the 3rd position could go to anyone.


    "In 3rd position¡­" As the name was about to be announced, the entire hall fell silent as the most ''important'' moment of the announcement had arrived.


    "Cami Karius, with 86 700 points¡­"


    Cami''s supporters whichprised of her male admirers and her female supporters immediately let out a loud cheer when her name was called out.


    ke and non-Cami supporters were surprised by the number of supporters one person had. ''Perks of being beautiful, you have a lot of fans. The good thing is that it doesn''t determine one''s strength, if not I will be fucked.'' ke sighed as he pped.


    "In second position Luciano Synder, with 109000 points."


    "So much gap!"


    "A difference of more than 20 thousand points, that''s insane!"


    p! p! p! p!


    Bothmoners and nobles from various households including Cami and her supporters apuded Luciano for his insane score.


    ''Now that''s power with a blend of royalty.'' ke thought with a smirk on his face when he saw the amount of respect Lucianomanded.


    "In first position, ke Wilson with 123000 points." Professor Gibson announced with a proud smile on his face as he looked at ke.


    "¡­"


    p! p! p! p!


    The students were stunned for a moment before they began pping. They had thought ke''s points wouldn''t be far from that of Luciano, but a 10000 points difference was monstrous!


    ''Pheew¡­ I nearly thought that no one will p for me.'' ke let out a sigh of relief when what he had thought would have been the most awkward moment of his life was changed to a round of apuds.


    [In the face of absolute power, people, wealth, everything bows.] ke nodded in agreement.


    "Congrattions to you three for your excellent performance, now for the rewards.


    The first position gets 70 beast cores.


    Second position 50 beast cores.


    Third position gets 40 beast cores." Professor Gibson announced.


    "70!"


    "What?!"


    The entire hall was shocked by the announcement, especially those from the normal ss who hadn''t heard talk more of seeing that amount of beast cores.


    Unlike those in the elite ss that were very confident in their skills that they could hunt in the Mina forest, those in the normal ss weren''t that confident and that was why they went in groups, but that meant their gains would drastically reduce when shared amongst themselves.


    Knowing that he would get a very long rest as long as he made it through the day, Professor Gibson didn''t give them any chance as he quickly handed over to Principal Lovren.


    "You all have trained and aplished a lot during this first trimester and I advise that it doesn''t stop. When you are about to ck remember that there is someone out there training and if you ever meet each other he would surely win.


    As you go on a 3 weeks break, remember that your safety is the top priority, and remember to raise the school''s prestige with your actions. Dismissed." After his speech, Principal Lovren left to meet the second year.


    "Finally guys, we are free..." Brian said with an energetic tone.


    "So, when are we leaving?" Brian turned to ke and asked.


    "Well, I have to make preparations for our journey and this might take some time. So in 2 days, I should be ready." ke answered after making some calctions.


    "2 days? That''s shorter than I expected. I will be ready by then." Brian replied and after making sure that Castiel was okay with the n they headed for the canteen.

 Chapter 116: Good-bye

    <h4>Chapter 116: Good-bye</h4>


    "2 days? That''s shorter than I expected. I will be ready by then." Brian replied and after making sure that Castiel was okay with the n, they headed for the canteen.


    In the evening that same day, the school delivered 70 normal beast cores to his room.


    "Finally!" ke looked at the beast cores on the floor with beaming eyes as he picked up one and began caressing it.


    [¡­] The system was speechless. It didn''t know how to react to a situation like this.


    After he had run out of beast cores he had gotten from the survival exercise, ke had been using the beast cores supplied by the school as the rank 1 and also the rewards from the field assessment but still, that didn''tst long. That was why he was eagerly hoping the exam was a field exam.


    His rate of energy absorption was insane, causing what might look like a lot of beast cores in the eyes of others to be nothing in his eyes.


    (AN: sorry that I failed to mention the resources given by the school. I was aplete rookie when I started the novel, thus I failed to talk more about it.


    So it''s simple they give beast cores and materials based on the student''s specializations.)


    Right now ke was like a drug addict that hadn''t taken the hard drug for a while and had begun experiencing withdrawal syndromes.


    "Compared to others, the rate at which I use beast cores is close to double, if not double, but the problem is that they still tend to slightly catch up. Although not fully but it isn''t meant to be so." keined when he realized that even 70 beast cores wouldn''tst.


    [It''s simple you are cultivating for 3 elements while they are cultivating for 2. Because your elementsbined to be one, it doesn''t mean that the difficulty in cultivating will automatically be like that of those with 2 elements.


    Remember the illustration of a forgemaster merging two containers? The capacity of 3 elements remains the same, but the advantage is that you also have mana worth that of 3 elements.] The system cleared his doubts.


    Even if ke had only 2 elements he wouldn''t even have been in the hero level by now.


    Apart from his increased energy absorption rate gotten from the space element, the greater the number of elements one has the higher his energy absorption rate.


    It is a way the mother-stream makes things fair. To not make the greater amount of energy need to advance to be a total disadvantage for them, it increases their speed and to not make them to overpowered, it made it only slightly greater than of those with two elements.


    He began making use of the beast cores that night and after absorbing all through the night and into the morning, he used 9 beast cores.


    ¡­


    The next day, after running his exercises and taking a bath, ke went for breakfast.


    From his way to the canteen the entire area was quite scanty because the students had returned to their various homes early that morning. Even the canteen was usually packed was nearly empty when he arrived.


    "Even if I was to leave, I wouldn''t miss breakfast. Well, it''s their loss." ke shrugged his shoulder as he enjoyed his food.


    After he was done eating and was about to leave the canteen, he met Luciano, Brian, Castiel, and Tessie.


    "We''ve been looking all over for you." Tessie let out a tired sigh.


    "We told her that we should look for you in the canteen first, but she said that there was a very high probability that you would be jogging." The 3 of them couldn''t help but re at her with an ''I told you so'' look on their faces, causing her face to turn red.


    "So, what''s up?" ke asked, saving Tessie from the awkward moment.


    "Luciano and I are about to leave, so we wanted to say goodbye before we leave...'' Tessie replied.


    "So soon?" ke said with a sad look on his face.


    They were the only things close to family in infinite realm and it was quite sad that they were about to separate.


    "Don''t worry, it is only for 3 weeks and we would be back together." Tessie consoled him and took the perfect opportunity to hug her crush.


    "Yup, it won''t be long..." Luciano said as he gave him a brotherly hug.


    "Any hugs? No? No one? Okay..." Brian felt dejected as he covered his face to escape the awkward situation.


    The trio escorted Tessie and Luciano to the school''s warp array where they said theirst goodbyes before warping away.


    When they were finally gone, the school felt even more scanty and boring to them. Not having anything to say to each other, they all went to their separate ways to begin their various preparations for their n.


    ''What is the use in knowing people, only to feel sad when they are gone?'' ke sadly thought as he walked to the exchange point.


    [There is a simple solution, stop getting to know people and cut the ones you already know.] The system chuckled.


    "It''s my fault, I knew you had nothing reasonable to say but I listened." ke rolled his eyes.


    Immediately he arrived at the exchange point, ke went straight for one of the translucent orbs that contained the list of items.


    Out of the 123k points, he had generated this trimester, ke still had a little bit over 90k points to spend. As for the other 30k points, ke had needed a lot of materials for his practicing and training.


    (AN: Remember there are 2 types of points. They start at the same value, but one can be used to purchase things at the exchange point, while the other doesn''t get deducted from and will be used to determine the student''s score.)


    "Now for the armor section." ke used the filter function to filter out non-armor products, But unlike before he wasn''t that shocked because of the prices.

 Chapter 117: Rampant armor.

    <h4>Chapter 117: Rampant armor.</h4>


    "Now for the armor section." ke used the filter function to filter out non-armor products, But unlike before he wasn''t that shocked because of the prices.


    After checking and not seeing any useful properties in the armors within 30k points, ke scrolled past the 40k price mark and began paying more attention to the properties of the armors with the 50k price mark.


    Not only had the number of useless armors reduced, but the effects were way much better. There were lightweight armors that focused mostly on enhancing the wearer''s speed, but the disadvantage of such armor was that their barrier was not as strong as those of heavy armors and it was vice versa for heavy armors.


    The number of armors on the 50k points list wasn''t as big and annoying as those with lower prices, thus it didn''t take much time for ke to scan through the list but still, nothing caught his attention.


    ke wasn''t happy about how things were going. For every time he failed to get something, the more his heart constricted because the price was increasing by 10000 points!


    "C''mon, don''t do this to daddy." ke prayed with heavy eyes, as he scrolled to the list with 60k starting points.


    After close to 5 minutes of reading the attributes of each armor and double-checking in other to make sure there was nothing he had skipped, ke felt like going on his knees and begging the heavens because he was met with another failure.


    The system wasughing its arse off when it saw ke rechecking the list for the 3rd time.


    [Don''t be a cheap stake, the higher the points spent the greater the abilities and attributes of the armor.]


    ke ignored the system''s remark and crossed his fingers as he scrolled to the next price range.


    "Wow, this is interesting." ke was quite surprised when he saw elemental armors on the list.


    Elemental armors were products of skilled forgemasters that still had the same abilities as normal armors, but the reason they were highly sorted for was their ability to boost the power of elemental abilities. For example, if ke was to put on a fire elemental armor and cast a spell, the process of gathering mana and the quantity gathered will remain the same, but once he released the spell, the armors core would double the power of the spell.


    "If there were any elemental armors that could triple the power of my spells then I would have considered getting it, but too bad I am not here for elemental armors..." ke said as he continued scrolling.


    "A cool name let''s see what we have here." In his heart, ke was praying this was what he was looking for.


    ke clicked on the Rampant armor to get more information about it.


    "Wow! Shock absorption, heavy armor barrier, mana absorption, are you kidding me, what is an armor so good doing at the 70k price?!" ke was shocked out of his wits when he read about the Rampant armor''s abilities.


    The system too was shocked and couldn''t believe its eyes, but unlike ke that was overwhelmed by the shock, the system was still able to reason.


    [Less talking and more buy, look there is only one in stock!]


    Snapping out of it, ke quickly made the purchase and allowed the orb to scan his badge, deducting 70k points.


    This time ke didn''t feel bad about the amount of points spent because he knew it was more than worth it.


    ke wasn''t at the exchange point only for armor. He still had to buy pills, potions, and other things that coulde in handy. After making sure he had gotten everything he needed, ke left the exchange point.


    ¡­


    In Professor Tacitus''s room.


    ''Wow! That was quicker than expected. I thought because most students have returned to their homes, it would take ages to sell the Rampant armor.'' Professor Tacitus thought when he received an alert informing him that the item he had ced for sale had been sold for 70k.


    ''I wonder who the lucky kid that got one of my masterpieces for a reduced price, is? Nah, I don''t care, all that matters now is getting the rewards.'' Professor Tacitus couldn''t help but fantasize about the rewards he was about to get, as established a connection with a distantmunication orb.


    "Your highness, the armor you asked me to sell had been sold for the specified amount you had requested." Professor Tacitus spoke with his head still lowered.


    "Thank you for agreeing to help a lucky kid by selling one of your prized possession. As a reward, you can send in a request for whatever you need to further your research. Goodbye Professor, I have other matters to attend to." Prince Bryon said with a smile as he canceled the connection.


    ''Yes! Yes! Yes!'' professor Tacitus made a short celebratory dance as he brought out a decade old wine to celebrate.


    ¡­


    That afternoon.


    ke had received his package earlier than other days. The moment he was sure that delivery staff was long gone, ke immediately zoomed off to the concealed space to y with his new toy.


    "I still can''t believe that a forgemaster would decide to sell one of these at such a price..." ke said as he brought out a darkish-red chest te made of metal leagues above steel and


    At the center of the darkish-red chest te was sky blue crystal that produced a hue around it.


    Not wasting more time, ke injected his mana into the sky blue crystal, binding the Rampant armor to himself, before putting it on.


    "Wow, it even has the call ability. This is the best deal I have ever made." ke felt like he had ripped off the forgemaster that sold the armor, but instead of feeling bad, he felt great.


    The call ability allowed the owner of an item to automatically equip the item as long as it was connected to a functioning dimensional space, but the disadvantage was that if the owner was to enter areas that have dimensional space blocking arrays, the call ability won''t work.

 Chapter 118: Leaving School.

    <h4>Chapter 118: Leaving School.</h4>


    [Could you please stop that!] The system couldn''t help but facepalm as it watched ke store and Call the Rampant armor for the fifth time.


    "I wonder how it works?" ke has an intrigued look on his face.


    [It''s simple. The Call ability uses the same principles as warp arrays and blink, they need a beacon. In this case, the owner who had bound himself with the armor acts as the beacon.


    So when you call the armor, it appears and since it has the auto fit function, the position you are in doesn''t matter.] The system exined.


    "That exins a lot," ke said as he called the Rampant armor once again.


    [I give up¡­]


    "Just one more."


    [It''s not as if I have a say in this.] The system rolled its ''eyes''.


    "Show me it''s stats..." ke said to the system.


    [Name: Rampant armor.


    Grade: High quality.


    Item: Armor.


    Type: Hybrid armor


    Passive Ability(s): Shock absorption, Mana harness.


    Active Ability(s): None.


    SpecialAbility(s): Siphon.]


    [Interesting.] The system said in a pondering tone.


    "First, I know only heard about hybrid armors but don''t know much about it, can you tell me more about it and why haven''t I heard about special abilities?" ke asked in a confused tone.


    [Hybrid armors arebinations of light and heavy armor making it the best kind of armor, theoretically, but practically they are a hot mess.


    Something heavy and had a very high defense could in no way be fast, so the two attributes had to be bnced which turned the idea of making a perfect armor into making a nuisance of an armor]


    "Then how did this get produced, because it doesn''t feel that heavy, and its defense is great?" ke asked.


    [Not too sure, but from my deductions, I can say that the metal used ys an important role, but most importantly the method used in forging the armor.] The system replied.


    "I thought you were a saint forgemaster? So, how can you not know about what someone below the saint level knows?" ke asked with raised brows.


    [The main consciousness was the saint level forgemaster, not me. I might know a few things about forgemastering but not everything.] The system snorted.


    [About the special ability. If a forgemaster is good enough, when they are forging weapons, armors, etc they would be able to give the item a power unique to the item.] The system exined.


    "What is the special ability description?"


    [Siphon: The Rampant armor can convert the owner''s mana to the energy that could be used to strengthen its barrier.]


    "Damn! The more I know about this armor the more I think the maker was a retard to have even put it up for sale in the first ce." Disbelief was written all over ke''s face.


    Armors generated energy barriers that protected every inch of the owner''s body from external attacks, but the strength of the barrier generated was dependent on the energy source used as its core.


    The cores of armors and weapons were usually energy sources that could recharge naturally over time. The owner couldn''t use his/her mana to recharge which meant that once the barrier had taken a lot of damage the barrier will shutdown till the core had recharged.


    The core of an armor didn''t decide the type of armor it was, but its functions. In light armors, the function of the core was to enhance the user''s speed while sacrificing a whole lot of barrier strength and the heavy armors were vice versa.


    But in ke''s case, the speed of the Rampant armor was way better than that of heavy armors, but not so far from that of light armors. As for its defenses, when coupled with the siphon ability that converts energy to barrier, it could be as good if not better than most heavy armors as long as ke continuously poured in mana.


    "Let''s test out its shock-absorbing capabilities." ke shot out a fireball on the ground before increasing its intensity then heunched multiple me bursts at himself.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After everything hadnded on him and the noise was gone, ke peeped with one eye to check if his limbs were still intact.


    "Phew¡­" ke let out a sigh of relief.


    [What were you thinking? Even for a test that is too dangerous.] The system was shocked by ke''s suicidal tendencies.


    "Look at it from my view, I tested both its shock absorption and the amount of damage its default barrier can handle..." ke said while pointing out that he hadn''t even moved out of the spot he was in.


    After ke had checked every single little thing about his toy he decided to practice blink and space freeze for sometime before he called it a day.


    (AN: If you guys remember, I asked for a better name for the advanced version of blink, and Thanks to jordin96, I decided to go with voidshift.)


    At this point, ke was able tofortably tear open a hole in space and make a safe pathway in the void that leads to the location of the void daggers. Currently, he could only cast blink thrice but if he did he wouldn''t have enough Mana to even cast a simple fireball.


    So he decided to cast at most 2 and only in the life-threatening situation would he cast blink for the third time.


    As for his space freeze, ke was able to smooth cast multiple space freeze without his will shattering. To even show how far he had gone, ke always sat on a freezes space for the entire time he cultivated.


    ¡­


    After the next day, the trio met at the canteen for breakfast before they all proceeded to the school gate as the journey that wouldst for 3 weeks was about to begin.


    End of Volume One


    .........¡­


    Thanks a lot to everyone that had made it this far, hope you all keep supporting My Space-Time System because more is still toe.

 Chapter 119: Order Of Chaos.

    <h4>Chapter 119 - Order Of Chaos.</h4>


    They had two things on top of their lists; first, registering Castiel and Brian with the adventurer''s association, which was pretty easy, and thest but not the least, finding where they would stay.


    Although the school was still open to students like ke who had no family and nowhere to go, the current atmosphere of the school was depressing, and staying there wasn''t giving them the feeling of being on a 3 weeks break. So, they decided to rent living quarters for the period.


    ??


    "I don''t know many people or any ce in this city. So for starters, I would say we should meet Susan at the adventurer''s association and she might help us." After exining the n to them, they boarded a carriage that took them there.


    Once they entered the 5 story building and Susan set her eyes on ke, she became overly excited.


    "Good day adventurer Zero, it''s been a while..." Susan said with flushed cheeks.


    "I''ve been quite busytely, how are you doing?" ke said with a smile on his face.


    "I am good as always..." Susan said with a smile as she unted her smooth blonde hair. "How may I help you?" Susan asked.


    "I will like to get them registered." ke pointed at Castiel and Brian. "Also we would like to form a party."


    When ites tomissions, 20% of them were solo missions which are mostly based on requesting for magical materials, but the remaining 80% were party missions.


    Missions that require protecting or delivering a package, raiding a dungeon, protecting a researcher who was on a dangerous expedition, and so on, were alwaysmissioned to adventurer parties for more security because in this world numbers truly mattered.


    "Okay let''s get them registered first..." Susan said with a warm smile as she brought out 2 forms and handed one each to Brian and Castiel.


    When both of them had taken a seat to fill the forms, ke chatted with Susan for some time before telling her about their amodation problem.


    "You don''t have to look so far for amodation. The adventurer association building has a lot of rooms rented out to adventurers or did you think they made use of every single room of such a humongous building?" Susan asked with a raised brow.


    ''The adventurer''s association is practically into every business on this. I wonder who is the person in charge of all of this?'' ke was stunned by the revtion, from the percentage they took from appraisals andmissions, they were making a lot of gold coins.


    "That will be one gold coin each." After collecting the 2 gold coins and making sure everything was in other, Susan handed them the adventurer''s manual and their adventurer''s badges.


    "Wee to the adventurer''s association adventurer Hades." Susan congratted Castiel.


    "Wee to the adventurer''s association adventurer Grock." Susan congratted Brian.


    "As for registering adventurer party, all you have to do is fill this form and pay a registration fee of 100 gold coins." She said to the group.


    "100?!" Brian asked the question that was on ke''s mind.


    "My registration is a gold coin so how did it move up to 100 coins?" Brian read ke''s mind once again.


    "Adventurer Grock please don''t misunderstand, the association isn''t trying to cheat you.


    Apart from registering your party with the local authorities to enable you to carry out yourmissions easily with the city and so many other processes that will still be handled, the association will be held responsible for some of your actions and the price tag is to prevent just anyone from registering a party." Susan exined calming them down.


    ''Seems I have no other choice.'' ke sighed helplessly as he forked out 100 gold coins from his dimensional space.


    [Hmph.] The system couldn''t feel more ashamed of having such a host.


    Soon, another form was given to them to fill. While answering the questions they decided who the party leader was, which was undoubtedly ke with Castiel as the 2nd inmand followed by Brian.


    The filling went on smoothly until they reached the question requesting for the party''s name.


    "Gods of Olympus. You as Zeus, Castiel as Hades."


    "Nope." Brian''s suggestion was immediately thrown out the window.


    "Unyielding might?"


    "Too goody."


    "I would have said Akatsuki, but not only will people of this world find it very difficult to pronounce, but itcks originality on our part." ke''s words received a lot of nods.


    "How about Order of chaos?" Castiel suggested.


    "Hmmm. I like that." ke was nodding to the idea.


    "Not only is it catchy, but it has multiple hidden meanings." Brian gave Castiel a thumbs up.


    "It''s decided then..." ke said as he filled in the nk space before submitting the filled form to Susan.


    "Congrattions on forming the order of chaos!" Susan congratted the trio.


    ''Thank the heavens that picking parties uniform and crest which would surely cost a lot was optional.'' ke let out a sigh of relief.


    "Good day Miss Susan. Has the package arrived?" A stoic voice with a hint of pride drew everyone''s attention.


    "Good day Mister Taliesin. Yes, your package just checked in this morning." Knowing who she was dealing with, Susan went straight to the point.


    "That is great news. I would like to hire an adventurer party to help me transport the package, but they should be mid to low-rank party and themission will be set for tomorrow." The man said ignoring the trio, but they were in no way offended


    The man was in his early 70''s with well permed gray hair and a well-shaven mustache. Wrinkles were already forming on his face and skin, but every move he made was full of vigor.


    "Most of the mid-rank parties are busy with othermissions, while the rest won''t be free by the given time. As for the low-rank parties, almost all of them are too weak for an excursionmission, leaving us with 2 eligible parties, but one of them is already working on amission." Susan said while checking the details on the crystal orb beside her.

 Chapter 120: First commission.

    <h4>Chapter 120: Firstmission.</h4>


    ''Not only are the mid-rank parties unavable, but I can''t even decide on which low level


    the team I will pick.'' Taliesin instinctively furrowed his brows when he heard Susan''s report.


    Adventurer parties weren''t like solo adventurers that could pick up a mission anytime. For them to take certainmissions, especially escortmissions they had to make preparations depending on the difficulty of themission and the terrain. That was why they were booked a week before the day and if it was very urgent 2 days at most.


    ''There is no need toin about something I can''t change, by the way, the escort doesn''t matter much.'' Taliesin sighed.


    "Alright, when can I meet the avable party? Tell them I am willing to pay the extra fee for rushing things." Having no other choice he had to ept.


    "That''s great. You can meet them now¡­" Susan replied.


    "Indeed it is. The early I meet them the better. Please lead the way." Taliesin cut her short in an inpatient tone.


    "There is no need to go anywhere, the only free D rank adventurer party avable is standing beside you." Being a professional, Susan was able to control her anger as she spoke to Taliesin.


    "¡­" It was when Susan spoke about them, did Taliesin realize that people were standing beside him.


    ''A bunch of kids?'' That was the first line that came into his head.


    "Mr. Taliesin, meet the order of chaos. Although they are a newly registered adventurer party none of its members are below the champion realm." As Susan introduced both parties none of them bothered themselves about handshakes.


    From the way Mr. Taliesin had treated them, it would be truly stupid of them if they didn''t reciprocate the feeling and as for Taliesin, he had no thoughts of giving or epting any handshakes because of his prejudice againstmoners.


    ''Even if the security doesn''t matter, I can''t ept a bunch ofmoners.'' Mr. Taliesin was about to reject them, but Susan''s words made him rethink.


    "This is the party''s leader, Zero. Second in charge, Hades and finally this is Grock." Susan introduced them.


    ''This is Zero the young adventurer everyone has been talking about?'' Taliesin scanned ke from head to toe.


    ''He is as young as they say, as for strength that hasn''t been confirmed yet.


    He is the perfect candidate. Inviting a top or mid-rank adventurer party is a sure giveaway to how precious the master''s package is.


    But if I am to invite a controversial character like Zero, it wouldn''t arouse a lot of attention and it would be just enough to chase away small fries.'' It took some time for him to weigh the pros and cons before he finally made a decision.


    "Alright, I agree to the conditions and the extra fee, but is your team ready and willing to ept the mission?" Taliesin''s question received a nod from ke.


    "Then let''s go set up the n and routes for the escort mission." Susan gestured for them to follow her as she led them to the room.


    ¡­


    Under the same roof of the adventurer''s association building, in a simr room that blocked prying eyes and ears.


    "He hired the newly formed adventurer party, Order of Chaos lead by the recently trending beginner adventurer, Zero.


    Should we still proceed with the n to attack the escort?" The spy patiently waited for his hirer to ponder over the matter.


    "For the fact that he risked the safety of the package by hiring a low-rank adventurer party means there is a higher chance that the package is a decoy.


    But he seems to underestimate me. Even if there is a 10% chance that it isn''t a decoy I will take it!" The calm tone of the spy''s hirer changed without warning to that of a deranged asylum patient.


    "¡­" With the experience the spy had gotten from dealing with a different type of clients over the years, he managed to keep his cool and wait for orders.


    "Keep watching them and if there isn''t any much change of ns from their side, continue with the n, but if there is call me immediately." The hirer cut the call immediately he was done talking.


    "Another mentally deranged client in the space of a month. That''s just great..." The spy sighed before leaving the room to continue with his preparations.


    ¡­


    Back in the nning room.


    "With that, I think everything is clear and if there no other questions I will be taking my leave." With that been said, Taliesin stood up and left Susan and the trio.


    "I have a bad feeling about this mission. I mean, someone like him shouldn''t be amoner or live close to the slums so why are we to follow the route if it poses more danger to the package?" ke''s sudden question put everyone into deep thoughts.


    ording to the n drafted out by Taliesin, the escort party consisted of only him, the carriage driver, and the trio, but this wasn''t ke''s problem because their number was standard for an E rank adventurer party mission.


    The main problem ke had with the mission was that they were to take the package from the adventurer''s association building which was at the center region of the city pass the mid-region to the slums.


    From the tone of Taliesin, it was as if there would be great danger if they took the route of the mid-region of the city, but that went contrary to everyone''s beliefs, because in which world did the normal areas of the city be more dangerous than the slums?


    If things were to be dangerous as Taliesin had said, the ash corps (The empire''s police) would react in time to save the situation, but if they were to follow the slums their reaction will be surely slower.


    "Surely there is more to this mission than meets the eye, but I seriously hope you are wrong about this," Castiel said after thinking more about it.

 Chapter 121: Decoy or real?

    <h4>Chapter 121: Decoy or real?</h4>


    "Surely there is more to this mission, but I seriously hope you are wrong about this..." Castiel said after thinking more about it.


    "Yeah, all we can do is hope for the best, but we still have to make extra preparations for the worst. No one wants to die on their first mission." ke said with a stoic expression as his eyes were focused on the holographic map of the city which was at the center of the room.


    "If the difficulty of the mission eventually turns out to be higher than the rank of the mission, the hirer will pay close to or if not double the price of the new assigned rank. Also if the members of the adventurer''s party were to be injured due to the misinformation, the hirer would pay more than just hospital bills." Susan said when she noticed the tension in the room.


    She had wanted to use the idea of making a lot of money if things went wrong, but it didn''t make even close to half of the intended impact. To people like ke, Brian and Castiel who were probably the most burdened youths in both Infinite realm and Earth talking about gold coins when their lives were at risk was no way to motivate them.


    "Only if we survive can we talk about getting gold coins." ke didn''t take his eyes off the holographic map while talking.


    "I will be at the reception in case you guys need me." Feeling awkward about the reply and seeing that there was no need for her, Susan excuses herself and went back to her post.


    An hourter after they had done more nning, the trio came out of the well-equipped nning room and met up with Susan at the reception.


    "Can you show us where to register for amodation?" ke asked.


    "Sure, please follow me..." Susan said as she led them to the other side of the 5 story building.


    "This is as far as I can go, I will be returning to my post..." Susan said her goodbyes.


    ''Guess I am missing her already.'' ke thought when he saw a brte with deadpan eyes as the receptionist.


    "Not sure if it''s only me but I don''t like the kind of vibe she is emitting..." Brian whispered.


    "Uhmm."


    Standing at a ce and staring at the receptionist would raise too many unwanted questions and thoughts, so they walked up to her.


    "We would like to rent 3 rooms..." ke said to the receptionist who had a name tag on her chest that read Haley.


    "2 gold coins per night and that will be 6 gold coins..." Haley said with an emotionless expression and in a tone so t, that made them wonder if her facial muscles were still functioning.


    Keeping the questions that popped up in his head, to himself, ke handed over 30 gold coins for 5 days.


    "He will show you your rooms. Enjoy your stay." Haley made a slight bow as a steward took them to the third floor.


    "Before I go in let me ask, why did you choose Grock?" ke asked with raised brows.


    "That was the only name in my mind and I''ve been a defensive yer all my life, my game characters, even my elements..." Brian replied with a sheepish smile.


    (AN: if you y mlbb you should know the hero grock.)


    "Okayyyy¡­" ke stared at Brian with an odd expression. "Anyways, today I found out I don''t know much about the association, so I have a lot to read." ke waved the adventurer association''s booklet in the air before injecting mana into the doorknob before entering his room.


    ¡­


    After dinner, ke returned to his room and began absorbing energy from the beast cores.


    In the afternoon he had already looked through all the pages of the booklet and that was all the system needed to know about everything in the book.


    [Interesting¡­ Adventurer parties have quite some power, even the ash corps have to respect adventurers when they are on duty, as long as they are not against thew.] While ke was absorbing energy, the system told him about the important information in the booklet.


    ''From everything I have seen so far, the adventurer association should be on par with the 3 empires.'' ke said after deep pondering.


    [What makes you think so?] The system seemed to be interested in his statement.


    ''No country or empire would let an entity that threatens its authority to remain on itsnd, unless the entity is on the same level as the empire or that the empire will incur an irrecoverable injury.'' ke exined through their mind link as he didn''t stop absorbing energy.


    [What an interesting line of thought. If what you say is right, then the adventurer association is way stronger than you think.


    Remember, the adventurer association is in every empire, which means if they are much of a threat the three empires should have teamed up to fight against them, but since that hasn''t happened it means the adventurer''s association should have enough power to destroy one or two of the top 3 empires.] The system ran a further analysis and the result left ke speechless.


    "Anyways these are spections, we might be missing a lot of details and we might also be very far from the truth. So let''s leave this and handle the work at hand." The system''s analysis made him lose concentration, but he managed to quickly maintain his cool and continue absorbing energy.


    ''So, what do you think about themission?'' ke asked.


    [Just like you said something is off about the mission, but if enough preparations and certain factors are put in ce it would be a sess.


    From series of analysis and experience, this is a mission with many decoys and that is why the route you guys would follow is fixed, so as not toe in contact with the other decoys.


    Now the question is, are you guys a decoy or carrying the real thing?] The system''s exnation forced ke toe out of his meditation position and ponder deeply.

 Chapter 122: Hunch.

    <h4>Chapter 122: Hunch.</h4>


    [If I knew the amount of security that each decoy had, I would be able to tell which was the decoy, but from the quality of security employed for themission, no offense, it is most likely the real thing.


    Hiring you guys is to confuse the enemy and make you look unattractive, but if you are facing a mad man, then it would have an opposite effect.] The more the system spoke the more ke understood how much mess they had gotten themselves into by epting themission.


    "I am seriously considering hiring adventurer party to rescue us if things went wrong, but even if that was possible those avable are not strong enough for the job." ke helplessly sighed.


    "Too much bad news, please tell me that you have a solution?" ke asked.


    [Not that it''s is a solution, but if a considerable amount of luck is on your side it would be a sess.


    These are the measures you have to put in ce¡­]


    ¡­


    The next day, after they had made sure they had purchased everything they will need from the association store, they went to the preparation room they used the previous day.


    "Ms. Susan please prepare the package, while we run through the n onest time..." Taliesin said to the blonde receptionist.


    After close to 20 minutes of going through different processes, Susan returned and informed Taliesin about everything being ready.


    "Alright, let''s proceed to the carriage." Taliesin stood up from the couch and lead the way to the carriage he had arranged.


    ''Scan every member of the mission including the driver and the carriage.'' Immediately they reached the carriage, ke began releasing series ofmands to the system.


    [Scanning¡­


    All members of the order of chaos adventurer party are free from any form of tracking devices and the same goes for the driver.


    As for the hirer, he has quite a lot of equipment on him and even a few artifacts, but none of them include a tracking device.


    For the carriage, it is a forgemastered carriage that has a lot of arrays, including defensive arrays for even the driver and horses who are the most exposed¡­ wait a minute there is something wrong here¡­] The system was forced to stop its report when it sensed something strange about the carriage.


    ''Is it a tracking device?'' ke asked as he made his way into the carriage.


    [I think I know what''s going on here. When you were outside I sensed suspicious energy from the carriage, but now you are in and the carriage''s arrays are no longer blocking it, the energy signature is now clear.


    The carriage doesn''t have any tracking device nted on it, but the problem is the package itself. The good news is that it doesn''t have any tracking device on it, but the grave news is that it is the tracking device.]


    ''How the f*ck is that good news?! Forget it, exin what you mean by the package being the tracking device.'' ke felt like cursing the system who could joke about such a serious matter, but he held back himself and focused on the task at hand.


    [The content of the wooden box with arrays engraved on it, emits a special energy signature that can be easily picked up by those who have the artifacts required to do so.


    With this, there is a very high possibility that this isn''t a decoy, but we can only hope that you aren''t against a strong mad man.]


    ''Who knew my first party mission would be so difficult andplicated. We can only prepare for the worst.'' ke gave out a helpless sigh. ''When we begin moving, scan the environment and inform me of any suspicious activity.''


    Knock! Knock!


    Seeing that everyone was seated, Taliesin knocked on the wall of the carriage signaling the carriage driver to move.


    ''Even if the decoys don''t work, I should be able to solo the small unit they will send our way.'' Taliesin thought as the carriage made its way out of the adventurer''s association gates.


    Unknown to both ke and the adventurer''s association branch of Calton city, the unknown person who Taliesin was working for was the one who had hired most of the adventurer parties to act as the decoys and Taliesin had acted perfectly.


    Although the adventurer''s association was located at the edge of the central region, the amount of time needed to move into the middle region of the city was quite substantial.


    (AN: Check chapter 7 in case you have forgotten theyout of Calton city, but for thosezy. The central region for nobles, mid-region for mid-ss citizens, and outer region for slums, factories, and farnds.)


    Immediately, they made their way into the mid-region, the spies in charge of gathering the information quickly ryed the information to their pursuers.


    It was 30 minutester that the system sensed a particr mana signature that had been tailing them from a safe distance.


    "We are being followed..."


    ke''s statement made everyone on the carriage sit up and look out the windows and that included Taliesin, but none of them saw anything suspicious.


    Not taking any chances, Taliesin activated one of the carriage''s arrays and a translucent orb appeared at the center, disying a holographic projection of everything on the street.


    "That one right there¡­" ke pointed at the 7th carriage behind them.


    "From that far?" Taliesin asked in disbelief. "I don''t believe you, how are you so sure?"


    "Although it might be hard to believe I have a hunch." Even ke wasn''t convinced by the answer talk more of Taliesin, but the problem was that he couldn''t talk about the system to anyone that wasn''t Brian and Castiel.


    "Alright, if you don''t believe me why don''t you keep the detection array on and monitor that carriage." ke proposed.


    "Alright." Although it wasn''t convincing Taliesin had no reason to deny, because he couldn''t take chances even if it was a hunch.

 Chapter 123: Blonde demigod.

    <h4>Chapter 123: Blonde demigod.</h4>


    "Alright." Although it wasn''t convincing Taliesin had no reason to deny, because he couldn''t take chances even if it was a hunch.


    The carriage driver maintained the carriage''s speed, while those inside monitored the carriages around them.


    "As you said, it is nothing but a hunch. You just wasted our time." Taliesin said as the suspected carriage packed by the side of the road while their carriage kept on moving.


    Taliesin''s hands were about to turn off the detection, but ke quickly stopped him.


    "Don''t turn off the detection array yet, be a little more patient."


    ke''s action caused him to furrow his brows, but he agreed just to see the look on ke''s face when he turned out to be wrong.


    Surprisingly, after 10 minutes the suspected carriage which was removed from their list of suspects reappeared and joined the queue.


    "How did you know?" Taliesin blurted out in surprise.


    "That is not all, there are two more. That and that." ke pointed at the holographic projection of 2 more carriages.


    At first, it sounded unbelievable, but with what just happened Taliesin became more patient. After close to 20 minutes of observing them, they confirmed that they all followed the same pattern.


    The first carriage was to follow them for some time, before parking so as not to raise suspicions. The second carriage was to continue tailing and keep track of their path, while the third one was at a safe distance waiting for its turn to take over.


    "F*ck!" Brian and Castiel cursed aloud.


    ''Yup¡­ We are up against a strong wealthy mad man. Yay'' ke thought in a sarcastic and depressing tone.


    ''Just like master had said, he is a mad man. If he had sent 3 carriages for such a small party, I wonder how many that were sent after the stronger parties.'' Taliesin''s brows were deeply furrowed as he was in deep thought.


    The situation had gotten moreplicated than he had prepared for. If there were 6 people in each carriage, he was certain that with the help of his artifacts and personal strength he could take on one carriage and also help out ke''s team, but three carriages were something else.


    Although he wasn''t sure about ke''s team''s strength, one thing he was sure of was that a bunch of kids couldn''t handle that much. So he decided to call for backup.


    "We are being trailed by 3 carriages. We need back up." Taliesin spoke to the leader of a decoy party that was the closest to them.


    The party consisted of a demi-God in charge of the mission just like Taliesin, and two adventurer parties. The adventurer parties hired were famous C rank parties and each party consisted of 5 members in which none of them were below the hero realm.


    "Interesting seems the mad man has given a lot of priority to even the weakest party." The blonde-haired muscr demi-god at the other end of themunication orb said in a nonchnt tone, as his eyes scanned every member of Taliesin''s team.


    His words hurt the trio, but after seeing the way everyone in his carriageposed themselves, ke didn''t need to be told that he was a very powerful person so he acted as if he heard nothing.


    After checking out ke''s team the blonde demigod continued. "You aren''t the only one being tailed. We are being trailed by 6 carriages, 7 now¡­" The Blonde demigod looked out the window when he sensed a neer, before turning back to the orb with his nonchnt expression. "Back to what I was saying. With the artifact in my possession, I scanned the carriages and if the neer is included they have 2 demigods on their side.


    So I can''t render help at the moment, but immediately I am done dealing with them I will head over to your location." Immediately the blonde-haired demigod was done talking he cut off themunication.


    ''His level of confidence is on another level. He is about to go up against 2 demigods, but it looks like child''s y to him.'' Although he wasn''t sure if the blonde demigod could back up his attitude with his actions, ke was d that he was on their side.


    "Seems we are all alone in this¡­" Taliesin sighed.


    Knock! Knock!..... Knock!


    Taliesin gave to short knocks and a long one informing the carriage driver of the change of ns.


    "There will be a change in ns. Right now they are tailing us, but once we get into the slums they would go all out to get the package.


    Since we are outnumbered a direct confrontation isn''t advisable so we have to follow a roundabout process." The crystal orb at the center of the carriage projected the map of the entire slums.


    ''I need one of these.'' ke thought after seeing the wonders which the carriage was capable of.


    [Imend you for not being as tensed as your teammates in a situation like this, but I will like to inform you that with your current ie it would take you at least a decade before you can afford a forgemastered carriage.] The system snorted at ke''s wishful thoughts.


    "Staying on the streets will leave us open, so we will no longer follow the agreed route. This is the new route¡­" Taliesin pointed at an alley, causing the trio to wonder if he had gone loco.


    Seeing the looks on their faces Taliesin quickly exined. The alley he had pointed at was a secret passage controlled by a gang leader. This was part of his contingency n in case worst came to worst, but he hadn''t expected he would have used it so early.


    "What''s stop them from following the secret passage?" Brian asked.


    "It''s business. There are multiple secret passages all across the city and each passage can only be booked once in a day for the customer''s privacy." Taliesin cleared their doubts and told them about things to do in different situations.

 Chapter 124: Carriage hook.

    <h4>Chapter 124: Carriage hook.</h4>


    "It''s business. There are multiple secret passages all across the city and each passage can only be booked once in a day for the customer''s privacy." Taliesin cleared their doubts and told them about things to do in different situations.


    After 30 minutes filled with anxiety, the carriage finally made its way into the slums, where they saw both old and young malnourished people in tattered clothes standing in queues at the different factories.


    ''An up-close view of the slums.'' ke sighed when he saw how people were struggling for underpaid jobs.


    Thest and only time he had gotten to see the slums was when he was brought into the City by Prince Bryon''s tamed beast, but now that he had a closer view he even felt worst.


    Infinite realm wasn''t like Earth where no matter how poor one was, they still had some basic rights. Here the poor didn''t receive anything from the empire, meaning they had to work daily just to survive, and on top of all that they were still maltreated and oppressed by the nobles.


    If they were to be maltreated and their daily wages were to be standardized, things would have been a bit bearable, but with everything going on the poor were in a vicious cycle that 3 of their generations wouldn''t be able to break out off and that was if they a generation.


    "Isn''t that a kid?" Brian''s question drew everyone''s attention, as they all looked out the window, only to see a pale skinny kid in rags curled up.


    It was after a few more seconds of further observation that they noticed the teenager was dead.


    "From how pale his skin is, he had died during the night, either from the cold, hunger, or most likely both..." Taliesin said with an indifferent tone. " The only reason his corpse hasn''t been removed or buried is that whoever tries wouldn''t make it in time for the struggle for a chance to work in one of the factories. So, it would be in the evening when work was over."


    The trio couldn''t imagine the amount of pain the teenager would have gone through before he gave up the ghost.


    "If I were you guys, I wouldn''t care about a corpse, because the moment we move away from the busy parts of the slims, we would be heavily attacked, and for you not to be a corpse you have to be focused." Taliesin reminded them of the situation they were in.


    Although the trio would love to be as professional as possible, they were still humans¡­ Kids to be exact and since it was someone within their age group it was impossible for them to not react.


    ''I don''t care much about someone dead, let''s just hope this mission goes well." ke thought. Sure he was kindhearted, but when morals were in the way of his goals, ke was ready to be the bad guy.


    Close to 10 minutes after they had seen the corpse, they were out of the busy paths of the slums and at this point, the 3 carriages tailing them weren''t hiding anymore.


    When they got into range, some of the attackers got on the roofs of their carriages andunched different spells aiming for the wheels, windows, and driver.


    Volleys of spells rained down on their carriage, but with the carriage''s barrier, all their spells proved to be ineffective.


    "The barrier is sturdy, but if we keep receiving hits the energy core powering the barrier would run out fast..." Taliesin warned them.


    "On it."


    With the small hatch at the top of the carriage, Brian quickly got to the top. He first conjured rocks and strapped himself to the carriage, before casting one water barrier after another to defend the iing attacks.


    "If we don''t do anything we will be sitting¡­ Wtf is that?!" ke was interrupted by what he saw from the images projected by the mirror spell.


    "Shit!" Taliesin eximed when he saw a carriage hook which was in form of a rocketuncher with a hook in front, was about to beunched.


    [The carriage hook has a high pration power. It can tear through the barrier of medium rank carriages and below in one shot. So if I were you I wouldn''t let that hit its target.] The system warned ke of how lethal it was, forcing him to quickly move up to the top of the carriage.


    "You already know the details, don''t try to stop it, try deflecting it. You make the barrier I reinforce it." Having the system, Brian already knew about the carriage hook''s strength and weakness, all that he needed was an extra hand.


    He first conjured rocks to strap ke''s feet to the carriage to prevent idents. When the hook was fired, within a split second it had covered half of the distance between them and was still raging on, but Brian and ke were more than ready.


    With the help of the system, Brian conjured 4 stronger water barriers at perfectly calcted intervals at an angle to the hook''s trajectory and ke used the cover of the water barriers to reinforce them with space freeze.


    Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Boom!


    Everyone including Taliesin had thought that the 2 kids on top of the carriage were wasting their time trying to defend against the carriage hook, but they were all shocked when they saw the hook crashing into a dpidated building by the street side.


    ''Don''t know how they managed to pull it off, but they have saved me a trump card.'' Taliesin let out a sigh of relief. They were in a very difficult situation, the less the number of trump cards he used the greater their chances of survival.


    ''Do you think that anyone noticed the space element?'' ke asked the system.


    [You don''t have to worry, the biggest question on their mind right now would be how 2 of you perfectly calcted the angle the water barriers were meant to be at.]

 Chapter 125: Soul flames.

    <h4>Chapter 125: Soul mes.</h4>


    [You don''t have to worry, the biggest question on their mind right now would be how 2 of you perfectly calcted the angle the water barriers were meant to be at.] The system assured him.


    The system was right, because of how rare the space element was only a few knew what its spells felt or looked like, and since it was concealed by the water barrier the system was sure that no one had noticed it.


    "Let''s show them what we''ve got..." ke said with a smirk as he began preparing space freeze.


    "Rock wall!"


    Once again with the help of the system, Brian was able to perfectly erect a rock wall that was less than a meter tall in the path of the first carriage.


    Normally, with the carriage''s barrier, it would have easily broken through the rock wall with such momentum, but this was no normal wall but one reinforced with space freeze.


    Crash!


    With its terrifying momentum, the 1st carriage crashed into the reinforced rock wall, but instead of going through the carriage was sent spinning in mid-air. The two men that had shot the carriage hook from the roof wereunched onto the ground with so much force that they sustained multiple fractures and dislocations.


    Whoosh!


    ke and everyone on his carriage were waiting to hear the sound of shattering wood, but before the carriage could meet the ground, a strong gust of wind flipped the carriage, smoothening itsnding and enabling it to continue its chase.


    Squish! Squish!


    "Shit!"


    Both ke and Brian couldn''t help but look away as the 2nd and 3rd carriage squashed the bones and skulls of their fallen teammates to minced meat, painting a gory picture on the road with their entrails.


    "Not sure if I should be happy because they are 2 down or I should be sad because they have a strong wind user..." Brian said with a wry smile.


    "We can only hope that our hirer is powerful¡­ Are you kidding me?!" Once again ke was forced to stop halfway when he saw 4 mening out of the 2nd and 3rd carriage with carriage hooks.


    The men on the 2nd carriage were the first to ready the carriage hook. With the help of the second man supporting the end of the weapon, the first man aimed before firing at ke''s carriage.


    [Whenever you decide to speak, something goes wrong. I think you keep your lips shut.]


    With the imminent danger in front of him, ke couldn''t care less about the system''s remark. He gave Brian the signal and once the perfectly ced water barriers were in ce, ke used space freeze to reinforce them.


    Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!


    Once again, the hook was deflected by the barrier and was sent crashing into the pages road, but before they could even celebrate the men on the 3rd carriage had already taken aim.


    "Shit!" ke cursed, defending 1 of the carriage hook wasn''t an easy feat. Even if they had the system to perfectly calcte the angles of their spells, casting it at a specified location from a moving vehicle was very tasking and they wouldn''t be able to pull it off in such a short time.


    "Hold onto something!"


    While ke was cracking his brain and trying to figure out what to do, the voice of the carriage driver reached his ears.


    Zoom!


    The pointed hook engraved with multiple arrays that improved its pration power zoomed through the air and made its way to their carriage, but before the hook could prate the carriage''s barrier the carriage driver made a turn so sharp that if not for Taliesin conjuring cushioned rock pirs to support, it the carriage would have lost its bnce and tumbled over.


    (AN: remember the power of a geomancer, they can change the topography of the earth.)


    Crash!


    The hook missed its target only by an inch and crashed into the ground, but their miss wasn''t close to being enough for them to stop the chase.


    They made the turn and in front of them was a zing rock wall blocking their path, but something at this level couldn''t block them.


    From the window of the 1st carriage, a hand came out and fired a Mana ball twice the size of what ke could do.


    BOOM!


    When the ball of concentrated Mana came in contact with the zing wall a deafening explosion rang out as dust and tiny bits of rocks were scattered in all directions at astonishing speeds, but before they could cross, 2 balls of emerald-colored mes swept past the 1st carriage and hit those on the other carriages.


    "Ahhh!"


    "Ahhhh!"


    When the emerald mes came in contact with their skin, they quickly spread to the other parts of their bodies before they could do anything. The mes kept raging on but surprisingly there were no visible damages but their screams of agony were a clear indication that a lot of damage was being done.


    The submergers in both carriages tried using their spells to quench the emerald mes, but all their attempts were to no avail. In their panic, they came in contact with the unquenchable mes that spread to their body and starting a new cycle.


    "Soul mes..." ke who stood still at the top of his carriage was entranced by the chaos caused by just 2 balls of soul mes.


    (AN: Remember the chapter when I introduced the different types of mes, yea the emerald mes are soul mes.)


    Soul mes possess a vicious and unquenchable thirst to burning anything they came in contact with. For soul mes to be conjured, the user has to use a spark of his/her life essence to lit the sinister mes.


    The word sinister was an understatement to how vicious the mes were because when the emerald mes were released it''s shape and size could be altered by the user''s will, but the mes couldn''t be put out until every living thing it hade in contact with was turned to ashes.


    Soul mes weren''t like ordinary mes that inflicted physical damage, once they came in contact with their target it directly attacks the soul.

 Chapter 126: Where can I get one?

    <h4>Chapter 126: Where can I get one?</h4>


    Soul mes weren''t like ordinary mes that inflicted physical damage, once they came in contact with their target it directly attacks the soul.


    The worse news was that soul mes ignore physical defenses and the more soul essence it burned the stronger and more persistent it became.


    After the emerald mes were done with the target''s soul then it would burn the innards turning the unfortunate person into a husk.


    The situation in the 2nd and 3rd carriages was getting more chaotic as seconds passed. One of the mercenaries on the 3rd carriage fell into the hatch causing the vicious emerald mes to spread to every member inside the carriage dooming them all.


    "Ahh!"


    "Help!"


    "Ahh!"


    Screams of agony echoed in the area as they tried to put out the mes but to no avail.


    In the second carriage, the moment they saw that a victim of the soul mes was about to fall in through the hatch, a gust of wind pushed the two mercenaries off the carriage, leaving them on the road to burn to ashes and preventing another disaster from urring.


    "More like pest control¡­" ke said when he witness the effectiveness of the soul mes as the screams of agonying from the 3rd carriage was like music to his ears.


    "Get in!"


    ke and Brian snapped out of their reverie when the voice of Taliesin rang in their ears.


    Immediately they got into the carriage, the driver made another turn and that was when Taliesin brought out what looked like a wooden cube from his dimensional space. The wooden cube was covered by unknown symbols and at the center of the cube was a blue ball of energy.


    "Open..." Taliesin said as the symbols on the artifact began glowing.


    Nothing happened inside the carriage, but when ke looked at the holographic projection of what was going on outside, he saw a spatial corridor enough to fit the carriage opening up in front.


    ''Is it me or did that box tear a hole in space and make a spatial corridorrge enough to support a carriage?'' ke was stunned by the scene.


    He knew what he had passed through just to tear a hole in space and make a spatial corridor his size, but a wooden cube with an orb at its center just did what he practiced for in weeks within a second.


    [This is the power of artifacts. Although they are very hard toe by, they make a whole lot of difference in battles and situations like this.] The system said to the stunned ke.


    ''Where can I get one?'' ke asked because he loved what his eyes were seeing.


    [I hope you are aware that different artifacts possess different abilities and none would have identical abilities.


    Secondly, didn''t you hear the part that they are very hard toe by?!] The system replied.


    Three streets away, a tear appeared in space and within a second the tear had expanded and a carriage emerged from the spatial corridor.


    Those in the area were stunned by the sudden appearance of a carriage, but before they could react, Taliesin activated the artifact again warping them to a different location.


    "That should be enough to get them off our trail..." Taliesin said with a sigh as he stored the artifact back into his dimensional space.


    "I don''t think so¡­" The entire group turned to ke when he said those words. Seeing the looks on their faces, ke knew that they needed an exnation.


    "The reason they were able to locate us wasn''t that they have a tracker, but because the package we are transporting is the tracker..." ke said pointing at the wooden box that had brought them a lot of trouble.


    "Are you saying the package is somehow giving out our location?" Taliesin asked with a raised brow. Normally he would have been angered by the statement, but after seeing ke''s performance in identifying the mercenaries and while defending the carriage he decided to hear him out.


    "Yes. From my senses, the package is a form of energy source, but the problem is that it constantly emits an energy pulse that can be easily picked up with the right equipment." ke exined what the system had told him at the beginning of their journey.


    ''How can a kid at the champion realm sense it?!'' Taliesin was shocked by ke''s exnation and sensory skills. He was at the peak of the hero realm, more than a realm above ke but he could only faintly sense the pulse being emitted by the package, but from ke''s description, it sounded like it was clearer than his voice.


    Unknown to him, ke wasn''t even close to being able to sense the pulse, it was all the system''s doing.


    "That means we should hope they would be able to make it through the secret passage before they catch up..." Taliesin said after pondering over the matter.


    ''I know he can''t, but why can''t he put in his dimensional space?'' ke asked.


    [A dimensional space is like a storage room located in the chaotic void and the only reason they don''t get destroyed along with the stored items is because of the powerful barriers that form the walls of the storage room.


    The quality of a dimensional amulet isn''t dependent on only the space of the dimensional amulet, but the barriers protecting it from the void.


    Now, the reason the package can''t be ced in a dimensional space is that the energy pulse it emits would destabilize and weaken the barrier of the dimensional space. When this happens both the package and other stored items would be engulfed and destroyed by the chaotic void.] The system exined.


    ''Is that so¡­'' ke intrigued by the system''s exnation.


    After some moments of peace, their carriage was just a street away from the underground passage, but that was when the mercenaries caught up to them and this time their attacks were fiercer than before.

 Chapter 127: No other option.

    <h4>Chapter 127: No other option.</h4>


    After some moments of peace, their carriage was just a street away from the underground passage, but that was when the mercenaries caught up to them and this time their attacks were fiercer than before.


    "I don''t know what substance that got them all pumped up, but if things go on this way we won''t make it to the underground passage..." ke shot out multiple fireballs to counter the spells that came their way.


    After seeing how ke and Brian had mysteriously blocked the carriage hook, the mercenaries knew that they weren''t making any headway with that tactic. So they decided to do the stressful but effective way, and that was bombarding the carriage till both the passengers and carriage ran out of energy.


    ''How is he so calm?!'' Brian was amazed by how carefree ke sounded, even though he was right in front of danger.


    Even though the four of them were in one way or another protecting the carriage with their various spells, their defenses couldn''t withstand attacks of such magnitudes and if things were to remain the same the carriage would be wrecked in no time, but ke didn''t seem disturbed about this.


    "Didn''t want to do this but get in!" Taliesin said after firing a ball of emerald mes through the window. Immediately ke and Brian were in, Taliesin once again brought out the wooden cube from his dimensional space and activated the artifact.


    A spatial passage opened up in the street at which the underground passage was, but when their carriage came out they were heartbroken by what they saw.


    "Is that one of yours?" ke couldn''t help but confirm when he saw a mercenary carriage packed right in front of them.


    "¡­" Taliesin shook his head.


    ''If we manage to get out of here alive, the so-calledpensation should be worth it or I will find a way to make him pay.'' At this point, ke was more vexed than afraid, because this wasn''t in any way close to themission description that Taliesin had given to the association.


    Although they had predicted such yout of events and had nned for different situations, due to their inexperience what they had nned was far from the reality that was ying out.


    "Can''t you use the artifact to warp us out of here?" Castiel asked in a worried tone.


    "Opening a spatial corridor the size of a carriage is a very tasking job for even an artifact of this level. Its limit is 3 times and after that, it would take a long time to recharge." Taliesin maintained a calm expression as he exined to Castiel.


    ''For a carriage, 3 warps is more than outstanding. If it was able to warp a carriage up to 5 times the first thing I would do if I survived this, is to n on how to get my hands on an artifact.'' ke thought as he noticed that the dimmed light of the blue orb at the center of the artifact.


    "So what do we do now?" Brian asked in a tensed tone.


    "We have no other option than to fight." Taliesin deactivated the arrays at the door, before stepping out of the carriage.


    This wasn''t a surprise to ke, the moment they were briefed about the mission he knew something was wrong. Even when Taliesin warped them for the third time, ke had a feeling that things wouldn''t end so easily.


    ''That was what I didn''t want to hear.'' ke sighed and got off the carriage with the rest of the crew.


    He had no idea how the mercenaries found out about the ''secret'' underground passage, but he knew asking questions wouldn''t solve the problem that was in form of a carriage blocking their path.


    "Hand over the package and I will make your deaths quick and painless." A man in his mid-thirties stepped out of the carriage.


    He had permed slick auburn hair, turned-up nose, with brilliant and deep-set hazel eyes. His skin was so silky and unblemished that made ke imagine the number of skin products the man used.


    "Taliesin, what do you say about my offer?" The auburn-haired man stared at Taliesin with a contemptuous gaze.


    [What kind of low-ssmission has 4 demigods, that is if the actual numbers aren''t greater¡­]


    "Are you saying¡­" ke was stunned by the discovery.


    [Yes¡­ from the energy he is unconsciously emitting it is very clear that he is a demigod, but judging from his inability to control the emissions, I say he recently broke into the demigod realm.] Thest part of the system''s words was meant to give ke a glimpse of hope, but whether the man was a new or old demigod, that kind of power was something he couldn''t fight against even for a second.


    ''Any ns?'' His brain was unable toe up with any form of ns and even those they had nned were rendered useless because in front of absolute power all tricks are useless.


    [If you are talking about a way to defeat him and his forces you can only hope that your hirer has things up his sleeve because I got nothing, but if you are talking about getting away from here then I might have something.] The system''s words brought hope.


    "Mason, I think you are already aware of the answer. Also, don''t think you can write me off because you are now a demigod, you aren''t the first neither will you be thest demigod that will die by my hands." As Taliesin spoke emerald mes engulfed his entire arm.


    Seeing Taliesin''s actions, ke activated lightning reinforcement and injected fire Mana into his Katana. Castiel unsheathed his sword and began preparing stealth mode spell.


    "I don''t think you would want to do that¡­" Mason disyed the amulet hanging on his neck. "You see the only reason you were able to defeat them was that they underestimated your soul mes and hadn''t made the necessary preparations, but with this, you are as good as any puny hero." Mason burst into a sinisterugh.

 Chapter 128: Vermillion rood.

    <h4>Chapter 128: Vermillion rood.</h4>


    "I don''t think you would want to do that¡­" Mason disyed the amulet hanging on his neck. "You see the only reason you were able to defeat them was that they underestimated your soul mes and hadn''t made the necessary preparations, but with this, you are as good as a puny hero." Mason burst into a sinisterugh.


    Soul mes are hard to deal with and dreaded by many because they ignored physical defenses and go straight for the soul, but once they were up against soul-protecting items soul mes were would be weaker than basic mes.


    "Haha, I always knew you were a retard but I never knew you had no brains, to begin with." Tears rolled down Taliesin''s cheeks as he couldn''t stopughing. "Don''t you think that the demigods that I burnt to ashes didn''t have any form of soul protection?"


    Taliesin''s harsh words struck a nerve and Mason was about to re up, but this not being the first time he hade in contact with Taliesin, Mason knew that Taliesin wanted to taunt him into doing something stupid.


    "Nice try old man, you might be able to beat me even with my protections, but I am pretty sure you won''t be able to do that before the others arrive..." Mason said with a smirk causing Taliesin to furrow his brows.


    "I would have loved to y around with you since your uncle of yours isn''t here to babysit you, but sadly I have to end this quickly." Taliesin''s expression changed to a stern one when he heard Mason. He took out the golden cross pendant embedded with emerald gemstones he wore under his robe.


    "The lord of chaos, Eternal mes that''s turns everything to ashes, bestow on your faithful servant the power to turn all my enemies to ashes and fulfill my master''s wishes." As Taliesin chanted, the emerald gems on the cross pendant glowed with increasing intensity, before bursting into emerald mes.


    "Vermillion rood, shit!" Mason cursed when he saw Taliesin chanting. This wasn''t the first time he had seen Vermillion rood in action, Taliesin didn''t use the artifact often but whenever he did, he had the power to contend and overpower demigods even as a Hero.


    The demigod realm is divided into 4 levels in order; nascent stage, ordained stage, prevalent stage, and perfect stage. With the help of Vermillion rood, Taliesin could contend with anyone in the ordained stage and if things were to go wrong he would be able to escape, but as for anyone below it would be a win for him.


    The Vermillion rood gave the user the ability to exert double their potential when casting spells, therefore doubling the output of fire-based spells. It increased the magic pration of fire-based attacks and also increased the resistance of fire spells to other elements and this meant that magical defenses would be less effective.


    The artifact had 3 outstanding effects, but it also came with?3 drawbacks. The first was that it could be only used by those in the fire pathway and if it came in contact with those in other pathways their souls would be burned by mes at the level of perfect stage demigods.


    Second, the more the artifact was used the more the user''s soul is being consumed by rage, bring them closer to entering the berserk mode and closer to their deaths.


    The third drawback was its ability to increase the user''s potential in exchange for stronger spells. If the artifact was to be used by any other fire user it wouldn''t be a drawback, but in Taliesin''s case, it was different.


    Just like a tap that had been opened to the max, the amount of water flowing out at once couldn''t increase unless there was a factor that could increase the pressure and in the case of mages, the artifact was the factor. In Taliesin''s case, for him to cast soul mes, he needs to lit it with a spark of his life essence, but whenever he used the Vermillion rood, not only did it increase the power output but also the amount of soul essence needed to produce the equal amount of output.


    ''Fuck me!'' ke cursed and quickly moved away from Taliesin when he noticed the temperature of the environment increasing at an rming rate. Just a moment after the trio jumped out, the air around Taliesin became so hot that the surrounding air caught mes.


    ''A warning would have been nice!'' ke thought when he saw he would have been turned to barbeque by the emerald mes that had no friends except for the caster if he had remained in that spot.


    ''Damn how many artifacts does he have and isn''t its abilities just too strong?'' Although they had kept their distance, ke could still feel the heat waves emanating from Taliesin.


    [Not sure of the artifact''s grade but from what I can see, I am pretty sure it''s of top quality, but the side effects are of equal level. Take a look at their life essence.]


    The system synched ke''s vision with it''s. Everyone in front of him instantly changed to bright balls of energy. Those of the mercenaries were the size of a ser ball, but when he looked at Mason he was almost blinded by the energy ball twice the size of a ser ball with its light brimming vigorously.


    ''What the f*ck happened to him?'' ke asked when he looked at Taliesin. His life essence was smaller than those of the mercenaries and its glow had dimmed considerably.


    [You already know about the disadvantages of soul mes, and with the amount of life essence he uses for his me, he doesn''t have much time left.] Soul mes were powerful, but they came with the price of shortening the user''s life span.


    Feeling the amount of powering from Taliesin, Mason had begun preparing all his defensive equipment and spells, awaiting his attacks but the moment Taliesin was about tounch forward the clear sky became cloudy.

 Chapter 129: Reeves.

    <h4>Chapter 129: Reeves.</h4>


    All of a sudden thick clouds blocked the rays of the sun, turning the entire slums dark. Lightning and roaring thunder echoed all around the area but there were no signs of it raining.


    Krak! Krak! Kaaa-boom!


    "What¡­what is¡­.going on?" ke muffled as he fell on his knees and began gasping for air. Simr events happened to everyone in the vicinity except Mason and Taliesin, but from the looks of things, ke''s case was worse.


    Everyone below the peak stage of the hero realm was forced to their knees and couldn''t move an inch, but unlike ke who was desperately gasping for air, they only found it hard to breathe.


    ''What the f*ck is going on?!'' Not having enough oxygen to utter a single word, ke asked the system using their mind link.


    After a split second of scanning and analyzing the environment, the system replied. [You are being suppressed by someone very powerful!]


    "Taliesin be at ease¡­" A voice that sounded like that of God quaked in everyone''s ears. They instinctively tried to search for the voice, but they couldn''t move even an inch.


    A hole appeared in the thick clouds and out of it came magnificent golden rays with a blonde man enveloped in golden mes descending at its center. When zoomed out, it looked like the scene of believers praying and an angel descending from above to deal with the problem.


    It was the charming muscr blonde-haired demigod, Reeves.


    "Look who we have here¡­" A smirk was on his face as he descended from the sky. "I am surprised that old man isn''t here to babysit you. Time to¡­ huh?" Reeves paused his speech when he noticed something wrong and quickly turned in ke''s direction. At this point, ke who was now blue inplexion was lying lifeless on the ground and was just a moment away from losing consciousness.


    "If not for your squeal I wouldn''t have noticed you." Seeing ke''s condition, the blonde-haired demigod withdrew his presence causing everyone on the battlefield to regain their freedom.


    *Gasp!*


    ke took in a sharp breath, filling his lungs with oxygen and after a few more rapid intake of oxygen, ke regained his color.


    ''MotherF*cker!'' Immediately ke was able to form meaningful thoughts he cursed at the blonde-haired demigod who decided to indiscriminately kill both Ally and foe.


    [That is the suppression of a higher cultivator in the same pathways, but you must confess his entrance was magnificent¡­] The system said in an excited tone that made ke wish it had a physical body so he could strangle it to death.


    ''I am too weak¡­'' ke instinctively ced his hand on his neck as his near-death experience shed through his mind.


    He was sad and angry because he felt helpless and useless in that situation, but he also knew it wasn''t his fault. The level of suppression one felt was dependent on the number of pathways they had inmon and the opponent''s power level.


    Demigod Reeves had simr elements with ke, meaning the suppression on him was more than twice that of everyone present. ke was quite impressive to havested ''that long'' under such conditions.


    "No one moves!" Reeves''s voice thundered throughout the area, halting the mercenaries that tried to escape. They tried their best but their bodies weren''t responding to theirmands.


    "That includes you¡­" Reeves turned to an empty spot close to the carriage and after a few seconds, Castiel appeared panting.


    The stealth skill wasn''t absolute and with his current strength Castiel could move undetected when facing anyone below the early stage of the hero realm, but in this case, his stealth skill was more of a beacon in the eyes of the blonde-haired demigod.


    ording to their ns, Incase something was to happen, Castiel was the one to escape using his stealth skill to either seek help or report the case to the adventurer''s association, but they had never expected that demigods would be involved in a D rank mission rendering all their preparations null and void.


    "Back to you¡­" Demigod Reeves brought his attention back to the trembling Mason.


    ''Did he breakthrough into the Angelic realm?! I highly doubt, but even if he didn''t him lifting a finger would be enough to decimate me¡­ Uncle where are you?'' Series of thoughts ran through Mason''s head as he tried to think of a way to get out of this sticky situation.


    "Please have mercy on me..." With a shaky voice and trembling feet, Mason went down on his knees and pleaded for mercy. He had thought it through and he knew that there was no trick he could pull on a suspected Angel.


    "You must think I am dumb? Even a retard will know you are trying to buy time for back up to arrive." Reeves said with a sneer.


    "I will spare you only because I am also waiting for your uncle, but till then let''s have some fun¡­" Reeves said with a smile so creepy that Mason began screaming in pain.


    He felt every inch of his body being crushed by an overwhelming force. Even the equipment and artifacts in his possession proved to be ineffective.


    Ahhh!


    Crack! Crack!


    Mason''s scream and wails made many present feel pity for him. More than 60% of his bones had been crushed to bits and his body had gone limp, but a force prevented him from falling.


    Because of the outstanding vitality of a demigod, Mason was still far from losing consciousness even as blood mixed with both sweat and tears gushed out through his eyes and nostrils.


    ''Damn! Not sure if I should be happy that a member of my team is a sadist that has little to no regard for his teammates?''


    ''Also why am I so unlucky to be stuck in this position?'' Just like everyone else apart from the demigods, ke was stuck in the same position. His hand was on his neck and he was facing Mason''s direction forcing him to watch the entire torture session.

 Chapter 130: Suicidal.

    <h4>Chapter 130: Suicidal.</h4>


    [You know you can close your eyes if you don''t want to watch¡­] The system said to ke with raised brows.


    ''Trust me I would love to, but I don''t think that will be a wise decision in such an environment. So no thank you.'' ke said with a disgusted look.


    ''I don''t get, from what I have seen so far, the blonde dude awakened the fire and lightning element but there are no signs of them being used unless he is using an arcane spell!'' ke''s eyes sparkled in realization.


    From the injuries Mason had sustained even a retard wouldn''t need to look twice to notice the missing elemental effects of fire and lightning, leaving him with the only one option, Arcane.


    [Calling it arcane makes it sound formal andplex. All the demigod did was to empower the mana surrounding the kid with his will, before enveloping him andpressing the mana.] The system''s exnation stunned ke.


    ''To have such refined control over Mana, his mana control must be on another level.'' ke was bbergasted by the discovery.


    [More like, on a different ne.] The system corrected.


    ''Finally, some action.'' Reeves thought as he turned towards the direction ke''s carriage came from.


    After a few more minutes of torturing, 3 carriages arrived at the scene. Two were those in pursuit of ke and his team, while the 3rd carriage bore the insignia of a flood dragon.


    It was the insignia of the Nystrom family!


    (AN: I have a feeling that the insignia of the royal family ismepared to this¡­ lol)


    ''What the fuck is going on here? Is this still a D rank mission?'' Although ke couldn''t turn to see the neers, he was still able to sense the number of people alighting from the carriage and their power levels.


    Out of the 8 mercenaries from the 2 carriages only one was at the early stage of the Hero realm, while the rest were all champions. As for the 3rd carriage, ke couldn''t feel any sort of power fluctuationsing from within.


    It sounded like good news, but it was theplete opposite.


    Just like Mason, every cultivator unconsciously emits a special type of mana signature that could be used to track or determine one''s power level and depending on their level of mana control they could control this emission.


    This was how ke usually hid his presence whenever he went out to hunt and because most of the beasts ke went after didn''t have high sensory skills, ke was almost invisible unless he made rapid movements or came within a certain range.


    But in the case of the carriage, for someone to be able topletely hide their mana signature it meant he/she either had an artifact that could do so or he/she was a prevalent demigod who could do so at will.


    "Sanders, d you showed up right on time, I was getting bored of ying with him." Demigod Reeves said to the man stepping down from the carriage.


    "Long time no see, Reeves." A lean man in his fifties walked out of the carriage.


    He had gray permed hair, a smooth chin and on him was a ck robe embroiled with purple seams that gave off an evil vibe.


    Although there wasn''t much resemnce between him and Mason, his smooth and glowing skin was a clear giveaway that he was rted to Mason.


    "Uncle, please¡­save¡­ Ahh!" Mason''s plea for help was cut short as Reeves applied more pressure on him.


    "It is rude to interrupt when your elders are speaking. So, shut it!" Reeves red at the screaming Mason as an unknown force took away Mason''s voice.


    "Back to our reunion¡­"


    "Let him go, and we will call this a day¡­" Sanders said in a nonchnt tone.


    "Like uncle, like nephew always interrupting. Well, I will forgive you because I am in a good mood, but don''t you think your overprotection is only weakening him? I mean¡­"


    "Let''s get to the point, what do you want?!" Sanders'' asked in an irritated tone.


    "I would appreciate it if you stopped interrupting me, but since you mentioned¡­ Your head!" Reeves said with a maniacal smile.


    "Just as I expected¡­" As Sanders spoke, a purple hue covered his entire body before taking the shape of battle armor protecting every inch of his body.


    "Let''s get this over with, shall we¡­" Sanders stretched his hands, grabbing and pulling out a darkish-purple wooden staff from thin air.


    "I will be borrowing this for the moment¡­" Reeves stretched his hand towards Taliesin, pulling both the vermillion rood on his neck and the wooden cube artifact at an astonishing speed.


    "Scatter¡­" Immediately the wooden box got within 10 meters of Reeves, it began dismantling itself and by the time it reached Reeves it had broken down into two rings, one blue the other brown.


    "Awaken!" Immediately the vermillion rood came in contact with his hand, a scorching bright light emanated from the cross, causing it to expand at a visible rate. The light expanded to a meter and a half before the scorching light began dimming, leaving a sword engulfed in golden mes.


    "Let''s take this somewhere else¡­" Reeves said with an eerie smile as he clenched his first and activate the ability of the blue ring.


    "Open!"


    Multiple blue energy waves were sent out of the ring causing ripples in the space above. In the blink of an eye, the space above the 2 demigods began bloating before forming a sphere that sucked them inside.


    ''What the f*ck is going on!'' ke couldn''t help but ask, the entire situation was getting more confusing as time went and the worst part was, a fight between demigods was about to start but he was still stuck in the same position.


    ''So, what do we do know?'' At this moment ke was panicking. The fight between champions could escte and be mess talk more of a fight between high-ranked demigods.


    Staying close to such an area was suicidal!

 Chapter 131: Horix Cube.

    <h4>Chapter 131: Horix Cube.</h4>


    Staying close to such an area was suicidal!


    [In your current predicament, the only thing you can do is sit and watch.] The system said in a serious tone as it analyzed the ethereal sphere above.


    The system knew very well that the battles between demigods weren''t on the same level as that of mere mortals. If protective measures weren''t put in ce, their sh could level the entire slums and even more, and knowing this fact the system began analyzing the ethereal sphere to see how strong it was.


    Their observation so far was that as the mission progressed the more chaotic it became. The fight between the demigods was signaling the climax and if nothing else happens and they managed to pull through this stage everything will be over.


    But the problem was, could they pull through this especially with ke being trapped in the same spot.


    [Interesting¡­] The system said in a reminiscing tone.


    ''Did you find a way to get us out of here?'' ke''s eyes glowed when he heard the words of the system.


    [No. Like I said, all we can do is sit back and watch¡­]


    ''If not my safety what else can be ''interesting'' at such a time?'' ke asked with a raised brow, He couldn''t believe how carefree the system was.


    [I know you are wondering why I sound like I don''t give a damn? The truth is that, we are too weak and can''t do anything in this situation and to be frank with you, I am tired of worrying about something I can''t change. So, like I said sit back and watch.] The system''s words stunned ke for a second.


    ''So, what piqued your interest?'' ke asked.


    The system was undoubtedly right and it made him realize that since he couldn''t change their current predicament it was pointless worrying, so he decided to leave himself in the hands of faith.


    [You know, when I first saw the cube artifact it reminded me of a legendary rank item, but I quickly eliminated that line of thought because it was impossible for someone like your hirer to wield such an artifact.


    Even when the blonde demigod activated the cube I wasn''t fully convinced, but the moment he manipted space created a dimension I was totally convinced.]


    ''A legendary grade artifact?!'' ke was stunned by the revtion.


    [''Supposedly... The truth is that no one has ever seen the artifact and that includes me, the little I know about it, was knowledge from legends and hasn''t been confirmed yet, but seeing it wasn''t what piqued my interest.]


    [The artifact is called Horix cube and is said to have many mind-blowing abilities that cut across the different elements. From what I have heard so far it seems the Horix cube is iplete, but the fact that it is able to split into rings means everyone had been searching for the wrong thing all along!] The system exined in an ecstatic tone.


    ''Are you saying you are meant to be looking for rings, doesn''t that make the search way more difficult?'' ke asked with a raised brow.


    [Well, you may be right, but the thing is that I am not even sure the missing parts would be rings. It could be a sword, gauntlet, anything. The only way to be sure is to bring a second part and check if they react to each other.] The system exined.


    ''That means I could even be with a part of it and I wouldn''t have an Idea?'' ke''s thoughts began drifting away.


    [Don''t even dream of it. If you were to be in possession of 1 of the missing parts, not only will it be top-level epic grade artifacts or even legendary grade, the range of the so-called reaction could even be that of a city.


    So, if you are to be with one of them, you would have clearly felt a reaction by being so close to it in the carriage.] The system quickly shattered ke''s reverie before he drifted too far.


    ¡­


    5 minutes after the sphere was formed, the fight inside the ethereal sphere was at its climax. The power disy of both demigods was so great that the walls of the dimension created by Horix cube began cracking, sending shockwaves of their powers through the barrier and affecting the environment.


    In just a few seconds the weather had gone berserk. The mid-day sky had turned dark, arcs of lightning shot through the sky and into the streets, breaking apart buildings and destroying anything that was in its path.


    ''What is going on?! Don''t tell me an angel decided to join the fray?'' Seeing the berserk ke was gripped by fear. Thest time something like this happened a demigod appeared and he almost suffocated.


    [The Horix cube isn''tplete and just as I suspected, the dimension wouldn''t be able to handle the power of 2 perfect demigods causing the shockwave to leak into the real world!] The system exined as it began analyzing the situation.


    ''So much for a D rank mission...'' ke cursed his bad luck as the wind suddenly went wild, tossing unrooted objects except for them all over the area at high speeds.


    Whoosh!


    ''Holy shit!'' Brian almost peed his pants when a carriage zoomed past him, missing him by only a meter.


    ''Fuck me! Give me your view and prepare the barrier in case of surprises.'' ke began issuingmands when he saw how chaotic things had be in a matter of seconds.


    The situation wasn''t favorable for ke. The fire and lightning elements weren''t effective when blocking projectiles moving at such speeds, and with his inability to dodge iing objects his options were limited leaving him with the space element and the system''s in-built barrier.


    [Watch out!] The system quickly alerted ke when it sensed a lightning bolting straight for him.


    ''Shit!'' Using the systems view, ke quickly focused on the spot above him, immediately freezing it and activating the systems barrier.

 Chapter 132: Package?!

    <h4>Chapter 132: Package?!</h4>


    ''Shit!'' Using the systems view, ke quickly focused on the spot above him, immediately freezing it and activating the systems barrier.


    BOOM!


    The lightning bolt crashed into both barriers causing the earth below ke to shatter, forming a mini crater beneath him.


    The barriers had managed to take most of the hit, but the impact of the lightning bolt left ke sore and part of the lightning had managed to make its way through the cracks on the barrier connecting with ke.


    ''Fuck¡­ meee!''


    ke cursed as he spasmed from the electricity that surged through his entire body, but due to his inability to move, he looked perfectly fine on the outside.


    [Your internal organs aren''t in the best of conditions; you can''t afford to take another hit¡­] The system alerted ke after checking the amount of damage he had sustained.


    The lightning bolt that struck him wasn''t the natural one that only had a 10% chance of killing a human, this was one unconsciously empowered by the will of a demigod, giving it enough power to crack to the system''s energy barrier that had been impregnable till now.


    ''What if I activate lightning reinforcement?'' ke asked after recovery from the shock.


    (AN: get it? ;)


    [You still won''t survive¡­ If my energy barrier was added to space freeze and lightning reinforcement it would have been enough, but the energy barrier will need a lot of time to recharge.]


    The words of the system worsened his already bad mood, but just like the system said ''if there wasn''t anything, he could do about the situation it was pointless worrying. So, he once again left things to fate.


    ''Then let''s hope that lightning doesn''t strike a ce twice.'' ke said with a heavy and tired heart as he heightened his senses to defend against objects that maye his way.


    Although the thunderbolt strike caught everyone''s attention, none of them dared to lose focus because in such a chaotic environment one could die without knowing what killed them if they lost concentration, but the one thing they all knew was that ke somehow managed to survive such a devastating attack.


    After what looked like forever in the eyes of all those that were at the ''eye of the storm'', the thick dark clouds covering the sky began dissipating and the vicious wind wreaking havoc settled.


    This was meant to be the part when they all let out a sigh of relief, but they all held their breaths instead and focused their senses on the sphere right above them. This was because the winner of the battle would determine the fate of both parties.


    ''Let''s see what fate has in stock for me¡­'' With a racing heart, ke watched as the ethereal sphere slowly dissipated.


    "That was disappointing¡­" A bored voice was heard when the spherepletely dissipated. It was the blond-haired demigod, Reeves!


    ''Thank the heavens¡­'' ke finally let out a sigh of relief when he saw the familiar figure of Reeves. ''That''s odd¡­ Is it me or is the person who just fought a battle that affected 2 dimensions meant to be looking so fresh?''


    Apart from therge hole in the heart area of his golden armor, demigod Reeves was perfectly fine. Not even a drop of sweat was on him nor was a string of hair out of ce. It even looked as if his skin had gotten smoother.


    (AN: Okay, so let''s have some fun ;) Tell me what you think happened during the fight. Hint: Someone is known for his smooth skin and the abilities of the brown ring are still unknown and can be anything.)


    The shock was the same for everyone that could see him. It seriously made them wonder if Sanders stood still and allowed himself to get killed, but therge hole on his chest and the catastrophe that urred during the battle made them think otherwise.


    "Back to you¡­" Demigod Reeves turned towards Mason who had long ago regained consciousness but was trapped on the floor by Reeves''mand.


    "What happened to my uncle?!" Mason screamed with tears rolling down his cheeks when he wasn''t able to sense his uncle''s life force.


    His uncle was more than a father figure to him. After his parents were assassinated at a young age, his uncle was the only rtive in the Nystrom family that agreed to take him in. He treated him like his own son and gave him all he needed, both resources and mentorship.


    (AN: list of things Mason needed as he grew up: lotions, beast cores, and more lotions¡­ lol)


    "I would have punished your insolence, but I will keep to my promise to yourte uncle and spare you..." Reeves said with an indifferent tone. "As for the rest¡­ Punishment for crossing me is, death!"


    Immediately Reeves was done speaking, the mercenaries in the area burst into golden mes, but before they could even scream in pain, they had all turned to ashes.


    "As for you 3¡­" Reeves turned to ke''s group and descended. "Thanks a lot for your help, I hereby dere the escortmission over and free you of your services. Yourmission and the agreed vition fee will be sent to the association before dusk."


    "The carriage driver will take you back to the association and I will be taking my leave." At this moment a simr carriage arrived at the area and demigod Reeves alongside Taliesin entered the carriage and left.


    "I will be the one to you back¡­" The door of their carriage opened and their driver came out.


    ''Oh¡­ Didn''t think of him all this while.'' The trio thought in unison.


    "And please do not touch the package¡­" The carriage driver said as he mounted the horses


    "Package?!" They blurted out in unison.


    ''Then what was the reason for the mission?!'' They were beyond vexed by what they heard. They had risked their lives for an unknown object, but at the end of everything it turned out to be useless.

 Chapter 133: Commander Darius.

    <h4>Chapter 133: Commander Darius.</h4>


    ''Then what was the reason for the mission?!'' They were beyond vexed by what they heard. They had risked their lives for an unknown object, but at the end of everything it turned out to be useless.


    [There are two options. Either this was also a decoy package or the main aim of the mission was to kill demigod Sanders.


    Chances of it being the first is very low because the mana emission is real, meaning it''s most likely the second.] The system quickly ran some analysis.


    ''If it really is the second, a matter involving one of the big 3 families isn''t something we should meddle in.'' ke thought as he walked into the carriage.


    ''The vition fee better be worth it¡­'' ke thought with a frustrated look on his face.


    10 minutes after ke''s carriage had left the scene, 3 carriages bearing the insignia of a rising ash cloud arrived at the now empty crime scene.


    It was none other than the Calton city''s police force, the Ash corps.


    Immediately the carriage came to a halt, members of the alighted from them and began an investigation on the crime scene. They wore ck leather pants with ash suit vests under ck half cloak which had the insignia of a rising ash cloud embedded on the left part of the chest.


    They quickly created an energy barrier that epassed the entire crime scene in order to prevent both people and natural elements from affecting the integrity of the evidence, before they fully went to work.


    Simr urrences were seen in many parts of the slums and even some parts of the mid-region of the city. These were sites where multiple battles had urred between the ''decoys'' and the mercenaries, but the most affected area was the slums.


    Not only were a lot of infrastructures destroyed due to the violent wind and thunderstorms, but a lot of lives were lost. Apart from the manymoners trapped and killed in the catastrophe while they were struggling for their daily bread, some of those indoors were also affected.


    The quality of most buildings in the slums was below standard and was in bad shape. When the storm came a lot of buildings couldn''t withstand the assault of the wind and lightning strike of that level, thereby copsing and killing many inside.


    It was an unintentional massacre!


    30 minutester, a luxurious carriage bearing the same insignia arrived at the scene and on seeing the new carriage, all members of the ash corps immediately stopped work and stood at attention.


    "Status report¡­" A man in his early forties said as he stepped out of the luxurious carriage. He had a heart-shaped face with perfectly trimmed sideburns and a pointed nose.


    He wore a half-ck cloak with red seams at both halves forming the ash corps'' insignia at the center when closed and under the cloak were multiple medals pinned unto a ck suit vest.


    After the entire team gave their salutes to themander, the supervisor of the crime scene walked up and began giving his report.


    "Commander Darius, we found 26 ash piles, but the interesting part was their position. It showed they were trying to encircle someone or a group.


    Also, from the level of destruction and interference, we had while using the beholder, it is safe to assume that this was a battle between demigods at the perfect realm." The supervisor kept a straight face till he finished his report.


    "What did you manage to see while using beholder?" Commander Darius asked with furrowed brows as he looked at the rubbles that were once houses.


    "The best we could get was seeing the 26 men being burnt to ashes, even the color of the mes was unclear due to the high level of interference." The reported.


    "I see¡­ Excuse me for a sec." Immediately themander was done with his words, his half-ck cloak spread apart and burst into mes turning, it intorge fiery wings.


    BOOM!


    Before the supervisor could blink,mander Darius had already zoomed off sending a shockwave that made the hero realm supervisor take several steps backward.


    In a millisecond, he arrived at a ruin 100 meters away from his original spot and made a pronouncement.


    "Everything is weightless!"


    Immediately the words left his mouth everything became weightless and began ascending. The rubbles rose and bodies followed.


    ''Out of 25, 3 are alive. Has 2 seconds left, 5 seconds left, hmm a minute and more guess it''s your lucky day.'' Commander Darius moved forward grabbing the survivor and returning to his original spot.


    ''Huh?'' When the supervisor opened his eyes, in front of him wasmander Darius and in his hands was an unconscious 10-year-old girl who had sustained multiple fractures and dislocations.


    "She is still breathing." Commander Darius said as he handed her over to the supervisor. "Oh¡­ send beholder to me."


    "Yes sir!"


    2 minutester a detective came and handed over the artifact named Beholder.


    Beholder was an artifact in form of a bronze hand mirror. It had the ability to use mana fluctuations and emissions in a given area to reconstruct what had happened in the area in form of a vision. The rity of the vision was dependent on the power level of both the user and the person being spied on.


    ''Let''s see what happened here¡­'' Darius injected his mana into the artifact causing a ripple that made the surface of the mirror tear in half, revealing a yellow-stained eyeball filled with multiple eerie blood vessels.


    Once the eyelid was fully open, the pupil had a purple sending images of what happened to Darius'' mind. It showed the images of when Mason''s carriage parked and waited for ke''s party.


    ''The vermillion rood¡­ Hmmm.'' Darius thought when he saw the artifact known to be in the custody of the royal family.


    ''These two again¡­''? Darius couldn''t help butment when he saw the carriage bearing the insignia of the Nystrom family.

 Chapter 134: Cursed artifacts.

    <h4>Chapter 134: Cursed artifacts.</h4>


    ''These two again¡­''? Darius couldn''t help butment when he saw the carriage bearing the insignia of the Nystrom family.


    ''It was pretty stupid of Sanders to fight Reeves in possession of 2 epic grade artifacts or maybe he had a n but unfortunately, things didn''t go as nned.'' Darius shook his head when the pocket dimension was created.


    Darius didn''t need to see how the battle went in other to know the oue, apart from the fact that Reeves was with 2 dangerous artifacts, he had already begun his ascension ritual meaning he had half a foot in the realm of angels while Sanders had been stuck in the demigod realm for almost a century.


    From the champion realm and above for one to advance in realm they had to fulfill certain conditions and advancing from the demigod realm to the Angelic realm was called an Ascension ritual.


    The higher one went in realm the greater their connection with the mother-stream became meaning they could interact more and depending on their level, manipte thews of nature to an extent.


    That was how Reeves was able to lock everyone in ce with only words from his mouth and that was how Commander Darius was able to make everything weightless, but the maniption was dependent on the opponent''s level of interaction with thews of nature.


    If Darius who was in the Angelic realm was to face a mortal in the champion or hero realm, he would be able to snap his/her heads without making a pronouncement, because they had in no waye in contact with thews of nature.


    If he went up against a demigod below the perfect realm only a pronouncement would be needed because of the vast gap between both realms, but if he was up against an angelic pronouncement as useless as a third nipple because both parties had almost the same level of interaction with thews of nature.


    ''I guess the empire just got itself a new angel¡­'' Commander Darius thought. ''Well, that should be all¡­ hmm, what do we have here?'' Darius was about to cut his connection with the artifact, but when he saw a thunderbolt descending on ke he decided to stop.


    "Interesting¡­" Darius said with a smirk as he cut off the connection between him and the beholder.


    Immediately the connection was cut, the hand mirror began vibrating causing the purple glow of the beholder''s pupil to change to red and sending out a wave that would make Darius lose his sight for a short period, but before it got to him an ethereal barrier protected him.


    "Same as always¡­" Commander Darius chuckled after the artifact had failed to enact its punishment on its user.


    Different artifacts had different origins and among many ways, only 3 were known by a select few.


    Some artifacts were created by legendary forgemasters with legendary grade resources and equipment, while some were created when the power of a god-level being was infused with an item causing a massive reaction that ends up turning it into an artifact with abilities rted to the god level being and finally those created by forbidden magic and arrays.


    Artifacts in this category involved living beings as sacrifices and almost every time the sacrifices were no small numbers. Among the other two methods, artifacts created such a method are bound to be the most powerful but that was mostly dependent on the number of sacrifices.


    Throughout history, there had been multiple asions when viges and cities were sacrificed for creating artifacts. The end result always tends to be powerful but the price that came with using these cursed artifacts was quite steep.


    The prices usually came in form of punishment before or after the use of the cursed artifact and the degree of punishment was dependent on how strong the artifact was and how long it was used.


    An example was the beholder that took the sight of the user and the duration was dependent on how long it was used.


    If Commander Darius wasn''t strong enough to evade the punishment, he would have lost his sight for more than a day because he had pushed the cursed artifact to its limit by watching the entire event that yed out, under the interference of a perfect demigod.


    "Sir, the youngdy''s condition has been stabilized¡­" The supervisor reported.


    "What is the death toll so far?" Commander Darius asked.


    "ording to the team at the middle region no death had been recorded, but 427 deaths have been recorded so far at the slums." The supervisor reported.


    ''507 dead¡­ 94 trapped under rubbles¡­ Out of the 94, 28 have less than a minute left. I must say that''s a nice trade.'' Commander Darius thought as he withdrew his sensory range that epassed the entire slums.


    "Alright, I will be leaving. Contact if anything serious happens." Darius said as he handed over the hand mirror to the supervisor.


    "Oh¡­ Beholder is pissed off so put it out ofmission for a very long and make sure to report to a high-ranking officer before it is used again." Commander Darius said as he entered the luxurious carriage. ''Because the next person to use it might not live to tell the tale.''


    ¡­


    When their carriage arrived at the adventurer''s association, the trio headed straight for their rooms.


    They had had a very rough day and they had been drained mentally, physically and emotionally from the sudden turn of events that urred during the mission. It would be an understatement saying they were drained because it was only due to their sheer will that they were still standing.


    Grrroooowl!


    When ke got to door, his stomach protested for food causing him to pause for a second.


    [Don''t you want to have a quick bit? Sleeping on an empty stomach is not advisable.] The system said.


    "Fuck that shit!" ke opened his door and threw himself on his bed. Immediately his head came in contact with the soft pillow he slept off.


    [If he had epted the offer, I would have thought he wasn''t human.] The system chuckled when it saw ke''s reaction.

 Chapter 135: Violation fees.

    <h4>Chapter 135: Vition fees.</h4>


    [If he had epted the offer, I would have thought he wasn''t human.] The system chuckled when it saw ke''s reaction.


    ¡­


    Knock! Knock! Knock!


    "Uhhh¡­ Who will be knocking by this time of the night?" ke cursed as he opened his eyes, but instead of finding a dark environment, rays of sunlight made their way into his eyeballs.


    "What time is it?" ke was shocked, he was afraid that he had slept for days and the reason was that he hadn''t eaten!


    [Seriously?... First, It''s been a while since they have been knocking, so I think you should answer¡­] The system reminded him of the person at the door.


    "For a moment I thought something had happened to you, we were just about to call the attention of management..." Brian said with a worried expression when ke finally opened the door.


    "If something is to kill me that will hunger." ke held his tummy as it loudly protested for food.


    "We came to call you because we were about to get something to eat..." Castiel said.


    "That''s great, let''s get going¡­ What''s wrong?" ke stopped in his track when he saw them giving him a weird look.


    "Aren''t going freshen up?" Brian asked with a raised brow.


    "Do I really need to?" ke asked with a dejected look on his face, but when he saw their brows going higher, he made a U-turn and hit the shower.


    ''How long have I been out?'' ke asked as they went to the cafeteria for dinner, breakfast, and lunch.


    [You''ve been sleeping for close to 18hrs now and if they hadn''t knocked you would have gone past a day.] The system answered.


    Among the three, ke had been the most active and had taken most of the damage. Castiel had also been suppressed because he was also in the fire pathway, but ke had received more than double the suppression and was also struck by a thunderbolt.


    Castiel and Brian had nned on calling management because they had thought ke had sustained serious internal injuries but surprisingly, he was only hungry.


    "So, what are you nning on having?" Castiel asked as he skimmed through the menu.


    "Everything¡­" They would haveughed at the joke, but when they saw that ke wasn''t smiling, they were shocked.


    ''ck hole!'' That was the only word that came to their heads.


    Unknown to them, ke had sustained internal injuries and the reason he was awake was because of the space elements passive, and just like everything, nothing works for free.


    A chronomancers passive returned the user''s body to its peak condition, but this requires both time and nutrients from the user, and with the number of injuries he had sustained the system wasn''t shocked by his words.


    After waiting close to 20 extra minutes for ke to finish his meal, the trio went to meet Susan who directed them to Langford for the vition fees.


    "Good day gentlemen, we have important information for you 3. So, if you are ready let''s head to a private area." The chief appraiser said.


    "Please lead the way." The trio were brought into a briefing room and after they had all taken their seats, Langford began speaking.


    "On behalf of the adventurer''s association, I will like to apologize for the incident that urred yesterday.


    The hirer had given wrong details about the difficulty level of the mission and for that, the association had sanctioned with a steep vition fee and had also banned Mr. Taliesin and those rted to him from cing anymission for an entire year.


    "The vition fees are dependent on the level of the offense. In this case, the hirer involved an E rank party in the matter of demigods, but since the members of the Order of chaos didn''t sustain serious injuries the offender was only charged 60k aside from the agreedmission." Langford was forced to pause when the trio gasped in shock.


    ''Holy shit! Did I hear that right or are my ears failing me?!'' ke wasn''t even aware that his mouth was wide open.


    [Even for a noble that should sting. I am impressed by the association''s care for its adventurers¡­] The system said.


    Returning back to their senses, they gestured for Langford to continue the report.


    "The agreed price for a D rank mission was 6k gold coins, but the hirer was dishonest and went ahead in involving an E rank party in a B grade mission, meaning Order of chaos adventurer party will be paid ording to the rank of the mission and that equates to 30k gold coins." The trio were about to gasp again but a re from Langford made them calm down.


    "For the points allocation, Order of chaos adventurer party has been awarded 50k points for their ethics and conduct even in a situation leagues above their level, therefore upgrading the parties rank from an E rank party to a D rank party."


    (AN: Not sure if I gave the ranking for adventurer parties, but here they are;


    E rank: 0 -25k


    D rank: 25k -100k


    C rank: 100K -500k


    B rank: 500k -5.5mil


    A rank: 5.5 mil


    S rank: 20 mil)


    ''The vition fees are definitely worth it!'' A brimming smile was on ke''s face as he couldn''t believe what he was hearing.


    "Andstly, To properly apologize, the association willpensate the Order of chaos adventurer party by giving each member 20 elite rank beast cores..." Langford said while putting down the papers marking the end of her report.


    [Aren''t you one lucky bastard! Not only were you instantly promoted to the next rank as a solo adventurer but even your party was instantly promoted.] The system was fascinated by ke''s level of luck.


    ''It''s funny how a few hours ago I considered this one of the worst things to happen to me, but who would have thought we will get so many rewards!''


    Knock! Knock!


    "Come in."


    When the permission was given, their favorite blonde receptionist walked into the room.


    "Sir Langford, a representative of the Winchester family wants to award amission to the Order of chaos adventurer party..." Susan reported.

 Chapter 136: Winchester Manor.

    <h4>Chapter 136: Winchester Manor.</h4>


    "Sir Langford, a representative of the Winchester family wants to award amission to the Order of chaos adventurer party..." Susan reported.


    ''A secondmission just after the first and apart from that it is from the Winchester family.'' Langford was marveled by their luck.


    "That''s not a problem, we were done before you came in, so it''s all up to them to decide if they want to ept themission." Lanford turned to the group.


    The trio looked at each other before ke spoke up. "After what we''ve been through I for one don''t think we are ready for another mission right now, but I think it would be polite to talk to the client and know what''s up."


    "Huh?" Susan said with a confused expression as she looked up.


    "Sorry, please lead the way..." ke said with an embarrassed smile when he realized what he just said.


    From the private room, Susan led them into another where they saw a bald man in his early 70''s. He had a greybeard with angr brows that were arched in the middle, giving him a stern look.


    He was in a neat ck suit with golden bullet back cufflinks and a sliver chain pocket watch on his vest''


    "Hello, I am Arnold, the butler of the Winchester family." Arnold brought forth his hand.


    "I am Zero the leader of the Order of chaos adventurer party. This is Hades and this is Grock" ke shook his hand while introducing his team.


    "So, how may we be of help?" ke asked when both parties had taken a seat.


    ''Good thing young mistress Tessie had told me his code name if not finding them would have been a lot more difficult. I must say he is well mannered, handsome, and from what I have heard about him so far, he is strong for his age, just like she said.'' Butler Arnold gave a mental nod as he observed ke.


    "I want to hire your adventurer party for an escort mission. Are you interested?" Arnold asked.


    On hearing the word ''escort'' the trio instinctively furrowed their brows as they were remaindered of the events of the previous day.


    "We need more information about the mission before we would be able to make a decision." Refusing themission without hearing more about would look unprofessional, so ke decided to hear him out then decline the offer.


    ''So, the rumors are true¡­'' Arnold thought before speaking up. "I was told that your party just returned from a difficult mission and you guys are still recovering, that is why I havee with an easymission."


    ''This was what that b*stared told us before taking us to a ce worse than a frontline! I am so declining the offer.'' ke had simr thoughts with Brian and Castiel.


    The word ''easy'' triggered a lot of negative emotions, especially against Taliesin. If he hadn''t used it, he would have had higher chances of convincing them but now, ke was thinking of a polite way to decline his offer.


    "The Winchester family purchased a lot of herbs and it is in the custody of the association. All you need to do is to escort the crate to the Winchester manor."


    The Adventurers association was located at the outskirt of the central region, while the Winchester manor was located in the eastern part of the central region. Meaning the journey wasn''t long unlike thest and since the area was home to nobles and also the head branch of the ash corps it was bound to be a very safe journey, but the trio was more inclined to decline the offer.


    "Oh, your adventurer party was rmended by Young mistress Tessie..." Arnold added thest line when he noticed the muscle contraction in the trio''s facial expressions.


    "¡­" ke who had rehearsed his denial speech for the 3rd time was stunned.


    "Tessie?" ke asked with a raised brow.


    "Yes. Young mistress Tessie from Calton magic school." Arnold couldn''t help but smile when he saw how they reacted to his statement.


    After receiving a nod from both Brian and Castile, ke made up his mind. "When are we leaving?"


    "By high noon tomorrow."


    "Deal..."


    After getting more information and negotiating the price, Arnold left the adventurer association building, while the trio returned to the cafeteria because ke was hungry.


    They used the rest of the day to get some rest and recover to their full capacity.


    ...


    By midday the next day, 2 carriages bearing the insignia of a crowned shield which had a 4 leaf clover at its center.


    Immediately the crates of herbs were loaded into one of the carriages, they set off to the Winchester Manor.


    ''Anything suspicious?'' ke asked the system.


    [For the 4th time in 20 minutes nothing is suspicious.] The system said in an annoyed tone.


    ''I know I might be a little paranoid, but after what happened on my first mission I can''t take any chances.'' ke sighed when he remembered how helpless he was on his first party mission.


    [A little? Pfft.] The system snorted when it remembered ke telling him to scan both carriages twice.


    ''You know, one can never be too sure...'' ke said in defense.


    [...] The system ignored him.


    The journey went on for 30 more minutes, but unlike what ke had expected the entire journey was peaceful.


    "We have arrived..." Arnold announced when their carriage arrived in front of a gate with the insignia of the Winchester family.


    Although the gates and walls looked normal, the system detected lots of high-level concealed arrays protecting every single inch leaving no room for openings in their defense.


    When they went past the gate, they crossed the fantastically geometric hedges and got to a 3 faced sculpture of a shield with a 4 leaf clover, and on top of them was a crown that spouted water from its tips.


    The carriages stopped at the fountain and servants came out of the mansion and began offloading the crates.

 Chapter 137: Winchester Manor 2.

    <h4>Chapter 137: Winchester Manor 2.</h4>


    The carriages stopped at the fountain and the servants came out of the mansion and began offloading the crates.


    "Themission is considered over but before you go, someone wants to see you¡­ I mean you guys" Arnold said with a smile as he looked at ke before turning to the rest of the team.


    "Hello!"


    When they heard the sweet familiar voice, everyone turned to the entrance, and before them was Tessie who was in a full-length ck gown with flower designs embroidered all over it.


    Her ck polished curled hair, with the light makeup on her face, and the golden chain ne with a sparkling sapphire on her neck gave her oval face an irresistible glow that kept them staring at her.


    ''Damn!'' This was the only word that came across their mind as they watched her walk down the stairs.


    "Why are you guys like that?" Tessie couldn''t help but ask when she noticed the guys weren''t moving.


    Seeing such an opportunity ke didn''t need a wake-up call. "Because you''re stunning."


    "I have some matters to deal with." Arnold quickly excused himself when he saw Tessie turning beet red.


    "Thank you..." Tessie said as she subconsciously lowered her head.


    "How have you been and how is alchemy going?" ke quickly brought up a topic before things became awkward.


    "Well, that is the reason for the crates filled with herbs and ingredients for alchemy. So, am about to get started." Tessie''s reply left the trio burning with envy.


    They all practiced forgemastery, but unlike Tessie who could get carriage loads of the resources whenever she needed them, they had to work for every dim they used to purchase materials for their specializations.


    [You know, a lot of noble families are still open to recruiting you in case acquiring resources is your major problem.] The system said when it saw ke''s reaction.


    "What about you guys, how has your lives as adventurers been?" Immediately she asked the question, a dejected look could be seen on their faces.


    "You wouldn''t believe it¡­" Brian said as they shook their heads.


    ¡­


    In a secret room on the top floor of the Winchester, Oliver and Gabri Winchester were watching their daughter and the three young adventurers with one of the many arrays in the mansion.


    Oliver was a gentleman in histe 40''s and was of an average height of 5''10 feet. He was wearing a simple buzz cut and a disconnected goatee. His small turned-up nose and gentle smile were a carbon copy of Tessie''s.


    Beside him was Gabri who was an old version of her daughter, but unlike Tessie who always wore a smile, Gabri wore a stern look on her face.


    "He isn''t shy, unlike someone I know..." Gabri said as she looked at her husband with a smirk.


    Back when they were the same age as ke and Tessie, the situation was reversed. Oliver was the shy one, while Gabri was the one making moves. It was odd because a guy as charming as Oliver was meant to be the yer type and that made Gabri wonder what was wrong.


    "Although he isn''t as charming as me, I must say he isn''t bad at all." Oliver quickly changed the topic, but that made his wife''s smirk broaden.


    "She got the attention of the magic school''s rank 1. I am d that she got my keen eyes." Gabri had a proud smile on her face.


    "Not everyone is meant to be as maniptive as. As for me, I am happy that our little flower finally has friends." Oliver said with a smile on his face as he watched the 4 teens chatting by the fountain.


    "Sir, from the intel I gathered from those in the association and from my short conversation with them, I have confirmed that the rumors about them being involved in the slums incident were true." Arnold had excused himself from the teens and had arrived at the secret room to give a report on his findings.


    "That makes things more interesting. Not only are they as strong as the reports say, but they are also equally reliable." Oliver paused for a moment before making a decision. "Keep an eye on them, especially on him..." Oliver said pointing at ke.


    "Yes, Master." Arnold bowed and exited the room.


    Unknown to the trio a new noble family had joined the long list of those interested in them.


    ¡­


    "Who could have thought so much could happen in few days¡­" Tessie was stunned when the guys recounted their experience.


    "The crates have offloaded, it''s time to go." Arnold returned to the fountain shortly after his report.


    "Uncle Arnold, can''t give us a little bit more time?" Tessie looked straight into the butler''s eyes with her puppy face.


    "Sorry, young mistress but these are orders from your mother..." Arnold said with an unflinching expression, but deep down he was sad that he couldn''t fulfill her little wish.


    "Sorry that you guys couldn''t stay longer. Remember to stay safe." Tessie said in a dejected tone before leaving the trio.


    With the cratespletely offloaded, themission was officially consideredplete and with no other thing to do, the trio hopped into the carriage and left the Winchester manor.


    ¡­


    The week quickly passed by without them getting moremissions nor applying for missions. They used these few days to increase their forgemastery knowledge, especially no they had more than enough gold coins.


    Although they were busy with forgemastery, they hadn''t cked one bit in their cultivation because at the moment they had more than enough beast cores gotten from the school and the adventurers association tost them 2 straight weeks if they decided to bezy.


    "I think it is time we apply formissions..." ke said as he took a sip of his vegetable beef soup.


    "Same thoughts here¡­" Castiel said.


    "At this moment I am having second thoughts over the decision of not joining any noble family. Practicing forgemastery is damn expensive!" Brian helplessly sighed when he thought about the number of gold coins that had turned scrap metal.

 Chapter 138: Sit back and watch.

    <h4>Chapter 138: Sit back and watch.</h4>


    Practicing forgemastery was very expensive especially for those who weren''t attached to any noble family. The reason they were just feeling it was because the school''s point system made item purchase cheap for students.


    They still had a lot of gold on them but if things went on the same way it wouldn''t be long before they would return to being broke because apart from purchasing the required materials, they had to rent the association''s forge rooms equipped with high-quality equipment and that cost a lot.


    Immediately they were done with lunch, the trio headed to themission billboard to pick a party mission.


    "Adventurer Zero, you are finally out¡­ I have important information for your party and time is of the essence." It had been days since Susan hadst set her eyes on the trio and with fear of losing sight of them again, she immediately approached them the moment she saw them.


    When they got to a private area, Susan began her report. "A few days ago, a messenger from the Winchester family submitted a request for a protection mission, but because you three were busy we couldn''t disturb your research so we left it till now."


    "The request ends today and if not epted, they would change themission a to public one..." Susan said.


    ''Why do I have the feeling that the Winchester family is trying to deepen our rtionship to rope us in?'' It wasn''t only ke that had the same thoughts, even Susan was suspicious about how the Winchester family were submitting privatemission to a D rank adventurer party.


    This wasn''t her first time seeing or hearing about noble families using such tactics to rope in adventurers.


    "Is there any info on themission?" ke asked.


    "Yes, there is¡­" Susan said as she brought out a letter from her dimensional amulet. "The Winchester family wants you three to protect young mistress Tessie Winchester as she goes to the Bulian hills to harvest Dubian flowers."


    "Is that all?" Brian asked with a raised brow.


    This was something they didn''t need to be paid to do since it involved a close friend, but this made it look even more suspicious.


    "Yes..." Susan said with a nod.


    "Well I don''t think anyone is in opposition to epting themission, so we will take it¡­" ke said after receiving nods from his team.


    "I will inform the Winchester family about your decision." Susan quickly left the room to contact the Winchester family with the association''smunication orb.


    After a few minutes, Susan returned to the room. "They have agreed to pay 6k gold coins for themission and the client will be here tomorrow morning."


    "Thanks a lot, Susan. We will go and make preparations for the mission." ke said as he tipped her 5 gold coins.


    "Thank you very much." Susan slightly bowed as she couldn''t hide her joy.


    ¡­


    The next day at the agreed time, Tessie alongside Arnold arrived at the adventurer''s association.


    "Who would have thought we would meet each other so soon..." ke said with a smile when he saw Tessie who was in a leather hunting suit that showcased her voluptuous curves with her shoulder-length hair tied up into a bun.


    "Me too¡­" Tessie said.


    "You know, you aren''t meant to be paying us for something like this. We will be more than d to help you out for free." Brian and Castiel nodded at ke''s words.


    "The reason my master agreed to the young mistress plea to hire your party was because she trusts you guys, but even at that things are meant to be kept professional..." Arnold said with a stern expression as he reminded the trio that this was different from school.


    "If everyone is ready, then let''s head out?" Arnold said as he climbed into the carriage.


    "Us?!" The trio asked in unison because the job description never mentioned protecting a butler.


    "You don''t have to worry; I am to stop at the safe point after the northern gate and wait for your arrival..." Arnold said.


    After everything was clear, the carriage left for the northern gate and in less than 45 minutes they arrived at the edge of the safe point.


    "Are you guys ready?" ke asked.


    ''Let''s hope things go well.'' ke took in a deep breath and exhaled before setting out for the Bulian hills.


    The Bulian hills were a group of closely packed hills epassed by the forest with heights ranging from 400ft to as tall as 800ft. Apart from the different beasts and herbs unique to the area, the Bulian hills were famous for a particr flower and that was the Dubian flower.


    The Dubian flower had a simr structure as a hollyhock but instead of the pink petals and yellow pistil, the Dubian flower had purple petals and white pistil.


    Among its numerous uses, Dubian flowers were one of the major ingredients when concocting antidotes for various types of poisons and venoms. To some a beginner alchemist like Tessie, it was a must-have ingredient.


    ''Let me guess he is following us?'' ke asked the system after the group was gone a substantial distance away from the starting point.


    [Right from the moment you guys set out... Oh, 11 sdes are within range.] The system said.


    "Prepare for battle, move into formation..." ke said while drawing Reaper from its sheathe.


    If this was when they went hunting, they could freely engage the enemy and easily wipe them out, but now they had to make sure no harm befell Tessie. So ke stood at the front waiting to decimate anything that came their way, while Brian and Castiel stood by the sides to prevent any form of surprise attacks.


    "5 sdes at the treetops, 2 below the ground, and 4 there, there, there and there." Using the system''s detection range, ke quickly made his team aware of the enemy''s position.


    "Brian use earth magic to prevent them from burrowing, we don''t want surprises. Castiel use stealth to deal with those on our level, while I handle those on top." ke injected lightning Mana into Reaper as he gave out orders.


    "What should I do?" Tessie asked when ke said nothing about her.


    "Sit back and watch the show..." ke said as he jumped into the air and propelled himself with a mini me burst.

 Chapter 139: Bad feeling.

    <h4>Chapter 139: Bad feeling.</h4>


    "Sit back and watch the show..." ke said as he jumped into the air and propelled himself with a mini me burst.


    Immediately hended on a branch, ke activated lightning reinforcement and dashed towards the closest sde at a blinding speed.


    Swish!


    With ke''s speed spiked, it was difficult for the sde to keep up with ke''s movement and before it could make any movements ke had already gone past it and its head had dropped to the floor.


    Without slowing down, ke maneuvered through the treetops dispatching the hidden sdes with finesse and minimal effort.


    On the ground, Castiel who was tasked with dealing with four sdes didn''t move an inch out of his original position. He cast darkbringer to cloak the ethereal tendrils of the dark siphon spell and immediately the four reptiles lunged at them, multiple tendrils caught them in mid-air.


    Skkrrr! Skkrrr!


    The sdes screamed in pain as they tried to w their way out of the tendrils'' grip, but almost instantly their movements became sluggish until they couldn''t even move a muscle.


    Within seconds of capturing them, the sdes had turned to skeletal corpses with only a thinyer of skin tightly hugging their hollow bones and on seeing that there was nothing left for him to drain, Castiel threw away the corpses.


    "Done..." Castiel said with an indifferent expression as he turned to Brian.


    "Same here..." Brian said after he had hardened the earth beneath them, preventing them from burrowing before making meter thick spikes to erupt in those holes, instantly killing the sdes.


    "Something doesn''t feel right about this ce..." ke said as hended on the floor and sheathed his de.


    "Why do you say so?" Tessie asked in a worried tone. Among all those in her age group, ke was the strongest person she knew and if something could bother him it meant the situation was serious.


    "I don''t know¡­ It''s just a feeling." ke said with a stern look as he looked around.


    On seeing the look on ke''s face, both Brian and Castiel knew something was up. So they quickly used their system to scan 50 meters around them.


    (AN: remember before the system was awakened, it was able to detect the concealed space, meaning all default systems have detection abilities but of course their range and detection capabilities are lower than the awakened system.)


    ''They aren''t much, what is he worried about?'' Brian and Castiel couldn''t help but ask when their scan only picked up a few beasts.


    Unknown to them beyond their range were groups of beasts, both prey and predators.


    ''From the start, I knew something was off.'' ke sighed when the system gave back a report. ''I just hope this doesn''t imply the presence of another berserk King rank beast.''


    [Evolution of knight rank beasts into King rank is way harder than you think. If it turns out to be it, then that means you are cursed.] The system said.


    The system''s words made ke afraid because his paranoia was telling him that there was a higher chance that this was the doing of a berserk King rank beast now that the system had mentioned it. Also, Instructor Zirrack was nowhere close to them.


    "From here onwards we need to be as stealthy as possible. So, we have to use concealment potions." ke''s sudden announcement shocked everyone.


    "What''s going on?" Brian asked with furrowed brows.


    "Just trust me." He didn''t know what to say. Even if he told them the truth, he won''t be able to exin how his sensory range was sorge without involving the system.


    "If you say so¡­" Both Brian and Castiel took out a deep blue-colored bottle and gulped its contents without asking questions.


    They knew that ke wasn''t willing to speak because of Tessie and their ''hidden guest'', so they decided to act now and ask questionster. As for Tessie, she hesitated before she finally took out the concealment potion and downed its content.


    The effect of the concealment potion wasn''t to turn them invisible but topletely hide their presence. The concealment potion cloaks their mana emission and it also affects the excretory organs by changing the scent of the waste products that came out of the human body.


    (AN: so in essence, you breathe, sweat, saliva, and sh*t smells nice and inconspicuous ;). Is it only me that has funny thoughts about this?)


    ¡­


    ''Using a concealment potion because of a few sdes? Either he is overreacting or he has noticed something which I haven''t.'' Arnold who was at a ''safe'' distance from the party couldn''t help butment when he saw their action.


    ''I guess he was overreacting¡­'' After scanning the area with the sensory skills on the level of a mid hero level cultivator, Arnold was only able to see the same number of beasts Brian and Castiel had counted. So he quickly concluded and went after the party when they began moving.


    ¡­


    With the help of the concealment potion and the system''s navigation the group maneuvered their way past a lot of beasts, but the closer they got to the Bulian hills the more beasts they encountered and their number was increasing at an rming rate.


    "The concentration of beast in this area is more than double the usual. Something is wrong and I don''t think it would be a great idea to move forward." Brian said.


    After they killed the sdes, the odd feeling in their hearts about the mission kept on increasing the closer they came to Bulian hills, but Brian was the first to voice this thought.


    "Sorry, but I have no say in the matter. It''s all up to our hirer to decide." ke said looking at Tessie.


    After moments of thinking, Tessie finally spoke up. "Not to sound selfish, but we are almost at the foot of the hills and since we have gotten so far, I say we should finish it."


    ''That was what I didn''t what to hear, but what can I say¡­'' ke inwardly shook his head because these were the usual words spoken when teens were about to enter a hunted house or make a bad decision.

 Chapter 140: Wargs.

    <h4>Chapter 140: Wargs.</h4>


    ''That was what I didn''t what to hear, but what can I say¡­'' ke inwardly shook his head because these were the usual words spoken when teens were about to enter a hunted house or make a bad decision.


    "Since it''s only been an hour since we drank the concealment potion, we have 30 minutes to cross 500 meters and arrive at the foot of the hill. If all things go right we would be able to make it and even if things don''t go fine we should be able to handle whateveres our way." Castiel said after calcting how long they had till the effects of the concealment potion wore out.


    The concealment potion was so potent that it affected the human body chemistry and if more were to be taken within 4 hours after the first dose had been taken, the body would experience devastating side effects that might end up crippling the user.


    ''Just like in the movies, the statement that supports the bad idea.'' At this moment ke wanted them to stop them from talking because the more they spoke the more he felt that something would go wrong.


    [It is funny that they assume that immediately they reach the foot of the Bulian hills everything will be alright or they haven''t noticed the abnormality and that the cause of the abnormality mighte from the Bulian hills.] The system shook its ''head''.


    [let''s just hope that the info about the outskirts of the Bulian hills being upied by only elite to low-rank magical beast be true.] The system said.


    ''Why am I always involved inplicated things¡­'' ke let out a helpless sigh before turning to his team. "Since it is decided, remember that we have to be as fast and stealthy as possible."


    With the clock ticking, the four immediately set out for the hills. They silently weaved through the forest, avoiding as many beasts as possible and when needed they even moved through the treetops, but the closer they got the more they began noticing that the number of beasts they met was decreasing and in ce of them were ravaged corpse!


    ''What the f*ck is going on?!'' ke asked the system as he kept on moving.


    [Surely, something is killing them. The question is what?] The system said as it began scanning the environment and analyzing the images of the corpses they had passed.


    [Afterparing the bite and w marks to what we have seen, I can say they are simr to those of roks in shape, but not in size.] The system said.


    ''Are you we looking at an Elite rank rok?'' ke asked.


    [First, considering therge number of corpses we''ve seen, this can''t be the work of a single elite rank beast and if it was to be packs of roks, they aren''t strong enough to defeat all the beasts we''ve seen so far especially when they are in their groups.]


    [Second, if you have taken a closer look at the corpses we havee across, you will notice that the freshness of the corpses decreases as we move closer to the Bulian hills.


    Now, if one applied a little bit ofmon sense to this, it is obvious that the beasts causing this massacre areing from the Bulian hills.


    This notion brings about an important question: Why are theying over here?]


    ''Either they were chased away by something stronger or something made their usual habitat uninhabitable.'' ke thought in realization.


    [Now,ing back to our present problem. What is the beast that is simr to a rok and stays in hilly regions?] The system asked.


    "Wargs!" ke uttered in shock.


    Wargs were the close rtives of roks in the wolf family but whenparing the two, roks were like wild dogs, while wargs were ferocious hyenas.


    An average rok was a little bit above 5''10" feet but an average warg stood at a height of 6''3" feet. They had darkish brown fur twice as thick as those of roks.


    They were way more ferocious and their greatest advantage against their close rtives was their ability to quickly reproduce.


    Woohoo!


    ''F*ck me sideways! How the f*ck do these things know the perfect time to show up?!'' ke couldn''t help but curse when the wargs didn''t even give him enough time toe up with a n.


    [12 wargs just entered my range of detection and one is closing in at an astonishing speed. That should be the alpha warg.] The system reported.


    ''Shit!'' ke cursed his bad luck when he heard the report because all alpha wargs were nothing below the elite rank and apart from that 11 wargs were already more than enough.


    "Be careful, wargs areing our way and an alpha is leading the charge." Since the concealment potion had faded and they had been sniffed out by the wargs, there was no reason for them to remain in stealth so Bake quickly announced the iing danger as they ran.


    ''Come on! Just a few more minutes and we would be there.'' Brian cursed the concealment potion for failing them at such a time.


    But unknown to them, the concealment potion hadn''tpletely faded, it was just that the alpha male warg was present.


    Wargs were known for their great sniffing ability, but even at that they weren''t able to discern their scent due to the concealment potion, but because the effects of the potion were already fading their scent couldn''t get past the alpha.


    "There''s no point in running, stand, and fight." After seeing how quickly the wargs caught up to them ke knew it was only a matter of time before they were caught and then they might be in a bad position.


    "Look, most of them are injured." Brian pointed out when he saw thest set of wargs arriving.


    Some were bleeding, while some had internal injuries that made their movements painful, but due to their bestial instincts andmand from their alpha, they joined the hunt.

 Chapter 141: Hurt pride.

    <h4>Chapter 141: Hurt pride.</h4>


    "Although they injured, we still have to end this quickly because there might still be more." If their theory was right, there was a chance that more beasts wereing their way.


    "I will handle the alpha warg, you guys should take care of the rest..." ke said as he unsheathed Reaper and activated lightning reinforcement.


    ''The pack is missing its betas, so the situation is all that bad.'' ke thought as he dashed towards the alpha warg which stood 6''9" inches tall, almost double the height and size of an average rok.


    Seeing the humaning straight for it, the alpha warg howled in anger as it rushed to meet ke. When it got within 5 meters of ke''s range, the alpha warg pounced at ke.


    ''They never seem to learn¡­'' ke sneered as he slid under the alpha warg and shed at its underbelly.


    Ding!


    The alpha warg which everyone had thought was vulnerable in mid-air, twisted its upper body at an odd angle, and just like apressed spring that had been released, its lower region sprang forward making it face ke''s sword which it easily blocked with a w attack.


    ''Fuck me!'' ke thought with shock mixed with a hint of fear as he saw his attack being blocked so easily.


    Not only did the alpha warg''s stunt prove that it was superior in both strength and speed, it also put ke in a very bad position.


    Snapping out of his reverie, ke let go of his sword and quickly cast mini me bursts with both hands facing the ground.


    Boom!


    The explosion coupled with his forward momentum sent ke tumbling out of the way, but before he left his sword''s range ke released an electromaic field that pulled his sword back to his hand.


    ''That was a close one¡­'' ke thought as he got back on his feet. He would have loved to brag about the amazing stunt he just pulled off, but because he wasn''t in an ideal environment, he let it slide.


    [Watch out!]


    Before ke could understand what was going on, the alpha warg was right in front of him with its w aiming for his mid-region.


    ''Shit!'' Without much time to think, ke cast a me burst to get him out of the way, but he was a bit toote.


    ''Siphon!''


    Bam!


    ke who was now enshrouded by the barrier of the rampant armor was sent crashing into a meter thick tree.


    ''Fuck me! How the f*ck is a wolf as agile as a cat?!'' ke cursed as he shook off the light dizziness and got back on his feet.


    [Rampant armor:


    Special ability: Siphon (Active)


    You are one lucky bastard.] The system was shocked by ke''s timing.


    If not, that ke activated siphon which strengthened the rampant armor''s shield with the user''s mana, ke would have been torn into 2 and if not for the shock-absorbing qualities of the armor, he would have broken all his bones on impact with the tree, but instead, he came out with only a slight headache.


    [it''sing again!] The system quickly warned him.


    ''Any ns?'' ke asked as he reactivated lightning reinforcement and dodged the alpha warg''s w that left a deep mark on the tree.


    [There is nothing you can do. You are barely keeping up with it and you can''t evennd an attack on it. Unless you find a way to reduce its monstrous vitality, this is a losing battle.] The system replied.


    The only reason ke was able to defeat an elite rank knox, was because knoxs were known for their great strength butck speed, and that was what ke capitalized on.


    In this case, the alpha warg was as fast as ke and although it wasn''t as strong as a knox, its strength and ws were enough to snuff the life out of 5 of him.


    he evaded being caught by the alpha warg''s maws before blocking a follow-up strike that made his arm go numb and sent him flying into another tree.


    ''Shit!''


    Once again, the Rampant armor came to his rescue by absorbing most of the shock from both the attack and impact, leaving him with increased vertigo.


    [You need to stop taking direct hits, the more damage it absorbs the more it loses its effects.] The system warned ke.


    ''I am trying¡­'' ke said


    ''If I can''t do it alone, that means we would have to reduce the burden on their side.'' ke thought while trying to ignore the numbing pain on his right hand.


    "Forget what I said about handling the alpha warg alone, let''s deal with the wargs before going for the alpha..." ke said with a hurt pride as he dashed towards one of the wargs attacking Castiel.


    Ahwooo!


    The alpha warg roared in anger when it saw that the human''s level of shamelessness knew no bounds.


    It quickly rushed to intercept ke from harming members of its pack.


    Unlike the alpha wargs that gave ke a hard time, the wargs were way weaker and since they were distracted by Castiel it took only but a swing for ke to cut the ligaments of his first victims causing it to lose its bnce before he decapitated it.


    Ahwoooo!


    The alpha wargs cried out in agony as it watched the head of a member of its pack drop to the ground.


    Ahwoooo! Ahwoooo!


    The eyes of the alpha wargs turned red as the mes of rage burned in them. All that was in its mind was to tear the disgusting human and his friends'' limbs by limbs before leaving their corpse to rot because it would be a disgrace to eat such filthy things.


    ''Seems like I made it mad.'' ke thought with a smirk that pissed off the alpha wargs even more.


    Without slowing down, ke went for his next target, but before he could attack another warg the alpha wargs appeared and intercepted his de before biting at his head.

 Chapter 142: Want a piece of the action?

    <h4>Chapter 142: Want a piece of the action?</h4>


    ''This is going to hurt¡­'' ke couldn''t dodge the attack at such a distance, so all he could do was brace for impact and prepare to trade blows.


    Earth eruption!


    Before the alpha warg could get its teeth could get a bite on ke''s head, a pir of rock shot out from below, hitting the alpha warg on the chin and changing its trajectory.


    "Thanks." Not needing to be told of what to do, ke appeared beside the alpha warg, shing at its head with a space-infused Reaper.


    sh!


    Before the de of ke''s katana could dig into its skin, the alpha warg performed a side flip causing the de to leave a bone-deep cut in its left arm but in turn, it saved its neck.


    Ahwooo!


    The alpha warg howled in agonizing pain as streams of blood gushed out its wound, but it had no time to rest because ke was going for an injured warg which was stuck in Brian''s quicksand.


    Terraform!


    Before the alpha warg could get to ke, the ground 10 meters in front of it turned to quicksand, and before it could react it was already toote.


    With its terrifying momentum, the alpha warg crashed into the pool of quicksand and helplessly watched as another member of its pack was shed multiple times before being beheaded.


    Awooo!


    Hearing its kin''s cry for help all over the battlefield made its anger reach a whole new level, causing an adrenaline rush.


    (AN: Poor wargs. They were chased out of their homes and in the process most of their stronger hitters were killed and now they are being murdered by shameless humans but all they wanted was lunch :(


    Awooo!


    With anger and sheer will, the alpha warg powered its way out of the pool of quicksand and went straight for the most troublesome one, Brian.


    "No, you don''t." Castiel shot out a fully charged me burst at the alpha warg, sending it flying a few meters off course.


    "That''s my queue¡­" ke said as he released countless arcs of lightning at the alpha warg that was getting back on its feet.


    Ahwooo!


    The alpha warg screamed in pain as the bone-numbing electricity ravaged its entire body, charring it in the process.


    ''Oh, you guys want a piece of the action? Don''t worry, the trashing will go round.'' ke thought as he sensed the two wargs sneaking up from behind.


    He jumped into the air and right behind him were the two wargs who had also jumped in pursuit, but before they touch him, ke used two mini me bursts to take him higher.


    "Gotcha¡­" ke thought aloud as he shot multiple me spears at the now vulnerable wargs that could only watch as the me spears drilled into their bodies.


    Just recovering from the stunning effect of ke''s lightning, the alpha warg saw ke who was in mid-air, and knew this was the perfect opportunity to end his life.


    Without dy, the alpha warg rushed at ke, but before it could move an inch it saw dark ethereal tendrilsshed onto its limbs.


    Ahwoo!


    It felt its strength being drained by the tendrils and turned to the source and saw Castiel who was standing beside Tessie.


    The dark ethereal tendrils of the dark siphon spell originated from the user and that made it hard for those caught in its grip to pull out, but it had a w, nothing stopped them from charging at the user as long as they had the energy to do so.


    The alpha warg quickly recognized this w and charged at Castiel but before it could move, the ground turned soft. It recognized what was going on and tried to jump out of the area, but that was when arcs of lightning descended on it, stunning it long enough for it to sink into the quicksand.


    ''My god! What seamless teamwork for people their age¡­'' Arnold who was at a safe distance away from the battle was shocked by their teamwork. He had nned on giving a helping hand when the Alpha warg was trashing ke, but ke quickly got everything under control.


    ''How did he know that something was wrong? I just hope things don''t get worse than this.'' On theirst run to the Bulian hills, Arnold had noticed the anomaly but was shocked by how ke had noticed earlier.


    ¡­


    Back to the battlefield, after the trio had managed to trap the alpha warg, they went ahead and cleared the rest of the wargs.


    At this point, the alpha warg could only sit and wait for the siphon spell topletely drain it of its life. It had sustained a deep injury to its leg, its adrenaline rush hade to an end leaving it extremely weak, also helplessly watching its pack being in made it lose its will to fight.


    ''Old man what happens to the energy Castiel absorbs?'' ke couldn''t help but ask as he saw the alpha warg waiting for its death.


    [After draining the energy from the warg''s body, the next target will be its beast core and once the tendrils tap into the pure energy from the beast core, the Darkbringer redirects its energy into his stars.] The system replied.


    ''Are you saying he can cultivate by killing beasts?!'' ke was shocked by the revtion.


    [Yes, but the ratio at which the energy is being absorbed isn''t equal to the original amount because of the impurities in a beast''s body, meaning the conventional method is more efficient.] The system said.


    ''But the fact that he could cultivate while fighting is nuts! Imaging draining the energy of 5 magical beasts at the same time with those tendrils.'' ke said.


    Although the absorption rate wasn''t equal, it was way more convenient and faster, because one could go out to hunt and be cultivating at the same, thereby using his cultivation time for something else.


    For someone like ke who had little time, he could afford the little wasted energy.


    [That is one of the reasons why the darkness element is second to the space element.] The system said.

 Chapter 143: Full-blown retard?!

    <h4>Chapter 143: Full-blown retard?!</h4>


    "We need to get out of here before more beasts get here..." ke said reminding the team of their correct location.


    ''Only if that butler wasn''t watching, I would have been able to defeat the alpha warg and still have enough time to harvest their beast cores.'' ke said with a bleeding heart as they went farther away from the beast''s corpses.


    What kecked were defensive spells because fire and lightning were very offensive, but If there were no witnesses, ke wouldn''t have had a rough time against the alpha warg.


    He would have easily used the space element to parry the alpha warg''s attacks, but since he didn''t know how people would react especially when they saw someone who had 3 elements and at that, the space element known as the rarest element, so he decided to y it safe and request for help.


    With the effects of the concealment potion gone, the group had to rely on themselves to reduce their mana emission. Luckily for them, they only met lone-type beasts which they quickly and easily dispatched.


    "Finally, were here¡­" Brian let out a sigh of relief as the team finally arrived at the foot of a hill.


    "Don''t let your guards down. Remember we are in the open and can be easily spotted by beasts, so let''s get the flowers and get the hell out of here." ke remaindered the team not to lose focus.


    Unlike the forest which had dense vegetation of thick, tall trees that could be used as cover, the Bulian hills had sparse and rocky vegetation leaving them with little or no cover.


    "On it¡­" Tessie said as she began searching and harvesting Dubian flowers scattered all over the area. It was a delicate process that only Tessie was able to perform, so the rest stood on guard to make sure nothing took them by surprise.


    "How long do you n on going?" ke couldn''t help but ask because Tessie had been at it for close to an hour and Tessie didn''t look like someone with ns of stopping any time soon.


    "Properly harvesting them takes a while, so I will need an hour more to gather enough." Tessie could hear the worry in ke''s tone but there was nothing she could do about it.


    This was her first time harvesting the Dubian flowers, but with the theoretical knowledge and her experience with other flowers, she was able to pull it off, and surprisingly her speed and precision were quite impressive for a first-timer.


    But the situation didn''t let any of them notice her skills, rather it had the opposite effect.


    Maaah! Maaah!


    After harvesting the Dubian flowers in the area, they moved a little bit uphill to continue the harvest, they began hearing the bleats of a Rugor which were a mountain goat time beast.


    Unlike the normal mountain goats of Earth, those in infinite realm were more than 3 times bulkier and strong. They had thick hard skin that could take bullet shots without causing anything more than a little difort to them.


    They had an average height of 6 feet and had diamond-hard horns that were at least 2 meters tall if they were straightened.


    Unlike other races that began at the beast level, Rugors were born as magical beats with their beast cores formed in their mother''s womb.


    Apart from their monstrous physique, the mountain goats had an innate ability to manipte the earth element which helped them in fights and most importantly, to bnce theirrge tanky bodies on rough terrains like hills, but since nothing was meant to be perfect except for the mother-stream, the mountain goats had a major w and that was their rate of reproduction, thereby controlling their poption.


    When the 4 heard a familiar but spine-chilling sound, they began sweating as they checked for the direction it originated.


    ''What the fuck is a Rugor doing at this height of the hill and even if it''s by chance, why is it during my turn it decided to show up?!'' ke couldn''t help butin because, from the way things have been going, it seemeddy luck was out to get him.


    [There is nothing within my detection range, so you have to move around a little bit.] The system said.


    ''Have you gone nuts? You are saying I should go in search of a walking disaster?!'' ke was bbergasted by the system''s words. He began having thoughts that the system wanted him dead.


    [I have a feeling that something isn''t right about the Rugor. If you had listened well, you would have noticed the high pitch in its bleat.] The system said.


    ''First, who in their right sense would hear the bleats of a Rugor and be checking for the pitch instead of running for their lives.


    Second, what if it is their way of giving out a moan of pleasure, meaning there are two?'' ke asked with a raised brow.


    [...] The system was speechless by ke''s questions. Although they both made sense he couldn''t help but facepalm when he heard the second question.


    [I know it might sound risky asking you to check it out, but this might be a clue that could help us know more about what is going on here?] The system replied.


    ''You are right but is it worth the risk?'' On one hand, they could quietly retrace their steps and leave the Bulian hills, but on the other hand, finding out the root of the anomaly in the Bulian hills would help them draft out ns in case they were attacked on their way out of the Bulian hills.


    "I will go check out its location..." ke said to the group.


    "Huh?!" The group stared at him as if they were looking at a full-blown retard who just escaped from an asylum.


    ''Guess that didn''te out right...'' ke said to himself before exining to the team.


    "You guys should wait here, I will go and check it out, but if you guys encounter any danger greater than you guys, please run and forget about me." The first option made him put his trust in fate, but ever since the beginning of the mission, fate hadn''t been good to him. So he decided to take matters into his hands.

 Chapter 144: You read my mind.

    <h4>Chapter 144: You read my mind.</h4>


    "It is too dangerous¡­ I mean, even if someone is to check it out, it''s meant to be Castiel, but I strongly advise no one goes." Out of the four, the tension caused by the anomaly had gotten more to Tessie than the others and with her little experience in the wild, she couldn''t help but worry about ke''s safety.


    "I agree with Tessie, If someone is meant to go it''s me. With darkbringer, I would be able to escape in case anything happens." Castiel said.


    "I know you will be the best for the mission, but trust me I can handle this. Besides I more of a solo guy and if something is to happen to the team, you will y a more important role than me." ke said with a quick wink that made Castiel and Brian drop the case.


    Theoretically, Castiel was the best man for the task but if something was topromise his stealth state or if the thing that was causing the chaos in both regions was there and was able to sense him, Castiel would be a sitting duck.


    But if ke was to handle the task, with the system''srge detection range he would be able to avoid unnecessary danger and if he was to be discovered he would have a higher chance of survival since he had three elements and the help of the system.


    Also, it would be easier for him to understand what was going on if he had direct and unaltered information.


    "If you say so, then please be careful out there..." Tessie said with a worried expression as she stared into ke''s eyes.


    "Don''t worry I will be back soon, so you should harvest as much as you can before I am back." ke could sense the worry in tone and knew that she cared about him, but with so many people present he could only act like a professional.


    Without wasting more time ke began proceeding uphill.


    He would have loved to get things over with by activating lightning reinforcement thereby increasing his speed, but since he didn''t know where to search or what was searching for him, ke decided to reduce his mana emission.


    [North East, 97 meters. Engage with caution¡­] the system immediately reported when the Rugor entered its range of detection.


    ''On it¡­'' ke changed direction and sped towards the direction.


    [It¡­ It looks like it isn''t moving?] The system said in a confused tone.


    ''Let''s go closer and have a better look.''


    When ke got within 50 meters of the Rugor, the system''s detection, same with the bleats became clearer and they sounded nothing like moans, but cries of agonizing pain.


    "My God!" When ke finally got his eyes on the Rugor he was shocked to the core by the scene.


    Under a tree which had a trunk damaged by the impact of its fall,id a Rugor which had one of its back legs missing. On its stomach was arge gash from which its entrails could be seen.


    Both of its hind legs were most likely broken from the fall and all over its thick skin were cuts that made ke wonder what kind of beast was able to prate the hide of this walking tank, but because of its monstrous vitality, the Rugor was very far from losing consciousness.


    [What the fuck could do this to a Rugor!] Even the system was shocked by the scene, it couldn''t believe that he was looking at a Rugor neither could it believe that something was able to do this to a Rugor.


    ''What are the chances that our suspect is a king rank beast?'' At this point ke couldn''t think of any beast under the King rank level that could easily bully a Rugor, leaving king rank beasts as his only suspects.


    [I highly doubt. All King rank beasts are sentient and intelligent beings that knowingly avoid living close to human settlements to avoid human interactions which might lead to them being hunted down. Meaning the closest one should be deep in the Bulian hills.] The system said.


    [Also, they wouldn''t cause such chaos because it causes so manyplications that might garner a lot of attention.]


    [Wait¡­ I sense two spatial distortions; one close to the top of this hill and another 367 meters away from our current location.] The system suddenly reported.


    ''Is it safe?'' ke couldn''t help but ask as he took a defensive stance.


    A portal opening out of thin air meant that someone or something wasing from the other side and for someone to be able to make a spatial corridor it meant he/she possessed a high tier artifact and 8 out of 10 times, someone in possession of such an artifact would be on an equal or higher level with the artifact.


    [So, far nothing has happened, but I don''t think staying to find out will be a good idea.] The system said.


    No matter what came out of the spatial, it wasn''t good for ke. If it was what had maimed the Rugor ke would be in big trouble and if it was a human who had evil intentions ke had no chance of survival.


    ''You read my mind.'' ke said as he took ast look at the Rugor who would most likely bleed to death, before heading back to his team''s position.


    ''Since when were you able to sense up to 300 meters?'' ke asked as he weaved through the trees.


    [From my mana vision, the world is just like ake. When a stone is dropped ripples spread out and within 100 meters I can give a detailed scan of everything.]


    [Outside 100 meters the ripple begins to fade I am only able to pick up the imbnce in the mana of the surroundings. Since all elements are naturally in bnced quantity, an increase in the quantity of a certain element will cause an imbnce which I will only be able to sense but nothing more.]


    "How did it go?" Immediately ke entered the team''s sight, they approached him.

 Chapter 145: Thats all I got.

    <h4>Chapter 145: That''s all I got.</h4>


    "You wouldn''t believe what I saw¡­" ke told them about everything except for the spatial cracks, leaving them both scared and shocked, increasing their urge to return to the city.


    "Can we leave here already?" The eerie silence brought about by the absence of beasts in the Bulian hills gave her the creeps and having no idea what they were against, she didn''t want to spend even a second more in such a ce.


    "I agree, the more time we spend here, the more I feel something will go wrong..." Castiel said with furrowed brows. If something was able to do such a thing to a rugor then there was a chance that none of them would even be able to escape, talk more of defeating the unknown beast.


    "Let''s get out of¡­" ke was forced to pause when a 3-meter wide circle with multiple inscribed arrays appeared beneath them.


    ''Teleportation arrays!'' With only a nce, the trio recognized the array and without wasting a second, they began casting their spells to take flight.


    Castiel began preparing both mini me bursts to take him off the ground and darksiphon to grab hold of a tree branch in case the first n failed.


    With the water element being the only element he could use in such a situation, Brian began manipting the water in the atmosphere to form water tendrils he could use totch onto a tree branch.


    As for ke, he nned on using me burst tounch himself towards the flustered Tessie and if worst came to worst he could use space freeze to prevent four of them from falling.


    [Don''t cast any spell, the spatial corridor is barely stable, casting any spell will cause an explosion!]


    Before the trio could activate any of their spells, the voice of the system rang in their heads saving the trio from blowing themselves to bits.


    ''Fuck!'' The trio cursed in unison as they could only watch themselves sink into the spatial corridor.


    Whoosh!


    Before they were halfway through the gate, a golden whipshed onto Tessie''s waist pulling her out of the spatial gate and out of the area.


    ''That makes things better.'' ke sighed when he saw Tessie being saved by her butler. If this was where they die, the fewer the better.


    Thud!


    The spatial gate opened above, dropping the trio butt first, and before they could react the spatial gate disappeared.


    "Where are we?" After making sure he wasn''t from a mountain, Brian opened his eyes he found himself in a corridor with perfectly carved stone walls.


    Illuminating the corridor which stretched farther than they could see, were magic crystals that were ced at regr intervals.


    "The empire uses concrete and bricks for their buildings, meaning we are either underground or in an ancient building..." ke said as he scanned their environment. "It''s most likely underground because I highly doubt a ce as big as this wouldn''t easily go unnoticed and wouldn''t be on the map." ke came to a conclusion.


    "So how do we get out of here?" Castiel asked.


    "Do you have any idea where we are?" ke redirected question to the system.


    [About being underground, you are correct but even I don''t have a clue about where we are... I don''t think it would be a nice idea for your friend to do that.] The system pointed at Brian.


    "This was meant to be an easy mission, how did things get soplicated?" Brian struck at the wall in frustration.


    Hearing the system''s words, ke quickly turned to Brian who was about to punch the wall and cast space freeze preventing him froming in contact with the wall.


    "The walls are coursing with energy and till we find out where we are I think we should avoid touching things..." ke said.


    "My God! What amount of energy is needed to power this ce?!" Both Castiel and Brian were shocked when they used their mana senses to see floods of mana passing through both walls.


    "How is it possible for stone to conduct so much mana?" ke was intrigued by the walls and would have loved to study the walls but having no idea of the dangers that lurked in the corridors made him quickly lose interest.


    "So what next?" Castiel said in a tired tone.


    "Honestly, I have no idea of where to go or how long we are going to stay. I am¡­ tired." ke let out a helpless sigh as hey on the floor.


    The umted pressure that came with making critical decisions as the leader of the team and the new hurdle that came in form of an empty corridor had gotten to him, leaving him little to no will left.


    "From simple gamers who just wanted to make money doing the one thing they love, to fighting beasts and entering situations even the devil wouldn''t find funny. Where did we go wrong?" Brian thought aloud as he joined ke on the floor.


    "Why can''t we be like the other adventurer parties that take ordinarymissions?" ke asked as he stared nkly at the magic crystal directly above him.


    "Is that it?" Castiel''s question caused both of them to turn.


    "What?" They asked in unison.


    "How you guys give up so easily?" Castiel said causing the two to pause and stare at him waiting for him to continue.


    "That''s all I got¡­" Castiel said making themugh and easing the tension in the atmosphere. "Fuck motivation, I too am tired..." Castiel said as he joined them on the floor.


    "What if something was to meet us in such a position?" ke asked.


    "¡­"


    The trio paused for a second and thought about it before bursting intoughter, but then they puased and looked each other in the eye and burst into another round ofughter.


    [¡­] The system couldn''t help but facepalm when it saw the trio.


    (AN: Have you ever felt so stressed and worried that you begin tough even though you know you are deep shit?"

 Chapter 146: Misdirection.

    <h4>Chapter 146: Misdirection.</h4>


    [¡­] The system couldn''t help but facepalm when it saw the trio.


    They were actuallyughing about a serious topic. If something was to appear in such a narrow space they were in the worst position to react and considering how the walls weren''t meant to be touched it would be a massacre.


    But putting into consideration that these were a bunch of 16-year-old kids who were going through a tough time, the system could only cut them some ck and hope that nothing bad would happen.


    [Let''s hope they aren''t that unlucky.] The system thought to itself.


    After fighting and avoiding beasts in such a tense atmosphere, the trio had reached their limits both mentally and physically causing them to not care less about anything. All they wanted right now was to take a rest and hopefully when they woke everything will be a dream.


    ¡­


    The trio slept for close to 5 hours and if not for their location and the unknown danger that lurk in the corridors they were ready to go up to 10 hours because of the fatigue.


    Immediately they were all awake and confirmed that they weren''t sent to heaven in their sleep, they went into the 2nd most important thing, food.


    "I''m not sure if it was paranoia or your love for food, but I have to thank whichever for making us store a weeks'' worth of food..." Brian said as he munched on a zed chicken drumstick.


    "No matter the amount we have, it wouldn''t be enough if we end up not finding a way." ke would have loved to brag about it and shame them for persecuting him when he ate, but after considering that they hadn''t left the spot they arrived and had no idea how big the ce might be, he had a feeling that their food supply might not be enough.


    "Set the system to make a map as we go just in case we end up separating. We don''t want to get lost." After their eating and regaining their energy, the trio decided it was time for them to look for a way out.


    "Right now, we have no idea of our position and the closest thing we have to apass is these freaking walls..." ke said pointing at the walls.


    "We can either go with the flow of mana hoping it could lead us out or we could go against the current and hope it takes us to the source of the energy. So, what do you guys think?" ke asked.


    "I suggest that we go against the current because the chances that the current will lead us to the exit is quite slim. But with our knowledge as forgemasters, we all know that power of any magical itemes from the core." Castiel mentioned valid points that couldn''t be overlooked.


    "Well, I suggest we move in the direction of the current because even though we might not be sure it leads to the exit, we shouldn''t forget about the thing that has been causing the chaos had most likelye from here, meaning going deeper in search of the so-called core is very dangerous." Brian objected with another valid point causing them to turn to ke for his opinion.


    "Sorry Brian, but I have to go with Castiel on this one. With how long this corridor is, you can tell this isn''t a small ce and we can''t act on a hunch."


    If mana is distributed by the core to power everything in this ce, it means anything can be in that direction." ke said pointing forward.


    "But if we go for the core, although dangerous, we could get a better understanding of where we are and what to do next. Besides I don''t think there is anything we 3 can''t handle." ke reassured Brian of the n.


    "Fine, but if we end up dying it would be on both of you." At this point, Brian couldn''t care less about what fate had in stock for them because he was tired of having so much bad luck, but if this was meant to be their end he was hoping it would be quick.


    Aftering to an agreement the trio went against the mana current. They kept their eyes and mana senses up as they walked for close to 20 minutes before reaching a cross-intersection.


    "Do we keep moving forward?" Brian asked.


    "Wait, this is doesn''t make any sense..." ke said while scanning the mana flow of the walls. "The mana current from all paths except for the way we came through meet at this point. The question is which path leads to the core."


    "Why are you looking at me that way?" Castiel asked Brian who had an ''I told you so'' look on his face.


    "Nothing¡­" Brian said with a smirk as he turned to ke with the same expression.


    "C''mon man, you can''t me us for this. What are the chances that we wouldn''t have met the same thing if we followed the current?" ke said in justification.


    "I wasn''t ming anyone, when did it be a crime for someone to smile?" Brian said as his smirk grew wider.


    "So which way?" Resisting the urge to smack his face, Castiel asked for their next course of action.


    "I think we should just keep going straight." ke''s suggestion was unanimously epted and as they were about to move the system''s voice rang in ke''s head.


    [Wait, there is something wrong here. ce your hand on the ground for a second.] Not questioning the system, ke crouched and ced his palm on the floor.


    [Just like I thought. This is a misdirection, there is an array here and for you to know the right path we have to break it.] The system reported.


    "Breaking an array?" Both Castiel and Brian were shocked by the discovery. "Why haven''t we been thought that in the magic academy?"


    "ording to the system, the reason why we haven''t been thought about it is that breaking an array involves having profound knowledge of the said array and having a lot of mana control required to cast the breaking spell and all these are things weck." ke ryed the system''s words to them.

 Chapter 147: Misdirection array.

    <h4>Chapter 147: Misdirection array.</h4>


    "ording to the system, the reason why we haven''t been thought about it is that breaking an array involves having profound knowledge of the said array and having a lot of mana control required to cast the breaking spell and all these are things weck." ke ryed the words of the system to them.


    "So how are we meant to break the array if we don''t have the requirements?" ke asked the system.


    [I never said you didn''t have the requirements, I meant them.] The system said pointing at Castiel and Brian.


    ''Huh?'' ke was lost by the system''s words.


    [The most important requirement needed to cast the array breaker spell is mana control and out of you 3 you are the closest because your willpower and mana control are greater than those of your peers due to your extracurricr training.] The system exined.


    The amount of willpower and mana control needed to cast space freeze wasn''t what many students in the academy could handle, but after weeks of vigorous training, ke could almost instantly cast space freeze without a problem proving how far he had gotten.


    ''Lead the way.'' ke stopped with the questions and let the system carry on.


    [Like I said 2 things are involved when breaking an array; first you have to have knowledge of the array and its weak points in other to have a chance at breaking it because wrongly tampering with an array might lead to unforeseen events and when unlucky, a gruesome death.] The system''s words made ke gulp.


    [Second thing you need to know is the spell for breaking an array. I call it short circuit and it involves using mana, space, and lightning element to break the weak points (nodes) of an array.] The system said.


    ''Did you make a spell just for me?'' Seeing how the spell was suited for him, ke was surprised that the system developed a spell for him.


    [The All-father awakened the lightning and space element and he was the one that developed it, so don''t tter yourself.] The system shook its ''head''.


    ''Just as I thought¡­'' ke snorted.


    [Back to the array problem¡­ I will handle the space part by transmitting the positions of all the nodes of the array, all you have to do is use needle mana construct to connect to the nodes before overloading them with lightning energy, thereby disrupting the flow of mana in the array, forcing it to shut down.] The system exined in detail the process.


    ''Alright, I am ready¡­'' After taking a deep breath ke crouched and connected to the array by cing his palm on where the flood of mana from the 3 corridors intersected.


    [On my mark, go.] The system connected ke to its mana vision, giving him an in-depth view of how an array looked like.


    "My God!" ke was speechless when the hallway changed from stone walls to floods of transparent liquid meeting at the point he stood.


    ''It''s just like theke exnation you gave about mana.'' ke amazed by the system''s mana vision.


    [I know you are excited, but let''s keep our minds on the prize.] The system said snapping ke out of his reverie.


    Sixteen lights appeared at different points of the array showing the location of nodes. With unwavering focus, ke conjured sixteen mana needles and pierced each node simultaneously.


    After he had made sure all the mana needles were in ce, he began charging up a burst of electricity and releasing it into the needles, causing a chain reaction in the nodes making the array forcefully shut down.


    ''That was easy..." Compared to how the system had spoken about breaking an array, this was too easy, shocking ke for a moment.


    [As I said, don''t tter yourself.] The system said. [The reason why those at your level aren''t thought this is because locating the nodes requires knowledge of the array, mana control, and most importantly mana perception. Linking you to my mana vision took care of the most difficult part making the rest of the operation a piece of cake.]


    ''So when do I get to learn mana vision?'' Not having any ns of arguing with the system, ke quickly epted the fact and looked for a way to get better.


    [You will surely learn mana vision, but for when, I am not sure. Obtaining mana vision depends on your understanding of mana and just like your assimtion with the space element, it has toe within.] The system exined leaving ke dejected.


    "What the¡­" The conversationsted only for few seconds and just after they were done breaking the misdirection array, the corridors in front and at the left phased out of existence leaving only that at the right and the trio dumbstruck.


    [That is the ssic misdirection array. If you had gone through any of those corridors you would have alerted the owner and activated so many traps that you wouldn''t know what killed you.] The system answered ke''s question before he could ask it.


    "Are you sure that way is safe?" Seeing what just happened Brian couldn''t help but double-check.


    "Let''s find out¡­" ke said as he led them through the corridor and against the mana current.


    After 5 minutes of walking, the trio reached a silver double door made out of an unknown metal.


    With the one thing they had learned so far, no oneid a finger on it, instead, they sort for the system''s opinion.


    [It''s protected by 5 ovepping arrays, but this won''t be a problem all it would take is sometimes because you might need some rest.] The system gave a report after taking a close look at the arrays.


    [The first 2 arrays are the hardening and shock absorbing array. Here are their nodes, go for it.] With mana vision on, the system transmitted the location of 28 nodes causing ke to break a sweat as he cracked them.


    [3 more to go, take a rest, and when you are ready we continue.] The system gave him a break after seeing him sweat.

 Chapter 148: Rotating nodes?!

    <h4>Chapter 148: Rotating nodes?!</h4>


    Because of ovepping arrays and ke''sck of skill, they couldn''t directly disable the arrays in charge of the traps and alerting the owner of the facility, so they had to take down all the arrays piece by piece.


    [3 more to go, take a rest, and when you are ready we continue.] The system gave him a break after seeing him sweat.


    The next was the trap and rm arrays which were quite tricky. The rm array had 19 nodes while the traps had 26 nodes making it a total of 42 nodes, but the tricky part was that both of them were interlinked.


    Disabling the traps would trigger the rms informing the owner of their presence which most likely meant death and vice versa.


    Also if ke wasn''t careful enough to not trigger the traps, the nodes would shoot high-powered beams of energy that would turn him into a human sieve meaning every option apart from sess led to death.


    The highest ke had attempted so far was 30 nodes, 42 was just on another level and there was also the pressure that came from knowing one slip up could lead to their deaths.


    "I think I need more time to rest..." ke said as he began doubting if he was up to the task.


    "Is everything okay?" Seeing ke''s sour expression made them ask, causing him to exin the situation to them.


    "Everything in this damn ce is protected by at least an array and considering the amount of time I spend on an array and the breaks to replenish my energy it means we will be staying here for a while." ke broke the bad news to them causing both Castiel and Brian to let out a sigh of helplessness.


    "So it isn''t a question of when are we getting out of here, but are we getting out of here?" Castiel said in a depressed tone that made the corridor turn silent as the trio fell into deep thoughts.


    "We can''t die just like that, we still have dreams to achieve and our loved ones back home who are probably mourning us. I don''t know about you guys but I don''t want to die all because of a silly D rank mission. I mean, I was born for greatness and it will be a thing of shame to die like this." After a few minutes of thinking, ke''s feeling of helplessness to fate was changed to determination.


    ke''s sudden outburst shocked them, but without even waiting for their thoughts, ke went back to the door to face what was his present nightmare.


    "Let''s do this¡­" ke took in a deep breath before he connected to the system''s mana vision.


    He quickly conjured 25 mana needless without much stress and then went ahead to conjure 5 causing him to grit his teeth as he endured the mental strain.


    "Ahhh" ke screamed in agonizing pain as he conjured 7 more mana needles.


    Not only was the pain of conjuring new mana needles tearing at his mind but he still had to maintain the previous ones, causing the pain to only rise.


    Thud!


    ke dropped on his knees as his veins pooped out and his eyes reddened with tears rolling down his cheeks. He felt likeva was continuously being poured on his head as it was being stretched apart by hot steel chains.


    His entire body was drenched in sweat and had lost its strength. It was only his sheer willpower and the memories of his mom''s smile that stopped him from fainting due to the extreme mental pain.


    [Don''t give up. You are almost there, all you need to do now is short it down.] The system''s voice brought back ke''s fading consciousness.


    Zzzzg! Zzzzg!


    Lightning arcs began emanating from ke''s body and after charging for a while they all gathered at his right arm ced on the door and made their way into the array.


    Boom!


    The lightning arcs made their way into the nodes through the mana needles, disrupting the array''s mana flow hence forcing it to shut down.


    Thud!


    The moment the system alerted ke about the sess, he lost consciousness and dropped to the ground unconscious.


    "¡­." Castiel and Brian were stunned by what just happened. A moment ago ke was giving a speech and before they could even reply his hand was on the door and before they knew what was happening he was already screaming before falling unconscious.


    "Yup, he is definitely insane¡­" Brian said in an astonished tone but got a re from Castiel causing them to go check on ke.


    ¡­


    After more than 3 hours after he passed out, ke finally woke up with an aching head and a grumbling stomach.


    "How are you feel?" Castiel and Brian stopped cultivating the moment they noticed ke had regained consciousness.


    "Like shit..." ke said as he held his aching head.


    [You need to eat and have some rest. With your current strength you won''t even be able to conjure a mana needle.] The system advised ke on his condition and without arguing ke did as asked.


    After he had eaten enough, ke went back to sleep without bothering about the final array.


    It was after an 8-hour nap that ke regained his strength and finally had the chance to look at the obstacle ahead.


    ''The fuck is going on?'' ke was bbergasted when the system connected him to its mana vision. The lights representing the nodes were rotating and they were 30 in number making it harder for ke to have a clear target at them.


    [The increase in the difficulty of the array means there is something of value at the other side.] The system said.


    ''I guess if I was the owner of this ce and the level of arrays were to remain the same for everything single thing, I wouldn''t have bothered to set up arrays in the first ce.'' ke thought.


    [Luckily the array isn''t that high level and since we have deactivated the alert array, you can have as many tries as you want as long as you don''tpletely go off course.] The system said causing a smile to appear on ke''s face.

 Chapter 149: White trail.

    <h4>Chapter 149: White trail.</h4>


    [Luckily the array isn''t that high level and since we have deactivated the rm array, you can have as many tries as you want as long as you don''tpletely go off course.] The system said causing a smile to appear on ke''s face.


    ''Alright let''s give it a try.'' ke said in an excited tone.


    His headache was gone and he was brimming with energy, renewing his determination to leave the underground dungeon.


    To crack the array, ke could conjure 30 mana needles and synch their rotation with that of the nodes or he could conjure the needles and wait for the right time to connect them.


    The first option was insane and unreal for someone at ke level, but the second option was doable.


    "This shouldn''t be a problem¡­" Since ke was able to disable 45 nodes, 30 nodes are meant to be a walk in the park, so he thought.


    ke went at it for 30 minutes without a sign of progress Castiel and Brian decided to use that time to cultivate.


    ''Why must things be so hard, why must the owner have everything locked up?'' ke cursed the unknown owner as he was met with another failure.


    Although the rotation speed of the nodes was quite fast he didn''t have much of a problem with it, his main issue was his reaction speed.


    Every time he tried to connect to the nodes, either he couldn''t get all the nodes at their centers or he didn''t some of the mana needles missed their targets, causing him to growl in frustration on multiple asions.


    Soon, minutes turned to an hour, but ke wasn''t giving up. He had been on it for 2 straight hours without a break, leaving both the system and his friends stunned by his level of determination.


    Unlike the trap and rm arrays, this wasn''t tasking and the pressure of dying was no longer present, therefore enabling ke tost longer.


    "Finally!!" After 30 more minutes of trying, ke screamed out in joy, drawing the attention of Brian and Castiel who were cultivating.


    Click!


    The array at the center of the double door lit up and the doors began opening.


    Seeing this, the trio quickly got into a defensive position because no one had an idea of what was on the other side.


    Unlike the scene of a monster prison which they had expected, they saw a peaceful, spotless office.


    "This¡­ is an office?" Shock and confusion were written all over ke''s face because no one would have thought that an office would be protected by so many arrays.


    The office was 20 meters wide and at the one end of the office was a red leaf maple desk which had a brown leather chair.


    Beside the desk were 2 file cabs and on the walls were different pictures of the Bulian hills


    ke was disappointed when his eyes scanned the room and couldn''t find anything noteworthy till his eyes fell on the file cabs.


    ''Anything?'' ke asked the system to scan for any traps or hidden arrays.


    [It''s just an ordinary file cab. Every item in this room is surprisingly normal for a ce like this.] The system quickly ran a scan and reported that the cabs were clean.


    "What the fuck?" ke opened up the first cab only to see it was empty. He quickly went for the second cab, but it was also empty.


    "All that for an empty office?" At this moment Brian didn''t know whether tough or cry because it was funny that ke had been working to disable the arrays for almost a day only to see this, but this also meant they would be spending more time here.


    ''All that motivation and determination was for naught¡­'' The anger and disappointment in ke''s eyes couldn''t be hidden.


    Having not rested from disabling the array, coupled with the disappointment, ke was weak so he sat on the leather chair with his palms together in a thinking position.


    "There is no way someone in his right senses will protect an empty office with so many arrays¡­ Where the fuck is the owner of this damn ce and why will he being people here without showing himself?" ke thought aloud as he activated his mana senses and began scanning the room again.


    "The walls still have the same level of mana coursing through them, just like the system said, everything herecks a mana signature meaning they are normal." At this point, ke stood up and began pacing around the room.


    "¡­" If not for their unknown location and the cloud of disappointment in the room, ke''s act of Sherlock homes would have been funny, but right now they could only hope that he did figure something out.


    After pacing around the room and finding nothing, ke returned to the leather chair and began rubbing his temples, but that was when he felt a familiar feeling.


    ''Locator.''


    Having used the powers of a locator multiple times, ke knew the signs of the irvoyance skill. He quickly emptied his mind of doubts and focused on the thought of something special being in the room.


    Out of nowhere, a white ethereal gas began filling the room, but ke didn''t lose focus as he patiently waited for the ''call''.


    The white gas in the room began shrinking before gathering to ke who then opened his eyes which had lost their pupils and were now glowing white.


    The white ethereal gas that gathered to ke burst out forming a trail that led to a certain part of the wall at the left side of the office.


    Brian and Castiel were stunned by the scene and were eager to know what was going on, but because they were afraid that disturbing ke may stop what was going they watched.


    When ke got to the end of the trail, he ced his palm on the wall.


    Click!


    When his palm got in contact with the wall, what looked like a hexagram with six rings at the vertex appeared.

 Chapter 150: A trap behind a trap.

    <h4>Chapter 150: A trap behind a trap.</h4>


    When his palm got in contact with the wall, what looked like a hexagram with six rings at the vertex appeared.


    The glow from the array began spreading out into smaller arrays that filled all corners of the room, forming arger array that left everyone including the system stunned.


    Before they could snap out of their reverie, the lights from the arrays began increasing in intensity forcing the trio to cover their eyes.


    "¡­" After a few seconds, the trio noticed that the intensity of the light had reduced so they opened their eyes only to see a well-equippedb.


    "The fuck just happened? Where are we this time?" ke asked as he looked around theboratory.


    At this point, he wasn''t sure if he was meant to be sad or happy, because there was a chance that they were out of the underground facility or to a different side of it, but that also meant they would begin from scratch and their maps would be rendered useless.


    [You didn''t go anywhere, the office changed to this. Let me show you.] Unlike the human eyes that couldn''t handle the intensity of light rays above a certain threshold, the system didn''t need an eye to see what was going on. So, it proceeded to show ke its memories.


    A portal appeared out of thin air and warped the furniture and file cabs to an unknown location, leaving an empty office.


    The walls began burning as if low mes were ced close to a sheet of paper. Everything including the pictures hung on the walls began burning, revealing multiple magical machines that seemed to be taking some sort of readings and pieces ofboratory furniture.


    The top part of the wall burned away, leaving a magically reinforced ss, and right in front of ke was a full reinforced double ss door, but what shocked both the system and the trio was what it saw on the other side.


    "Before we go through that door I think we have to know what''s going." Brian and Castiel nodded in unison. They were confused and at this point moving forward without having a clear idea of what was going on would cause more harm than good.


    [You remember what I told you about a concealed space? This is exactly the same thing.] The system said.


    "Are you saying I activated an array that sent us to a concealed space?" ke asked.


    [No, the reverse is the case.] The system simultaneously answered ke, while trying to figure out what was going on at the other side of the ss door, but it soon noticed that its replies were only adding more to their confusion.


    [When you cracked thest array and the entry point to the concealed space opened and you guys walked through it. What happened now is that you activated the exit point of the concealed space.]


    I wasn''t even able to sense anything because of those arrays and just in case you want to ask, I don''t have a clue about what those arrays were.] The system exined causing the trio to open their mouths agape in shock.


    "Are you saying that if I hadn''t found that array, it would have been impossible for us to walk out the same door we came through? Like a trap behind trap?] ke asked with disbelief and astonishment written all over his face.


    "Who the fuck owns this ce?" ke asked with a hint of fear and worry in his tone.


    The fact that someone would ce another trap just after one thought he/she was sessful, made him feel like he was in a horror movie where none of the captives escaped because their psychopath captor was leagues above them.


    "I don''t feelfortable here, so let''s check things out and get the hell out of here..." ke said as he approached the machines.


    "Can you read it?" When the trio approached the machine, they saw symbols that were meant to be anguage but had nothing inmon with Jotu.


    (AN: There is a problem that I just discovered, and that isnguage. When I started the novel I was aplete rookie and didn''t specify thenguage of the natives of Infinite realm. Now to address the problem. Thenguage is called Jotu and the system that came in the form of an ash ball of light automatically gives them the knowledge of Jotu.)


    [Yes I can. This is the universalnguage of Infinite realm which was used before the extinction of the other races but has been lost to time.] The system said.


    [As for the trantion, these are just readings and if my guess is correct it should be from there.] The system pointed at the ce behind the magically reinforced ss.


    "Before we check it out I think we should get more info about it." ke''s suggestion received nods because none of them wanted to be mistakenly turned to zombies or mutated because they thought it was something else.


    ke approached one of theboratory tables and after having the system confirm twice that there was no trap, ke opened one of its cabs and found a journal.


    [Trantion: Finally! Synchronization of the crystals with the arrays was a big sess. Next up stabilizing it.] The system tranted as ke flipped the pages.


    [The synchronization was a sess but afterward, the crystals became more unstable than I had predicted and if not that I contained it just in time, I would have been blown to bits! I wonder what caused it?] ke kept flipping the pages and from what he understood so far it was the journal of the researcher who was carrying out the experiments on the things in the other room.


    [Day 1 of examining the cause of the instability in the nova crystals: Didn''t get a single clue of the problem and it is quite disappointing especially after the synchronization, but hey, if I give up immediately then why am I a researcher?]


    "I think I need a seat." After reading about the first day, ke knew he was about to read a long series of trials and failures.

 Chapter 151: Nova crystals.

    <h4>Chapter 151: Nova crystals.</h4>


    "I think I need a seat." After reading about the first day, ke knew he was about to read a long series of trials and failures.


    "Huh?" When ke flipped over to the next page he was shocked because the next entry was day 126.


    [Day 126. Finally, the nova crystals have begun to show signs of stabilizing and all that is needed is time and observation.]


    [Day 5324. The nova crystals have attained 50% stability, but that isn''t only the good news if not I wouldn''t have recorded it.


    After some breakthroughs which I had in the different departments of energy studies, I think I have figured a way to make the nova crystals less susceptible to elemental instability. Also, I have a theory which if sessful, could make the nova crystals twice as efficient!]


    "It keeps on talking about this nova crystals but never says anything about its use." ke thought aloud as he flipped to the next entry that blew his mind.


    [Day 11276. The nova crystals havepletely stabilized and they have passed all the mapped out tests but they failed miserably in the organic section but since it is a personal test it can be considered a 100% sess. All that is left is mass production of the nova crystals.]


    "Isn''t that like 30 years on one project, this must be his life''s work." ke was shocked by how long the unknown researcher had spent on just 1 project.


    [Depending on one''s realm 30 years could be like a year.] The system said.


    "Finally¡­" ke flipped over to the next page which seemed to be thest, but when he took a closer look it turned out to be another entry from the same day.


    [I know it is not of character for me to make another entry for the same day, but I can''t hold in the joy! I made the most mind-blowing discovery which supersedes the rest (but it was expected since it was a product of thebination of the other branches.)


    This information is too sensitive for a journal, so I will keep it simple. We have been underestimating the power of the nova crystals all these years and I discovered how to integrate the nova crystals into almost everything!] The was the end of the journal and just after thest entry, ke saw a signature, Zultra.


    ''So, what do you think? Is it safe to enter there?" ke sort for the system''s advice before making a decision.


    [The journal says the nova crystals had stabilized, meaning it is safe. Also, I can''t sense any mana fluctuations from here, so it''s okay.] The system said.


    "Let''s check it out then."


    The trio walked towards the double ss doors and when they were less than a meter away from it, the doors automatically slid apart causing them to flinch.


    "I can''t believe that we flinched because of automatic sliding doors when we have been using it all our lives." The trio chuckled about the incident, but they soon focused on the task ahead as they walked into the room.


    The room was more than 7 meters wide and in it were 9 ss tubes that were connected to both the ceiling and the ground and floating in the ss tubes were what looked like pitch-ck diamonds thrice the size of ke''s fist.


    "Did anyone notice that the walls in here don''t have mana flowing through them?" Ever since he stepped into the room, ke hadn''t for once put off his mana senses enabling him to quickly notice the oddities.


    "You''re right¡­" Brian and Castiel said in realization.


    [That exins a lot¡­] The system''s words quickly drew ke''s attention.


    [The reason why you sense no mana flow within the walls is because of these nova crystals.] The system said in a fascinated tone. [It turns out that the nova crystals are a product of forbidden arrays.]


    "Like the ones taught to us at the academy? I mean the ones that usually bring nothing other than chaos and destruction?" ke was baffled at the system''s words because the thing usually known as the harbinger of chaos was quietly floating in a ss tube like a fragile egg.


    [I too am shocked about the discovery because bonding a forbidden array which is already a hot mess to a vtile material like a magic crystal is akin to entering a room filled with explosives with a me torch.] The system said.


    [Mana is actually flowing through the walls, but the nova crystals are absorbing it at a rate so absurd that you wouldn''t notice mana flowed into this room unless you have mana vision, but this brings us to the question, how is this possible?] The system asked even though it knew ke had no answers.


    [It is illogical that two hot mess will make something so peaceful and apart from that how did the researcher stabilize them to such a level that absorbing such an amount of mana in seconds doesn''t cause any instability?] The system kept on asking rhetorical questions as it tried to crack its head for an answer.


    "If these things absorb so much mana every second it shouldn''t they have overloaded by now, especially when you consider the fact that this underground facility looks deserted it should have been years since they were here?" Castiel asked after taking a good look at the nova crystals.


    [Normal spells and arrays draw mana from only the user or the specified source, but unlike them, forbidden arrays and magic leeches mana from everything in its surrounding and that includes trees, humans, air, water, every single thing that isposed of mana.


    The major reason forbidden magic is frowned upon is that they are bottomless pits that keep growing in size the more they absorb mana, making it hard to stop them once they had begun.] The system exined.


    "But that brings us to the question, what is the researcher using something that only absorbs mana to do?" ke''s question put everybody into deep thoughts.

 Chapter 152: Nova crystals 2.

    <h4>Chapter 152: Nova crystals 2.</h4>


    "But that brings us to the question, what is the researcher using something that only sucks in mana to do?" ke''s question put everybody into deep thoughts.


    "As it said in the journal, it doesn''t go well with organic matter meaning it can''t be too close to the user, thereby removing the idea of an equipment..." Brian said.


    "Well, that leaves us with the same idea we all have, war." Castiel and Brian nodded to ke''s words.


    [ording to the journal, it mentioned the nova crystals undergoing multiple tests, meaning they surely have many uses just that we don''t know about them.


    As for your conjecture, you are right about it being for war. They could be used to make very powerful artifacts with devastating effects that could easily turn the tide of battle.] The system said.


    "I would have love to take a closer look at the nova crystals, but who knows what would happen to me when Ie in contact with one." ke shook his head in disappointment when he realized that such a groundbreaking discovery in the field of forbidden magic couldn''t be studied.


    Unknown to all of them, the nova crystals were more like portable mana reactors with bottomless capacities, which were currently being charged.


    (AN: If you are wondering why I called it a reactor instead of a battery, it will be exined soon.)


    If the assigned trigger was activated, their prities would be reversed causing them to pour out more than 10 times the amount of mana they had umted over the centuries.


    After close to 30? minutes of trying to find new info about the nova crystals, the trio returned to theboratory and began nning their next move.


    "From what we''ve seen so far, we are most likely in a research facility, but considering how deserted it is, the universalnguage used in the journal, and the number of years the researcher had spent on the nova crystals, it is safe to say this is a secret ancient research facility..." ke said.


    "We haven''t seen any creepy thing so far, so let''s keep our fingers crossed that this isn''t one of those creepy ones we read about in web novels." Brian''s words sent chills down their spine when they remembered ugly stories they had read back on Earth.


    "Back to the topic¡­" ke was the first to snap out of his reverie. "Does anyone of you have any idea of theyouts of a research facility, magical ones, or those back on Earth?"


    "Don''t know much but one thing I know is that those on earth have multiple exists for people to evacuate the facility in case an ident urred and also for the firefighters to easily ess the building..." Brian said.


    "But in this case we are underground and the only way people could evacuate is through a tunnel or a warp gate." ke said. "As for the shaft I am not too sure because we have no idea how deep underground the facility is and since it is supposed to be a secret, I don''t think anyone would want to give away their position by making a tunnel."


    "If that is so, then our journey will be quite troublesome because if this ce was meant to be a secret then people wouldn''t be able to warp in and out of here easily in other to prevent traitors and spies from divulging information." Castiel''s line of thought made ke ponder for a while.


    "Meaning there should be warp gates at selected parts of the research facility just like the magic school..." Brian said in a delighted tone, this was the first good news he had gotten in a while.


    [Hold your horses, before you guys do anything you should hear my own part.] The system had kemunicate with them.


    [You guys are correct about the warp gates, but one thing I know for sure is that guards, in most cases golems and other forms of mechanical security are usually ced at the entrance and exits of every research facility.]


    They are even meant to be patrolling the corridors, but since we have arrived we haven''t even caught a scent of one, making it very odd. So, I advise that whatever decision you guys take, you should bear in mind that things are out there.] The system advised.


    The system''s words made the trio seriously consider their next cause of action because the research facility had a lot of question marks written all over it.


    One important question they asked themselves was, what could cause the entire ce to be deserted without leaving any signs of a battle. The thought made them shiver because everyone knew that something that could have such a level of control was beyond them.


    After 30 more minutes of nning, the trio decided to continue their journey the next day. ording to the systems time, they had spent close to 2 days in the research facility meaning they still had quite some time before they ran out of food.


    ke hadn''t gotten to rest after he cracked thest array causing him to doze off after dinner.


    The next day (ording to the system), the trio set out on their journey to locate the exit, but unlikest time they didn''t meet any array even when they arrived at a junction that branched to the right.


    Without bickering, the trio kept moving straight because ording to their maps they were on the outskirts and it was logical to cover the outeryer before going deeper.


    When they reached a double door simr to the one they just came from, the trio was afraid that they were stuck in a loop.


    [They are simr arrays protecting the doors, but I am pretty sure they are different things.] After the system had confirmed they weren''t in a loop, ke immediately went to work, while Castiel and Brian began cultivating.


    "First 2 down, now for the main thing." In less than 30 minutes, ke was surprisingly done with the least troublesome arrays and was about to face his two arch enemies.

 Chapter 153: End of rampage.

    <h4>Chapter 153: End of rampage.</h4>


    "First 2 down, now for the main thing."


    In less than 30 minutes, ke was surprisingly done with the least troublesome arrays and was about his two arch enemies. He was up against the rm and trap arrays, but this time ke felt more confident in himself.


    He connected to the system''s mana vision and began conjuring the mana needles. Straight off the bat, ke conjured 15 mana needles that made him feel a slight pounding in the head, but that was nothing to him.


    He went ahead and conjured 15 more mana needles of equal dimensions, but this time he felt a mind quaking sting that made him grit his teeth in pain, forcing him to pause for a moment.


    The more mana needles ke conjured the more concentration he needed to stop them from dissipating and also to form new ones meaning the mental strain was only increasing geometrically the further he went.


    Although ke was determined he wasn''t stupid, He had conjured 30 mana needles out of 45, and with the amount of strain on his mind, he knew that if he conjured thest 15 at once he would copse due to the instant overwhelming stress and that would spell death for the three of them. So, he decided to take it easy and split it into 2.


    After more than 30 minutes, ke had conjured 38 mana needles out of 45, but he was already on his knees and his clothes were drenched in sweat. He felt his mind was being torn apart, butpared to thest time it was much better.


    It took him another 30 minutes to conjure 4 more needles and close to an hour to conjure thest 3.


    At this point, ke was incapable of forming thoughts due to the hellish pain that made his eyes red and teary, but since he hade this far there was no point in going back.


    Using thest ounce of energy left in his body, ke summoned lightning energy from his stars and channeled them into the mana needles.


    Thud!


    After the system had signaled that it was a sess, ke dropped to the floor, but unlike thest time, he was still conscious but was unable to move and an inch.


    When they confirmed that ke was breathing, they returned to their cultivation because they knew that all he needed was rest.


    ''I was at least an hour faster and it didn''t hurt that muchpared to thest time.'' If not for his inability to move a muscle ke''s face would have been brimming with a proud smile.


    [It was expected. The key to the strength of one''s mana control lies in his/her willpower and mental strength.


    Thest time you disabled these arrays, you broke past your mental limit, therefore improving your mental strength just like when you exercise and when you couple that with your absurd willpower, it is bound to be easier.] The system said.


    Back in the magic school, the system had been giving ke ways of improving his mana control, but they were all quite slow.


    Now that they were in a facility entirely rigged with different arrays, the system saw it as a perfect opportunity to train ke''s mana control and improve his knowledge of arrays and so far, the level of progress was astonishing.


    ''If that is so, then I better get back to work.'' ke was thrilled after seeing that disabling arrays increased his mana control at a quite fast pace and was eager to continue the ''training'', but a shockwave of pain assaulted his body when he tried to get up.


    ''Rest it is¡­'' ke thought as his body gave in to sleep.


    ¡­


    After getting 4 hours of sleep, ke returned to disabling array, but as he was about to connect to mana vision, the system spoke up.


    [I know you are eager to get stronger, but keep in mind that if your mind experiences an amount of strain that it can''t handle, there is a high chance that you will lose your sanity. So, you have to be careful and know your limit.] The system warned him.


    ''I understand. It''s just like weightlifting, if you are to lift weight levels above you, you might get dislocations and muscle tears that could even cripple you.'' ke was well away of his limits and knew when to stop.


    ke quickly resumed disabling thest array and after close to 3 hours of trial and error, a click was heard from the double door and after a few seconds, the doors automatically opened.


    Having learned that they were in a research facility and not a dungeon there was no need to be on guard, but when the doors opened they were stunned for a moment.


    It looked exactly like thestboratory, but this made them wonder what happened to the concealment space trap.


    "Let''s check out what was being researched here¡­" ke said as the trio walked into theboratory.


    They checked all the cabs, but they couldn''t find any journal or any form of records about the research going on behind the ss doors.


    "Are we just going in there without any information on it?" Brian was bbergasted when he saw ke standing in front of the automatic slide ss doors.


    "Of course, as you can see everything is intact, there are no error messages on the machines, and the tubes protecting the experiments are in perfect condition." ke said as he walked into the next room.


    ¡­


    On the surface of the Bulian hills¡­


    The rampage caused by the malfunctioning of the research facility''s core was over and the tens of golems along with other mechanical contraptions were returning to the facility with beasts and herbs they were tasked to gather.


    All over the Bulian hills, simr warp gates that teleported the trio into the research facility began appearing and bringing the golems directly to their charging pods at the center of each floor of the facility.

 Chapter 154: True mana (1)

    <h4>Chapter 154: True mana (1)</h4>


    "Any ideas on what it is?" ke asked the system as they looked at 9 magically reinforced tubes twice the size of those in the previous room.


    Coming from the top of 8 tubes connected to the ceiling where the different elements apart from the space element and at the center of the room was the 9th tube which had only pure mana being pumped into it.


    At the center of each tube was a mass of ck gas that kept on devouring whatever element that was pumped at it, but the purpose was what the system was trying to figure out.


    [The more I see the projects of this unknown researcher, the more I really want to know more about him.] The system was awed by the works of Zultra.


    So far, the level of research of forbidden magic in Infinite realm was stagnant and that was because the unstable and chaotic nature of forbidden arrays had taken the lives of almost everyone that had tried to study it.


    In the space of a day, the system had seen forbidden magic used in 2 different ways, and with information of other energy research fields mentioned in the journal, coupled with the fact that they hadn''tpletely explored the area they were bound to be other research on forbidden magic.


    [The ck gas seems to be converting everything ites in contact with to¡­ nothing.] The system said in a confused tone.


    "I don''t get, do you mean the ck gas devours the mes just like the ck crystals?" ke was even more confused.


    [No¡­ No, it actually converts it to something, but I am not sure what exactly it is.] The system was trying to figure out what was going on in the tubes, but his words further confused ke.


    [I can''t see anything with my mana vision, but I can feel there is a form of energy being released at the bottom of the tube. It isn''t mana but it''s more thrice as potent as mana] The system was puzzled and at the same time excited by the discovery.


    It began checking the other tubes, right from the fire tube to the darkness tube, they all produced the same amount of the unknown energy, but when the system took a look at the lower half of the 9th tube at the center of the room it was shocked to the core.


    [My God!] The system was speechless when it saw that the 9th tube had more than 8 times the amount of the unknown energy whenpared to the others.


    [That¡­ The tube pumping mana seems to be converting the quantity of the unknown energy to 9 times the original amount! I think I am getting a clue of what''s going on here.] The system sounded like a mad scientist that just got an epiphany on a problem that has been troubling him.


    "What?!" ke was stunned by the news and had to make sure his ears weren''t deceiving him.


    Not only could the ck gas convert the elements to a form of energy three times as potent as mana, but it produced more than 8 times the quantity pumped in.


    It meant whatever or whoever the ck gas powers would be able to cast city-leveling spells continuously without running out of mana.


    [You heard me right¡­] The system''s confirmation left ke star-struck causing Castiel and Brian to wonder what was going on.


    After recovery from his shock and exining them, ke asked the question that was on their mind. "How is that even possible?"


    [I am not too sure, but from what I can see and know, it seems like the ck mass of gas is breaking down the mana to its basicponents before converting it.] The system exined, but it left Castiel and Brian confused forcing ke to exin.


    "Nature''s energy (mana) is formed when the 9 elementsbine and remain in a bnced state." ke said. "When you want to cast a fireball, you absorb nature''s energy, but as it passes through your stars the 8 elements that aren''t fire gets filtered out, then you use your will to shape it as it pleases."


    "In this case, the ck mass of gas is acting as an artificial star, but a more effective star that makes use of energy of all the elements." ke exined.


    "My question is, isn''t there meant to be something like aw of conservation of mass?" Brian asked


    (AN: For those who don''t know. Law of conservation of mass states that, matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but can only be changed from one form to another.)


    [There actually is for the conversion of mana to the various elements, but I do have a feeling that this is still within thew of mana and It might be that we don''t have a clue of this form of energy to make the calction.] The system said.


    After close to an hour of observation and pondering, the system came with a theory and shared it with them.


    [What if the ck fog isn''t breaking down than mana before converting it, but breaking down the elements into the lowest and the purest form of energy?]


    "That makes a lot of sense because it would have been really scary if the researcher could perfectly control something that can break down mana to the finest detail, but what can be purer than mana?" Castiel asked, but even the system had no answer for that.


    "What do you think will happen if that thing was released from the containment tube?" ke asked as he nkly stared at the ck fog.


    [It will act as a ck hole and devour everything ites in contact with. It will begin with the earth and since it is made of mana, it will it through that spot until it gets to the core of the and does the same.] The system exined.


    ''No wonder forbidden magic is punishable by death, it could end the life of the if care isn''t taken.'' ke shivered when he thought of it.

 Chapter 155: True mana (II).

    <h4>Chapter 155: True mana (II).</h4>


    ''No wonder forbidden magic is punishable by death, it could end the life of the if care isn''t taken.'' ke shivered when he thought of it.


    "Before we call it a day, I suggest we limit the number of doors or arrays we crack. Not only is this research facility big, but we don''t have an idea of how many rooms there are, and if we keep spending a day on each door we will never make it out of here before our food stock runs out." Brian said to the group.


    Every one of them knew about this, but the problem was that ke and the system had double thoughts on if they wanted to leave.


    Just from the 2 rooms alone, they had learned about things which even those in the outside world couldn''t imagine, but of what use was the knowledge if they eventually died of hunger.


    "What is that look on your face, don''t tell me you don''t what to leave." Brian stared at ke with disbelief written all over his face as he saw his reluctant expression.


    ke had practically been the only one working to get them out of the research facility. With the dangerous determination he showed before opening the firstboratory, it was very shocking that he had a change of heart.


    [The kid is right, if we don''t manage to find any sort of food supply while exploring this ce, we would have no other option than to leave when we find an exit, but that is if we do.] The system said.


    ''So much for me being the pessimist.'' ke snorted. ''On the bright side, my mana control increases with every array I crack hence increasing my speed, meaning we might get a lot of knowledge before we leave.'' For the first time in a long while, ke was truly optimistic.


    "If we end up discovering a food storage and it has been confirmed that the research facility is safe, I don''t think I will be leaving anymore." ke said.


    "Same here¡­" Castiel had exactly the same thoughts as ke.


    They had still had at least a week before the magic school''s resumption and it wasn''t as if they had any major ns, so staying back to learn more was the best option.


    "If you guys say so, then I would stay back as well." Brian gave out a helpless sigh. "Now can we discuss how much time we spend on arrays?"


    After some minutes of delegation, the trio hade to an agreement. Since they had no idea how big the research facility was and had no clue on how much ground they had covered, they agreed to skip a door and crack the one after it, but that was unless something important came up.


    After the delegation, the trio had dinner, and ke for the first time in a while brought out a beast core to cultivate.


    He had been the one cracking the arrays on the doors, while the others cultivated, therefore decreasing the gap between them.


    The worst part was that immediately he was done with thest arrays, not only did he lose consciousness but the recovery rate of the mind was quite slowpared to the body, hence making him unable to concentrate while absorbing the energy from the crystal.


    With the hours they spent on analyzing the ck gas, the time spent on talking and having dinner, coupled with the breakthrough his mental strength had undergone, ke had recovered enough mental to continue cultivating.


    ''Let''s see how far we can go.'' ke said as he sat in a crossed leg and began absorbing energy from a beast core.


    So far, ke had filled up 23 stars of the champion realm and ording to the system''s description of the Azkelwert hourss, him filling up the 24th star meant he hadpleted the 3rd pir of the hourss'' protectiveyer.


    ¡­


    3 days ago¡­


    When Arnold had saved Tessie Winchester from being teleported to an unknown location by the unknown warp gate, Tessie had beckoned on him to search for the trio, but due to how dangerous the Bulian hills were, and Tessie being a burden Arnold couldn''t do much.


    He could risk his life neither that of the young mistress just because they were her friends and apart from that, they were meant to be the ones protecting themissioner not the other way around.


    ''Thank the Gods that master didn''t trust them enough and sent me here.'' Arnold couldn''t help let out a sigh of relief, because if he wasn''t there, the Winchester household would have been in disarray, if not mourning.


    Not having any ideas of meeting the beast responsible for the chaos in the region or waiting for a warp gate to take them away, Arnold led Tessie out of the Bulian hills.


    Thanks to the artifacts on him and the strength of a mid-realm Hero, Arnold used his aura to drive away weak beasts, while those that were strong enough to resist his aura were easily dispatched.


    With Arnold, the journey to the city wall and then to the Winchester manor was a smooth one and after informing his master and madam about what had urred, he went straight to the adventurer''s association and reported the incident.


    "Are you trying to say that 3 adventurers of ours just went MIA?" Susan was shocked by the news, but she quicklyposed and handed a form to the butler.


    "Please kindly wait as I ry the news to my superiors." After cross-checking the form, Susan gave a light bow before heading to the guild master''s office.


    Normally, everyint or problem was meant to be taken to the vice guild master, Langford, and if the situation was deemed worthy of the guild master''s attention, then it would be personally taken to him, but right now the case was different.


    Not only did the situation involve its members, but it also caused the discement of many beasts from their habitats in the Bulian hills, and most importantly Arnold mentioned a huge anomaly that couldn''t be easily looked over.


    ''If this isn''t worth his attention, then I wonder what is?'' Susan gulped as she knocked on the door.

 Chapter 156: True mana (III)

    <h4>Chapter 156: True mana (III)</h4>


    *Click*


    The door opened and with nervous steps, Susan walked into the room where she saw guild master Walden sitting behind a curved red maple desk that had piles of signed documents.


    "Hello, Susan how may I be of help?" Walden the guild master of the Calton city branch of the adventure''s association said with a warm smile.


    "Guild master Walden, I would like to report a problem that requires your immediate attention." Susan held her breath as she waited for Walden''s reply.


    "Alright, let me have a look at the report." Guild master Walden''s reply shocked Susan for a second, but she quicklyposed herself and handed over the paper in her hand.


    Walden was a man in his mid-200''s but looked like he was in histe 50''s. He was a man of height, 1.75 meters (5 feet 9 inches) with a cool undertone skinplexion.


    He wore a in ck robe that made his perfectly trimmed white hair and brows stand out. He had a skinny stature that if not for his perfect hair and eyes full of vigor, would make any random person mistake him for anymoner.


    Although he didn''t have an eye-catching or fear instilling physique, all the noble families in Calton city feared and respected him for his wisdom, battle prowess, and level of mastery over the wind and earth element.


    "Thank the heavens, you didn''t hesitate to report this to me." Walden couldn''t help but furrow his brows as he read the report.


    "Is there any A-rank party currently avable?" Walden asked the blonde receptionist.


    "None at the moment, but I can ry the message that you need their help and surely, they would cancel the mission." Susan said.


    Unlike normal adventurers and adventurer parties that had no way ofmunicating with the association on missions, A-rank adventurers and adventurer parties were given specialmunication amulets that could connect with the association no matter where they were on the.


    This made it easier to recall them during critical moments when their help was direly needed.


    ''Why are high-rank adventurers always unavable when a serious issuees up? Does this have anything to do with fate?'' Walden thought.


    (AN: So fate has been mentioned twice by the system and Walden. Tell me what you guys think about it :D)


    "Recalling an A rank adventurer party which might be in the middle of an important mission, wouldn''t only displease the hirer, but also affect the prestige of the association." Guild master Walden said as he put down the report and stood up.


    "You don''t have to worry, it isn''t that much of a deal and since I have some days'' worth of free time, I can handle this..." Walden said as he began opening a spatial door with the help of a pyramid-shaped artifact hanging on his neck.


    Just when he was almost done with the symbols to open the spatial door that led to the Bulian hills, themunication crystal on his desk blinked twice, causing him to pause and take a look.


    ''The King yer''s adventurer amulet is back online. Unlucky me, just when I thought I was about to have fun.'' Walden was surprised by the discovery but at the same time, he was disappointed.


    Due to his position as the Calton city branch guild master, Walden was usually swarmed with paper works giving him little to no time to have fun.


    He was just done with the current batch of paper works and had wanted to use the mission as an excuse to avoid the next batch of paper works that were to arrive in a few minutes.


    ''These bones have be too stiff, I really need to get out and exercise.'' Walden ran a quick mental scan on his body, before contacting the A rank adventurer, King yer, also known as instructor Zirrack.


    ¡­


    On the peak of a mountain, surrounded by corpses of more than 15 Rugors, was Zirrack who was shocked by the call just seconds after he activated his adventurer amulet.


    "You just save me the hassle of looking for your contact rune. I wanted to know how much gold these things are?" Zirrack said the moment Walden''s hologram appeared.


    "Long time no see, King yer." Walden felt like facepalming due to Zirrack''sck of basic courtesy and inability to give a fuck about them. "The details will be sent to your amuletter, but I have a mission for you."


    "I am not interested in taking anymission, can''t you see I am on a vacation." Zirrack said with an excited smile as he showed the corpse of the rugors.


    ''¡­'' Walden stared nkly at Zirrack, as a lot of questions came up in his mind.


    Usually, when one was on vacation they would usually go to ces where they could rx and have fun with friends, but right in front of him was someone who the reverse was the case.


    ''Oh, for a moment I forgot who I was talking to¡­'' Walden snapped out of his thoughts and spoke. "It involves three of your best students at the academy."


    "Let me guess, ke, Brian, and Castiel?" Zirrack asked with a ''not surprised look'' on his face, but Walden took it as him not being interested and because he was well aware of the kingyers short attention span and attitude, he quickly came up with an offer.


    "Apart from that, the association has discovered some anomalies in the form of an unknown beast strong enough to disce almost every beast in the Bulian hills from their habitat. Also, the report says strange energy signatures were detected in the area and the association needs your assistance to investigate the region." Just like Walden had expected, the mention of a powerful beast got Zirrack''s attention.


    "So, what''s in it for me?" Zirrack asked as his excited smile returned to his face.


    "You have the freedom to request for anything you want, as long as it is the same rank as the mission." Walden said.

 Chapter 157: True mana (IV)

    <h4>Chapter 157: True mana (IV)</h4>


    "You have the freedom to request for anything you want, as long as it is the rank as the mission." Walden said.


    "Alright, I agree to your request." Zirrack said with a wide grin.


    "The info about the Rugors will be shortly sent to¡­" Walden was speech was cut short, when Zirrack cut themunication link.


    ''Why am I not surprised¡­'' Walden couldn''t help but shake his head. This wasn''t his first nor the 50th encounter with the Zirrack, so he acted as if nothing happened.


    "Send the info of the mission and that of the rugors to Mr. King yer''s adventurer amulet.'' Guild master warden said to the stunned Susan.


    "Oh, I forgot to tell you that, regr holding of one''s breath isn''t good for the heart." Guild master Walden said to Susan just as she was about to leave the office, causing her cheeks to turn pink out of embarrassment.


    "Thanks for the advice Guild Master." Susan gave a deep bow in order to hide her embarrassment.


    ¡­


    "Let''s see what I can find before leaving..." Zirrack said as he controlled the fire particles around him to form a faint purple fire dome that spread out to more than 600 meters away from him.


    The fiery dome served the same purpose as that of the system''s sensory skill, but it was more than 5 times powerful.


    The purple fiery dome let Zirrack get information of every living and non-living thing within the range from their heat signature. It drew a kind of map in his mind making nothing, even non-living things to escape his senses.


    For example, once the fiery dome came in contact with a pebble, it will transmit the details to his mind and due to his intuition and years of practice, Zirrack could easily make heads and tails of them.


    "Since there isn''t anything worth my time, I will be leaving." After scanning more than half of the mountain''s surface and found no beast worth his attention, Zirrack dered his ''vacation'' paused as he ced the rugor corpses inside his dimensional amulet.


    "Just in time. Let''s just hope this doesn''t take long and this unknown beast is worth my time." Zirrack thought to himself as darkish-purple mes burst out of his body.


    BOOM!


    Zirrack took flight and in a matter of seconds, he broke through the sound barrier, heading for the Bulian hills.


    ¡­


    Back to the present.


    After more than 8 hours of cultivation, ke finally opened his eyes.


    "That would be 10 gold coins, thank you..." Brian said as he collected the gold coins from Castiel.


    After 6 hours of cultivating, their minds felt tired and couldn''t maintain the level of concentration needed to continue cultivating.


    They decided to take a rest and wait for ke to get done so they could chat, but after 30 minutes ke kept on turning beast cores to dust, so they decided to ce a bet on how long he wouldst.


    Castiel had the opinion that ke would stop at the seventh hour, but Brian thought that with ke''s level of willpower and determination, he would surely reach the 8th hour.


    Unknown to the both of them, ke had a monstrous willpower and mana control greater than what they thought, and if all things were equal he would have gone on longer, but he stopped because he couldn''t hear the system.


    "Did you guys notice anything while I was cultivating?" ke asked the duo who had opposite expressions on their faces.


    "No, why do you ask?" Castiel asked.


    "Well, I have been trying tomunicate with the system, but it doesn''t seem to reply." ke''s words wiped the smile off Brian''s face and deepened Castiel''s frown.


    From the moment they had entered the underground facility, the system had been the one guiding and exining everything to them, so the news of its sudden disappearance almost made them enter panic mode.


    "Wait, let me try and call up the system''s interface." Not letting his fear cloud his judgment, ke quickly came up with an idea.


    [Host information:


    Name: ke Wilson


    Strength: Average.


    Condition: healthy


    Realm: third pir of the Champion realm.


    Awakened elements: Lightning, Fire, and space.


    Current location: Unknown.


    System skills: ????]


    "Huh, that''s new¡­" For a moment ke forgot about their system problem and clicked on the system skills section.


    [The system is undergoing an upgrade, some information about the system will be unavable for the time being.] An error message popped up, before taking him back to the main screen.


    "So?" The duo asked in unison when they saw ke''s expression filled with expectation.


    "It turns out that the system is undergoing some kind of upgrade and would be unavable for some time." ke said.


    "Isn''t that? the first thing you are meant to do, why did you scare us like that?" Castiel and Brian stared at him with raised brows.


    Unknown to both of them, ke had been so used to the AI feature of the system that he had forgotten about its user interface.


    "You told us about its previous upgrade, do you think it has anything to do with your cultivation level?" Castiel asked when he noticed the pattern.


    "I think so because thest upgrade happened when I broke into the warrior realm, Now, I think it''s because I formed the third pir of the hourss." ke said.


    "What?" ke couldn''t help but ask when he saw them looking at him as if they saw a monster.


    "Did you just say you just filled up the 24th star as if it was nothing?" Castiel sneered.


    "Yeah, what''s wrong?" ke was even more confused by the reply.


    "You see, not everyone is a monster like you. we are still at the 20th star." Brian said with a forced smile.


    "The gap isn''t that¡­" Just before ke couldplete his sentence, he remembered his condition and quickly stopped before things got worse.


    "Wow, I never noticed I was that fast." ke surprised by the realization.

 Chapter 158: True mana (V)

    <h4>Chapter 158: True mana (V)</h4>


    "Wow, I never noticed I was that fast." ke surprised by the realization.


    Stars act as mana storage and purifier, so when ke underwent a fusion process that fused his 3 elements together, it gave him twice the amount of mana as those on the same level and increased the potency of mana, hence increasing the strength of his spells, but it had a drawback.


    ke needed a greater amount of energy to fill up his stars whenpared to those with 2 elements, but what shocked Castiel and Brian was the fact that a gap of 4 stars was between them.


    Unknown to them, it was all because of one of the space element''s passive. The space element made a chronomancer more sensitive to his /her surroundings and that included mana, also it granted a default mana control greater than that of the other elements.


    (AN: I hope you guys can picture how overpowered the space element and why I am limit it, especially the time authority.)


    Also, ke had been receiving various training to increase his mana control, making him able to quickly and effectively drain the energy store in a beast core.


    "I am tired, I will be going to bed..." ke said to Brian and Castiel, leaving them bbergasted.


    "Did he just sleep, on us?" Brian asked Castiel just to make sure his eyes were working.


    "Yup¡­" Castiel replied.


    ke had no idea that the reason they were awake was that they were waiting for him, but since he was already fast asleep, they decided to follow suit.


    ¡­


    The following morning¡­


    [System upgradesplete. System skills now avable to host.]


    "Huuh?" ke groaned as he opened his eyes.


    ''Are you back and why did you ghost all of a sudden without any information?'' ke asked a mental question as he rubbed his eyes.


    [Yeah I am back and how was I to know I would undergo an upgrade just because you formed the 3rd pir.] The system said.


    ''True¡­'' ke couldn''t help but agree to the system''s words.


    If it had been after he formed the 2nd pir, it would have been understandable since it was half of the protectiveyer, but the 3rd pir was totally unexpected.


    "How do feel, any changes?" ke asked.


    [Why don''t you check for yourself...] The system said with a ''smirk''.


    [Host information:


    Name: ke Wilson


    Strength: Average.


    Condition: healthy


    Realm: third pir of the Champion realm.


    Awakened elements: Lightning, Fire, and space.


    Current location: Unknown.


    System skills:


    ¡¤? ? ? ? Detection range (300m) (Active)


    ¡¤? ? ? ? Barrier (Active)


    ¡¤? ? ? ? Mind link (Active)


    ¡¤? ? ? ? Mental boost (Active) (passive)


    ¡¤? ? ? ? Battle mode (Active) (Passive)


    ]


    (AN: lol, my poor naming skills are back at it XD)


    ''Wow, the detection range got tripled. Three new skills, let''s check it out.'' ke rubbed his palms together as he selected the mind link skill.


    [Mind link: When someone/ people who possess a part of the All-father''s consciousness is within 20 meters from the host, the system is able to form a mental link with all parties, enabling them to share their thoughts.]


    ''This solves a lot of issues.'' ke couldn''t hide the joy in his eyes. He felt like immediately trying out the skill on Brian and Castiel who were still fast at sleep, but he decided to hold himself till he was done.


    [Mental boost:


    (Active): Once activated, the system converts the host''s mana into electric charges that supercharge the brain, causing an increase in its efficiency to more than 2 twice the original efficiency.


    (Passive): In order for the brain to handle the stress whiches along with the system''s enhanced skills, the host''s brain cells were forced to undergo an upgrade that increased its processing speed, brainpower, and memory capacity.


    Note: This skill leaves the host''s brain cells drained after use and the adverse effects are proportional to how long it is used.)]


    ''That exins why I suddenly became tired¡­'' ke thought to himself as he recalled what happened when he stopped cultivating.


    [Battle mode:


    (Active): On the host''s permission, the system would be able to take control of the host''s body, while the host''s consciousness takes the ce of the system until he cancels the skill.


    During the battle mode state, the system is able to use the host''s body, skills, elements, and it''s knowledge, but the host will experience a harsh bacsh when the skill is deactivated.


    (Passive): When the host loses consciousness and his life is perceived as being threatened, the system would automatically take over and if the threat is assessed to be greater than the host''s power, its first priority is to get to safety.]


    ''Not of fan of being controlled by a system, but damn, these upgrades are fire!'' Although he didn''t like the conditions of the battle mode, ke couldn''t help but think about the possible things he could do with them.


    ''If this is an upgrade just for the champion realm, then I wonder what the next upgrade will be.'' ke thought with an unbridled smile on his face.


    ''Alright, time to test the mind link out.'' ke said with an evil grin as he stared at Castiel and Brian who were still sleeping.


    [Does the host want to activate Mind link?] With just a thought, a notification popped up.


    ''Yes.''


    "Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3." ke''s smile intensified when he saw them groaning.


    "Rise and shine!"


    "Hu?"


    "What the fuck?!"


    Almost at the same time both of them woke up and began looking around, it was when they saw ke''s grin that knew he had done something.


    "What''s going on, what did you do?" Castiel asked.


    ''It''s what I call a mind link.'' ke.


    "Holy cow!" The two stood instantly stood up when they heard ke''s voice without his mouth moving.


    [Since he is hell-bent on messing with you guys, let me get this over with and do the exnation.] The system''s voice in their heads shocked everyone including ke.


    After convincing them that it wasn''t a ghost or the owner of the facility trying to mess with their minds, the system brought their attention to the most important topic at the moment, the ck fog.

 Chapter 159: True mana (Final part)

    <h4>Chapter 159: True mana (Final part)</h4>


    [You see, whenever I go through an upgrade I unlock more memories from the All-father''s main consciousness.] This time the system was talking directly to the trio without need ke''s help to convey the message.


    [You know about the unknown energy the ck fog produced, its real name is mana.] The system drew their attention to the 9 tubes in the other room.


    "Huh?" The system''s words totally confused the trio.


    "If that is mana, then what do we use to cast out spells." Having gotten used to the system''s ''special'' way of exining, ke was the first to recover and ask the question which was on everyone''s mind.


    [Remember when I told you guys that the ck fog converts mana to what I call the true mana, it''s all wrong.] The system exined. [Just like every form of forbidden magic, the ck fog is more destructive than we thought. It doesn''t convert, rather it breaks down everything ites in contact with to the lowest form of life, mana.]


    [Now, to clear up your confusion. What you all know as the mana is only an altered version of the real deal.


    The mother-stream is the source of all forms of energy and it constantly supplies every realm with mana, but the form the mana takes depends on both thews of the realm and the distance of the said realm from the center of the mother-stream.]


    [For a realm like earth, because it is way farther away from the center of the mother-stream than Infinite realm and because the realm''sws don''t support mana, the inhabitants can''t use magic.]


    [As for Infinite realm, it is the closest to the mother-stream and supports magic, also it receives the highest amount of mana, but this mana is tainted by dark matter because there is still some distance between the realm and the center.


    So, when the mana gets into infinite realm, thews of the realm convert the mana to the different elements which thenbine to form fake mana.]


    "So, you are saying the reason why we can''t use magic on earth is that the stops us?" Brian asked.


    [Yeah, but even if the realm''sws support mana, the level of impurity in the supplied mana would be at an astronomical amount due to the distance of Earth from the center of the mother-stream, meaning its inhabitants won''t be able to reach Demigod realm.] The system exined.


    "What is this dark matter you talked about?" ke asked.


    [Getfortable because this takes to another tale.] If the system had a physical body, the trio would have circled around him as it was about to speak about another shocking revtion.


    [The universe was nothing but darkness and void until the mother-stream came into existence¡­ Now, don''t ask me how the mother-stream came into being because I too have no idea...] The system quickly gave a warning that made the trio erase the question from their thoughts.


    [The mother-stream created the universe, gxies,s, and their inhabitants. Now, all these can be considered as living things, but remember the mother-stream seeks bnce so it created what we know as dark matter.


    It had been present from the beginning and is known to contain impurities that reduce the size and potency of true mana, but even to date, not even the greatest researcher knows any use of dark matter apart from the one mentioned.] The system said.


    "If no one knows much about dark matter, doesn''t that mean that Zultra, the researcher behind both projects knew a lot about dark matter since he found a way to destroy the impurities gotten from them?" ke asked a sensitive question that made everyone deeply ponder.


    [That question has been on my mind and I can''t wrap my head around it, but that leads us to a bigger question. Who is this Zultra?] For the fact that he had shown such level of genius and the realm still hadn''t heard of him meant there was something


    ¡­.


    2 days ago.


    Zirrack arrived at the border of the forest and the Bulian hills, but instead of moving forward he flew into the forest and began looking for traces of the trio.


    After close to 30 minutes of a high-speed scan of the outskirts of the forest, Zirrack found their energy signatures at the area they fought the alpha warg.


    ''Even during their break, they are making me proud.'' Zirrack thought with a smile on his face, as he saw beasts feeding on the corpses of the wargs they had in.


    With his realm being leagues ands above those of the beasts in the area, Zirrack needed close to no effort in distorting their senses, making their vision, smell, and hearing blurry even though he stood 3 feet away.


    ''At least their trail isn''t gone¡­'' Zirrack said as darkish purple mes erupted from his body, burning everything including the beasts and corpses to ashes before taking off at a high speed while following the trail.


    In a matter of seconds, Zirrack was back at the border, but this time he didn''t slow down. He kept raging on until he arrived at the spot where the warp gate had opened up.


    ''Let''s see where that leads us¡­'' Zirrack followed ke''s energy signature that led to gravely injured Rugor.


    "Hey, old man you need to look at this¡­" Zirrack showed Walden the injured Rugor.


    "From how barbaric the cuts and injuries are, it''s quite clear that this was done by a beast. The question is how strong is it and how many are they?" Walden said, but when his gaze returned to Zirrack he saw that he had phased out and a wide grin was on his face.


    "Any info about any form of spatial energy?" Walden asked, snapping Zirrack out of his reverie.


    "I detected spatial energy at the reported sight and even from here I can sense residual spatial energy scattered all over the area." Zirrack said.

 Chapter 160: Master control.

    <h4>Chapter 160: Master control.</h4>


    "I detected spatial energy at the reported sight and even from here I can sense residual spatial energy scattered all over the area." Zirrack said.


    "I wonder how the beast and the warp gates are rted." Walden thought aloud.


    Ignoring Walden''s thoughts, Zirrack quickly drafted a n. "For a research facility to be able to deploy such numbers of warp arrays it must be of a very high standard and I don''t think it would be easy to infiltrate."


    "So, I will check all the areas with spatial traces in hopes of finding an entrance and if by chance I run into this unknown beast, I will quickly dispatch of it." Zirrack said with a stern look on his face.


    Zirrack was known as a battle maniac by many people, a psychopath, and a heartless devil incarnate by most of his students, but one thing he wasn''t was a fool.


    Although he loved taking on worthy opponents, Zirrack knew how to set his priorities right and the lives of his students were top priority.


    "Alright, do as you please and remember to contact¡­ me when you find any important thing." Once again Zirrack cut themunication link mid-way into his sentence causing Walden to grit his teeth and shiver as if he was suffering from a withdrawal syndrome.


    "Haaaaaa!" Walden screamed out in frustration but not even a decibel escaped the room thanks to the soundproof enchantments.


    ¡­


    Back to the research facility¡­


    The system was done with its question and answer session and the trio was about to leave the room and continue with their journey.


    Being the first to step out of the double door, ke quickly scanned the corridor. He looked left side of the corridor and it was empty as usual, but when he turned to the path they were to follow, ke was shocked and became rooted to the spot.


    Approaching him was a 2 and a half meters tall mechanical golem, which was made of a golden brown colored metal.


    Its head was that of a knight''s helmet that had golden lights as its eyes and it had a width of two muscr men standing shoulder to shoulder.


    On its shoulders and hands were pointed glowing orange crystals that emitted a tremendous amount of mana. Its lower half was a space that continuously let out an unidentifiable gas that propelled and kept the mechanical golem afloat.


    [Scanning¡­ Identity confirmed: Master Zultra.] The golem ran a quick scan on ke and after confirming it wasn''t an intruder it floated past ke and continued its patrol duty.


    "What the fuck just happened?" ke stood on the same spot as he nkly stared at the golems back.


    "Did that thing just call me Zultra?" When he finally got back to his senses, ke recounted what the golem had said.


    "¡­" Brian and Castiel who had managed to catch a glimpse of the golem rapidly nodded their heads.


    [Yes, and I think I know why.] The system replied. [It has something to do with the journal in your possession. Let me have a look at it.]


    "Aren''t we meant to be worried that it was able to look into my dimensional pocket?" ke asked as he took out the journal.


    [Yes we are, but one problem at a time. Flip to thest page where his name was signed.] ke followed the system''s instructions and flipped to thest entry.


    [Just like I thought.] The system said after scanning the page for a few seconds. [Try infusing space energy at these points.] Not questioning the system, ke ced his fingers on the points highlighted by the system before injecting space energy.


    Click!


    A click was heard and the journal began vibrating, causing ke to instinctively drop it, but just after it left his hand the journal shot out a holographic light and began levitating.


    The holographic light formed what looked like a map and on the right side was a cursor which when clicked will lead to the next page. It looked like the user interface of a mobile phone.


    "What the fuck?" These were the only words that he could think of because things were happening too quickly.


    [The first time you came in contact with the journal I sensed a faint trace of an unknown energy which quickly dispersed, but because I was more focused on the information within and this ce was already strange enough, I overlooked it.] The system said.


    [It was until the golem mentioned the name Zultra that I remembered about it and due to the upgrade boost to my senses, I was able to see what was going on.]


    The system connected ke to its mana vision, where he saw an already cracked node where the holographic map was meant to be.


    "This is doesn''t make sense, why will a golem mistake ke for its master because of a book containing maps?" Castiel asked.


    "The book is much more than a map, it seems to be something like a master control¡­ remote." ke said in a shocked tone when the system showed him the secrets of the book.


    Not only did the book contain maps of every floor of the facility, but it contained info ranging from the blueprint of the golems to how to override every security measure using the journal, and as usual there was a catch.


    The information was grouped into different categories, but each category was protected by arrays, and depending on how sensitive the information, the greater the difficulty.


    ke moved directly to the overriding section and tried to crack it, but he met a constetion made up of thousands of nodes that gave him a migraine by only looking at them.


    "Holy cow!" ke immediately disconnected from mana vision and gave them a detailed exnation.


    "It turns out that this facility has always been guarded by golems, but for some reason they were absent for some time, making us think otherwise. Now we have to draft out an entirely different approach to this."

 Chapter 161: Mental boost

    <h4>Chapter 161: Mental boost</h4>


    "From what we have seen, the mechanical golems patrol only the corridors but not the rooms, meaning we are safe for now and we will have to open more doors to hide in case things get out of hand..." ke said.


    For now, the rooms were a safe haven for the trio, not because the golems were unable to enter the rooms unless an intruder was seen entering one or on special asions, but because the facilities core was still in its booting process.


    Having the mechanical golems patrol each and every room on all floors of the facility was counter-productive.


    So the owner of the facility had made each room able to scan its upants and if an intruder was found the golems will be immediately deployed.


    (AN: If you have noticed as still mention the unknown owner of the facility, but remember the golem identified Zultra as master.


    So let me know what you guys think about the 2 characters and their positions in thement section.)


    But due to the core''s recent malfunction, the scanners, among other key functions of the facility were currently unavable making their stay more pleasant than it was meant to be.


    "The good news is that the golems won''t attack me since I am with the Journal and since we have a map there is no need for us beat around the bush." From ke''s tone, they already knew the bad news was pretty bad.


    "The bad news is that the golems are heavily armed and if you guys are spotted it won''t be an easy fight." ke said.


    "Also, even if we finally make it to the center of the facility, we might not be able to make it into the warp array because that is where the golem charging stations are located." With the help of the holographic map, ke perfectly showed them how fucked they were.


    [You are forgetting something. Like the school warp arrays that let you ess them using your badges, this warp array requires a key card that can be substituted for the master control.


    But even then, you have to crack the array for whichever map you want to be warped to.] The system exined.


    Everyone, including the system, saw the journal as just a remote control, but they had no clue that it was part of the facility''s core which was a legend-grade artifact.


    And because it was still bonded with the owner (yes Zultra is still alive), ke was unable to gainplete control over the base leaving him with no other option than to crack the arrays protecting things he needed ess to.


    "Even if I am to crack the arrays protecting the maps, it doesn''t take care of the golems attacking them." ke said pointing at Castiel and ke.


    [Remember, the journal is a master control and although we can''t control them at will, there is still info about their blueprint¡­]


    "Meaning we can study them for weaknesses." kepleted the system''s sentence as he picked up the journal and immediately began cracking arrays.


    (AN: Unless it''s a serious type of array, I won''t be exining each and every detail so as to have more content in each chapter.)


    The greatest problem they had was the golems, but because their blueprint was protected by more arrays, ke decided to go for the beast floor map since it was one of the easiest.


    "¡­" Having nothing else to do, Castiel and Brian decided to take their minds off their current situation by cultivating.


    After close to 3 hours of working non-stop, ke cleaned the sweat that had formed on his forehead and let out a sigh of relief.


    He had sessfully unlocked the ''pass'' to the floor the beast floor, but the mental work had made him quite tired and hungry so he took a 2 hours break.


    ''I am not sure if it the mental boost from the upgrade or me filling up the 24th star, but that was quite¡­ easy.'' ke said as he ate a roasted beef sandwich.


    The arrays he just cracked possessed 70 nodes which were quite close to double the amount he had crackedst time, but the surprising thing was that he only broke a sweat.


    [There you have your answers.] The system confirmed ke''s thoughts. [I don''t know why but for the system to have undergone an upgrade at the 24th star there has to be a hidden reason.]


    After his break was over, ke returned to the journal which was still afloat and connected to the system''s mana vision.


    "How many nodes are we dealing with?" ke asked the system.


    [158 nodes.] The system replied


    "What?!" ke eximed as he had the system repeat what it just said because it seemed he had begun losing his hearing ability.


    (AN: LOLLL...it''s a mind link, you don''t need your ears XD.)


    [158 nodes.]


    "Well I have been waiting to use the mental boost, so let''s check it out." ke rub his two hands and was about to activate mental boost, but that was when the system''s warning popped up.


    [Mental boost:


    (Active): Once activated, the system converts the host''s mana into electric charges that supercharge the brain, causing an increase in its efficiency to more than twice the original efficiency.


    Note: This skill leaves the host''s brain cells drained after use and the adverse effects are proportional to how long it is used.)]


    [If you are to use the skill for a very long period, you will most likely turn brain dead when deactivated.] The system said [So, I suggest you start without it and when you are at your limit you activate the skill.]


    "Alright." After imagining how his life would be when if he turned into a vegetable, ke had noints.


    After more than 3 hours of intense concentration, ke had easily gone past the 70th node, but as he was nearing the 95th node so was his mental strength approaching its limit.


    On conjuring the 95th mana needle, ke had reached his limit and decided to use mind boost.


    "Activate mental boost..."

 Chapter 162: Golems Flaw.

    <h4>Chapter 162: Golem''s w.</h4>


    "Activate mental boost..."


    Immediately ke gave the confirmation, he felt electric charges were being sent to his brain from all corners of his body.


    Not only did he feel refreshed and hyperactive, but he felt like everything was now in slow motion.


    "Is this how getting high feels?"


    "Or how sh feels when talking to people?"


    [When mental boost is active, your brain goes into a supercharged state meaning everything including the speed of your thoughts would be more than doubled.


    So you have to always focus on the work at hand once in this state.] The system warned him.


    Thoughts of all manners kept on popping up in his mind, causing him to almost lose control of the already constructed mana needles, but thanks to the system''s words ke quickly regained focus.


    "Let''s do this." In order to test the capabilities of mental boost, ke tried conjuring 30 nodes at once, but to his utmost surprised it worked!


    "Sick!"


    "Cool!"


    "That''s fire!"


    ke was excited by what he had just done, causing him to lose concentration for some seconds before regaining concentration.


    He tried constructing 30 more, but this time the mental burden was quite much, causing him to slow down quite a bit.


    Mental boost made it possible for ke to shorten the time for mental activities by more than half the required time, and also made him partially numb to the mental pain in order to improve productivity.


    But he couldn''t remain in this state for more than 3 hours without incurring a severe bacsh or even bing brain dead depending on how heavy the task was.


    After close to an hour and a half, ke had sessfully cracked the array and had disconnected from mana vision, but the moment he deactivated mental boost he felt like a bullet train had rammed into his head.


    THUD!


    ke dropped to the floor unconscious, causing Brian and Castiel to stop cultivating.


    [Don''t worry about him, he''s just out cold noplications.] The system said to them when they tried to approach him.


    [Also if you guys are feeling guilty that he is doing a lot and you guys aren''t, don''t because with every array he cracks the stronger he gets. So, I advise you guys to step up in your cultivation.]


    The system was right about them feeling guilty and useless, but once they heard that it was also a form of training for him they were more determined to lessen the gap between them and ke.


    "Ah, my head!!" After 12 hours ke finally regained consciousness and when he opened his eyes he felt like his head had been skewered and grilled over a volcano.


    "Fuck me! Why didn''t I wake up when the pain is gone?" ke cursed his bad luck as he held his head in pain.


    After what seemed to be like forever, the pain had subsided, causing ke to return to the journal, but this time he was studying the mechanical golems with both Castiel and Brian.


    "What!"


    "Damn!"


    [Interesting¡­]


    As the trio and system were studying the blueprint of the mechanical golems, they couldn''t help but exim and dropments as surprising info continually popped up.


    They first studied the outeryer for weakness and found out that the golden brown metal thatprised the outeryer of the golems was an alloy of adamant (second strongest metal) and gold.


    Meaning they would have to put a lot of effort to be able to put a dent in the metal. The discovery made their situation look more hopeless, but the current question on their minds was


    "How much did it cost the unknown owner to forgemaster all the golems protecting the facility?"


    Not only was adamant costly but it was also rare, meaning anyone in possession of them wouldn''t want to sell, but ording to the journal there were more than 100 mechanical golems stills waiting to be deployed.


    Having no hopes of damaging them, they crossed their fingers as they studied its internal structure.


    At the chest region was an orange power core that supplied energy to every part of the golem''s body through the hundreds of lines of arrays iid on the inner parts of the metals.


    The energy core gave them the ability to fire and shape powerfulsers that could tear through the steel like hide of a Rugor like a hot knife through butter.


    They possessed tractor beams thatplimented theck of hands and a medium-size dimensional pocket, which enabled them to retrieve items they were tasked to retrieve.


    The absence of legs gave them an advantage in every terrain and if need be they could elerate twice times as fast as ke using lightning reinforcement, meaning there was no running from them.


    "What the f*ck?! You have to tell me there is a way to beat these things" The more he read about the mechanical golems, the more he lost hope.


    [I can''t say for sure, but let''s hope we find something at the core.] The system said as they zoomed in at the core.


    At this point, the trio couldn''t understand anything about the image of the core right in front of them, so they patiently waited for the system to do its thing.


    [I think I just found a way.] The system announced.


    "Finally!" After waiting for more than an hour in silence, the system finally said something.


    [Just like the arrays stopping you from directly taking over the golems, their core has 5204 nodes protecting it, but there''s good news.]


    [After studying each and every node, I had discovered and taken note of certain nodes that would cause an immediate disruption, hence causing the entire array to copse.] The system said.


    "I thought that if an array isn''t properly shut down, it would cause an explosion that will kill me?" ke asked with a raised brow.


    [Normal arrays will blow you to bits, but this one is special.] The system said.


    [The forgemaster behind this masterpiece gave the core a self-repair function that would use part of its stored energy to automatically repair any damage that managed to reach its core, thereby taking the difficulty in beating them to another level.]


    [But this came with a w¡­]

 Chapter 163: Center-region.

    <h4>Chapter 163: Center-region.</h4>


    [But this came with a w¡­]


    [If you partially take out the nodes of a regr array, it would definitely cause an explosion, but this core is powerful and quite different.] The system said.


    [In this case, the core would try to repair itself, and since an explosion of such magnitude will definitely destroy everything.


    The core will try its best to suppress the explosion, but will fail due to therge magnitude of mana disruption thereby reducing the effect and causing an internal explosion.] The system exined.


    Unlike humans that could make decisions based on the situation they found themselves in, the mechanical golems only followed instructions inputted into their cores.


    If it was a human, they would know that trying to repair such disruption was useless. So they would allow the explosion in other to kill the attacker.


    As for the mechanical golem, they would follow themands to thest order.


    "That''s great! So how many nodes are we looking at?" ke asked in an excited tone as they had found a weakness for the golems.


    [30.] The system replied.


    "¡­" On hearing the system''s words, the smile on their faces were gone.


    [Well, if you guys have a better idea then I am open to suggestions.] The system said.


    "Well, the old man is right. The golems are nigh indestructible for people on our level, and although it''s a roundabout process we don''t have any other option." After some thinking, ke knew it was his only option.


    "How do you think the other golems would react when they see me shutting down a golem?" ke asked the system, and just like he had thought, they would attack him.


    ording to the journal, no one had the power to tamper with the golems unless they fully activated their master control.


    "That makes things difficult." ke began thinking about how to get around their current problem.


    He could use mind boost to instantly disable 30 nodes since the golems wouldn''t attack him, but he was afraid of a situation where they were many and he couldn''t keep up with their numbers.


    After close to 2 hours of nning and putting every possible situation into consideration, the trio thought it was enough to work for one day.


    So, they decided to rest and act the next day.


    ¡­


    The next day, the trio was up early and ready to move out.


    ording to the n, ke was the one to scout and check the situation of things at the center of the floor, before Castiel and Brian could move on.


    "Okay¡­" ke took in a deep breath as he opened the door and walked into the corridor.


    Seeing no golem, ke let out a sigh of relief and walked back to the corridor that led to the center of the floor.


    ording to the map, the energy research floor was a square which was divided into 3 segments; center, mid-region, and the outskirts which the trio had been all these while.


    Leading to the center were 4 corridors that connected to the warp array and stationed beside it were 2 mechanical golems in their charging stations.


    At the four corners of the warp arrays were empty charging stations which their golems were out on patrol.


    ke made his way to the crossroad of the mid-region and was about to keep heading towards the center, but he suddenly froze.


    [Scanning¡­]


    A mechanical golem hovered out of the corridor by his right startling him for a second.


    [Good day Master Zultra.] The mechanical golem greeted ke and hovered past him.


    ''Now''s my chance!'' Seeing the perfect opportunity, ke quickly jumped at it.


    The moment golem had its back to him, ke activated mind boost and connected to the system''s mana vision.


    His thoughts became more abrupt, but he ignored everything and ced his palm on the back of the mechanical golem.


    [Master Zultra is not authorized toe in contact with any PAC-X. Kindly step away.] Without turning, the mechanical golem sounded a warning that shocked ke and almost made him lose focus.


    Almost.


    Not knowing how things would go if he failed, ke ignored the warning, and before the golem could turn a miniature explosion was heard.


    ng!


    The sound of metal hitting the floor echoed in the passage, as parts of golden-brown metal that were once a mechanical golem drop to the floor.


    [Mind boost deactivated.]


    "Short but intense¡­" ke let out a sigh of relief as the rate of his heartbeat began dropping.


    "Now to dispose of the body¡­" Since the golem''s core had been destroyed by the internal explosion, ke was able to ce it into his dimensional pocket, but he couldn''t carry on.


    ke remembered that the first time he had met a mechanical golem, it spotted the journal by looking into his dimensional pocket. Meaning they would be able to spot the parts of their fellow golem.


    He returned to the room and dropped the parts before heading out once again.


    This time he didn''t meet any PAC-X, until he reached the center of the floor and spotted the two golems protecting the warp arrays.


    [Nope, this won''t work.] The system said after making a quick calction. [Even if you were able to shut down the first golem, the distance between them is enough for you to be shot down before you cover half of it.]


    "Didn''t think I would result to this, but we need a distraction..." ke said after he couldn''t find a way to effectively bypass the 2 golems.


    "There''s not much difference, either we get killed by the golems or hunger. So, its better we die trying." Brian let out a helpless sigh as they exited the room.


    They had no idea if they would meet another mechanical golem, so they kept their guards up as they slowly approached the center of the floor.


    "Alright guys, just stick to the n and we might get out of here alive." ke said as he walked up to the warp array.

 Chapter 164: Void Shift.

    <h4>Chapter 164: Void Shift.</h4>


    "Alright guys, just stick to the n and we might get out of here alive." ke said as he walked up to the warp array.


    [Scanning¡­]


    [Good day Master Zultra.] Once ke stepped out of the corridor and into the center region, the mechanical golems scanned him.


    Without slowing down, ke walked towards the unsuspecting golem on the right side of the room.


    When he was only a meter away, he threw the book back to the entrance of the corridor, causing the golems to scan the journal in mid-air.


    [Scanning: Codex¡­]


    When the journal was about to hit the floor, a ck ethereal tendril shot out of the corridor, catching it and handing it over to Castiel as he stepped out of the corridor.


    [Scanning: Master Zultra.] Immediately the journal came in contact with Castiel, his ID changed to that of Zultra, causing the golems to turn back to ke.


    Boom!


    A miniature explosion was heard and the mechanical golem at the right side fell to the ground, exposing ke who was standing behind it.


    [Intruder detected¡­] The mechanical golem sounded the rm, informing the other three PAC-X bots of the situation.


    Instantly, the second golem aimed its hand at ke, and in the space of a second, it had fully charged an energy beam.


    "Shit!" ke cursed.


    From the info they had gotten from the journal, the energy beams produced by the golems were too strong and fast for people like ke to either block or dodge. Meaning once fired, he was as good as dead.


    BOOM!


    Just before the golem had fired the energy beam, a pir of earth had erupted from below, hitting its arm and changing its direction.


    Turning to back to see where the earth pir came from, the golem saw Brian and immediately began charging another energy beam, but that distraction was more than enough.


    Activating lightning reinforcement, ke dashed towards the golem, instantly covering the distance between them.


    Sensing that ke was behind it, the PAC-X bot conjured an energy-based sword designed for close quarterbat from its left hand, but before it could turn its vision was gone.


    BOOM!


    [Behind you!] Just when the 2nd golem had dropped to the floor, a warning came from the system.


    It was the closest mechanical golem that had reacted to the rm and right now it was aiming at ke.


    ''Fuck me! This wasn''t part of the n.'' With mind boost still active, ke instantly went through some options, but almost all of them got him killed, except one which totally relied on luck.


    With the help of mind boost which doubled his mental capability, ke instantly opened a spatial corridor behind him and just as he was falling into it, he threw a dagger to the ground beside Castiel.


    Void shift!


    BOOM!


    The moment the energy beam was shot out ke was gone, causing it to hit the wall but leaving not even a dent on it.


    Brian and Castiel would have been awed by the strange urrence, but right now their guards were up because the eyes of the golem had a silvery glow to them.


    Seeing that the intruder had disappeared, the golem activated its spatial vision and instantly the exit point appeared.


    With a careful aim, it fired an energy beam at ke who had just appeared beside Castiel.


    ''Are you shitting me?!'' He really wanted to know how the golem knew where he would appear, but his major concern was the energy beaming at him.


    It was time for the most dangerous part of his n.


    Collecting the journal from Castiel, ke moved forward and blocked with the journal.


    Castiel and Brian were finding it hard to keep up with what was happening, but the moment they saw ke blocking with the journal, a question popped into their mind.


    ''The fuck?!''


    DING!


    To everyone''s surprise, when the energy beam was an inch away from the journal, a forceful appeared and blocked it without ke moving an inch.


    ''Now''s my chance.'' Seeing no hole in the book or on his body, ke threw the book back to Castiel before throwing 3 void daggers.


    Two at the left and right walls and one at the golem which easily dodged it.


    "Void shift!" Seeing the golem charging another energy beam, ke appeared on the wall at the right side of the room, but the golem''s aim was already on him.


    "Haaaa!" Propelling himself, ke dashed at the golem which shot an energy beam.


    "Void shift!" This time ke opened two spatial corridors. One in between him the golem and the other towards his right.


    The energy beam passed through the first spatial corridor, while ke used a me burst to change his trajectory, sending him into the other.


    Once again, the golem''s eyes were glowing and once it spotted the exit point at the left side of the room, it fired another energy beam.


    The spatial corridor opened up, but instead of ke appearing it was an energy beam. Both energy beams collided causing an explosion that pushed back both Brian and Castiel.


    BOOM!


    "What the fuck is going on?!" Opening their eyes, they saw the walls and the warp array was still untouched, but when they looked at the golem they saw it was on the floor and standing behind it was ke.


    "That was insane!" Brian and Castiel shouted in unison.


    "Arrgh!" As ke deactivated Mind boost, he felt a pounding pain in his head, butpared tost time it was nothing.


    "Sorry to burst your bubbles but the other golems are on their way back." ke said.


    ording to the info from the journal, the PAC-X bots were dangerously fast meaning it was only a matter of time before they were back.


    Casting levitate, ke gathered the void dagger all around the room, before stepping on the warp array with Castiel and Brian.


    He activated the journal and picked the beast floor.


    "The first phase of the n was sessful, let''s hopedy luck is still on our side." ke said as the warp array lit up and warped them away.

 Chapter 165: I will punch my way through.

    <h4>Chapter 165: I will punch my way through.</h4>


    The second and final phase of their n involved surviving the next floor, because even the floor they were being teleported to, were protected by PAC-X bots.


    At the center of the beast research floor, just below the energy research floor, a warp array lit up and 3 youths appeared.


    At the center was Brian, while ke and Castiel were at the left and right respectively.


    When the lights of the teleportation array dimmed, the PAC-X bot sensed living matter and turned to the trio, but they were more ready for them.


    Being in possession of the journal, ke was identified as Zultra making him receive only a warning after he threw a void dagger at the mechanical golem.


    The void dagger was easily dodged, but that had been ke''s n.


    Simultaneously activating lightning reinforcement and Mind boost, ke threw the journal into the air and cast void shift.


    [Scanning: Codex¡­]


    Seeing the journal in the air, a ck ethereal tendril shot out of Castiel catching it and bring it to him.


    [Scanning: Master Zultra.]


    Having identified Castiel as Zultra, the PAC-X bot lowered its weapon but at Brian''s side, the PAC-X bot was raising its.


    [Intruder detected.] The golem sounded the rm as it began charging an energy beam.


    BOOM!


    Before it could release the charged energy beam, an explosion was heard as it dropped to the floor.


    [Master Zultra isn''t authorized to throw any form of projectile at any PAC-X bot. Please restrain from doing that.] The PAC-X bot warned Castiel as it dodged a void dagger.


    ''Bingo!'' A smile appeared on ke''s face as he teleported and shut down the golem.


    ''The other bots are most likely on their way, let''s get out of here.'' ke said through their mind link.


    ''Check for the presence of any golem within our range.'' ke gave the system amand as they walked through a randomly selected corridor.


    The system''s sensory skill could be depicted as a stillke, and once something was to enter the range of theke, the vibrations would outline the shape of the object.


    But in this case, the constant movement of mana through the walls and ground, made it look like they were in the middle of a raging tempest.


    [Sorry to say, but detection skill is useless in this ce. The walls have arge amount of mana flowing through them and that scrambles my sensory abilities.] The system replied.


    ''Let''s see how lucky we are then¡­'' ke said as they followed the map and headed to the closest room.


    After few minutes of running in fear, the trio had reached a door, and immediately ke began cracking the array.


    "Finally!" The trio let out a sigh of relief as they sat down panting.


    ''This would hurt.'' ke thought as he deactivated mind boost.


    "Arghhh!"


    Thud!


    ke was out cold.


    Although the battles didn''tst long, they were very intense. Not only did he instantly crack 5 sets of arrays, but he had used void shift a lot of time, leaving his mana reserves almost empty.


    Before he advanced into the champion realm, he was only able to cast void shift 3 times a day before beingpletely spent.


    Now with his stars being filled and the increased mana reserve, ke could cast void shift a maximum of 7 times a day.


    Seeing ke fall, Castiel and Brian could no longer resist the urge so they also let go.


    [If they saw this I don''t think they would be able to sleep.] The system said.


    It couldn''t see their surrounding since ke was unconscious, but it could sense the environment and it could feel a lot of life force in the area.


    ¡­


    On the surface¡­


    Zirrack had been to all the areas with spatial traces more than twice. At first, he had thought it had something to do with the timing, but after spending close to 5 days in Bulian hills, he was sure it wasn''t.


    "5 days, 5 fucking days, and nothing has happened!" Zirrack screamed in anger mixed with frustration and more anger.


    This was the time he should have been spending on his vacation, but the fact he hadn''t made any progress, meant he would have less than a week when he returned to his vacation.


    ''I was thinking of going easy when requesting for a reward, but now¡­ hehe.'' A sinister smile appeared on Zirrack''s face as he began contacting guild master Walden.


    "Any news?" Walden asked.


    "This secret underground facility is more hidden than I thought. No entrance has been found meaning only those inside could grant ess to those outside." Zirrack said.


    "What is your next line of action?" Walden asked.


    "If I don''t find anything today, I will punch my way into the research facility." Zirrack replied.


    "¡­" Walden was shocked for a moment, but he soon saw that Zirrack was dead serious.


    "Alright, do as you see fit." After thinking about it Walden saw they didn''t have many options.


    "¡­"


    "¡­"


    Unlike before when Zirrack would immediately cut the link, both of them were looking at each other for some time before Walden spoke up.


    "For now, entrance to the Bulian hills will be restricted to all adventurers till¡­" At that moment Zirrack cut off themunication link.


    "Why do I have a feeling he is doing this on purpose?" Walden sighed.


    ¡­


    After a few hours of sleep, the trio had finally woken up. ke was thest to wake up and just like thest time, he had a throbbing pain in his head.


    [You should reduce how frequently you use mind boost. Not only do you have severe bacsh, but it isn''t training your mind in any way.] The system said after checking ke''s mental condition.


    ''I know, but it''s not as if I have any other option. Without mind boost, we will all be dead by now.'' ke said as he massaged his temples.


    Without mind boost not only would he have been unable to instantly shut down a golem, but he wouldn''t have been able to instantly open so many spatial corridors.


    "What the fuck?" Brian and Castiel''s voice made ke stop massaging his temples and check out his environment.


    "Holy fuck!"

 Chapter 166: Restocking.

    <h4>Chapter 166: Restocking.</h4>


    Their attention wasn''t on the machines that were taking multiple readings, but on what looked like some kind of beast factory at the other side of a transparent double door.


    ''Animal rights need to be introduced into this world.'' ke''s expression was that of pity as the trio walked into the room.


    The room was the size of a small warehouse and all around it were conveyor belts carrying strapped beasts in and out of what looked like a furnace that produced ck mes.


    At the top of the furnace was a tube that led to arger tube that housed a darkish-brown metal te that had a veryplex array inscribed on it.


    "What the hell is that?" ke asked with a twisted look on his face as he took a closer look at the furnace.


    Whenever a beast went through the furnace, they wouldn''t experience any physical damage, but their eyes seemed empty on their way out of it.


    "Is this what I think it is?" ke was dumbfounded.


    [If you are thinking of a soul extractor then you are correct and if your guess is that that is forbidden magic then you are also correct.] The system confirmed ke''s guesses.


    [The ck me burns the beast, causing its life essence which you call a soul to evaporate into the tube. Then the life essence gets transported to the metal te which condenses it into different colors of crystals based on the beast used.]


    With the help of ke''s vision and its knowledge, the system was able to figure out and exin the entire process.


    "Is the crystal another form of energy source?" ke couldn''t help but ask when he sensed a great amount of energy in each crystal.


    [You are correct in a way, but I don''t think one would go through the trouble of gathering beasts and setting all these up for another source of energy.] The system said.


    [The crystals contain arge amount of energy because the process takes away the energy of the beast''s core and also the life essence is a special form of energy that we don''t understand much.


    The reason why I said there is more to the crystals is that I can feel the consciousness of each beast in those crystals.]


    "What?!" The trio was shocked by the revtion.


    [I don''t know how, but maybe because I am also a consciousness I can feel them.] The system said.


    "The question now is what will one be using the consciousness of beasts to do?" After recovering from the shock, ke couldn''t help but ask.


    [Theoretical, they can be used to forge a weapon, armor, golem, basically any non-living thing and possibly? ce into a corpse of living things.] Thest part of the system''s words sent chills down their spine.


    "Theoretically?" Brian asked with a raised brow.


    [Yes. The only reason they haven''t been confirmed is that manipting life essence without forbidden magic is extremely difficult and if care isn''t taken might turn someone into a vegetable.] The system exined.


    [I don''t know how else to stress this, but whoever owns this ce can''t be a nobody in both fame and power.


    It has to be someone that has been at the top of their era because the knowledge and resources seen here are above what is in this present age.] The system had a name in mind, but it was just a wild guess.


    (AN: At the end of this arc, the name will be revealed. So, make your predictions ;)


    "Who the hell owns this ce?" They couldn''t help but ask the same question because the more they explored the facility, the more their minds were blown.


    "Now we know what was responsible for the beast massacre and where the golems were at the beginning of our arrival." Castiel said as they saw beasts from the Bulian hills strapped to the conveyor belts.


    They ranged from wargs to Rugors and although their power levels differ, they were so weak that they couldn''t break out of their bondage.


    "Does the ck me have any effects on their physical body?" ke asked as he saw the empty corpse being conveyed out of the room through a hole at the other end of the room.


    [No. It only affects the soul.] The system replied.


    "So, it''s safe to eat?" The question sounded cringe to all of their ears but for survival, ke was ready to go the extra mile.


    [Yes, perfectly safe.] The system replied after running a scan.


    "Then it''s time to restock." ke said as he approached a drained warg.


    Although it wouldn''t taste as good as a perfectly seasoned one, it would go a long way.


    After refilling their dimensional space with different types of meats, the trio decided to have dinner but they didn''t have much appetite left after what they had done.


    While they were resting, ke began recollecting how much of a stressful day it had been. Then he remembered the series of events that had led them to where they are.


    From leaving school, to fighting in a battle of demigods, to meeting Tessie and then epting this mission, but that was when something hit.


    "From the level of massacre we saw at the top, it is quite clear that the golems are on another level, but why do they feel¡­ weak?" ke asked causing Castiel and Brian to ponder about it.


    "I thought It was only me that felt the same way." Castiel said.


    From the moment they had been seeing corpses and the effects of the discement, they had all thought that only a king-tier beast could do this.


    But now they were able to calm down and think about it, although it was good for them it was quite disappointing.


    [I also noticed it. For a research facility to contain so much knowledge, its security is meant to be top-notch, meaning you guys are meant to be dead the same day you arrived here.


    That means something is definitely wrong here.] The system said.


    ¡­


    At the lowest floor of the underground facility. Therge pink thranium crystal projected the progress of the re-booting process.


    [Re-booting: 98%]

 Chapter 167: About time.

    <h4>Chapter 167: About time.</h4>


    [Re-booting: 98%.]


    The facility''s core is a sentient artifact that is in control of everything in the facility.


    One of its functions was surveince of both the interior and exterior of the facility and that included almost the entirety of Bulian hills.


    It could scan every nook and cranny of the interior and as for the exterior, once anything got into its range of surveince all their actions were monitored.


    That was how the teleportation array had perfectly gotten the trio.


    When it came to security, it could control every single security system and also act as a hive mind for all of them.


    Currently, these functions and many more not listed were unavable due to the re-booting process.


    Right now, some parts and functions of the facility were on autopilot and that was the reason why the golems were sloppy and the scanners were not active.


    But not for long.


    ¡­


    The next day at the center of Bulian hills.


    Having no need to sleep for at least a month, Zirrack had been meditating in a crossed-legged position for hours.


    Not only has he been preparing for the task ahead but he was avoiding setting the entire Bulian hills ame by suppressing his anger through meditation.


    He felt like every minute he spent waiting meant less time he had for his vacation, but he knew it was necessary to wait for the association to contain the area before people were caught in the fire.


    "Any news?" Zirrack''s tone had a hint of impatience and anger.


    "The containment field will be ready in half an hour and then you will be free to do as you please." Walden replied.


    "I can wait..." Zirrack said as he closed his eyes and continued meditation.


    ¡­


    Around the same time at the beast floor.


    The trio had finally awoken from their sleep. They had quite a long night and causing them to sleepte.


    ke had tried to crack the array that granted ess to thest floor (control floor), but even with the help of Mind boost, he was still unsessful.


    "If we end up surviving this, I will soak myself in a hot tub for at least half an hour before scrubbing." Brian couldn''t help but cover his nose after a brief sniff of his pits.


    "Thinking of it, we have solved our biggest problem which is food and although we might be stuck in this room we should make the most out of it." ke said.


    "How?" Castiel asked.


    "Let''s take a hot bath." ke''s suggestion was received with raised brows. "I know you guys are skeptical because of privacy, but I have that covered."


    ke''s n was to create 3 bathtubs by freezing space. Then Brian would fill them up with water, while he and Castiel would heat it.


    As for the privacy issue, it was quite easy. One person would remain in theb, one behind the creepy furnace and the other at end of the warehouse.


    (AN: Lol, they have no clue they are about to be busted out. Imagine Zirrack entering the room, room only to see a naked teen in a transparent bathtub. LMAO)


    "That''s a great idea." Castiel was excited about the idea. Finally, the air would soon be clean to breathe.


    "I call dibs on theb." Brian shouted.


    Shortly after arguing on who was to stay behind the creepy furnace, ke began constructing the bathtub, but that was when a notification sounded all around the facility.


    [Core rebootplete.]


    [Core updating: 10%.]


    [Scanners activated.]


    [SPI-X bots activated.]


    "What the fuck is going?"


    The robot-like voice put the trio in disarray. Brian who had taken off his shirt began putting it back on.


    [Just like I suspected. For a facility as big as this, there was meant to be something like a system.] The system said.


    "So, what now?" Brian asked in a panicking tone.


    [Well, the scanners activated will scan every nook and cranny of the facility. Where it will begin, I don''t know but surely you will be discovered.] The system said in a tone too calm for their situation.


    "Are you saying we are going to die?" Castiel asked in disbelief.


    [Yes. You can run but you can''t hide within the facility.] The system replied.


    "What are you doing?" ke couldn''t help but ask when he saw Brian taking off his shirt.


    "Since we are going to die, I thought we should go out in a clean way." Brian said with a forced smile.


    "¡­"


    ke and Castiel couldn''t wonder how Brian could think of such things at a time like this.


    (AN: Is it only me that acts this way in a serious moment XD?)


    For a moment ke thought it wasn''t a bad idea, but he soon changed his mind when he realized he would die without even trying.


    "Put on your clothes, we can''t die without trying." ke said to Brian, but that was when light from the walls began scanning the room.


    "Fuck!" The trio cursed in unison. They knew it wasing but they hadn''t thought it would be instantly.


    They quickly rushed out of the room and began heading to where they came from.


    "What''s the n?" Castiel asked.


    "I don''t have any idea but we are heading back to the energy research floor." ke said, causing Castiel and Brian to look at each other.


    ¡­


    On the surface.


    "The containment field has been set up. Let''s just pray the boys are still alive and please don''t go destroying every¡­" Zirrack cut themunication link and stood up.


    "About time¡­" Zirrack began cracking his knuckles as his body burst into darkish-purple mes.


    "Time to crack this hard nut and teach whoever owns this ce a lesson for wasting my precious time." The more Zirrack spoke the hotter the air became till the air around him burst into mes.


    Calling his gear, 2 darkish purple gauntlets with red stripes converging from the base to the knuckles appeared on his arms.


    BOOM!


    BOOM!

 Chapter 168: Artificial Volcano.

    <h4>Chapter 168: Artificial Volcano.</h4>


    Back to the research facility.


    ke, Castiel, and Brian were still on the run to the teleportation array at the center of the floor, but that was when lights from the walls began scanning the corridors.


    [Intruders detected in the beast floor. Deploying SPI-X and PAC-X bots.]


    "Shit!" The trio cursed as they kept on running.


    Immediately the core raised the rm, holes began opening on the walls as metal oval balls began dropping from them.


    Before they touched the floor, the metal balls had unfolded into mechanical spiders that had a red glowing eye.


    The walls close to them began opening up as more SPI-X bots jumped onto them, but they were met by invisible barriers and water whips.


    At the same time, 5 PAC-X bots began appearing at the teleportation array, and just like those that were already patrolling, they all headed in ke''s direction.


    The SPI-X bots had 2 functions. One was to keep an eye on the intruder''s every move because the research facility didn''t possess cameras.


    The 2nd function was stalling or trapping the intruders while the big guns arrived.


    Their cores were able to shoot outpressed fire in the form ofsers and their 8 limbs were razor sharp and able to interlink with the other bots to form an electric cage.


    The cage would constantly releaserge amounts of electricity that would stun and render the intruder useless.


    "What the fuck man!" Brian cursed as he saw spider bots on the walls, ground, and even ceiling, chasing after them.


    As they ran, the metallic noiseing from their limbs made them feel like they were in a horror movie where the world had been taken over by machines.


    The problem was that blocking the spider bots while running was quite difficult and in doing so, their speed was greatly reduced.


    If things continued this way, they would be surrounded by PAC-X bots before they got to the teleportation array.


    To ease the pressureing from behind them, Brian made an earth wall erupt from beneath, blocking the entire corridor.


    ''That was easier than I thought¡­'' Brian couldn''t help but think when he no longer heard the clicking sounds of their limbs, but immediately he thought of it an explosion was heard behind them.


    It turned out that SPI-X bots had actually stopped, but only to concentrate theirser beams.


    Their actions formed a holerge many of them to pass through, rather than making multiple holes which would have made the process longer.


    "Holy fuck!" The trio was shocked by the level of intelligence shown by the hive mind.


    [From what I am seeing, if you guys were to meet another PAC-X bot, the fight wouldn''t be as easy as before.] The system said.


    The system was correct, not only had their processing and reaction speed increased but due to the fact that they were connected directly to the core, the safe pass granted by the journal would no longer be effective.


    The core knew almost everything about Zultra. From his physical appearance to even his catchphrase and although the codex (journal) prevented the PAC-X bots from attacking them, it was able to override it.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Out of nowhere, the entire facility began quaking.


    ''What the hell now?!'' At this point, the trio felt like they were being toiled with by a God who got pleasure from seeing them suffer.


    [Intruder detected attacking facility''s barrier. Deploying all PAC-X bots.] The voice of the core rang all over the facility.


    Just as the core was done with the announcement, the PAC-X bot that had arrived in front of them turned back and speed to the teleportation array.


    Seeing this, calmed down the hearts of the trio as they thanked whoever was causing themotion.


    ''Could that be help?'' The trio couldn''t help but think that help had arrived, but all these didn''t cause them to stop because the spider bots were still hot on their tail.


    They were getting close to an intersection but there was no need to make a turn because their route was straight. The problem was that more spider bots were swarming from the other corridors.


    ''What do we do now?'' Seeing the number of spider botsing from the front and behind, Castiel knew they couldn''t run their way through this.


    ''For a file and follow me.'' ke said as he threw a void dagger far into the corridor.


    Void Shift!


    ke opened a spatial corridor and ran into it, but this time it didn''t close after he went through.


    He had left open the spatial corridor long enough for 3 people to get through, but it cost 3 times more mana.


    Immediately they had all appeared at the other side of the corridor, Brian cast 2 earth walls to buy them more time as they continued the race.


    ¡­


    At the surface.


    Zirrack had thrown out only 10 punches but he was now standing in a 50-meter deep crater which had a width of over 70-meters.


    With each punch he threw out, the more the temperature rose and the deeper he went.


    The area around him was already on fire and the vegetation within 100 meters of him had already been burnt to ashes.


    He kept on throwing punch after punch, but he began noticing the ground was getting stronger, meaning he was getting closer to the facility''s surface.


    After 5 minutes he was already 200 meters into the earth. He was currently standing in a pool of moltenrva which was now knee length.


    It wasn''t because he had reach the core of the but because the intense heat he produced had made the ground met.


    He was about to release another charged punch, but that was when golden-brown mechanical golems began appearing.


    Due to therge space created from the explosions of each punch, the crater was more than enough to fit 20 PAC-X bots.


    "Whatvtook you guys so long..." Zirrack halted his punches as he faced his new visitors.


    It wasmon sense that every hidden facility like this would posses some sort of defense system, so he knew it was only a matter of time till they came for him.


    His only hope right now, was that they were worth his time.

 Chapter 169: Enough!

    <h4>Chapter 169: Enough!</h4>


    Immediately the golems appeared, they began charging their energy beams in other to quickly eliminate the problem before the facility took serious damage.


    Seeing this, Zirrack stood in the same spot as he uttered a single word.


    "Erupt."


    Immediately he made the angelic pronouncement, theva in the crater began bubbling as the instantly erupted, blocking both the sight and heat vision of the PAC-X bots.


    By only looking at the golden brown metal, Zirrack knew theva wouldn''t have much of an effect on the golem.


    Using the cover of theva, he quickly dodged the iing energy beams and appeared behind one of the golems and gave it a fiery punch so hot that it melted the adamant alloy giving him one-way ess to the core.


    ''Well that was disappointing¡­'' Zirrack thought as he clenched his fist, causing the golem''s core to explode.


    After everything he had seen so far, Zirrack had thought that it would have been at least a king tier beast, but seeing how easy it was for him to take down one, he was quite disappointed.


    ''Seems like there will be no fun. Time to save the kids.'' At this time theva had already dropped back into the crater, but Zirrack had already moved away from the spot.


    He had used the eruption as a way to safely measure the enemy''s power level, but he was done it was time to end this quickly.


    He dashed towards the next golem while easily dodging energy beams flying towards him from all angles.


    Combustion cannon!


    He appeared behind the golem and suddenly a powerfulpressed fire beam shot through its core and everything in its way, destroying 2 golems.


    Not wasting even a second, Zirrack was already at his next target, and with a single punch he blew out its core.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Zirrack was moving so fast that if ke was here, not only would he have been unable to get a glimpse of him, but the multiple explosions urring simultaneously would make it look like he was everywhere at the same time.


    [Analysis in progress.] As Zirrack was mowing down the number of PAC-X bots, the facility''s core was analyzing his strength and weakness.


    [Activating core Supercharger.] After the analysis, the facility''s core hade to a single conclusion.


    The only way to defeat Zirrack was to increase the capabilities of the PAC-X bots and not by numbers.


    ''Huh?'' As Zirrack was weaving through waves of energy beams, he noticed how the energy levels of the golems were rising.


    ''Are they trying tomit suicide?'' Zirrack couldn''t help but scoff, because nothing rted to fire even in the Angelic realm could hurt him.


    (AN: lol, Zirrack is so hot thatva feels cold to him ;)


    Unknown to him the increase in energy level meant that the golems were sacrificing their core life for increased reflex and processing speed.


    ''How many are these things?'' Zirrack thought as he squashed a golem''s head before blowing out it''s core.


    At first, he had thought that he could keep killing the golems regardless of their numbers, but after the supercharger was activated he began noticing it was bing more difficult.


    With their increased processing speed and the help of the hive mind, the golems had begun learning and were now protecting each other by predicting Zirrack''s moves.


    Although Zirrack was still too fast for them, he had a feeling that if things continued like this he would be in a bad position.


    "Enough!" Zirrack shouted in anger, as a wave of fire erupted from him, quaking the entire facility and pining all the golems to the walls of the crater.


    "Stand still and melt!" Making an angelic pronouncement, the mechanical golems found it hard to move as the temperature in the crater began reaching hellish heights.


    (AN: You might be asking why he didn''t do that from the beginning. Well, it''splicated and will be exined in the future.)


    "Now let''s get this over with." Zirrack took out the adventurermunication orb and activated its jamming function.


    Another set of PAC-X bots were deployed, but this time the spatial corridor from the teleportation array didn''t close and this was Zirrack''s queue.


    The moment the golems appeared, the effects of the pronouncement were still strong in the array, causing them to stay in a fixed position and melt, leaving Zirrack free to jump into the corridor.


    ¡­


    "Was the intruder captured?" ke couldn''t help but think of such a possibility when he noticed the quakes had stopped.


    This wasn''t a piece of good news at all because if the greater problem was dealt with, then they would be next on the list.


    "Fuck me sideways!"


    When the group had finally reached the teleportation array they saw swarms of spider botsing out from the other corridors.


    "Even if we can make it into the array, we will be captured before activating it." Brian warned them when he saw the insane number of SPI-Xing at them.


    ''Alright guys, just like before.'' Ignoring the negativement, ke threw a void dagger towards the array.


    Luckily for them, the facility''s core was concentrated on the fight at the surface. If not it would have easily countered the trick since it had seen it before.


    Void shift!


    With the aid of mind boost, ke opened a spatial corridor long enough for the 3 of them to get through and appear at the array.


    Immediately, ke began activating the journal, the spider bots were already on him.


    Earth eruption!


    4 earth walls erupted from the ground, blocking the array from all sides, but before they were fully up,pressed fire beams destroyed the walls.


    "Fuck!"


    Seeing how the walls were easily destroyed, they knew this was the end of the road for them because more than 100 spider bots were aiming at them.


    *QUAKE*


    Out of nowhere, the entire facility experienced a quake that almost made the trio lose their bnce, but at the same time, something shocking happened.

 Chapter 170: The Core.

    <h4>Chapter 170: The Core.</h4>


    Out of nowhere, the warp array lit up and a barrier blocked every attack shot at them and before the trio knew it they weren''t on the beast research floor.


    "Nice one bro." Brian and Castiel gave ke a thumbs up as theyy down on the floor of the array.


    "I don''t get. I didn''t do anything." ke said in a puzzled tone.


    "Then who did?" Brian asked.


    "Right now I think the most important question is, where are we?" Castiel asked as they scanned their surroundings.


    The room looked simr to the teleportation rooms they had been to, but this one seemed to be grander.


    The rims and the inscriptions of the array were done with gold and instead of 2 golem charging ports, 2 stone pirs had golden vases with flower designs on them.


    At the corners of the room were 4 golden pirs with the same flower design, and just like the other floors, the walls were brimming with mana.


    The top and bottom of the walls had golden strips and the walls were gray and unlike the other floors, they didn''t look like carved stones, but perfectly stered.


    The walls were gray and at the top and bottom were golden strips. Unlike the other floors, these walls weren''t carved stones, but perfectly stered ones.


    "This feels more like a mansion, than a research facility." Brian couldn''t help butment when he saw how shiny the room was.


    "What the fuck?!"


    Castiel and Brian turned to ke who was staring at the book with a shocked expression.


    "But how?" Shock was written over their faces as they looked at the journal and found out that they were on the control floor.


    It meant that something had activated the master control and had unlocked thest floor.


    "The way things are going seems quite suspicious. From the intruder distracting most of the facility''s security to the warp array bringing us here." ke said.


    It might all look like a coincidence or that the trio was pretty lucky, but if one carefully thought about it, there was a chance that this was orchestrated by someone.


    Especially since the identity and whereabouts of the mysterious owner of such a facility was still unknown


    "Since we are here let''s look for a way to get out of here." Keeping in mind that the golems could get to them at any time, ke decided they kept on moving.


    Using the map, ke studied the entireyout of thest floor. From the map, he could see their position, which was at the southern part of the floor and the core at the center.


    He quickly noticed that this floor had nothing to do with research, but more of a residential area. It had things like a meditation room, library, living room, guest room, and even a pool.


    But although their bodies were itching for a hot bath and their minds fantasying about the knowledge they would be able to find in such a library, they stuck to the route leading to the core.


    After some minutes of walk, the trio had arrived at arge circr corridor.


    "ording to the map the room housing the core is meant to be right in front of us." ke took another look at the map but he wasn''t wrong at all.


    They decided to go round the corridor, but the only thing they saw were other corridors that led to the other parts of the floor.


    "Since this is thest floor, there is no chance of it being beneath us, meaning there is only one option left." ke walked up to therge round wall.


    Just like the other walls, the system''s mana vision was blinded by the amount of mana flowing them, leaving him with only his instincts.


    He began looking for a hidden passage by touching different parts of the wall but after doing it for close to 30 minutes, he decided to try a new approach.


    He activated the journal and was about to walk around the wall again, but that was when a click was heard.


    The outline of a door appeared on the wall and then it protruded before sliding to the side, giving ess to apletely white room.


    [Wee master Zultra.]


    Immediately ke stepped into the white room, the environment began changing.


    The walls were still white, but multiple screens disying different parts of bot the facility and the Bulian hills and the most shocking part was therge diamond-shaped thranium crystal floating at the center of the room.


    "What the fuck!" The trio was awestruck by the crystal in front of them.


    As armature forgemasters and students in a magical academy, they knew about thranium crystal and its importance, but what shocked them was the size.


    The discovery of thranium crystals gave way to the thranium age which could be considered as Infinite realms peak, but it has been millenniums since then.


    Right now, Infinite realm was at its lowest, and finding a thranium crystal talk more of a mine was very rare, but right in front of them was a humongous one which would have still been quite rare even during the peak.


    [Now before you ask the questions on your minds. No, you can''t a part of it even though it has cracks.] The system''sment caused the trio to turn their faces.


    [The thranium crystal is most likely what is powering the entire facility. Although it looks damage, it still has a lot of energy but its physical condition will mostly be destroyed first.] The system exined.


    "How is that even possible. I thought it was the other way round?" ke has a confused look on his face.


    A perfect example was the beast crystals he used to cultivate. Once the energy within was finished the crystal would turn to dust.


    [This is exactly why thranium crystals are still considered to be the most potent source of energy known to man.


    No one can exin the process of formation. Even though they were mined, their process of formation was considered illogical and unnatural.] The system said.


    [It is protected by more arrays than you can imagine. So, you should forget about taking part of it.] The system burst their bubbles.

 Chapter 171: Ebony and Ivory.

    <h4>Chapter 171: Ebony and Ivory.</h4>


    [It is protected by more arrays than you can imagine. So, you should forget about taking any part of it.] The system burst its bubbles.


    "Back to the topic. How do we get out of here?" Castiel reminded them of the reason they were there.


    They looked around and saw nothing in the room except for a podium right in front of the gigantic thranium crystal.


    "Well, we might as well try that out." ke walked up to the podium and tried injecting his mana into it, but nothing worked.


    (AN: I know you might be wondering why the core is so chilled out even though intruders were standing right in front of it. Well the question will be answered soon.)


    Not wasting more time, ke went straight to the point and brought out the journal. Immediately it was activated, the podium lit up connecting the journal to the core.


    The journal''s holographic interface popped up showing a message.


    [Do you want to open the stasis pod?]


    "Nope¡­" ke clicked no and began searching for a way to get them out of the facility, but that was when the message popped up again.


    "What the fuck!" ke clicked the ''no'' option, but before he could navigate the holographic window, the message popped back again.


    "Even on a different, pop up''s are still fucking annoying." ke stared at the holographic window with furrowed brows.


    He didn''t want to activate any stasis pod but seems like the core wasn''t giving him an option.


    "What do we do now?" ke asked the system.


    [I have a feeling that activating the pod will bring about something bad. For the fact that we are right in front of the core and nothing is happening, means something is wrong.] The system brought their attention to the fact.


    [The stasis pod of a thing sounds suspicious, but it''s not like we have much of an option. If you don''t do it we will die, and if you don''t we might still die.] The system said.


    "Why do I have the feeling we are about to wake a millennium-old entity." Brian couldn''t help butment because they had seen many movies when the MC or a set of idiot teens set a horror loose.


    "Here goes nothing." ke took in a deep breath and clicked on the ''yes'' option.


    The first 2 minutes felt like half an hour, but soon a mark appeared on the floor beside the podium, anding out of the ground was a ss showcase containing a greatsword.


    The ss covering opened and right in front of ke was a great sword that looked quite big for ke to get a good grip on.


    The greatsword had the inscriptions of two vicious wolves on each side of the de. The inscription on the right side of the greatsword was darkish red in color, while that of the other half had a white glow.


    The design of the hilt was the head of 2 wolves and at the bottom of the hilt was a white and darkish red crystal.


    [Name: Ebony and Ivory.


    Grade: Legendary tier (Peak Epic tier.)


    Type: Greatsword (Dual sword.)]


    "What the¡­" When ke saw the sword''s grade, his mind was unable to form thoughts.


    "Are you shitting me?" Brian''s mouth was wide open as he looked at the sword''s info.


    "Are you sure these things are still working?" Castiel rubbed his eyes but everything was still the same.


    The trio was shocked to the core when their system showed them the grade of the greatsword.


    They had all heard tales about legendary grade weapons and as apprentice forgemasters their dream was to get a glimpse of one, but right in front of them was the real deal.


    [Abilities:


    Disseverance


    Cognitive empathy.


    Overhaul.


    Metamorphosis.


    Canine fusion.]


    (AN: I went through hell and back toe up with these names :(. Hope you guys like it.)


    [Disseverance (Active skill): Ebony and Ivory split into dual des.]


    [Cognitive empathy (Active and passive): Once bonded with the owner, Ebony and Ivory will be able to feel the owner''s emotions.


    (Passive Skill): Once the owner is sensed to be in battle mode or danger, Ebony and Ivory would appear even if not called.


    (Passive skill: Ivory): As the owner''s mental faculty increases, so does the powers of Ivory.


    (Active skill: Ebony): In and off battle, Ebony is able to feed off the negative emotions of the user and convert them to raw power.


    (Active skill: Ivory): When the owner is sensed to be afflicted mentally or in a mental battle, Ivory can assist the owner.]


    "Damn!" The trio couldn''t help but exim as they read it skills.


    [Overhaul: If the physical bodies of Ebony and Ivory gets damaged, energy and emotions from the owner would be used to hasten their recovery.]


    "That is if it can get damaged." They couldn''t imagine what could possibly damage a legendary sword.


    They tried to view the other abilities, but they were grey meaning currently unavable.


    "Any thoughts on what it means to be a legendary grade and peak epic grade. Also, why are these 2 kills unavable?" ke asked.


    [The strength and skills of certain weapons, especially those of such grade sometimes depend on the owner''s strength.] The system said. [As for this sword, from the skills it is clear that its strength is dependent on the user and since it isn''t bounded to anyone, it is weak.]


    "From the skill descriptions, it sounds as if Ebony and Ivory are entities?" ke asked.


    [Actually, they are. Remember the room at the beast floor?" The system''s question made them realize that one of their many questions has been answered.


    [Exactly. The souls of beasts were used in forging this masterpiece.] The system confirmed their suspicions.


    "I wonder what level of beasts were used to craft the sword." Brian thought aloud.


    "Not a beast expert but I am sure it''s nothing below the emperor level beasts." Castiel.


    The three nodded in agreement but the system had a suspicion that it was an ancestral beast.

 Chapter 172: Finally leaving here

    <h4>Chapter 172: Finally leaving here</h4>


    "The first question is it safe to take? Second, who gets to bound with the sword?" ke asked two important questions.


    It was a known fact that there was always a trap protecting a treasure, especially a legendary grade sword.


    ke asked the question because after seeing the facility''s level of traps and security, he was dead sure that Ebony and Ivory was rigged with traps.


    [The second question is for you guys to decide. For the first question, I scanned it the moment it appeared, and surprisingly it doesn''t have any form of array protecting it.] The system''s words made the trio look at each other in disbelief.


    It was almost impossible to believe that a legendary-grade weapon was free to take.


    After asking the system to run more checks the result still came back the same, causing them to move on to the second question.


    "So, what do you guys think?" ke asked.


    After some time of thinking, Castiel finally spoke up.


    "Don''t know if I speak for both of us, but I think if there is anyone that deserves this it''s you." Castiel said.


    "You were the one that cracked all the arrays while we sat down and did nothing. Even when we had to fight the golems and when we were being chased, it was because of your skills that we are alive right now." Castiel''s words received nods from Brian.


    "I am touched guys, thanks a lot." ke thanked them and wasted no time as he picked up the great sword.


    When he poured in his mana into the sword, a white and darkish red light, lit the eyes of the wolves at the hilt.


    The white and red crystal at the end of the hilt also glowed as spikes popped out of the hilt and dug into ke''s palm.


    It was only a sting, but he could feel a type of energy moving up his right arm till it reached his chest region.


    "Argh!!"


    ke dropped to his knees in pain as a hot and cold energy afflicted his chest region.


    It stayed in the array for some seconds before making its way into each and every star in his body, causing him to cuddle up in pain.


    ''Why do things like this keep happening to me?'' ke cursed his bad luck as he tried to stand, but that was when both energies went into his head.


    ''Fuck me!''


    The hot and cool energy shot into his head, making him feel as if his head was being run over by a steam engine train.


    It was so excruciating that his mind was devoid of thoughts and all he could do was nkly stare at the ceiling with his eyes and mouth wide open.


    "Damn!" Brian and Castiel couldn''t help but feel pity for ke right now.


    This wasn''t the first time they had seen him in such a condition, but this was surely the worst they had seen so far.


    ke looked like he had taken a constipated dump, but ended up to have pooped out his intestines causing the shocked expression.


    He was still breathing but hisplexion and the bulging veins on his head made them feel like an entity was taking control of his body.


    Out of nowhere, ke''s body began twitching before his eyes began glowing a white and darkish red light.


    "Holy Fuck!" The duo looked at the exit and at each other before instinctively getting closer to each other.


    Out of nowhere, ke gasped for air, creeping out both Brian and Castiel. "What the fuck was that? How did¡­ bounding get¡­ to this?"


    [Not only did the sword bound to mana, but to your body and life essence.] The system exined why things had gotten messy.


    After catching his breath, ke once again checked the attributes of Ebony and Ivory. Everything had remained the same, 2 abilities were still greyed out, but he noticed a new thing.


    [Name: Ebony and Ivory.


    Grade: Legendary tier (Peak Epic tier.)


    Type: Greatsword (Dual sword.)


    Abilities:


    ¡¤? ? ? ? Disseverance


    ¡¤? ? ? ? Cognitive empathy.


    ¡¤? ? ? ? Overhaul.


    ¡¤? ? ? ? Metamorphosis.


    ¡¤? ? ? ? Canine fusion.


    Maker: Azkelwart.]


    "What the¡­" ke was shocked by the revtion and quickly told Castiel and Brian about it.


    "So, you are saying that we are in the research facility of the greatest researcher in the history of Infinite realm?" Brian was awestruck.


    [There is a possibility, but I am in doubt of that because Azkelwart is meant to be dead hundreds of thousands of years ago.] The system pointed out an important fact, no one can live forever.


    [It''s hard to believe but a lot of things are pointing towards this. I mean the level of research here is on another level and the amount of wealth used to set all these up isn''t something anyone could even dream of.] The system exined.


    [Intruders detected at the core and energy floor!] The rm of the core rang at every angle of the facility, breaking up their conversation.


    "Fuck! What do we do?" The images of being surrounded by golems sent chills down the spine of Brian.


    "Oh!" ke quickly remembered what he had wanted to do before opening the pod.


    "Yes! Okay, let''s see what we have here." When ke looked at the journal, the pop-up was gone and it seemed like more features were unlocked.


    "Teleportation!" Finally, ke had found what he was looking for, and after getting more info on how to use it, he beckoned on Castiel and Brian toe closer.


    "We are finally leaving here guys." ke activated the teleportation function from the codex and chose a location using one of the screens.


    A purple teleportation array began forming beneath them and before they knew it they found themselves in Bulian hills


    ___________


    Back at the underground facility.


    Zirrack had appeared at the teleportation array and had begun moving through the corridors and easily incinerated everything that came in his way but couldn''t destroy managed to dent the walls.


    He had just gotten to thest room ke was in and was about to go in, but that was when a pink array appeared beneath him.


    Before he could jam the array using the adventurer''s orb, he found himself with the boys.

 Chapter 173: Return of Azkelwart.

    <h4>Chapter 173: Return of Azkelwart.</h4>


    "Haaa! Instructor Zirrack what are you doing here?" For a second the trio was shocked when they saw a familiar that always gave them the chills.


    "I wasmissioned to save you guys." Zirrack too was also surprised to see them.


    "Don''t mean to interrupt but is it me or is it hot?" Brian''s question made them realize that they were even sweating.


    "I had knowingly teleported us to a ce far from the fire, how is it still hot?" ke said as he used his hands to fan himself, but they had close to no effect against the heat.


    "Sorry, for the inconvenience. Let me deal with it." Saying those words, Zirrack flew far away from them and began summoning the heat within the barrier to himself.


    "I wonder how strong he is." The trio had felt the tremors that had been rocking the facility and had also seen the level of damage the environment had taken at the core.


    It made them wonder what realm Zirrack was.


    ''Now before he is back. He will surely ask what went on in the facility, so we have to decide on what to say.'' ke spoke to them using their mind link.


    There was no way they would mention anything concerning Ebony and Ivory, neither will they mention his space element.


    ''Mentioning about the researches on each floor and your ability to crack arrays is quite safe. So, we don''t have much problem as long as we don''t mention them.'' Castiel said.


    [The problem with that is how were you guys able to defeat PAC-X bots? Zirrack has faced them and would be able to know what you guys are capable of.] The system pointed out a loophole in their story.


    ''This means I would have to mention void shift. Just hope professor Hoffenheim isn''t offended." ke wasn''t sure how he would react when he learned of this.


    ''That doesn''t exin how you were able to defeat the golems.'' Brian mentioned another problem.


    ''Who said we have to mention that he destroyed any?'' Castiel said, but at that moment Zirrack had returned.


    The atmosphere had returned to normal and the fire within the barrier had cooled down. Theva in the crater had solidified and everything except for the charred ground and burnt nts had returned to normal.


    They were expecting him to begin the question and answer session, but immediately he returned he pulled out themunication orb and contacted guild master Walden.


    "They are safe now."


    ________


    Back to the core.


    The moment the trio was teleported out of the facility, the intruder rm stopped and multiple holographic interfaces appeared all around the gigantic thranium crystal.


    Complex calctions could be seen on each screen and this went on for some minutes before the gigantic crystal floated out of its position and a stasis pod rose from the floor.


    When the pod opened up, cold air rushed out as a naked man stepped out.


    Although he looked like he was in histe-40''s but was hundreds of thousands of years old. He had silver hair and eyes with a gleeful smile that had a tinge of madness to it.


    He had a slim build and stood 5'' 11'''' feet. His physique could make anyone mistake him for a randommoner, but if Zirrack was here right now he would sense the Deity level aura he was releasing.


    The craziest part of this was that if Zirrack or the trio were down here, they would have found his face very familiar because he looked exactly like professor Mack Hoffenheim!


    [Wee Back, Master Azkelwart.] The facility''s core greeted its true master.


    "Long time no see Fury. How have you been?" Azkelwart asked his closest friend.


    [Currently, I am fine, but a lot has happened while you were gone.] The core sighed.


    "Give me a rundown on it. Also, where did Zultra go, is he too busy to say hello?" Azkelwart said as his eyes glowed and the images of everything thing that had urred in hundreds of millenniums poured into his head.


    [Zultra left base and is currently living in the city not too far from here. So as the time of your return neared, I formed a n to get outsiders to release you and everything worked out fine.] Fury said, expecting praise from its creator.


    "Well as long as he got to finish the dark matter crystals and the rest, then there is no need to recall him because all work and no y makes one depressed." Azkelwart said after some pondering.


    "As for you, don''t you think you are being too maniptive?" Azkelwart asked causing Fury to bend its holographic head.


    He had watched how Fury had brought the trio and force itself to reset in other not to kill them, before leading them to the next floor and granting them ess to the core room.


    Although they were suspicious of the unknown owner, they had never thought that the core was the one behind everything.


    "You did really well, especially by holding yourself back and not sending the Z1000 bots to kill that angel. For this I will get you a greater power source and give you an upgrade or 2." Azkelwart said with a proud smile.


    Luckily for Zirrack, if not that Fury had listened to all his calls with Walden from the moment he stepped into the Bulian hills. It would have sent out 5 out of the 100 Z1000 bots also known as angel killers instead of the PAC-X bots.


    Not only were they immune to divine pronouncements but their body, weapons, and synergy were wless, meaning Zirrack would have died in a matter of minutes.


    [Master are you sure you really want to give out Ebony and Ivory because they aren''t that far.] Fury asked.


    Every time Azkelwart was entering the stasis pod, he would always ce the sword as a gift just in case something had happened and an outsider was the one to free him.


    "When did we start taking back gifts? Besides Ebony and Ivory are of no use to me because I have no negative emotions to feed Ebony and mental faculty is far greater than that of Ivory." Azkelwart said as he came out of the white room and headed for the wine cer.

 Chapter 174: Back to normal.

    <h4>Chapter 174: Back to normal.</h4>


    Azkelwart could warp himself directly to the wine cer with just a thought, but he decided to exercise his body.


    "Also, that kid with the space element is quite interesting. Not only did he prove to be quite strong and resourceful for someone his level, he knew about void shift meaning there is a chance that Zultra thought him that." Azkelwart scanned through his wine collection.


    After he had grabbed a bottle of Starfire wine, he warped himself to the living room and began sipping the wine.


    "Perks of never dying, you get to drink quality wine." Azkelwart said as he poured in thest bits of the azure blue liquid into his wine ss.


    "Alright, it''s time to visit the dwarves and get you a new core." After he was done with the wine, Azkelwart appeared in the white room.


    "Your core wouldn''t be able to make the trip, so let''s use the other option." Azkelwart made the codex float towards him until it entered into his body causing his eyes to glow with a white and darkish red light.


    "Activate the dark matter crystals."


    Immediately he gave out themand, in a room housing hundreds of pitch-ck crystals that the trio had seen. The dark matter crystals instantly changed from ck to white and all the energy they had been gathering for centuries began flowing out but in greater quantity.


    Without any turbulence or vibration, the base teleported out of therge concealed space it was and into the void.


    ____


    "They are safe now." Zirrack reported to Walden.


    "That was quicker than I expected. Alright, I will bring them in right now." Immediately Walden said those words, the triangr artifact hanging on his neck emitted a green glow and a spatial gate appeared right in front of them.


    "As for your report, it can wait till you get back from your vacation." Walden said as he stepped out of the spatial gate.


    "Then that means I am off." Not wasting any second, darkish purple mes engulfed Zirrack before he took off.


    ''That beast goes on vacation?'' The trio stared at Zirrack''s figure in disbelief because they never thought he knew anything rted to fun.


    "Trust me his vacation isn''t what you think it is." Walden couldn''t help butment when he saw the look on their faces, but they didn''t seem to have understood him.


    "I am Walden the guild master of the association''s branch in Calton city, nice to meet you guys." Walden introduced himself with a weing smile.


    "I am Zero, this is Hades and Grock, nice to meet you too." The trio slightly bowed to show respect.


    "I have heard a lot of you guys, especially you Mr. Zero." Guild master Walden said with an impressed smile on his face.


    "I am here to take you guys back to the association. So, if you may?"? Walden gestured for them to walk into the spatial gate.


    ''That artifact must really be powerful to warp us despite the amount of distance.'' ke made a mental note as he looked out the full ss window in the office and saw that they were back in Calton city.


    "Alright, you guys should go freshen up and have some rest. Later we will have a little chat about what happened." At that moment Susan walked into the office.


    "Guild Master, you called for me?" Susan was stunned when she entered the office and saw ke''s group.


    ''Right on time as always. Please see them to their rooms and inform the field agents to disable the containment barrier." Walden sat down on his chair.


    "Yes sir." Susan Bowed and led the trio out of the office.


    Immediately they were out of hearing range, Susan stopped and turned to them.


    "So happy that you guys are back safely¡­ Sorry I''ve got something in my eyes." Susan said while trying to cover up her teary eyes.


    Amongst the few who were worried about them, Susan was right behind Tessie.


    Although they hadn''t had much time together, the trio was one of the very few adventurers that treated her nicely not because they wanted something from her but because they were naturally good people.


    Also, due to Infinite realm''s tipping system being close to non-existent, because of the poverty level ofmoners and feel of superiority from the noble.


    Susan found their act of tipping very generous and very grateful for that because they had gone a long way in solving a lot of her problems.


    "It''s good to know that someone has us on the back of their mind. Thanks a lot." ke''s words made her eyes even tearier.


    ''Not to ruin the moment but, I am tired and I need a shower!'' Brian said using their mind link, but he only got res from ke and Castiel.


    "Sorry for the dy." Realizing how unprofessional she was acting, Susan quickly got herself together and led them to their rooms.


    When they got to their doors, Susan remembered about the role the Winchester family had yed in their return and informed them.


    ''So tired that I totally forgot about her, but first let''s get rid of this reeking smell and have a nice meal.'' After thanking Susan, they all went straight to the bathtub.


    After close to an hour the trio met up and headed for the canteen.


    "Finally I can eat as much as I want!" ke rubbed his palms as a bowl of beef noodle stir fry appeared on the table.


    "Thank the heavens that we didn''t end up eating the meat because I don''t think I would enjoy food anymore." Brian let out a sigh of relief when he thought about how close he was to ruining his taste palette and psyche.


    [If you didn''t see how the meat was gotten you would have eaten it anyway. So whyining?] The system shook its head.


    "Exactly. If human meat was grilled and seasoned, everyone will enjoy it until they were informed of its origin." ke said. "An example can be the meat we are eating, as long as we aren''t in the kitchen their chances we are eating humans."


    "Dude we are trying to eat here!" Brian and Castiel couldn''t imagine how ke was able to eat with those thoughts in his head.

 Chapter 175: Report.

    <h4>Chapter 175: Report.</h4>


    "Dude we are trying to eat here!" Brian and Castiel couldn''t imagine how ke was able to eat with those thoughts in his head.


    "Wow, didn''t know you guys would be disturbed by that." ke clicked his tongue. "By the way what are we going to do with the meat in our dimensional pocket?"


    "Seriously?" Both Castiel and Brian looked at him with furrowed brows and expressionless faces causing ke to chuckle.


    [Not as if you are being suspected of anything, but it could be used to make your story more believable.] The system said ignoring what was going on between the teens.


    "How will pieces of meat make our story more believable?" Brian asked with a raised brow.


    [Unlike you guys that could only sense mana, high-level cultivators would are able to sense life essence. Since the pieces of meat have already been drained it wouldn''t go unnoticed.] The system exined.


    "Alright so when are we going to meet him?" ke asked because they hadn''t gotten any rest since they had returned.


    "We really need to rest, but I for one prefer getting it off my chest before we do any other thing." Castiel''s words received nods.


    Immediately after they were done with their meals, the trio went over to the other side of the association building and met Susan.


    "We would like to meet Guild Master Walden to submit our report." ke said to the blonde receptionist.


    "He has agreed to the meeting. Please follow me." Susan led them to the guild master''s office.


    "I am surprised that we are meeting in a short moment. Please take a seat." With a warm smile, Walden gestured for them to take a seat.


    "Now, before you begin your report I will like to make some things clear." Walden began speaking when the trio was seated.


    "Normally, after a mission, there is no need to give a report and it also applicable when you discover a ruin or anything. The spoils of the ruin won''t be seized no matter what it is and there would need to give any info concerning them."


    Walden listened to their heartbeat and closely watched their expressions as he spoke, but there wasn''t much of a change.


    "The only reason you are being requested to make a report is that the ash corps and the association are carrying out an investigation on the massacre and discement of beasts all around Bulian hills.


    We are suspecting that something or things in the research facility are responsible for the massacre and since your party was in there, you are to be questioned." Walden exined


    "Now, that you know this, you can now begin." Walden gestured for ke to begin his report.


    "It all started from when we left the northern city wall¡­"


    ke began from the very beginning which was their mission with the Winchester family.


    He narrated about their journey to the Bulian hills, the fights against the alpha warg, and the abnormal increase of beasts in the region.


    He mentioned the fight between them and the alpha, which corresponded to the story of the Winchester family butler.


    ''So far no increase in their heartbeat. Let''s see how they react to my questions.'' Walden thought when the part of the gravely injured rugor corresponded to Zirrack''s earlier report.


    "After checking the Rugor, I returned to the group and that was when the teleportation array appeared and Tessie was saved by her butler." ke said.


    ''Huh?'' Finally, Walden noticed a change in heart rate, but it was because they were embarrassed to tell someone especially the guild master that the first thing they did in the facility was to sleep.


    ke told him how they went through the corridors and into the room with the ck gas, but skipped the parts about disabling arrays.


    "So you are telling me that there was no form of security or arrays protecting the doors?" Walden asked, but he received nods from the trio but there was no increase in heart rate meaning it was the truth.


    ke''s narration went on for 10 more minutes and during the entire time, their heart rate hadn''t been abnormal.


    "Thanks for the report, it will go a long way in the investigation. Also, when the investigation is over, your party will be reward based on how help for the information is." Walden said with a thankful smile on his face.


    "Alright let''s see what we got here." After the trio left the office, Walden looked at the points he had jotted down and began expanding on each of them.


    "Firstly, from the use of dimensional abilities and the party leader''s direct statement. It is safe to say Mack Hoffenheim has picked a disciple."


    "Second, the mention of the heavy research of forbidden magic reported in the facility removes a lot of people from the suspect list."


    "Third, the security and versatility of the facility, with the mention of a sentient being acting as the core further narrows the list down to 2 people."


    "Lastly, the party mentioned how they were forced to open a stasis pod which never appeared, and from the series of invents mentioned, it is clear that the core had staged all this." At this point, Walden put down his pen and went into deep thinking.


    "...Is it who I think it is?"


    ¡­


    Immediately after the report, the trio returned to ke''s room and congratted themselves.


    The system had informed them of a chance that their heart rate would be monitored, so they came up with a n.


    As the one making the report, the system had made a visual representation of the perfect script they had constructed.


    So, all ke had to do was to read it out with mind boost on, in order to increase his concentration and decrease his emotional reaction.


    As for Brian and Castiel, the system spoke into their minds in order to stop them from reacting to the story. It was only when needed that it would stop to make their reactions more realistic.


    "That was a brilliant n, but don''t you guys think we will get in trouble for lying." Brian asked, causing everyone to pause and look at each other, but they soon burst intoughter.

 Chapter 176: Lightning Devil.

    <h4>Chapter 176: Lightning Devil.</h4>


    In a part of the forest close to the mountain which Zirrack had killed more than 10 Rugors. The ruler of the territory was investigating what had happened in its domain.


    The ruler of the territory was a ck panther-like beast that had 3 tails and darkish blue stripes all over its body. As it walked through the forest, most of its body was shrouded in a dark cloud, giving an evil aura to it.


    The beast was an Inazuma or poprly known as the lightning devil.


    Inazuma''s were known for their uncanny speed and proficiency with the lightning element.


    Due to beasts being more inclined to nature than humans on the same realm as them, their mastery over lighting was at least a level above that of humans.


    Its powers,bined with its body that was naturally made to be a killer, made it able to kill any human on the same level.


    (AN: Yes, a beast on the same level as a human is naturally stronger due to their enhanced bodies. That is why humans tend to depend on their weapons and artifacts when facing them.)


    "Humans!"


    Seeing the scorched marks and the burnt corpses of the inhabitants of its territory, the Inazuma immediately knew this was the work of a human and this pissed it off.


    The Inazuma was a king-tier beast that was just one step away from advancing to the emperor tier. With its current strength, it could easily dispatch 3 demigods and put an Angel in a bad spot.


    Unlike humans that started off with dual elements, beasts began with nothing but strong bodies.


    When they advanced to the knight tier, their biological abilities be more prominent and when they got to the king tier they awaken their first element.


    The gap between each realm wasrge, especially the one between the king tier and emperor tier, but once a beast manages to bridge the gap between them, they unlock their second element and attain a humanoid kind of form.


    Due to the Inazamu being one step away from the emperor tier, it had recently begun manifesting its darkness element, but it still had no control over it.


    "High time I stop neglecting the humans and teach them a lesson."The beast thought.


    As a king-tier beast, it found it beneath him to go around hunting normal humans. After all, if the number of humans dying at this part of the forest reached a certain level, the humans would sweep through the area and wipe out anything they felt was dangerous, and that included him.


    The intelligence of a king-tier beast wasn''t to be trifled with. It knew if that was to happen he was sure he wouldn''te out alive.


    Not only did the humans have strength in numbers, but they also had strong cultivators that would pose serious issues.


    It sure was mad, but it was sure not to let things reach such a level.


    "What is this?" As the Inazamu moved closer to the mountain it began picking up the lingering aura of an Angel.


    "This could be what I need for my breakthrough." The ck panther thought with an evil grin on its face.


    Although it was a step away from the emperor tier, it needed quite arge push to advance.


    "This will do." The grin on the panther''s face widened as it had figured a way to go through thest hurdle.


    As it stealthy approached the mountain, the lingering aura increased signaling it was in the right direction.


    Unfortunately for it, when it reached the top Zirrack wasn''t there. It turned out that he had been away for close to 2 days, but this didn''t border the panther.


    It had learned over the centuries that patience was one of the key factors when it came to hunting. So it decided to exercise patience.


    The first day went by, but it wasn''t bothered one bit as it stayed in the woods while monitoring the area, especially the mountain.


    The second day came but there was still no sign of the angel.


    The 3rd day came and now the Inazamu was running out of patience.


    "By sunrise tomorrow I will be on my way." The lightning devil thought as it patrolled the mountain area.


    Nothing happened throughout that day and even by sunrise of the next day, but its intuition told it to wait a little bit longer.


    It listened to its guts feeling by waiting for 3 more hours but it was once again disappointed. So it decided to leave.


    When it was ? a kilometer away from the mountain, its senses began picking up strange but familiar energy.


    It was the angel heading for the mountain in the form of a me pir.


    "My guts never fail me." A spine-chilling smile appeared on the face of the Inazamu as it looked at the me pir like a gift waiting it be torn open.


    ¡­


    At the academy, Mack Hoffenheim unplugged the cables connected to different parts of his body and opened the tube''s door.


    Still feeling weak from his recent breakthrough, Hoffenheim struggled as he walked to his table naked, before picking up a clock.


    Normally clocks would tell the current time, but this one was in form of a stopwatch and the time had already reached zero and was in negative digits.


    "Shit!" Seeing the time, Hoffenheim began putting on his clothes and artifacts before rushing out of the room.


    He was almost 2 dayste in resurrecting his creator/father!


    He quickly left the magic school and boarded a carriage for the northern gate.


    The carriage stopped him at the end of the safe zone. He alighted and went on foot until he was sure he wasn''t being monitored, before teleporting to the center region of the Bulian hills.


    Having gone through this routine more than a hundred times, Hoffenheim activated themunication link between his core and that of the base.


    "That''s odd. Fury always knows when I am close to the base and doesn''t take this much time to reply." Hoffenheim thought to himself as he tried once again, but the result was still the same.

 Chapter 177: Angelic realm: Creation and Destruction path

    <h4>Chapter 177: Angelic realm: Creation and Destruction path</h4>


    "Did someone infiltrate the base?" With this being the first time something like this was happening, Hoffenheim aka Zultra began having thoughts that someone had taken over the base.


    But the thought was instantly scrapped because he had once been in control of the base and knew of its capabilities.


    With the base being the property of the God of knowledge and Inventions, no one in the angel realm wouldst more than 5 minutes in there.


    Even battle angels will have a tough time trying to take over the base, but the moment Fury took its physical form they were as good as dead.


    "Alright, let''s try this out." The surface of his skin began changing as arrays appeared and began lighting up, same with his eyes.


    This was a way for him tomunicate both mentally and visually with Azkelwart no matter the distance between them.


    "Long time no see Zultra, would have loved to see you but we had to go get a new core for Fury." Hearing Azkelwart''s cheery voice brought a sense of warmth to his artificial heart.


    "Sorry I wasn''t the one to bring you back. I had no idea that my advancement would take so much time." Zultra said in an apologetic tone.


    "You found a way to advance to the angel realm! Tell me more about it."? Azkelwart was excited at the mention of new knowledge.


    Because Zultra was a clone created from millenniums'' worth of knowledge, the mother-stream considered him as artificial.


    This came with issues like his connection with the mother-stream was lesser whenpared to humans and his cultivation was semi-crippled right from creation.


    His stars and pathways were inexistent meaning he was stuck in the demigod realm.


    "Well, I created my own pathways¡­" Zultra started from the thoughts behind the research before diving into the process.


    Zultra was created with a very special core that wasn''t restricted to certain elements.


    This meant he was able to use process the mana of any element and that included space and darkness elements. That exined how he was the best in dimensional magic.


    Although the core restricted him from advancing, it helped him instantly cast spells no matter the tier.


    Also, it enabled him to castplex spells at the angel realm as long as he knew them, and as the clone of the god of knowledge, he no doubt knew a lot.


    "I must say I am really proud of you." Azkelwart said with a genuine smile on his face causing a warm feeling to spread all over Zultra''s body.


    "Thank you." Zultra bowed.


    "When I am done with getting a new core for Fury, I might get distracted by something so I can''t make promises on when I will be back." Azkelwart said knowing what was on Zultra''s mind.


    "And oh, send my regards to your disciple for freeing me. He has 3 elements by the way." Azkelwart whispered thest part as he disconnected themunication link.


    Being a genius, Zultra instantly pieced everything together.


    The one to have awakened his father was ke and surely it was orchestrated by fury.


    As for the whispered line, he didn''t even need to guess the third element was space.


    "That makes a lot of sense because his rate of improvement in dimensional magic is quite terrifying." Zultra thought. "But I must say, he really is one hell of a lucky boy."


    Having nothing to do in the Bulian hills, he teleported back to the forest and returned to the northern gate.


    He boarded a carriage and was returning to the magic academy, but that was when he realized something.


    "What will I be doing now?" He had been working very hard so that he could show his father how far he had gone.


    His advancement was sessful, but right now he was weak and had no ns for any research.


    Normal people would want to rest after a breakthrough but he would be extremely bored if he had nothing to do.


    "This will be one boring week¡­"


    ¡­


    "Finally!" Zirrack''s grin returned to his face as the mountain where he left off came into sight.


    "If I don''t advance before school starts then I can as well forget it." The reason Zirrack had gone to the extent of adding a rejuvenation potion to his list of preparations was that he was on the verge of advancing to the next stage of the angelic realm.


    The angelic realm had 2 stages; The first was the initial stage which all demigods advanced into, while the second stage was further divided into 2.


    The second stage was known as the creation or destruction path.


    One''s chances of advancing into either path were dependent on their understanding of the element.


    For example the fire element.


    Most people saw fire as a tool for destruction and chaos, but people like forgemasters saw it as a tool for creation.


    Some used it to burn evil, while some used it tomit crimes.


    (AN: lmao!!! We all know the path Zirrack is advancing to.)


    The Destruction path of the fire element granted the user the ability to create any form of object in the form of fire and also a terrifying increase in their power output.


    As for the creation aspect of fire, it was quite aplex one. It gave the user the ability to transfer part of their life essence into things made out of their mes.


    An example is when one conjures me clones. They could transfer part of their life essence into them, enabling them to think on their own.


    They would possess the memory and skills of the creator and their power level was dependent on them amount of mana put into conjuring them.


    When it came to forgemastery, the angel was able to transfer a certain level of life essence, giving the object a certain level of intelligence.


    Zirrack had no knowledge of this neither did he know the requirements for advancing, but he could feel he was close.


    Also, he had no idea that today might be his lucky day.

 Chapter 178: Fight for advancing (1)

    <h4>Chapter 178: Fight for advancing (1)</h4>


    Seeing the pir of darkish purple me arriving at the mountain top, the ck panther began walking up to the mountain without putting any effort to conceal its presence.


    "Not concealing your presence means either 2 things. You came here to talk or you came here to fight me for what I did to your territory?" Zirrack who had been waiting for the Inazuma in a crossed-legged position didn''t even bother turning.


    Due to the Inazuma being unable to control its darkness powers, the aura it was constantly exuding was a dead giveaway of its presence. All he had to was sit down and wait once he arrived.


    "You are half right. At first, I was nning on punishing whoever did this, but when I found out it was an angel I changed my ns." The panther had a grin on its face as it continued walking towards Zirrack.


    "So you nning on killing so that you can advance?" The Inazuma''s silence was taken as a yes. "I see¡­" Zirrack stood up and finally turned to the king-tier beast.


    "That makes it 2 of us..." Zirrack said with a crazier smile that made the panther slightly shiver.


    The amount of bloodlust it felt from the human was far greater than anything it had seen before, but this was far from being enough to scare him.


    Seeing the human being engulfed in darkish-purple mes, arcs of ck lightning began appearing all over its body.


    It was its own version of lightning reinforcement which was more than a thousand times better than that of ke.


    Not wasting a second, the Inazuma dashed towards Zirrack at a terrifying speed while aiming to decapitate him in one swipe with its ultra-sharp ws.


    Crimson barrier!


    A thick rock dome engulfed in crimson mes erupted from below, causing the Inazuma who had appeared behind Zirrack to stop in its tracks.


    Immediately he sensed the Inazuma within range, Zirrack made the barrier explode sending pieces of rocks that turned to zing spikes mid-flight.


    With its terrifying speed, the Inazuma was able to dodge most of it while shooting down many with lightning.


    It ended up being hit by a few, but it ignored the pain and dashed towards Zirrack who was now open.


    HISS!


    Instantly, the Inazuma appeared beside Zirrack but before it couldy its paw on him, a solid wave of crimson mes erupted from his body sending it falling.


    "We can''t do this all day. Show me your true strength." Zirrack said in a bored tone as he watched the Inazuma get back on its feet.


    "I see what you are doing with the mes. I must say it''s quite smart of you." The Inazuma referred to the small patches of crimson mes still burning on its hide.


    Zirrack had darkish purple mes due to his immense bloodlust, but the one he had been using throughout the fight were crimson mes.


    The darkish-purple mes were known as hell mes. Unlike soul mes that attacked only one''s soul, hell mes attacked both causing any sustained injury to be unheble without special.


    The down part of hell mes was that, it wasn''t as potent as soul mes when it came to attacking the soul neither could it spread like it.


    As for the crimson mes, they were ordinary mes with life essence. The addition of life essence made the mes difficult to put out.


    After years of fighting beats way faster than him, Zirrack hade up with a way to counter them.


    Since he could hardly get his hands on them he had to make sure every attack left a continuous pain that would gradually weaken the fighting capabilities of the enemy.


    "Since you are banking on a battle of attrition, I will have to end this quickly." Knowing the ns of its opponent, the Inazuma knew it was time to stop testing the human''s strength.


    Both its eyes and the stripes on its body began glowing as the lightning arcs all over its body were growing length and getting wilder.


    On activating its king-tier powers, nature began reacting to it. The air around the Inazuma began ionizing causing lightning arcs to form, the sky had gone dark and the sound of thunder echoed all over the area.


    "That''s more like it!" Zirrack''s grin returned to his face as the mes on him increased to almost twice the size and in ce of his iris and eyebrows were now raging mes.


    It was the rage mode!


    Zirrack wasn''t done yet, 2 darkish purple gauntlets with red stripes converging from the base to the knuckles appeared on his arms and so did an armor of simr design appeared on his body.


    This was the set of infernal glory.


    "Arghh!" In an enraged tone, Zirrack charged at the Inazuma who was stunned for a moment by his stupidity.


    Nothing its guard down, the lightning arcs around it began violently crackling as series of lightning bolts strong enough to kill a demigod were continuously fired.


    Seeing this, chunks of rock reinforced with solid crimson fire formed a shield in front as he ran forward.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The moment he got into range, he made the rock shield explode in order tond another hit, but the lightning devil was more than ready.


    Using lightning to take down a lot of spikes and little side steps to dodge the rest, but that was when Zirrack appeared behind it.


    "Gotcha!"


    The Inazuma tried moving out of the way but emerald crystals were holding it in ce and the more force it applied the bigger the crystal grew.


    BOOM!


    Zirrack''s gauntlet engulfed in crimson mes mmed into the Inazuma causing the ground beneath them to shatter forming a little crater.


    "Arggh!"


    Zirrack raised his fist tond another blow, but that was when 3 lightning bolts struck from above.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The area became deathly silent, but a pounding sound continued.


    "You are mad!" The Inazuma muffled with fear in its eyes as fists upon fist came crashing on it.


    It had summoned the lightning bolt in other to have Zirrack retreat, but he hadn''t expected he would sacrifice himself just to get more hits on him.


    Enough!


    The Inazuma roared as it generated a sphere of electricity that sent Zirrack flying.

 Chapter 179: Fight for advancing (2)

    <h4>Chapter 179: Fight for advancing (2)</h4>


    The Inazuma roared as it generated a sphere of electricity that sent Zirrack flying.


    He spun multiple times in the air beforending on his feet and wiping the blood off his lips and began constructing tworge mes wheels beside him.


    HISS!


    The Inazuma was enraged that a human had put it in such a state.


    Its powers began reacting to its rage as both the lightning arcs and the dark clouds around it began increasing in size.


    Godspeed!


    The Inazuma activated a skill simr to the system''s Mind boost, but this time not only did it improve its mind''s capabilities, but it also energized every single cell of its body giving it a tremendous boost to its speed and power.


    Not caring about the 2 me wheels beside Zirrack, it charged at a blinding speed.


    Zirrack couldn''t help but furrow his brows when he saw this because even with the rage mode on, he was finding it difficult to keep up with its movement.


    Knowing that if he slipped up for even a second he would be a goner, he activated the me wheels behind.


    The wheels began spinning, indiscriminately firing different fire spells from all sides of the wheels, thereby limiting the Inazuma''s area of movement.


    But this was far from being enough to stop the lightning devil.


    Dodging the me projectiles with ease, the Inazuma made short work of the distance between them and swiped at Zirrack with lightning-infused ws.


    Not having enough time to cast any spell, Zirrack managed to block the attack with his ming gauntlets.


    Ding! Ding! Ding!


    Multiple times the w was stopped but he was soon stunned by the amount of electricity that was conducted by the metal gauntlets into his body.


    This gave the Inazuma more than enough time to reposition itself behind and thrust its ws at Zirrack while simultaneously shooting countless lightning bolts at him.


    "Nice try."


    A wall of emerald crystal engulfed in crimson mes erupted from below and the moment the ws struck on it, a rippling glow spread all around the wall.


    Instantly emerald crystals shot out of the wall trying to catch the Inazuma but it was fast enough to escape the trap and retreat.


    ''How is that possible?'' The Inazuma had never expected that the human will recover from its stun skill so quickly.


    ''I can''t let this go on for long or I will surely lose.'' Although Zirrack had managed to get some hits on the Inazuma, the body of a beast was far stronger than that of a human making it nowhere to being fatal.


    The berserk mode allowed the user to burn one''s life essence and convert it to power and rage. The power was intoxicating but once one lost themselves to the rage they would end up losing control and burning their entire life essence.


    The rage mode prevented one from losing control, but that didn''t solve the problem of burning all of one''s core. Meaning sooner orter he would have to return to normal and that would mark his death.


    ''What is he nning?'' The Inazuma looked around the battlefield and noticed that the entire ce was burning and the temperature had risen a whole lot.


    Some parts of the earth had turned to molten magma, but one thing that raised its suspicion was that even though it wasn''t attacking the me wheels were still randomly firing spells.


    ''Have to end this before he achieves his goal.'' Just like ke when using mind boost, the longer it used Godspeed the greater the bacsh it received. So, dying any longer wasn''t an option.


    Once again it dashed forward while dodging the fire spells thrown at it, but this time its 3 tails were up. 2 were aiming at the me wheels while the other was at Zirrack.


    The tails began making a humming sound and soon a white glow was seen before rays of sma were fired at lightning speed.


    Sensing the powering from the sma rays, Zirrack raised two emerald crystal walls in front of him and instantly the sma rays mmed into them.


    BOOM!


    The sma ray broke through the first and second crystal walls, and although it was greatly weakened it tore a hole through Zirrack''s crossed arms and left a deep dent on the chest te of his armor.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The fire wheels burst into mes on contact with the sma rays and that was the perfect cover for the Inazuma.


    WHOOSH!


    Still stunned by the electricity from the sma rays, Zirrack was unable to react to the lightning-infused w strike that tore through his armor and left a gashing wound.


    "Die!"


    Not giving the human the chance to act, it continuously fired lightning bolts to keep him stunned as it maneuvered to another side to prevent any surprises, before swiping at his head.


    Infernal glory: Eruption.


    Seeing its master in danger the Infernal glory armor released the condensed fire energy stored within it.


    BOOM!


    A burst of condensed mes repelled the Inazuma who quickly got its footings and dashed back in order to end it, but this was more than enough time for Zirrack to act.


    "Blood Boil"


    Immediately the words left his mouth, the mes and pool of magma all around the battlefield erupted, causing the temperature to skyrocket to heights unbearable for even a King rank beast.


    ''Huh?'' The Inazuma was confused by what was going on but soon it lost control of its body and its vision became blurry.


    ''What is going on?'' The Inazuma tried shooting sma beams and summoning lightning bolts, but nothing was working.


    "The human has returned to with more humans!"


    "Please stop!"


    "Mommy save me!"


    "Why are you killing us?!"


    It began seeing the scenes of forests being burnt down by humans and beasts being ughtered and captured.


    At first, it wasn''t being affected that much, but its will crumbled when it saw its mother being in by a man who possessed golden mes.

 Chapter 180: Disappointed.

    <h4>Chapter 180: Disappointed.</h4>


    The scenes reopened century-long wounds and its hatred for humans was rekindled, but this time it wasn''t a candle me but a furnace.


    This was blood boil one of the powers of a demigod of the fire pathway, Warmonger.


    It allowed the user to use intense heat to attack the mind of the enemy by using troubling memories of one''s past to make them feel rage.


    It made the target go berserk and attack anyone the warmonger decided was an enemy.


    Since it was the only enemy, Zirrack made it see an image of himself and without wasting time it began assaulting "Zirrack" which was an empty space with barrages of spells.


    Blood boil was a demigod skill and wasn''t meant to affect the Inazuma which was equivalent to an angel, but it was all because of Godspeed.


    Just like when ke used Mind boost, the thoughts of the Inazuma had gone wild and it needed to maintain a very high level of focus.


    When blood boil was cast, the scenes of its painful past in conjunction with the still active Godspeed caused it to lose focus and let the rage consume it.


    Seeing his n which he had begun setting up right from the start of the fight work, a smile appeared on Zirrack''s face and his gauntlets, as well as his entire body, red up.


    This time it wasn''t crimson mes but hell mes!


    He dashed towards the Inazuma, and under the protection of his fire, he activated the gauntlets skills and began pounding away.


    Fury fists


    With every blow that hit the target, the power output was doubled and so did the internal burns.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Punch after punches rained down on the Inazuma as it was still stuck in the trance.


    The ground beneath them had turned to a 10-meter deep crater with a pool of magma produced from the intense heat from Zirrack.


    "NO!"


    As Zirrack was about to give the final blow. The Inazuma who was too tired to maintain Godspeed realized that it had been in a trance, screamed in panic, but it was already toote.


    BOOM!


    Zirrack''s fist burst right through its battered hide and into its heart which was reduced to cinders by the heat.


    With that marking the end of the battle, the mes all around disappeared and the clouds returned to normal.


    Thud!


    Zirrack slumped into the pool of magma beside the corpse of the Inazuma, but it was nothing more than warm water to him. He was still conscious but little to no energy left in him.


    It was a long and difficult battle, but there was something it had thought.


    Destruction was all about destroying the physical, but also mental.


    From the beginning of the battle he knew he wascking in everything except strength, but he was well aware that it was far from giving him victory.


    So, for once he took a different approach to the battle and began setting up the battlefield for blood boil.


    "Finally." Zirrack lost consciousness.


    With this realization, Zirrack hadpleted the requirement for bing an angel of destruction.


    ¡­


    3 dayster at the association, ke received a room announcement that caused him to pause his cultivation.


    "Guild Master Walden request for the presence of the order of chaos adventurer party."


    "Seems like the investigation is over and our rewards are here." With an excited smile on his face, ke left his room and met Castiel and Brian.


    "I wonder how much gold and points we get this time?" Brian said.


    A few days ago, Tessie and her butler had shown up at the association after being informed that they had returned.


    They ended up chatting for the longest time since they had been in school, and surprisingly Arnold wasn''t even in the room to disturb them.


    They narrated the same story they had told Walden and it made Tessie feel it was all her fault.


    With her family''s wealth and background, she could have easily gotten the Dubian flowers, but she had requested to do it with the guys.


    Afterforting her and it was time to leave, Arnold proceeded to pay themission and they were assigned 5k points.


    "Come in."


    After they took their seats, Guild master Walden spoke.


    "After you guys were out of the research facility, agents of the ash corps were sent to the sight but they saw nothing." When mentioning this part it made the trio look at each other.


    "Well, you don''t have to worry, because Kingyer''s report proves you all were telling the truth." Walden said


    "Although the base was gone when we arrived, it doesn''t mean that your information was useless because it helped us find out the owner of the research facility." Walden''s words piqued the interest of the trio.


    "Is it Azkelwart?" ke asked.


    The question made Walden pause for a moment before he refuted the im "It''s confidential information and you don''t have the level of clearance to know that."


    "Back to the rewards. The order of chaos party will be awarded 50k points for their help in the investigation. 20k points to Mr. Zero for being the most active and 10 each for Grock and hades."


    ''Is that all?'' They had been waiting for the part where he would mention the gold part, but it never came.


    "Thank you." Seeing there was nothing else, the trio bowed and left the room.


    ''Although it ismon knowledge for forgemasters to know about the God of wisdom and inventions. Why do I have the feeling that these 3 are special.'' Walden thought.


    ''Well, since they addressed him with his mortal know, then it is safe to say they have no Idea.''


    ¡­


    "Disappointed¡­" Brian the most outspoken one of the group was the first to say the thought everyone''s mind.


    Just like thest mission that went out of control and they ended up receiving a huge amount of gold, they were expecting the same.


    "I too am disappointed, but It actually makes sense." ke''sment made Brian to look at him with an unimpressed expression.

 Chapter 181: Death glares.

    <h4>Chapter 181: Death res.</h4>


    "There was no party that vited the contract and it wasn''t as if they got anything from the facility that could be converted to gold. Equivalent exchange." ke ignored the look on Brian''s face.


    "You know sometimes you should learn how to just go with the flow." Brian said.


    "The reward isn''t that bad. With the 50k points, we are now a rank C adventurer party. Meaning we would be getting higher-paidmissions." Castiel pointed out.


    "Come to think of it, aren''t we growing too fast? Normally it takes a long while for a D rank party to be advance to C rank but we did it in only 2 missions." ke paused for a moment.


    "Are we cursed in some way?" ke''s question made Castiel and Brian turn to him.


    "In some way yes. From the berserk wyvern to the research facility, these are things that wouldn''t normally happen to people." After putting some thought into it, Castiel had to agree with ke.


    [I must say you guys are very unlucky but don''t make it look like the world is against you.


    Do you know how many people have been killed by morgs or how many adventurers have lost their lives because they entered a dangerous ruin.] The system continued. [Yes you might be unlucky, but note that Infinite realm is a thousand times more dangerous and what you consider as luck on earth could be considered extreme bad luck on Infinite realm.]


    This made the trio change how they thought. On Earth, as long as one decided to stay away from risky activities like roof jumping and so on. Things like wars and alien invasions that could be considered as dangerous and unlucky could be counted on one hand.


    While as on Infinite realm everything was considered as dangerous. The humans were at constant war with beasts, but battles between high-level cultivators could kill all those around the area.


    Even if that didn''t ur and humans were to remain in their cities away from danger the enraged and enhanced beasts from the beast tide were the ones to attack the cities and people would end up being killed.


    "I didn''t sign up for this shit." Brian shook his head as he let out a helpless sigh.


    "It''s a few days before we head back to school. What are we going to do till then?" Castiel changed the topic.


    "Well, I have tested Ebony and Ivory, and we don''t have much gold to spend on forgemastery. So I will cultivate and rest." ke said as the trio was walking back to their room.


    "I just remembered how tough school was. We need a lot of rest." The thought alone made Brian feel he was having a migraine.


    "Seeing Instructor Zirrack''s perfect condition, I don''t think he would be dying anytime soon." Castiel said.


    "I don''t think anything can kill him." ke said receiving nods from Castiel, Brian, the system, and Zirrack.


    "What the heck?!'' The trio screamed in shock when they noticed the fourth person who had just joined them.


    "Instructor Zirrack¡­ what¡­ are you doing here?" The trio stuttered.


    "I will take that as apliment. Also, Instructor Zirrack is for when we are in school, here I am Kingyer." Zirrack''s said. "To answer your question, I am here to im my rewards for technically saving you guys."


    "Oh¡­" The trio weren''t sure on how to continue the conversation, but luckily Zirrack was already on his way to the Guild master''s office.


    "Hope you 3 are ready for school because it would be a whole different level." Zirrack said with an evil grin that sent chills down their spine.


    "Yup, we are f*cked big time." Brian had his palm on his forehead because he felt his migraine increasing.


    "Where the f*ck did hee from?!"


    "Why did you not tell us?!"


    At this point, they were screaming-whispering at themselves and the system.


    [Don''t me me, I didn''t even sense him.] The system justified itself. [But I must agree with Brian. You guys are f*cked.]


    ¡­


    The days flew by and the time for them to return to the magic academy had arrived.


    ke was excited about many things. The new knowledge he was to get, using the point system and his rank to get materials for forgemastery and finally he would get to eat food for free!


    They boarded a carriage that dropped them at the gates of the magic school, but those bearing the insignia''s of noble families were let into the school.


    "The free ride from the Winchester family would have prevented this." Brian said? as they ignored the contemptuous gazes they received from the nobles alighting from the carriages.


    The previous day the Winchester family had offered them a ride to the school, but ke had politely rejected the offer.


    If he had epted the offer, not only would it strengthen the rtionship between them and the Winchester family, but people will think they had been roped in by the family and these were things ke didn''t want.


    The trio went to their rooms and after unpacking their dimensional space, they headed for the cafeteria where they met up with Luciano and Tessie.


    "How did your break go?" ke asked Luciano who had a little smile on his face.


    "It was very boring, nothing much happened, just training..." Luciano answered.


    They knew about his character so they didn''t bother about asking more questions, but something interesting happened.


    "But during thest week, I went camping in the forest for some days and I must say it was quite nice." Lucianopleted his sentence.


    "¡­"


    Everyone was shocked by this and Luciano noticed their reaction. So he quickly changed the topic.


    "How was yours?" Luciano asked causing ke to narrate their entire journey.


    ¡­


    After lunch, all students proceeded to the hall for the principal''s speech, but on arrival the group especially ke were receiving death res from almost all noble kids.


    "Did you cross paths with any noble?" Tessie whispered as she felt ufortable from the res.

 Chapter 182: Fusion magic.

    <h4>Chapter 182: Fusion magic.</h4>


    "Did you cross paths with any noble?" Tessie whispered as she felt ufortable from the res.


    "Apart from yours, It was only the Nystrom family, but I highly doubt that knew it was me." ke answered.


    "They received a lot of training and resources from their different families during the break. The funny thing is that they think they can challenge us." Luciano chuckled.


    He had also received the best training any 16-year-old would receive in the Snyder empire and of course he knew that ke must have gone through a lot of training from their stories.


    Even Castiel and Brian couldn''t help but nod at his words because they had a first-hand view of ke''s capabilities.


    "Can I join you guys?" When the group turned they saw Cami.


    "No¡­" Luciano''s smile was reced by a frown.


    "I am so sorry aboutst time. Please can you guys forgive me?" Cami asked.


    ''She can''t be trusted but that doesn''t mean she can''t be used.'' ke thought.


    "As long the others are cool with it." ke said causing the others to look at him before nodding.


    The group became awkwardly silent but a warp gate appeared and Principle Lovren stepped out, saving the situation.


    "Wee back. I hope all of you enjoyed your break because things are only going to get harder thanst semester." Principal Lovren''s words made the students unconsciously gulp.


    "I thoughtst semester was hell, now he is saying it will be worse?!"


    "Why are we going through hell but those above us didn''t suffer this much?" The hall became noisy as studentsmented.


    "Everything will be exined. So all you have to do is listen." Principal Lovren said making the hall quiet.


    "As you all know your set is an experimental set and so far the results have been excellent from the nobles and especially themoners." Principal Lovren''s words made more than half of the hall look at ke.


    "Because of this Prince Bryon, as the councilor of the eastern region of the empire has decided to scrap the 4th and 5th year." Gasps could be heard all over the hall, but Principal Lovren continued.


    "His Highness feels that 2 extra years will be a big waste when a better and concise job can be done in 3." Principal Lovren said.


    They finally knew why the school had be a living hell, but the news about scrapping the 4th and 5th year was quite shocking and caused the students to have mixed feelings.


    The new system was implemented because it brought themoners and the nobles on equal grounds with resources given based on merits.


    This meant if things continued this way the nobles won''t be able to keep themoners under their vice grip for long.


    This was what almost all the old noble families were against and the main cause of all this was ke.


    Not only was the number ofmoners in the top 10 shocking, but amoner taking the 1st position in the presence of the emperor''s son and the descendants of the 3 top noble families also cemented the decision.


    On the other hand, most of themoners began doubting themselves, while ke, Castiel, and Brian were happy about the news.


    The less time they spent in school the more time they would have to discover their purpose in Infinite realm.


    "With full implementation of the new system, you all will be working together with the higher years only in missions." Principal Lovren continued. "As we are preparing you all for the dangerous world of a cultivator, we also have to teach you how to work with everyone and anyone youe across."


    "Finally, I would like to remind everyone about the approaching beast tide and to inform you all that you will be deployed to the walls alongside the higher years as your examination." Immediately he was done, Principal Lovren ignored the chaos that had ensued and left through a warp gate.


    "That makes sense¡­" ke thought aloud causing the group to look at him. "We are being trained to work with our seniors beforehand in order to avoid silly mess-ups and arguments when it really matters."


    "Is it me or are you guys not bordered about us being sent to defend the city from the best tide?" Cami couldn''t help but ask when she saw the looks on their faces.


    They weren''t freaking out or worried like the other students and from ke''s words it was as if he was more worried about working with the seniors than the beast tide.


    "Worrying about things won''t solve the problem, besides we have a lot of time till the beast tide and it''s not as if the school is crazy enough to send us to the front lines." ke said as he stood up and began heading for the exit.


    "You going to the canteen?" Castiel asked.


    "¡­ Yes." ke paused for some time before answering, causing the group except for Cami to chuckle.


    Slowly the crazy day filled with surprises was drawing to a close.


    A lot of reflection and nning was done and most importantly everyone rested for what will be a long time because sses were to begin the next day.


    ¡­


    The next day ke woke up with a smile on his face as he imagined the new things he would get to learn this semester, and although his mind kept reminding him that the difficulty would increase he tried not to think much about it.


    "Time to begin raking in points, for my forgemastery practice." ke grinned as he left his room.


    As usual, every semester began with a ss with the homeroom teacher, Professor Gibson.


    "Wee back everyone, I am d that you all came back in one piece." Professor Gibson said as he looked at ke for more than a second before moving on.


    ''Was that suppose to mean?'' ke with a mind-raised brow.


    "Last semester we focused a lot on arcane magic, this semester we will be focusing on fusion magic."

 Chapter 183: Fusion magic II

    <h4>Chapter 183: Fusion magic II</h4>


    "Last semester we focused a lot on arcane magic, this semester we will be focusing on fusion magic."


    "If you hear fusion magic and think about the fusion process, then you are correct." Professor Gibson said. "The Fusion process fuses your elemental stars into one, while fusion magic is the process of using both elements at the same time to cast spells."


    His words confused a lot of the students because wasn''t this what they had been doing since the awakening test?


    "I know what you are thinking, but being able to double or triple cast doesn''t mean you can use fusion magic." He immediately dispelled the confusion in their minds.


    "Double casting is the ability to simultaneously cast different spells as separate entities, but fusion magic is casting spells of different elements as one entity." Gibson exined.


    "Professor Gibson, can you please give us a demonstration?" ke asked.


    Although he wanted to remind Gibson of his presence and to make him aware of his activeness, he was very interested in this topic.


    "I would have loved to give you all a demonstration, but fusion magic is powerful and can''t be used in such small spaces. So, by next week when our practical sses begin a demonstration will be possible." Professor Gibson said leaving the students disappointed.


    "Now, for us to cast fusion spells we need to have the fundamentals of mana control at our fingertips, a few other things, and most importantly, Mana vision."


    On hearing these words ke couldn''t help but smile, because he knew Its importance and was excited he would be taught, but the same couldn''t be said for some of the students.


    These were some of the students who had been having difficulties with the course and realizing that they needed past knowledge to keep moving on, which made them dejected.


    "Since this is only an introductory ss, I will only give an overview of Mana vision." Professor Gibson said as he paced around the room.


    "Mana vision as the name implies is a way to visualize mana. Now, you might be asking isn''t mana the blue ethereal energy we have been dealing with throughout the first semester?"


    Well, you will be half right. As we all know, mana is thebination of the 9 elements in a stable state, forming the blue energy we all know.


    What mana vision does is to let the eyes see the fundamentalponents of mana, hence enabling the caster to have a more refined control over it."


    It was at this moment that the bell rang, signaling the end of the ss.


    Most of the students left the ss for the canteen, but ke remained on his seat thinking about the lesson.


    ''Why does the mana vision he is speaking of sound so different from yours?'' ke asked the system.


    [Well, his is an overview of the real deal. Besides, this is abined ss so you don''t expect him to go deep into the uses of a particr specialization.] The system said.


    ''It sounds easy andplicated at the same time. Well, the part being treated is quite easypared to what I have seen.'' ke paused. ''Imagine cracking an array and everywhere is filled with pretty colors.''


    "What''s on your mind?" Cami asked as she approached him.


    "Just a random thought." ke said, but from her expression, it was clear that she was all ears.


    "I was just imagining how colorful the world would be when using mana vision." ke said, but that was when he looked around and saw that his group was waiting for him.


    "I was hoping that you would be thinking of a life-changing discovery, but daydreaming about a colorful world isn''t that bad." Brian said.


    "Sorry for making you guys wait, lets go grab something to eat." ke apologized as the group headed for the canteen.


    ¡­


    After their lunch, the group split up girls split up from the guys who headed to the forge.


    "Let''s hope Professor Tacitus has be less grumpy." Immediately the words left Luciano''s mouths, the trio began frantically looking around just to make sure that he wasn''t there.


    They were lucky with Instructor Zirrack (or so they thought), but for Tacitus, it would be another story because he was known for his vengeful spirit.


    "I would have loved to say wee back and ask how your break went, but guess what? I don''t care." Professor Tacitus said as he stepped out of a warp gate.


    "Now this is an introductory ss, so I won''t be letting you guys waste much of my time." The professor said as he began looking around for defaulters.


    ''And I thought I had seen it all. I never knew his grumpy nature could go higher.'' ke thought.


    "Last semester we treated the fundamentals of forgemastery which dealt with the methods and materials of forgemastery. This semester we will be focusing on the array part of forgemastery."


    "Don''t go mistaking it for your array mastery ss. Your array mastery ss was the basic of arrays that could be applied in every field of specialization." Professor Gibson said sending the ss into utter confusion.


    Seeing the confusion in their eyes made him shake his. "An example is the strengthening array. It could be used to strengthen one''s sword in forgemastery, while it can be used to strengthen the test tubes and tools in Alchemy to withstand the chemical reactions."


    "The only reason you thought that way was because the number of the non-forgemastery students were only a handful, but things will soon change." Professor Tacitus said with a smile.


    ''What is that meant to mean?'' ke asked the system.


    [Array mastery is a very important specialization that made the school employ a genius like Mack Hoffenheim, but the problem here is that the students don''t know the importance. So they will all be on their way back to the array mastery ss or searching for a personal tutor.] The system exined.


    "With that being said, the ss is dismissed." Professor Tacitus happily left the ss.

 Chapter 184: Not qualified to be a clone.

    <h4>Chapter 184: Not qualified to be a clone.</h4>


    "With that being said, the ss is dismissed." Professor Tacitus happily left the ss.


    That marked the end of the introductory ss, but the moment Tacitus left the ss something interesting happened.


    More than 20 students challenged themselves to a rank battle. 2 members of the top 10 were challenged, while 2 members of the top 15 were being challenged.


    The ssroom had be rowdy due to the hype that came with the challenges, but ke and Luciano didn''t care much about them.


    "Castiel challenged the rank 12, will you be spectating?" Luciano asked as they watched the students proceeding to the battleground.


    "Wasn''t nning to, but since Castiel is involved then I will go watch. Besides, it will be nice to see how strong they have be." ke said.


    ¡­


    The moment Professor Tacitus stepped into his office, his ring began glowing. It was a call from the school''s administration department.


    "Professor Tacitus here¡­" He took a seat before answering the call, but soon his facial expression changed to that of anger.


    "I just finished with my ss, why should I be the one to officiate a match?" Professor Tacitus tried as much as possible to contain his anger.


    "We have received more than 50 challenges from both the normal and elite ss. Every free and capable staff are meant to report to the battlegrounds." Immediately the staff was done with the exnation the call was terminated.


    *Sigh*


    Professor Tacitus helplessly sighed as he cursed his bad luck.


    Due to the number of students being greater than officials, they were divided into 2 batches with the elite ss being prioritized.


    "This should be interesting¡­" ke thought as he saw 4 interesting matches.


    The first was rank 8 Ansgar vs rank 11 d.


    The second was rank 10 La vs rank 13 Calvin.


    Third was rank 12 Nick vs rank 22 Castiel


    fourth was rank 14 marcel vs rank 23 Kade


    All the matches began at the same time, but due to him having only 2 eyes he could only watch 1 at a time.


    At Castiel''s battleground, the match was signaled to start, but his opponent wasn''t showing any signs of moving, so he decided to go to him.


    ''Let''s end this quickly.'' Castiel thought as his body burst into mes.


    Dashing forward, he used short me bursts to quickly cover the distance between them and when he was in range, 5 ethereal tendrils emerged from his back, but he was quickly assaulted by earth pirs.


    BOOM!


    A dome of mes burst out, breaking the pirs and inching him closer to Nick, but before the tendrils could get in contact with its target, a burst of wind was sent out by Nick.


    "No, you won''t." Knowing full well that he would lose a ranged fight, Castiel had no intentions of getting knocked back.


    Out of nowhere, the ck ethereal tendrils hardened and 2 dug into the ground behind him giving him more stability, while the other 3 tendrils pierce through the wind.


    "What the?!" Calvin along with many spectators was shocked by Castiel''s move, but he quickly recovered when he saw Castiel approaching him.


    Wind Domain!


    A wind dome covering 10 meters appeared and the area within the dome became windy. The wind domain amplified wind spells and also increased the attack range of the caster, but even after knowing this, Castiel remained unfazed.


    Night mist!


    Dark gaseous mists beganing out of Castiel and filling the dome.


    ''What is happening?'' Calvin furrowed his brows when he saw the rate at which the mist was spreading, but the worst part was that he couldn''t sense Castiel.


    The darkness element was the second most rare element and because of that, not many knew about its abilities or how to counter them.


    The night mist is an area of effect spell that greatly increased the speed of the caster within the spell and drained the mana of anything within.


    The rate at which it drained mana was dependent on the distance between the caster and the particr area.


    Wind vortex!


    With the amplifying effects of the wind dome, multiple wind vortexes appeared sucking at the ck mists.


    At first, it started pretty well as the mists were being drawn to the vortexes, but as time went on they were turning sluggish and it didn''t take long before they disappeared.


    "Shit!" Calvin cursed as he thought of how to get out of this tight spot.


    Not only had his wind element been rendered useless, but he had no idea of Castiel''s location to even attack with the earth element.


    This left him with only one option, to hole himself in a dome.


    Earth eruption!


    At hismand, a dome of earth erupted from below, but before they could cover him, a golden dome protected his head from Castiel''s hardened dark tendrils.


    Ding!


    "Winner Castiel!" With the activation of the badge, Castiel was dered the winner.


    "That was short but interesting." ke said and Luciano nodded in agreement.


    ''That confirms our suspicion.'' ke said to the system.


    When everyone was shocked about Castiel''s powers, Luciano didn''t show any form of surprise meaning he already knew about the abilities.


    This also meant that the royal family most likely knew every all the elements and that included their weakness.


    "Let''s see how she is doing." They turned their attention to La''s fight but that was when d was announced the winner.


    "Well, that''s surprising¡­" ke said.


    "It isn''t. d had always been strong it''s just that he has been distracted by a lot of things." Luciano said with an indifferent look on his face.


    "What is he doing?" ke had a puzzled look on his face when he saw d looking at him and mouthing some words.


    "I aming for you." d mouthed but this made ke burst out inughter, causing him to be pissed off.


    "Unsurprisingly, he remained dumb." Luciano shook his head.


    d awakened the same elements as ke and whenparing each other, d wasn''t even qualified to be called ke''s clone.

 Chapter 185: Power struggle.

    <h4>Chapter 185: Power struggle.</h4>


    When It came to the lightning element ke was by far considered the best in the first year and even his fire could be said to be at the top 10 due to the gap in levels.


    Apart from that, ke still had ebony and Ivory, void daggers, and finally the space element, which was unrivaled.


    In the entire school, ke could be considered as the strongest, and that was why Luciano hadn''t officially challenged him because he knew it was an automatic loss.


    "I must say that was a nice joke." ke cleaned the tears on his cheeks before turning his attention to La''s battle.


    The battleground had water all over it and La''s opponent, Calvin Ulrik could be seen on a raised rock tform.


    Calvin Ulrik just like every other Ulrik had awakened the earth and fire elements, while La had awakened the water and lightning elements which were a deadly and annoyingbo to deal with.


    The water acted as an extension for the lightning and Calvin knew if he was stunned for a moment it was game over for him.


    Also, if he decided to cover himself up with a rock dome and do nothing, it will be a loss for him since he was the challenger.


    He was doing well in avoiding the lightning by remaining on the raised earth, but this put him on the defense as La kept on raining spells on him.


    ''I need to do something or I am surely losing.'' Calvin thought as he shot out me bursts to counter the water spells before throwing out a me spear at her.


    ''What a drag¡­'' La jumped out of the way and fired 5 water des while still in mid-air.


    Calvin easily countered the water des using his mes, but that was when he noticed something.


    The battleground had be quite misty due to the partial evaporation caused by the fire.


    ''I see what you are trying to do, but I won''t let you.'' Calvin thought as he conjured multiple me spells and fired them out in different directions in order topletely evaporate the mists.


    "This is my win then.." Using the power of a submerger, La pped her palms together, causing the mist to condense and form hot water whips thattched onto Calvin''s limbs.


    Zzzg! Zzzg!


    Almost instantly, the sound of cracking lightning resounded all around the battleground as La fired a bolt of lightning.


    Due to the blinding speed of lightning, Calvin knew it was useless to try to free himself from the binds. So, he raised an earth wall in front of him, but that was when he noticed it was going for one of the water whips


    "I surrender!" Calvin screamed as lightning ravaged his body.


    "La Winner!" With Calvin surrendering, a golden barrier stopped the lightning, and La was announced the winner.


    "Is that what I think happened?"


    "Did she just turn mist to water?"


    The students were shocked by La''s act of turning mist into water. It needed a high level of control and talent to be able to pull it off, but the most shocking thing was how she easily did it.


    "La vs d who do you think will win?" Luciano asked with his eyes still on the battlefield.


    "I will say La. Her lightning is superior to that of d and her skills with the water element is among the top 3. Also, her closebat skills is among the best in the school." ke said.


    "Just like I thought, but it is quite odd that she doesn''t want to rise in rank." Luciano said.


    "I think it is perfectly normal. She is naturallyzy so it will be too much of a stress when she can remain in the same rank and get quite a lot of resources." ke said.


    "Why do you sound so sure?" Luciano turned to ke who shrugged. He didn''t know he was talking to someone who was worse than La in beingzy.


    The reason ke going towards the part of a professional gamer was that he loved gaming and didn''t have many ambitions, but all these changed the moment he was summoned to infinite realm.


    Now he had a major goal and his fear was that if he cked he might never see his mom again.


    La was just like ke in the past. She was the daughter of the popr A rank adventurer Typhoon and unlike the noble families that were all aboutpetition among the descendants, there was no pressure on her.


    Her father had noticed her indifference to things likepeting for rank. So, he had promised her rewards as long as she remained in the top 10.


    It was a way of keeping her interest in school alive and also sharpening her skills from the challenges that came.


    "Well, that''s all so I will be going." Seeing Kade winning the final match and bing the rank 15, ke decided it was time to head back to his room.


    ¡­


    [Although there are a lot of improvements, especially on the part so of nobles, you are still leaps and bounds above them.] The system said. [The only people you should be worried about are those 2.]


    "Luciano must have through a lot of training, but it shouldn''t be something I can''t handle. The problem here is the unknown factor, Damon." ke pointed out.


    "We don''t know his second element because he hasn''t had a need to show, but most importantly we don''t know his motive or which side he is on." ke said.


    After analyzing the power struggle in the school, ke decided it was time to get productive, but he soon noticed that he didn''t have much to do.


    His progress in forgemastery was on hold due to hisck of resources and new knowledge.


    As for array mastery, there wasn''t much he could do with basic knowledge so all he could do was wait for the next ss.


    "This is the first time in a long while that I don''t have anything other than cultivating to do. I feel... empty." ke thought aloud.


    He didn''t dwell on the thought for long, before grabbing beast cores and absorbing their energy.

 Chapter 186: Combat techniques.

    <h4>Chapter 186: Combat techniques.</h4>


    The next day, ke wasn''t as psyched as the previous day. He had 2 of his worse sses, history, and advancedbat training.


    From the first ss, ke was expecting that history ss would help him find his purpose in Infinite realm, but in the end, he was disappointed.


    The history ss focused more on the history of the Synder Empire and ke had a feeling that some of it was tampered with and re-written.


    As for advancedbat training, who in their right minds would enjoy it. ke was enthusiastic about body enhancing training but that of Zirrack was over the top.


    Unlike the sses of the previous day, the history and advancebat didn''t have a need for introduction.


    The topic of the history ss was the troubles that urred in the construction of Calton city.


    At the time of construction, the ash corps was in charge of exterminating beasts that came within 10 kilometers of the city, but as construction went on there were reports of sightings of an emperor tier beast.


    It was an emperor tier Inazuma which was sighted hundreds of kilometers away from the construction site. Although it was quite far away, it was too dangerous to have such a beast that close to a city.


    So, Synder went to dispatch the emperor beast, but when the battle began he discovered it was a peak emperor tier Inazuma.


    It was a tough and close battle that almost spelled the death of Synder, but he managed to pull it off and that led to the sessfulpletion of Calton city.


    "Professor Bach, ording to your story. Emperor Synder at that time was in the Battle angel realm, so how is it possible that he was able to defeat a peak emperor tier Inazuma?" ke asked.


    "Well, that is why he is the emperor of our great empire. He was able to make opponents far stronger than him cower at his feet." Professor Bach said.


    ''Just like I expected.'' ke nodded as if he agreed before taking a seat.


    [The normal hype thates with every leading figure. Emperor tier beasts could easily erase anything below the battle angel realm and even when faced against the battle angels they can stand their grounds against 2.] The system said.


    [So, unless he had attained godhood or he had tons of legendary artifacts and equipment then there is no way he was winning that.] The system discredited the professor''s words.


    ''We may never know the truth, but some people might." ke looked at Luciano.


    Since it was something that involved his grandfather he was sure to know about it, but one thing he didn''t know was that Zirrack just recently found out about it.


    When the time for advancedbat ss arrived, the students who were praying for the misfortune of their instructor were heavily disappointed.


    Zirrack arrived at the battleground and for some reason, a grin was on his face whenever he looked at either, ke, Brian, or Castiel.


    ''Yup, we are royally fucked.'' ke said using the mind link.


    ''Castiel was the one that said those words, not me, so why do I have to suffer for it.'' Brianined.


    ''We are in this together now. So there is no point inining about it.'' Castiel chuckled causing ke and Brian to re at him.


    "I don''t see the need in hiding things, so I will tell you all. The school was pleased by my training and unfortunately for you all, they requested that I turn the heat up." Zirrack paused for a moment and looked at the faces of the students.


    It had bemon knowledge to everyone in the elite ss that no matter what you do, do notin or frown in Zirrack''s ss.


    "For a moment I thought most of you have forgotten your training. Good job." Zirrack said.


    "Last semester we focused on improving your physical capabilities. This semester we will be focusing on improving yourbat skills, physical enhancement, physical capabilities, teamwork, and physical capabilities." Zirrack said.


    "Huh?"


    Many were confused that he mentioned physical capabilities 3 times, but ke was well aware that it was no mistake.


    "We studied the normal fighting techniques to be used when facing both beasts and man, but this time we would be learning a special technique that affects our power output in different ways."


    "Most of you especially the nobles, already know about thesebat techniques. They cane in form of stances, certain patterns of body movements, breathing techniques, and so on.


    Thesebat techniques are like cheats that let''s onemand nature to some certain degree." Zirrack exined.


    d''s dragon stance and ke''s Raiju breathing technique were typical examples. The dragon stance allowed the user to control the fire energy in the environment in order to increase the power output.


    On the other hand, the Raiju breathing technique allows the body to absorb lightning energy and transfers them to the muscle, enabling the user to exert more force when performing attacks.


    Also, the lightning energy absorbed would improve both lightning attacks, spells, and even resistance to lightning-based abilities.


    "Mastering this would lead us to physical enhancements, but that isn''t for today. Now, these are the exercises you all are to carry out." Zirrack said


    Finally, the moment of suffering had arrived.


    ¡­


    After the gruesome exercises, ke had a quick shower and headed for the library.


    "ording to Zirrack''s surprisingly interesting lecture, there are different stages to everybat technique. So, what if the Raiju breathing technique had a second stage." ke said as he immediately went up to the 2nd floor.


    [There surely are different stages of somebat techniques, but their rarity is dependent on the grade of the technique. Because no one would want to make something so powerful free.] The system said.


    [As for yours, I don''t have knowledge of the existence of the other stages, and considering how lucky you were to find the first stage, I highly doubt you will find the next one.]

 Chapter 187: Battle arrays

    <h4>Chapter 187: Battle arrays</h4>


    "I too doubt that I will find anything, but that doesn''t mean I shouldn''t try." ke knew his chances were abysmally low, but there was no harm in trying, after all, he had the power of a locator.


    On entering the doors of the 2nd floor, ke closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the objective.


    He waited for the usual irvoyance light, but nothing happened.


    ''That''s it?'' although he was expecting this, he couldn''t ept it so easily.


    He moved to different parts of the floor and tried again, but the results were still the same.


    "Alright time for dinner." ke left the library and returned to the Castle¡­


    "So far is there anything you could help me with?" After Dinner, ke returned to his room, and just like the previous day, he had nothing to do.


    [Apart from thebat technique which I don''t have much info on, I should be able to help you in every other thing.] The system said.


    "That''s great. So where do we start?" ke asked in an excited tone.


    [Hold your horses. I said I can help you doesn''t mean right now.] The system quickly calmed him down. [You don''t have enough information in any of the specializations and you know the rules.]


    "Everything is a gradual process." ke said in a disappointed tone.


    In cultivation, everything was a step-by-step process, especially for someone who wasn''t part of the realm.


    The system knew almost everything about the different specializations, but it was better for ke to progress at a gradual pace because some things were meant to be learned independently.


    Unless something was missing or not added, the system was to educate him on it and give him extra tips, but apart from that, it wasn''t to go farther than what ke needed.


    "I guess it''s back to cultivating." ke wasted no time and began absorbing energy from beast cores.


    ¡­


    The next day, ke woke up with the brightest smile on his face. Today was array mastery and he would finally have a chance to see professor Hoffenheim.


    "Hello everyone I hope you all had a splendid break just like I did?" Professor Hoffenheim said with a warm smile.


    "The school said I should step up my sses, but I for one think that array mastery shouldn''t be rushed. So, we will continue with our current pace." The professor''s words put a smile on the faces of every student.


    ''Yup, still the best professor.'' ke thought.


    Professor Hoffenheim wasn''t strict like the likes of Zirrack and Tacitus, automatically making him the students'' favorite.


    "We have extensively studied the basics of array mastery, this semester we will be looking at battle arrays and our main focus will be on dimension? magic. At least the basics of dimension magic." Professor Hoffenhiem said.


    Battle arrays were not all-powerful but they were dangerous and never to be looked down on. Their effects ranged from offensive, defensive to even support.


    "Battle arrays have one major disadvantage, and that is they are mana intensive. The level of mana consumption is dependent on the tier and scale of the battle array.


    Students like you all don''t have enough mana reserves to cast a battle array on your own. That is why we will be practicing in groups."


    ''Herees the part I don''t like.'' ke thought with a furrowed brow.


    [You have almost twice the mana reserves as the others. So you should be able to cast a basic area by yourself, but what use will it be when you can cast the array but be unable to fight.] The system stated.


    All through his stay in the school, ke had been a solo kind of person. He wasn''t a fan of putting his grades in the palm of immature and ipetent kids.


    Also, not many were happy about his current position and he wouldn''t be surprised if they tried to sabotage him.


    ''''Casting a battle array required a level of trust and understanding between the casters. So, I rmend you all should pair up in 5''s with your friends." This put a smile on ke''s face as he undoubtedly went to his group.


    "Now you guys are all paired let''s move to a suitable location." With a snap of his fingers, they all appeared in one of the Castle''s practical room.


    The room was the size of more than 3 football fields and it was equipped with arrays that help the professor change the room depending on the exercise.


    "Alright, the first array we will be studying is the barrier array." Professor Mack said ignoring the bewildered expressions of the students.


    "This is a basic one and all you have to do is learn a specificponent of the array. I strongly advise that you learn the entire array." He made the array appear on different parts of the walls.


    "As usual, the first group gets more points." With that said, the groups were signaled to start.


    "Alright guy, the center of the array is the mostplex. So, I will be handling that." ke''s request wasn''t denied and the others quickly chose the otherponents.


    They had to memorize their individualponents before they would be able to try the array.


    The first part was very easy for the trio since they had the system that could give them the image in their minds, but they still had to wait for Luciano and Tessie.


    "Alright are you guys. Let''s do this."


    On ke''s mark, the team started manipting the mana in the environment to form their individualponents of the array in mid-air.


    After some trials and errors, the group was able topletely form their individual parts of the barrier array, but even after bringing them as close to each other as possible, nothing seemed to be happening.


    "Any ideas of what we should do?" Castiel asked.


    "We are draining our mana this way. So let''s pause and rethink what happened." ke said to the team.

 Chapter 188: Battle arrays part 2.

    <h4>Chapter 188: Battle arrays part 2.</h4>


    The group sat down and began thinking about where they might have possibly gone wrong.


    ''Rey what happened.'' ke began analyzing the footage of what happened.


    "Hmmm, I think I know what we are doing wrong." ke''s words drew the attention of the entire team.


    "You know when we inscribe an array unto a metal, the flow of energy always beings from the center and spreads to the other parts of the array. The problem here is that we are taking the arrays as individual parts instead of one." ke exined.


    "So???" Brian was trying to understand what part of his speech contained the solution.


    Shaking his head ke decided to exin in detail. "When the flow begins from the center which is my part, the other parts are meant to resonate with the flow of mana."


    "That makes more sense." Brian said.


    The others thought about it for some time before they decided to try it out again.


    "Alright, remember to monitor the flow of mine and construct yours just after that." ke reminded the team.


    ke began the process and without much difficulty, he hadpleted the center of the array, but his work was far from done.


    The center of the array was the most difficult part of the barrier array. It contained more symbols and it required him to always stabilize the flow of mana to enable the others to seed.


    ZING!


    A sharp sound caught the attention of the entire ss and when they turned, they were shocked to see ke''s group covered in a transparent barrier.


    "Well done. 7 hundred points to each member of ke''s team for being the first toplete the exercise." Professor Hoffenheim said in an excited tone.


    "When I gave out the exercise I never expected anyone toplete it because I hardly gave any exnation on how to do it. I wanted to see how far everyone could go by figuring it out themselves, but the result is just amazing." Professor Hoffenheim said.


    "Since we don''t have much time left, let me give you all an exnation on how to cast the barrier array¡­"


    Professor Hoffenheim went ahead to exin the process to the rest of the ss and after that, he tested ke''s group.


    "Although increasing the size of the barrier reduces the damage it can take and is totally not necessary. If you guys can increase the size you will be getting extra points." Professor Hoffenheim said.


    ke epted the request and the team huddled up for a little discussion.


    "Should we pour in more mana?" Tessie asked.


    "If it was that easy, he wouldn''t have bothered testing us." ke said. "I think pouring in more mana makes the barrier stronger. We should try increasing the size of the symbols."


    The suggestion was met with raised brows, but it wasn''t as if they had better ideas so they decided to go with it.


    With the entire ss watching, ke began arger center array before the others began constructing their various parts of the array.


    ''2 birds with one stone.'' Professor Hoffenheim thought.


    The test was a way of testing ke''s ingenuity and also a demonstration for the rest of the ss who hadn''t gotten the exnation.


    ZING!!


    The sharp sound echoed all around the practice room as a transparent done twice the size of thest was covering the group.


    "Bravo! Another 500 points to each member of the group" Professor Hoffenheim announced as he gave them a round of apuse.


    "Nice one guys!" The group had smiles on their faces as they gave themselves hi-fives.


    "Alright, that is the end of the ss." Professor Hoffenheim snapped his fingers and the students returned to the ssroom.


    ''Great job ke.'' Mack had a proud smile on his face as he stepped through a warp gate and returned to his office.


    ¡­


    The end of the uneventful elemental mastery ss marked the end of the day for the students. After dinner, ke had a quick rest before heading to the library.


    The previous day he was there because of abat technique, but this time he was going there to update himself on multiple things.


    Seeing the effects of a battle array, ke decided to check the library for anything that might be of help to both his group or the adventurer party.


    Also, the main sses for the other specializations were to begin during the next sses, ke thought it was better he got a head start.


    [We both know you are searching for battle arrays mostly for yourself.] The system said but ke ignored it.


    The good thing about a magical library was that it was open no matter the time of the day and he could directly warp into there without anyone knowing of his whereabouts.


    "Okay, let''s see what we have here." ke didn''t waste any time on the lower floors. He went straight to the 2nd floor.


    ke found a book on forgemastery arrays and the basics of battle arrays, but that was when something hit him.


    "Hmm¡­" ke felt something was off. So he decided to go and check out the book on Raiju breathing technique.


    "Just like I thought. Not that I expected this¡­ You know what I mean." When he approached the bookshelf, another book was in its position.


    "I highly doubt that the book was moved, but let''s try this." ke closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the missing book, activating the locator skill.


    "What does this mean?" Seeing no trail to follow, ke decided to deactivate the system and consult the system.


    [The chances of someone having borrowed it is there, but very low judging by it being reced with another.] The system said. [I guess? someone had ced it there, just for you.]


    "I agree. I have noticed that things too good to be true happen to me. From the breathing technique to the rampant amour." ke said.


    [Who is your top suspect?] The system asked.


    "Bryon of course." ke said without thinking.

 Chapter 189: Spider monkey commission.

    <h4>Chapter 189: Spider monkeymission.</h4>


    At the Walton family mansion, Lambert was pacing around his room as multiple thoughts went through his head.


    "This has gotten too far. I am being looked down on by other nobles and the worst part is that my friends have begun distancing themselves because of the shame. All this is happening because of that stupid adventurer Zero." A bitter expression formed on his face when he thought of that name.


    Lambert recently graduated from the Calton magic school and his family''s ns for him was to enter the political scene.


    (AN: Remember that the new system for the schools was just implemented, meaning he was during the oppressive era of the school.)


    The problem here was that before he could do that he needed to have a number of achievements before he could be deemed worthy.


    There were 2 top ways of racking up merits; through the ash corps or through the adventurers association.


    Joining the? ash corps took years to rise in rank and the dangers that came with the job wasn''t worth it for Lambert, so he decided to go through the adventurers association.


    In the association, he could use his family''s wealth to hire mercenaries toplete very difficult missions while he avoided danger.


    This was a perfect n that would earn him enough merits in the few years toe, but that was when Zero appeared.


    Killing the Knox was meant to be the big break that put him in the spotlight, but all the recognition went to Zero.


    The number and grade of beasts he brought in were always dwarfed by that of Zero and as if that wasn''t enough the Demigod incident urred.


    The news of Zero''s adventurer party being involved in the demigod incident spread like wildfire.


    That wasn''t much of a problem, but what shocked the adventurer world and the nobles was that not only was it their very first party mission, but their performance was outstanding.


    Thispletely removed Lambert from thepetition and intensified the light on Zero, but that wasn''t all.


    What brought about the shame and segregation was when the news of the order of chaos adventurer party entering an ancient research facility anding out alive without help.


    "What will be the best way to get rid of him without being suspected?" At this point, Lambert had alreadye to a conclusion that adventurer Zero must die, but the question was the best way to do it.


    That was when a knock was heard on the door and when he opened it, it was his butler who informed him of his father''s summoning.


    "Father you called for me?" Lambert bowed.


    Sargon Walton was a man in his early 60''s with the same brown hair and eyes as his son. Unlike his son, he had a muscr body that added to the mean aura his eyes gave off.


    "It hase to my attention that you are being ridiculed within your social circle and we both know that is very bad for our ns." Sargon didn''t even bother to look at Lambert who had his head was continuously faced down.


    "It is clear that you don''t have the situation under control. So, I have decided to help you erase this problem." Sargon said.


    Lambert looked at his father in excitement but was forced to take his head down when his eyes locked with that of his father.


    "So, tell me about your n." Sargon said.


    "I nned on hiring a mercenary group to hire the adventurer party for a mission in the Mina woods where they will be ambushed by the mercenary team." Lambert said.


    "In order to increase the chances of sess, they will have to be separated and the main forces will be focused on Zero himself. The problem is how to erase my tracks." Lambert exined.


    The adventurer association had policies that protected both the customer and the adventurers. If any were to go missing or found dead the other party will be questioned and an investigation will be made.


    "If that is your problem, then you don''t have a problem. Leave that part to me." Although Sargon was not too happy with Lambert, he had to praise his insidious mind.


    ¡­


    The days went by quickly and their ss-free days had finally arrived. ke had many things on his list to do, but beast cores topped all of them.


    Due to him not having much to do throughout the week, ke had been continuously absorbing beast cores thus leaving his reserves close to empty.


    The problem now was that they needed to decide if it would be a solo or party activity.


    "For the sake of efficiency and speed, let''s all go solo, but we will prioritize party missions." Castiel and Brian agreed to ke''s suggestion.


    Party missions gave more contribution points and gold than solomissions, so it was only rational to do so.


    When they got to the association and met up with Susan, she informed them about a job that had beenmissioned 2 days ago.


    It was that of three researchers who needed their strength and protection in searching for ck spider monkeys.


    ck spider monkeys like the name implied, were ck monkeys that had 6 limbs, a tail and a mouth that were able shoot out strong spider webs.


    The problem here was that spider monkeys were quite rare and very difficult to deal with.


    At first the trio were about to reject the offer because their main goal was to farm beast cores, but the researchers soon made an offer they could decline.


    They were to take the corpse and beast cores they encountered, except for the corpse of the ck spider monkeys because that was the main purpose for themission.


    "Are we on a wild goose chase or do we have? a general idea of their location?" ke asked.


    ck spider monkeys were solitary beasts and although they were tasked to find only 2, it was a difficult task.


    "Yes we do. The information we purchased on the ck spider monkeys shows they could be found around here." One of the researchers pointed at part of the mina forest quite far from the roads.

 Chapter 190: Ambush

    <h4>Chapter 190: Ambush</h4>


    Since it wasn''t a mission that needed preparation both parties decided it would be done that same day. So, after signing all the necessary papers the group set off.


    The area shown on the map was at the eastern part of the Mina woods, meaning they had to go through the slums.


    They came across the area where the 2 demigods had battled but to their utmost surprise, everything had already been rebuilt and it looked like nothing had happened in the first ce.


    ''The power of magic.'' ke thought.


    If it was back on Earth, devastation on that level will take close to a year if not years.


    In no time, the carriage reached the eastern gate and the group had to proceed on foot.


    "Now these are the rules you have to follow." Not sure if they knew about the rules of the forest, ke gave them a quick rundown on it.


    Not only were the rules meant to make the job easier for everyone, but it was to also increase their survivability rate if they ever got separated.


    Veering off the pathway, the group began heading to the designated area.


    They came across multiple beasts ranging from normal magic beasts to even an elite tier beast with their packs.


    If it were any normal rank C adventurer party, they would have found the journey quite troublesome, but with the help of the system''s increased detection range, ke''s team was never caught off guard.


    Thus making it extremely easy for them to wipe out any beast.


    This didn''t go unseen by the mercenaries masquerading as researchers.


    It was quite odd that they knew about everything in their surroundings or the fact that the trio hadn''t spoken a word since only making hand signs that absolutely made no sense.


    But they soon tossed away the thought because there was no way a bunch of champions would have such arge perception. So, they attributed it to luck.


    As for their unexinable hand signs and their perfect coordination, it could be simply attributed to them having spent a very long time training together.


    Finally, the group arrived at the outskirts of the area the spider monkeys were spotted.


    On looking at the treetops, ck spider webs could be littered around the area, meaning the information was legit, but the problem now was that the area was huge.


    Due to their ck color and their six limbs, the ck spider monkeys were fast and hard to spot in the darkness of the forest.


    "I think we should split up." The leader of the researchers who had brown hair and a mustache with tanned skinplexion suggested.


    "I agree. The mapped-out area is quite huge and if we are to split up we will cover more grounds and spend less time in this forest." The researcher with sses on agreed to the suggestion.


    This made the trio look at each other before ke spoke up.


    "We may cover more grounds but not only does that put us in more danger, but it reduces our chances of catching one." ke said.


    ck spider monkeys had six limbs making them agile and giving them an unfair advantage in the forest. Also, when their webs were put in the picture it wasn''t what 1 person could do.


    "Spider monkeys aren''t that dangerous to the likes of you. The only problem is catching them and that is why we will contact each other with ourmunication amulets when any of us spots one." The leader of the researchers said.


    ''These guys are suspicious as fuck.'' ke said through the mind link which they had been on from the start of the mission.


    [I have been checking their heart rate and even when we encountered an elite beast or packs it never rises.] The system said. [They might be confident in your skills, but no researcher that is always in theirbs would have such cold hearts.]


    ''So, they are nning on separating and ambushing us, but why?" Brian asked.


    To the researchers, it looked like the trio was thinking about it, but they had no idea that they were having a conversation.


    ''That doesn''t matter now. I don''t know the strength of the ambushers, but I doubt any of them will be above the champion realm. So, this is what we will do.'' ke quickly exined the n.


    "Alright, just remember the rules and prioritize your lives over anything." ke agreed to the researcher''s suggestion and the group split up in 3 directions.


    The researcher with the mustache went with ke, while the one on sses went with Castiel and thest which had been quiet all through the journey went with Brian.


    As ke and the researcher moved through the forest, ke all of a sudden shot out lightning at a spot while throwing a void dagger in the opposite direction.


    "What was that?" The researcher was truly shocked by the sudden outburst, but when they looked at the spot, it was the corpse of a sde.


    "Nice shot." The researcher gave ke a thumbs up.


    ''Indeed¡­'' ke thought with a smile.


    After walking for close to 10 minutes, the number of webs on the treetops was greater than usual. Meaning they were closing in on the ck spider monkey, but that was when the system gave him a report.


    [We were correct. There are 5 people hidden and trying to suppress their presence.]


    ''Any idea of how strong they are?'' ke asked as he began preparing for battle.


    [Their energy signature shows they are all champions, but I can sense the presence of a dimensional pocket sealing array.] The system reported.


    ''Does that means I will be unable to use Ebony and Ivory once I get there?'' ke asked.


    [No. Your dimensional pocket is from the system, so as long as they don''t destroy the system you can ess it.] The system exined.


    ''Aright, let''s get this over with and go help the others.'' ke thought.

 Chapter 191: Ambush (2)

    <h4>Chapter 191: Ambush (2)</h4>


    "How close do you think we are?" ke stopped when he was just outside the area the hidden mercenaries were.


    The lead researcher who was fantasizing about how ke would be murdered was brought out of his reverie.


    His job wasn''t yet over so he had to keep up with the act of a researcher till he was dead.


    "Judging from the number of webs, I would say a within 20 to 50 meters." The researcher said.


    "Alright, that will be enough from you." ke said.


    "Wait. What?" The lead researcher was confused by ke''s words, but when he turned to him he was shocked to see a katana with a mirage effecting his way.


    THUD!


    The researcher''s shocked head dropped to the floor followed by his lifeless body, but ke didn''t even care to look back as he continued forward.


    ''Alright guys, I have better things to be doing, so let''s end this quickly.'' ke thought as he saw the 5 masked men that were on tree branches.


    "I don''t know how you knew we were here, but I will give you a chance, why don''t you surrender yourself and we will make your death painless." One of the masked men said.


    "And oh, don''t border calling your amour or any other thing, you are in a dimension sealing array." The masked mercenary chuckled as he waited to see the despair in the eyes of the adventurer as he realized he was about to die, but it never came.


    Instead, it was the expression of someone who was running out of time and had somewhere to be.


    "¡­" Ignoring the words of the masked man, a void dagger appeared in his hands and he threw it right at the masked man who seemed leader.


    ''Huh?'' Although he was shocked that array wasn''t working on ke, he easily dodged the void dagger by moving to the side.


    "Nice try." The masked man smirked, but he had no idea that his action marked his end.


    Void shift!


    ke fell into a spatial corridor disappearing from their sight.


    Seeing this, the mercenaries pulled out a true seeking potion which countered the effects of invisibility, but that was when they heard the scream of their leader.


    ke had appeared right behind the leader and used a space mana-infused Reaper to decapitate him in one fell swoop.


    Not giving them a chance to react, ke jumped out of the tree branch, and while in mid-air he threw a void dagger at one of the mercenaries.


    Not knowing how the daggers worked, the mercenary decided to dodge the dagger and prepare spells in case ke mysteriously appeared.


    ''Gotcha!''


    ke fell headfirst into the ground and through a spatial corridor and appeared behind the mercenary, but this time arcs of electricity were dancing all around his body, and in his 2 hands were Ebony and Ivory.


    With one swipe, ke cut through the nt vines and sword the mercenary had raised, sending his shocked head flying.


    ke didn''t stop there, he took in a deep breath, activating the effects of the Raiju breathing technique before dashing towards another mercenary.


    After watching how his friends died so easily, the mercenaries had learnt that blocking wasn''t an option. So, he nned on keeping his distance while kiting him.


    Using short mebursts to maneuver through the trees, the mercenary shot different fire spells at the fast-approaching ke.


    Using the lightning reinforcement and the effects of the Raiju breathing technique, ke moved at a blinding speed. It made the mercenary think making sharp turns would save him, but to his utmost surprise, ke also used the same technique.


    ''Shit!'' The mercenary cursed as he joined both hands and fired a me burst twice the normal size, giving him a recoil effect that sent him flying to the ground where he could use his second element.


    THUD!


    The recoil sent him flying into a frozen space that appeared below him, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.


    ''Shit! Who was the bastard that said he was a champion?'' The mercenary was cursing his bad luck and his hirer as he tried to stand on the frozen space, but then came ke who stabbed Ebony into his head.


    [Behind you.] The system warned him about wind des that wereing his way.


    ''They would have had a better chance of survival if they decided to run.'' ke fell face first in a spatial corridor and appeared on the tree to which one of the void daggers was stuck.


    Dashing forward, he conjured 3 fire des andunched them at the wind user who tried to propel himself out of the way, but 3 frozen space walls appeared both behind and by his sides.


    "Shit!" The mercenary cursed as the fire des cut into him before Ebony ended his life.


    ''No wonder nothing came at me.'' ke was expecting an attack from the other mercenary, but he saw him running towards the direction he came from when he turned.


    "Inform me when he reaches the spot." ke said to the system as he gathered all the void daggers before walking towards the direction he came from.


    [His there.]


    Immediately the system said the words, ke activated void shift and appeared at the void dagger he had ced at the beginning.


    ''I thought he was at the champion realm?'' The fear of dying kept his leg moving as he asionally gave himself a boost with the fire element.


    ''I think I have lost.'' He had long lost sight of ke but he kept on running.


    "Do you think I would let any of you get out of here alive?" ke said in a sinister voice that sent the mercenary''s heart into his stomach, causing him to fall.


    "Please have mercy on me. I will tell you anything you want to know, just spare me." The mercenary begged for his life as he slowly crawled backward.


    "I would have loved to chat but I have somewhere to be." ke decapitated him, before retrieving the void dagger and heading in Castiel''s direction.

 Chapter 192: Ambush (Final part)

    <h4>Chapter 192: Ambush (Final part)</h4>


    ording to the n, the moment ke was done with his fight he was to help Castiel before going to Brian.


    Because of the water and earth elements, ke wasn''t worried about Brian, because he was a walking turtle.


    ''How many are we looking at?'' ke asked when Castiel came within the system''s detection range.


    [It''s only one but I think that is already being handled.] The system reported.


    On reaching Castiel, ke saw 5 solid ck tendrils that held a mercenary in ce and were draining her vitality.


    "Right on time." On seeing ke, Castiel made the tip of the tendrils stab into the heart and skull of the female mercenary.


    ording to the information the mercenaries had gotten about the trio. ke was the greatest treat followed by Brian before Castiel that was why he was why only 3 normal members were sent to kill him.


    The reason why he was assessed so low was that he was inside the carriage all through the chase. So he was assumed to be the weakest among the 3.


    With the situation in the area having been dealt with, ke and Castiel rushed over to Brian''s location, and to their surprise, one of the mercenaries was dead.


    Brian was being protected by 2yers of water domes which were continuously bombarded by spells.


    "Fucking give up, we can keep this up all day." The mercenaries had begun finding it annoying to break Brian''s turtle shell, but that was when they noticed ke and Castiel arriving.


    "Did they manage to escape?" The mercenaries were shocked to the core when they saw 2 of their targets approaching them.


    Unless they spectated ke and Castiel''s battle no one would believe that 2 champions were able to beat 8 champions at the same level and above. That was why they never thought that their fellow members were all dead.


    "Which one are we taking as evidence?" Castiel asked as the 2 of them approached the mercenaries.


    "I think the one on the right is more likely to spill the beans." ke said with a creepy smile on his face.


    At first, the 2 mercenaries were confused by what was giving the 2 so much confidence, but soon they started piecing everything together.


    "How is it possible? No, someone must have helped them." The minds of the mercenaries were in disarray.


    If they had defeated the other 8 that means there was no need to struggle, but what if they were bluffing.


    While the mercenaries were struggling with their conflicting thoughts. Brian sent out water tendrils that the snapped head of one, while knocking out the other with a punch.


    "That went well¡­" Castiel said.


    "We need to get out off here with that guy. We are not sure if more would be moreing." ke said as he made the system scan the environment for both beast and human.


    "How are you guys so calm? We just killed people." Brian was puzzled after seeing expressionless faces of his 2 friends.


    "It''s very simple. Never show mercy to whoever ns on killing, because they will never do the same for you." ke said as he picked up the unconscious mercenary.


    "I know, but¡­" Brian couldn''t understand or exin how he was feeling.


    "It might be against your morals, but think of it this way. If you don''t kill those trying to take your life, then you won''t get to see all those you love back on Earth." ke said.


    "Besides it''s not like we are killing the innocents. We are trying to stay alive so that we can meet the ones we love, but people are making things hard for us." If something was to stop him from seeing his mom, ke wouldn''t hesitate to kill it.


    The group quickly left the area and began heading to the city, before the dead bodies attracted beasts.


    On their journey back, there was an awkward silence between them even in their mind link.


    "Ermm. Shouldn''t we be talking about who hired the mercenaries?" Castiel broke the awkward silence between them.


    "I was thinking about it. Only a noble can afford to hire mercenaries, is there by any chance you guys might have crossed paths with a noble?" ke asked but the 2 shook their heads.


    "Since they sent more people to deal with you, it is most likely from you." Castiel said.


    "Those in the academy don''t know about my life as an adventurer. So, who could it possibly be?" ke thought.


    [I think I have an idea of who it might be.] The system showed ke''s memory of his encounter with Lambert.


    "That guy? What did I do to him?" ke was confused. He had long forgotten about the encounter, but one thing for sure was that he was never rude to him.


    [Well, we are talking about nobles here. Your refusal can be a big offense to them.] The system said.


    "Even if it is, he should punish him not try to kill him." Castiel stated.


    "That can''t apply to all nobles. Some still have their humanity, while some don''t even seemoners as humans." ke said.


    Infinite realm was just like Earth, but worse. On Earth, some rich people greatly despise the less privilege and if not for human rightws they would have most likely done inhumane things to them.


    Unfortunately, the human rightws of Infinite realm wasn''t as advanced as that of Earth and the presence of magic made it easier to carry out these unjust acts.


    "So, what are we going to do about him?" Castiel asked.


    "To be honest, I don''t know. We can''t eliminate him because he is a noble and we don''t have any evidence that leads to him. So, there''s nothing much we can about it." ke replied.


    [Actually, there is. Bryon.] The system said.


    "Yeah, the problem now is how to get to him." ke thought.


    Going through Castiel was not an option because he had no idea about their rtionship with his brother.


    "uhh"


    It was then that the mercenary regained consciousness, but before he make heads of where he was, ke knocked him out.

 Chapter 193: Royal knights (1).

    <h4>Chapter 193: Royal knights (1).</h4>


    While they were delegating on what to do, the trio finally reached the eastern gate where they were stopped by members of the ash corps.


    "We were ambushed by mercenaries and after killing the rest we captured one as evidence." ke said as he disyed his adventurer badge.


    "So where are you heading to?" Themander asked.


    "To the adventurer''s association where we will make a report." ke answered.


    If it was a normal case, the trio was meant to be taken into custody and be interrogated while an investigation is carried out, but since they were under the association it was to be reported to them.


    "Alright, we will escort you 3 to the association." Themander said.


    In order to make sure that the report was given the ash corps were to escort them to the association.


    ''I found the solution to the problem.'' ke said through their mind link.


    ''Yes?''


    ''It''s very simple. We do nothing.'' ke said confusing Castiel and Brian.


    ''Prince Bryon is the leader of the ash corps and since the case is to be transferred to the ash corps for investigation it will surely reach his ears. So, if he thinks it is too dangerous for us, then he will eradicate it.'' ke exined.


    ''What makes you think Prince Bryon cares so much about us?'' Brian asked but he only got a ''you''ll see'' expression from ke.


    They soon got to the adventurer association where they met Susan, who on hearing the severity of the case informed the guild master.


    ''Why are they always getting in trouble?'' Guild master Walden thought when he saw the trio entering the office.


    Cases where the customers had tried to kill the adventurers, were quite a few, but one thing for sure was that they were all nobles.


    "Before you make the report, you should know all your statements are being recorded including this one?'' After receiving nods from the trio, he gave the go-ahead to carry on.


    The trio began narrating everything that happened during the journey and the fights. As usual, ke left out the information about the space element, while focusing more on the void daggers.


    ''From his statement, he was able to kill 5 champions at such a young age. I must say, he really is promising.'' Walden thought.


    "The report has been sent to the ash corps and investigation and interrogation of the mercenary has begun." Walden informed the trio.


    "So, what now?" ke asked because he had no idea how to proceed.


    "You can return to your school or anywhere you want to. As long as you don''t try to leave the city you are okay." Walden said.


    "Is anything wrong?" Walden asked when he saw the disbelief on their faces.


    They had thought that they would be detained in a room until the investigation was over, just like they did on Earth, but surprisingly they were free to go.


    It made sense because, with the help of magic and artifacts, it was very easy to locate them within the city.


    "How long is the investigation tost?" ke asked.


    "Since, this isn''t a serious case you should be called in tomorrow for the results." Walden said.


    "That will be all. Thanks for your time." ke bowed as they left the room.


    "He is an interesting one." Walden thought, before going back to work.


    "That went well¡­" Castiel said.


    "Yeah. It would have been way better if we had more beast cores." ke let out a sigh.


    "If they aren''t enough, you could buy with exchange points." Brian''s words stung deep into ke''s heart.


    Why would one spend points when they could go hunting? It was an utter waste of points.


    "This should be enough for today." ke said as they returned to the academy.


    ¡­


    Immediately the report was sent to the ash corps, a team was deployed to the Mina woods to investigate.


    On reaching the sight, the ash corps killed the beasts that were feeding on the corpse of the mercenaries.


    Once the crime scene was free from any forms of disturbance, the captain opened the chest and brought out a bronze hand mirror.


    It was the cursed artifact beholder.


    It had the ability to use mana fluctuations and emissions in a given area to reconstruct what had happened in the area in form of a vision. The rity of the vision was dependent on the power level of both the user and the person being spied on.


    ''Let''s see what happened here¡­'' The captain injected his mana into the artifact causing a ripple that made the surface of the mirror tear in half, revealing a yellow-stained eyeball filled with multiple eerie blood vessels.


    Once the eyelid was fully open, the pupil had a purple aura that sent images of what happened to the captain''s mind.


    He saw how the mercenaries had killed the ck spider monkey in the area before hiding and waiting for the ''researchers'' to lure ke.


    He went on to see how ke had killed the mercenaries, but it never showed ke using the space element.


    Because the captain was a newly advanced demigod, he wasn''t aware of the interference stopping him from seeing the real event that urred.


    He went to the other crime scenes and everything match with the report given by the trio.


    ¡­


    Back at the city, the captain hadmunicated his findings and the mercenary had been interrogated and he spilled the beans.


    The mercenary narrated how a wealthy merchant named Abbas Vadim approached their leader and requested the assassination of the Order of chaos adventurer party.


    Immediately the beans were spilled, the ash corps sent a team to arrest the merchant, but on getting to his mansion they found him dead.


    This led to another case and once again the beholder was used. When used it showed that he hadmitted suicide.


    With that, the case was closed. Sargon and Lambert had gotten away with failed assassination, or so they thought.

 Chapter 194: Royal Knight (2).

    <h4>Chapter 194: Royal Knight (2).</h4>


    With that, the case was closed. Sargon and Lambert had gotten away with failed assassination, or so they thought.


    The beginning of their end was marked when the case file was sent to Darius themander of the ash corps in Calton city.


    "This will be interesting." After reading the file, Darius knew straight away that it wasn''t suicide, but he didn''t have an idea who it was.


    The only thing he was sure about, was that whoever did this would feel the wrath of Prince Bryon.


    Darius was tasked with sending any information that involved the trio directly to Bryon. News of someone trying to assassinate them, surely wouldn''t be overlooked.


    "By tomorrow the case would really be closed." Commander Darius pitied the unlucky noble as he sent the info to Bryon.


    ¡­


    In the pce at the center region.


    Bryon was busy signing the pile of documents on his desk when he received a message frommander Darius.


    On reading the information the report contained, Bryon''s expression began turning sour.


    "Joan, invoke the royal knight''s order." Prince Bryon said in an angry tone.


    "Yes, your majesty!" Joan bowed and hurriedly left the room.


    The job of the royal knights was to protect and eliminate anything that may curse harm to the royal family. They answered only to the direct descendants of the emperor.


    Apart from the members of the royal family and the councilors, they were higher in rank than any other person in the empire.


    The minimum requirement for all members of the royal knights was them being in either the creation or destruction path of the angelic realm.


    Hearing the Royal knights put fear in the hearts of every noble in the empire irrespective of rank and the main reason was the royal knight''s order.


    When the royal knight''s order was invoked, it was a bloodbath. Not only would they kill the unlucky target, but they would trace and wipe out their lineage from the face of Infinite realm.


    Not long the red hair royal knight Rayzer came in with 2 other royal knights in golden armor.


    Immediately they were on one knee, holograms of all royal knights in the same position appeared.


    Your Highness!


    "I invoke the royal knight''s order, the target is the Salton family. I await your good news." Prince Bryon ordered.


    "Yes, your Highness!"


    With the order given, the royal knights went out and began ughtering members of the Salton family.


    ¡­


    The next day, the news of the Salton family being traitors spread around the empire and so did their death.


    Carts were seen at the different Salton households in Calton city, packing the corpse of the inhabitants. The blood and the mess were being cleaned by workers, as the mansion was to be auctioned off.


    Commoners believed the news of the Salton family being traitors and were happy they were eliminated, but that wasn''t the only reason they were happy.


    The Salton family, especially the little brat of a descendant that was named Lambert was known for misusing his powers as a noble, and purging would make their lives easier.


    As for the nobles, just like their friendship with each other, that of the Salton family was fake. They didn''t care about them neither was anyone ready to risk their heads for them.


    Instead, they feared that one day it might be their turn, so they began warning their descendants about their behaviors.


    The ''purge'' served as a reminder to every noble in the empire that if one of them messed up, it could spell doom for their entire family.


    ¡­


    Within the school walls.


    The news of the ''purge'' got to the student nobles before reaching the ears of themoners, mainly because their parents were warning them about their behavior.


    At first, it was taken as a rumor, until they began looking for students from the Salton family.


    It turned out that the purge had also gotten to them and the school had quietly removed their bodies to avoidmotions.


    ''WOW!''


    The trio was stunned by the news for different reasons.


    Castiel and Brian were shocked that Prince Bryon had intervened in the matter and how ke knew about this. On the other hand, ke was shocked by the level of problem-solving that had urred.


    He was expecting Bryon to have at least killed Lambert and maybe the head of the family, but wiping out the entire lineage was more than over the top.


    "I wonder what the Salton family did to be branded traitors." Seeing the awkward silence on the table, Tessie had tried to strike a topic but it only made things worst.


    Everyone except for her knew a lot about the Salton situation.


    The trio was literally the cause of the purge, while Luciano knew that they weren''t traitors, but unlucky nobles that managed to piss his brother off.


    "I don''t, maybe they were selling important information to the other empires." ke said as he tried not to choke on his food.


    By noon, not many people were talking about the Salton family, not because it had be old news, but because this was thest day till all hell was let loose.


    Every student was getting prepared, both physically and mentally because theing week was no longer introductions but the main thing.


    As for the trio, they had gone to the adventurer association where they were updated on the ash corps'' investigation.


    They received theirmission since the ''researchers'' had deposited the payment. Also, they werepensated with points for what they had gone through.


    "Now that went well¡­" Brian said with a big grin on his face as they walked out of the building.


    "Before we go hunting, I would like to point out some things." ke said taking them by surprise.


    "The only reason we survived this was because we were greatly underestimated and we have a strong backer to permanently eliminate them. In the future let''s try and be careful with themissions we ept.

 Chapter 195: Mana control.

    <h4>Chapter 195: Mana control.</h4>


    In one of the practice rooms in the Castile, the Fusion magic ss was in session.


    "Before we move into the topic of the day, I would like to inform you all of an important info." Professor Gibson said. "At the end of next week, you all will be tested based on your level of teamwork."


    "That is why within these 2 weeks all your sses will focus more on team effort. So, as to prepare you for both the test and the fast-approaching exercise with your seniors."


    "Now for today''s lesson. Last week, ke asked for a demonstration and that I will give." Professor Gibson signaled for the students to step back before activating a containment field protecting the students.


    "Double casting is the ability to simultaneously cast different spells as separate entities, while fusion magic is casting spells of different elements as one entity." As Gibson exined, the wind around him began getting chaotic.


    "Fusion magic: Typhoon."


    Out of nowhere, a giant cyclone made of water and wind was formed at the center of the practice room and out from the cyclone came out gigantic wind and water des.


    ''My god!'' ke was stunned by the destructive power of the cyclone. He was pretty sure that if the barriers weren''t up the wind and water des would tear them, talk more of it suction force.


    ''Yup, I got him.'' Seeing the students'' expressions indicated that his abilities had achieved the desired effect.


    He nned on showing the students what the oue of their hard work will be, so as to motivate them.


    "Fusion spells require great creativity and understanding of both elements in order produce such destructive powers, but one thing for sure is that they require arge amount of mana." Professor Gibson exined as he stopped the spell.


    "Now back to the topic of the day." He took down the barriers and moved closer to the students.


    "For us to be able to see mana in its basicponents, we have to be able to control it to a certain level and make it part of us." Professor Gibson exined. "That is why we will continue with mana control exercises."


    He soon started seeing the disappointment written on the faces of the students. After seeing such cool powers they were expecting to learn something new.


    "I know you are quite disappointed, but you all are not at the desired level of mana control. For example, ke think fast."


    Out of nowhere, multiple wind des were sent at him, giving ke no time to dodge or cast a spell.


    ''Shit!'' ke cursed, but that was when ebony and ivory appeared in both of his hands.


    Ding!


    Ding!


    Without much effort, ke used the swords to cut through the wind des.


    "200 points for your awesome reflexes, but this is exactly what I was saying by making it a part of you." Professor Gibson said. "The wind des weren''t that strong and if you used a mana barrier you would have easily defended against it."


    "I have seen your battles in the rank battles and every one of you used nothing but your elements and weapons." His words made them think about it for a moment.


    ''This is absolutely true. That means we have to review my fighting style.'' ke thought.


    Whenever he fought in front of people, ke was forced to dodge due to fire and lightning elements not being solid and him not wanting to reveal the space element.


    But if he was to integrate arcane spells into his fighting style, not only will blocking be easier, but he could also mask the space element with it.


    "I have decided I will forcefully inculcate that habit into each and every one of you.'' Professor Gibson said as targets appeared all around the practice room.


    "Today''s exercise will be divided into 2 parts. Target practice for warming up and 1 vs 1. The 2 parts are equal to 1200 points. The target practice is 500 points while the 1 vs 1 battle is 700 points." The professor said.


    For the target practice, they were to stand 30 meters away from the target and each student had 5 chances which equated to 100 points per shot.


    As for the 1v1 battle, it was a random selection and anyone could be paired against anyone.


    "Begin!" Professor Gibson announced.


    It was almost twice the standard distance and since they weren''t allowed to use their willpower to change the trajectory it was quite a difficult task for them, but not for everyone.


    ''Let''s go.'' ke said to the system as it activated its ranged mode.


    Unlike others that conjured a single mana arrow at a time, ke conjured 5 mana arrows at once, and using the system''s uracy, he fired them all at once.


    Ding! Ding! Ding!


    All the arrows crashed into the bull''s eye, stunning all the students in the practice room.


    The target exercise was quite difficult due to the increased distance, but what shocked them was ke''s level of mana control that let him maintain and perfectly control 5 mana arrows.


    "200 extra for a perfect score." Professor Gibson said in an impressed tone.


    Soon after Brian and Castiel with the help of their systems got 500 points but they weren''t as shy as ke''s.


    ''I think that should have sent a message to them.'' ke smirked on the inside as he waited for the second stage of the exercise.


    Normally, the system would warn him about showing all of his cards, but it knew this was not even half of what ke''s full potential.


    After cracking so many arrays and getting his psyche repeatedly stretched and healed. The system knew all that was left for ke gain mana vision was onlyck of understanding of mana.


    "Alright, next up is 1 vs 1 battle." Professor Gibson announced. "You are prohibited from using anything apart from mana and that includes your bare hands.


    "If you are to punch or kick, make sure to do that by coating that part. If you lose you get half the points, while the winner gets the full points." Gibson exined.

 Chapter 196: Landslide victory.

    <h4>Chapter 196: Landslide victory.</h4>


    The rules were quite simple but it was hard at the same time. Just like professor Gibson said, arcane spells weren''t part of them yet and it would surely feel weird when being unable to use their elements.


    "Practice ground 5, ke vs d." Professor Gibson announced.


    This was pleasant news for both the nobles andmoners. It was a chance for the nobles to gauge his power level and if he ends up failing, it was a chance to mock him.


    As for themoners, most of them didn''t have malicious intentions against ke, they always watched his match in other to learn new things.


    Also, watching ke trash a lot of nobles gave them a sense of satisfaction, earning him quite a lot of fan base among themoners which he had no idea of.


    ''Time to show who is boss.'' d couldn''t help but grin from ear to ear when he heard the announcement.


    He was one of those that thought ke was being protected by Luciano, but now the rules were supposedly in his favor, he would make it clear to the entire school.


    d couldn''t be considered as one of the brightest, but his line of thought wasn''t that wrong, but what he failed to see was that ke wasn''t your average student.


    He had 3 elements and a system which wasn''t only very rare in the school, but all around Infinite realm as a whole. These were factors that no one would think of unless told, making ke a box of surprises.


    ''This should be an easy 700 points.'' ke had a grin simr to that of d when he heard who his opponent was.


    "Begin!." Professor Gibson announced.


    "Let''s end this quickly." ke encased his hands and feet with mana before dashing towards d


    When he was 5 meters from d, he jumped into the air and performed 2 spinning kicks that sent des of mana hauling at d.


    ''Shit!'' Seeing how fast and powerful the mana des were, d joined his hands together and formed a barrier.


    Ding! Ding!


    d was forced 3 steps back, but he soon rolled out of ke''s way, dodging the iing flying kick.


    ''Seems I have gotten too used to using lightning reinforcement to boost my speed.'' ke thought as he continued his attacks.


    He let out 2 mana des and quickly closed in on the gap.


    ''How is this possible? He must be cheating!'' d couldn''t help but think as he was forced to block another set of mana des that forced him to retreat.


    Things were looking very bad for him. His hands were turning numb and he wasn''t getting any breathing space, but there was no time to think of that because ke was alright in front of him.


    ke threw a feint punch at d who hurriedly attempted to block leaving his body open.


    "Gotcha!" A grin appeared on ke''s face as he started off with a blow to the abdomen, then with an uppercut, before conjuring a mana wall behind d and chaining his attacks.


    With his mana enhanced attacks, ke was dealing a lot of damage than normal people did and d couldn''t keep taking more of them.


    ''I have to do something.'' d gritted his teeth in pain as he tried conjuring a mana dome around him, but that was when a massive shockwave burst of mana from ke, sent him flying out of the boundary.


    "Winner ke."


    "What the hell?!'' d who had just recovered by from the dizziness caused by the impact was shocked and confused by what had happened.


    After the blue ethereal light of mana burst out of ke''s body, he made a useless attempt to block with his hands, but he saw himself outside the ring.


    "He definitely cheated, his attacks were too powerful to be normal. He must be using a mana control enhancing equipment." d protested to Professor Gibson.


    "I noticed it, his attacks packed more power than its men to be."


    "There is no way someone should be able to do that without and equipment."


    At first, the spectators didn''t think much about it because ke was the rank 1 and he was meant to be stronger than others. It was when dined that they began noticing it.


    "I too thought the same thing, but I checked ke right from his first move to thest everything was normal. It''s just that his mana control is more than 2 times greater than that of everyone in this ss." The entire ss was shocked by Professor Gibson''s exnation.


    Although he was their professor and they saw no reason for him to lie, many didn''t want to believe it, but that was when they started connecting the dots.


    They began realizing why ke has been doing so well in sses like array mastery and arcane magic.


    ''Seems I have been underestimating my man control.'' ke thought as he walked out of the practice ground ignoring the stares from his fellow ssmates.


    He had used the shockwave in order to stun d and continue thebo, but he didn''t expect it topletely blow him away.


    [I too wasn''t expecting that. This was meant to be a one sided beating, but that move turned it to andslide.] The system said.


    ''That means one more thing added to my list of after ss activities.'' ke let out a helpless sigh. Somedays ago he wasining about having nothing to do but now, reverse was the case.


    ¡­


    After the ss, ke, his friends and Cam went to grab something eat, but they were all looking with weird looks on their faces.


    "I am trying to enjoy my steak, but I can''t do that with you all looking at me like that." Feeling ufortable, ke broke the silence at the table.


    ke watched as they looked at themselves for some time before returning to their food.


    "Is there something I am missing?" ke asked Luciano who face palmed and shook his head on seeing their reaction.


    "They want so you could teach or coach them on somethings." Luciano said.

 Chapter 197: Integration.

    <h4>Chapter 197: Integration.</h4>


    "They want so you could teach or coach them on some things." Luciano said.


    "Oh." Seeing that it was something that he had already nned on doing, ke continued to eat his steak.


    "I was already nning on doing that." ke muffled.


    "Really?" Brian, Castiel, and Tessie were surprised by the reply, but what shocked everyone was Cami''s request.


    "Can I join you guys?" Cami asked.


    "No." Both ke and Luciano said almost immediately causing both of them to look at each other.


    "Well, the training is designed to be a group type and with us being 5 it can''t be possible." ke exined.


    [Only a retard would ept to training theirpetition.] The system sneered at Cami''s request.


    ''Maybe she takes me for one.'' ke said.


    "ording to Luciano''s statement, he didn''t sound like he was taking part in the training. So can I join?" Cami said with a cute smile.


    "This is a¡­" ke was about to give one of the many reasons he had prepared, but Luciano interrupted him.


    "I will be taking part in the training." Luciano said with a smile on his face.


    "Oh. Then there is no problem at all." Cami had a disappointed expression.


    [Wow, her acting skills are pretty great.] The system was astonished by Cami''s ability to seamlessly move from a smile to a disappointed expression.


    ''Seems like I have been underestimating her.'' ke thought as he envisioned her as a snake.


    ¡­


    "During your array mastery ssesst semester, you have been thought how to inscribe arrays on objects and from your most recent ss, it is clear you know how to draw arrays in thin air. So today we will be looking at 2 things." Professor Tacitus said in an expressionless tone.


    "The first will be non-object arrays." As he spoke an array appeared right in front of him, producing mes.


    "As the name implies, it doesn''t need to be inscribed on an object to be used. Here is an example of what you could do with it."


    With a wave of his hand, arrays appeared behind and at the sides of the fire, solidifying the air and forming a box with an opening.


    "This furnace isn''t as good as the ones found in a forge, but you all get the point." Tacitus dispelled the furnace.


    ''Non-object arrays are basically the things we have been practicingst semester, but the forge mastery variation.'' ke thought.


    At his current level, Learning and casting the arrays weren''t difficult. The only problem was how many arrays could he get his hands on?


    "The next thing we would be looking at for the rest of the semester is forging standard weapon." The students were confused but that was when Professor Tacitus spoke.


    "By standard weapon, I don''t mean those pieces of thrash you guys had been making." Tacitus said without a care of their feelings.


    "Have you all noticed that the weapons you all have made hasn''t gone past the normal grade? What you have been taught all these while was how to create a normal weapon.


    Items above the basic grade, possess tens up to thousands of arrays. If we go about inscribing it unto a weapon, not only will we run out of space, but the energy from the multitude of arrays will end up destroying the integrity of the sword" Professor Tacitus exined.


    "That is why forge masters like me use a better method called Integration method¡­"


    Integration method involved assimting all the arrays required for the said weapon with a power source.


    Power sources used for items had the function of recharging themselves by absorbing the energy in the surrounding.


    So by integrating them with the power source, it regted the energy to a level safe enough for the item''s integrity.


    ''Interesting¡­ That makes a lot of sense.'' ke was intrigued by the new discovery.


    "Since we don''t have much time left, we will leave the demonstration till the next ss." Professor Tacitus was about to warp out f? the ss, but he remembered something


    "If you have noticed, I did a lot more exnation than usual and that is all thanks to Professor Mack Hoffenheim who requested a favor from me." With that said he warped out of the ss.


    ''That exins why he was less grumpy today and for a moment I thought he had changed.'' ke shook his head.


    ''Can you tell me anything about the integration method?'' ke asked the system.


    The system upgrade at the research facility granted the system aa lot of knowledge, but it had ssified most of them to be currently inessible to ke.


    Not only because it would affect his growth, but because knowing them would automatically put his life in danger.


    [I don''t have much to tell you till you are taught, but it is nice to know that t he integration method was created by the dwarves. A very good example of a product of this method is the research facilities core.] The system''s words shocked ke.


    ''So you are saying it is possible for me to create an artificial intelligence?'' ke asked.


    [With a sprinkle of knowledge, resources and somethings consciousness you will be able to make one.] The system replied.


    "You say what now?" ke was stunned.


    [You heard me right.] The system said.


    "Hey, so when are we meeting up for the training?" Luciano and the group approached him.


    "Right now." ke had thoughts of taking the group to the concealed space, but he changed his mind and to them to one of the many empty practice rooms.


    "Since we will be partaking in mostly team exercises this semester, I thought it would be nice for us to train as a team." ke said to the team. "The team training aims at improving both our individual skills and team coordination."


    "What if we don''t end up in the same team?" Brian asked.


    "First, no knowledge is a waste. Second, I highly doubt that, the strength of a team lies in there bond and since the school is aware of that they wouldn''t pair students any how and expect good results." ke exined.

 Chapter 198: Team training.

    <h4>Chapter 198: Team training.</h4>


    ke had 3 agendas in mind for the team training. The first was helping each of them with their physicalbat skills, especially Brian, who mostly had defensive abilities.


    The second was improving their coordination in both their arrays and formation.


    The 3rd and final aim of the training was to help them increase their mana control. This was a vital part of the training because one''s mana control determined his/her efficiency in casting spells and arrays, most especially in the heat of battle.


    [Be careful on how much you reveal to them, especially to him.] The system said pointing at Luciano.


    The only people that the system considered to be threats to ke''s position as the rank 1 were Luciano and the dark horse, Damon.


    So it sounded crazy training your rival, but there were some things ke had considered.


    The chances that Luciano had received better training from the royal family were very high, but it would be a win to make him feel indebted to him.


    Also, ke was following the saying ''Keep your friends close and your possible enemies closer.


    The training was a way to constantly keep track of everyone''s development, and that of Luciano included. Also, he might be able to gain some insights from him.


    ''I know, I already have that covered.'' ke said.


    "I would have loved to begin with the physicalbat ss, but we can''t due to instructor Zirrack''s ss tomorrow." ke said. "So we will start with the barrier array before moving to the arrays I found in the library."


    "They contain both attack, defensive, and support arrays. Also, this is a way I n on increasing our mana control."


    One''s level of mana control could be increased by practicing and pushing one''s self to the limit.


    His n was to get them used to some arrays before reducing the number of people that were to take part in forming a single array.


    "Are you sure about this?" Tessie asked in an anxious tone when she heard his n.


    "From your tone, it seems like you are afraid of failing?" With a bowed head, Tessie nodded. "Well, you don''t have to worry about that. While thinking of the training I put everyone into consideration."


    "No one here will make fun of you if you perform badly, and if you eventually do we are here to help and correct you. Like, that is the reason why we are training in the first ce."


    "So, you are free to fail as much as you want, no one outside this room will know." ke said with a smile that?made her face turn red.


    ke''s words didn''t only inspire Tessie, but the rest too. It showed them how much effort ke would put in to help any one of them.


    With their morale high, the team began the training. They started with the barrier array which they were most familiar with.


    After making sure they had the hang of it, they began working on how to make it more efficient.


    The barrier array consumed quite a lot of mana and form a stationary dome which inhibited their mobility. Their n was to find a way to change the dome shape or at least learn to move with it.


    They tried things like altering the symbols of the array, but the array didn''t even activate.


    "What if we try changing its position?" Brian asked.


    "I doubt that will work but it is worth the try." ke said.


    The team tried out the idea and formed the array right in front of them, but a dome that had its top facing outward formed.


    [It is time for you guys to call it a day.] The system said to ke when it saw the team panting due to mana exhaustion.


    "Alright, that is enough for today. Let''s get some rest and think about the problem." ke said.


    It was quitete but luckily for them, the school''s cafeteria was still open.


    "Is it theck of Cami''s presence or the cafeteria''s emptiness that brings so much peace?" Castiel let out a sigh of relief.


    "That reminds me. How did you reject Cami''s request so easily?" Tessie asked.


    "What is difficult in rejecting a request?" ke asked with a raised brow.


    [She is a teenager who doesn''t have 3 elements and doesn''t receive the same level of confidence a high rank gives. So, when she meets someone way more beautiful than her, it is going to be a big deal.


    C''mon, I can''t keep teaching you how to treat ady.] The system face-palmed.


    Tessie was quite down due to his reply not being helpful, but she was soon brought back to life when she heard his voice.


    "So, this is how I do it¡­" Putting her social awkwardness into consideration, ke went on to exin in detail how to deal with people.


    ¡­


    The next day at the training grounds.


    The students were no longer praying for Zirrack''s death because they had figured out it was impossible. So, they went for the next best option, praying for all types of illness that would make him miss the ss.


    "Is it me or is ke excited about the torture?" Brian asked Castiel when he saw the smile on ke''s face.


    They were half right. ke was quite excited about the lesson onbat techniques, but that wasn''t the main reason.


    It turned out that the system had given him a lecture on what they were doing wrong in the training and that had opened up his mind to a whole new view.


    "Last ss I introducedbat techniques. So we shall talk about it in full." Instructor Zirrack appeared.


    "Like said in thest ss,bat techniques are like cheats that let''s onemand nature to some certain degree and theye in different forms, ranging from stances to breathing techniques."


    "They have different ways absorbing and manipting nature''s energy in other to increase the user''s power output."

 Chapter 199: Capture the flag (1)

    <h4>Chapter 199: Capture the g (1)</h4>


    Combat techniques were divided into 3 stages. The first was absorbing the energy, processing the energy and finally releasing the processed energy.


    Take the Raiju breathing technique as an example. The first stage of the breathing technique synched his breathing rhythm with the lightning part of nature, enabling him to absorb lightning energy.


    At the second stage, the absorbed energy was distributed to all parts of his body, increasing the power of his lightning spells.


    At the third stage of thebat technique, due to the Raiju breathing technique''s specialty, the released energy bypassed most of the physical defenses and went for the targets internal organs.


    The third stage ofbat techniques were where most of the differencey due to their uniqueness, but Zirrack wasn''t focused on the 3rd stage but on the 1st and 2nd.


    One of his main goals in the current semester was mana enhancement which was basically using ones mana to enhance the physical properties of the human body.


    Mana enhancement heavily relied on the mastery of the 1st and 2nd stage ofbat techniques.


    "That is enough lecture for today. Now, lets get to the main course for today." Instructor Zirrack said.


    ''No evil grin. That''s a good sign¡­'' ke thought.


    "Like you were told, this semester is mostly about teamwork. So this exercise will be a team exercise/ training."


    ''Did I just hear that right??'' Just like every other student, ke was considering if his ears had gone bad because it was very hard to believe what he heard.


    Normally, after the exnation part always came the torture. So it was quite shocking, but the problem was that no one had the guts to ask Zirrack to repeat himself.


    "Stop standing and pair yourselves into teams of 5." It was at this moment that everyone confirmed his previous statement.


    ''Let''s not get our hopes high, because the team exercise could be worse.'' Knowing how ''evil'' Zirrack was, ke couldn''t for once let his guard down.


    When the students had formed teams he went on to exin the instruction of the exercise.


    "This is a capture the g exercise. Each team will be facing 5 mechanical puppets that possess decentbat abilities and are able to use arcane spells." Zirrack said.


    The exercise was aimed at increasing both the team''sbat abilities and their coordination, but it sounded too easy especially since Zirrack was the one in charge of the exercise.


    "In order to make things fair for the puppets, you can''t make use of weapons or items and you are only allowed to use one of your elements. You are not allowed to kill your targets and neither are they allowed to kill you."


    "If any member of your team get in contact with the g, it is an automatic victory, but if the puppets touches yours it is a loss for your team."


    ''I think there is more to this exercise.'' ke thought.


    Zirrack had exined the rules, but ke felt that the necessary factors meant to make the exercise very difficult were still missing. Even the way he exined the rules were quite suspicious.


    An example was the part where both sides were not allowed to kill each other, meaning the puppets had the ability to kill them, but were being held back.


    "You all have 10 minutes to n and decided what elements you are to use, because everyone is starting at the same time." Zirrack didn''t n on letting any team have the advantage by learning from the other''s mistake.


    "The only problem in deciding which element to use is with that of Tessie." ke said while the team huddled up.


    ke obviously went with lightning element, Luciano with his golden mes, Castiel with darkness element, and Brian with earth element.


    Tessie awakened the water as her primary element and nt element as her secondary. The problem was that the nt element would be more helpful, but her proficiency with water couldn''t be overlooked.


    "I think I will go with nt element, because if anything happens you guys can cover up for me." Tessie said.


    "Since that has been decided, here are somethings you guys need to know." ke began informing them about his discovery.


    "Instructor Zirrack prohibited us from using weapons, items and any other element, but he didn''t say we couldn''t use arcane spells or battle arrays." The discovery made them nod with smiles on their faces.


    After informing them of his discoveries, they went on to address the most important issue and that was their formation.


    In an exercise like this, not everyone was meant to go after the g because that would give the opponents the chance to snatch theirs.


    "So, I am thinking of having Brian defend the g, while Tessie and Castiel supports both the attack and defense with the nt and darknessbo. Then I and Luciano will be the offence." ke suggested.


    "Well, I don''t see any problems with the formation, but let''s try not to be too rigid. If you see an opportunity take it." Castiel said.


    "Times up, all teams move to your battle grounds." Instructor Zirrack announced.


    ke''s team moved to their designated battle grounds which had a red and a blue g at each end. The battle ground spanned over 50 meters.


    When they took their positions, 5 mechanical puppets were warped to the other end of the battle ground.


    The 5 mechanical puppets were humanoid and made of some kind of special dark wood. They had 2 holes as eyes with red eyes beaming from them.


    Unlike regr puppets that had metal balls as joints, these ones had no form of joints in sight, but they were moving exceptionally well.


    "Is it only me that is creeped out by these things?" The appearance of the mechanical puppets sent chills down his spine.


    "Alright guys time to get serious." When ke saw the mechanical puppets he couldn''t help but frown because things were about to get serious.

 Chapter 200: Capture the flag (2)

    <h4>Chapter 200: Capture the g (2)</h4>


    Looking at the mechanical puppets, ke could bet his left kidney that there was something wrong with these puppets.


    ''Seems there is only one way to find out.'' ke thought as he waited for the signal for the start of the exercise.


    "Begin!"


    Once Instructor Zirrack made the announcement, the mechanical puppets encased their entire body with mana before dashing towards ke''s team.


    ''What the hell. Even I don''t have that much mana control'' the entire team had the same thoughts as Brian.


    ''Just like I suspected." ke couldn''t help but furrow his brow when he saw their mana encased body parts.


    Synching his breathing rhythm with that of nature, ke activated an enhanced lightning reinforcement and engaged one of the approaching puppets.


    With his enhanced speed, ke threw 2 quick punches aiming at the puppet''s head. The mechanical puppet managed to block one of the blows, but the other wentnded on its face creating a deep crack.


    The force of the punch jerked the puppet''s head back and ke followed up with punches at the shoulders, before giving it a knee to the abdomen.


    "Huh??"


    To ke''s surprise, the mechanical puppet wasn''t reacting to the pain. Once it recovered from the punches to the shoulders, instead of blocking the knee attack it tried to hold on to ke.


    ''What the fuck??'' ke was shocked by such behavior, but thanks to his incredible speed ke dodged grip but that was when the system''s warning came.


    [Behind you!]


    Right behind ke was a mechanical puppeting at him with a roundhouse kick.


    BOOM!


    Before the mechanical puppet could get close to ke arge ball of golden mes shot it out of the way.


    "They don''t feel pain and they regenerate any injury that they sustain." ke informed the team as he retreated.


    ''Mana cannons?!''


    Just when they thought they would have little time to organize themselves, mana cannons were raining hauling towards.


    ''Just like I suspected this wasn''t meant to be easy in any way.'' ke thought as he conjured a mana barrier.


    Not only were they able to use strong arcane spells, but theirbat skills and team coordination were outstanding.


    As they were being bombarded with arcane spells 2 of the mechanical puppets got past ke and Luciano and went for the weakest link Tessie.


    ''This is bad¡­'' Seeing the puppets heading for Tessie, 5 tendrils appeared behind Castiel as he intercepted them.


    Although his closebat skills weren''t on par with that of ke, thanks to the tendrils he was able to defend against the 2 puppets, but no matter how he tried he couldn''tnd an attack.


    Seeing that hand-to-handbat wasn''t effective against Castiel''s tendrils, the mechanical puppets turned the mana on their hands to sharp des.


    "2 can y that game." Castiel did the same thing by reinforcing his hands and tendrils with mana, but when he reengaged with the puppets they easily cut one of his tendrils.


    ''How?!'' For a moment Castiel was shocked by the turn of events, but this was more than enough for the mechanical puppets to end him.


    Cutting the remaining tendrils protecting Castiel, the mechanical puppet gave him a heavy blow to the abdomen causing him to wince in pain before receiving an uppercut that made his feet leave the floor.


    With the mechanical puppets being in perfect synch, the second puppet had already positioned itself behind Castiel ready to finish him off with a mana de, but that was when thorny nt vines erupted from below and held it in ce.


    Seeing that its other counterpart wasn''t in serious danger, the mechanical puppet was about to finish Castiel who justnded on the floor, but it suddenly moved out of the way.


    BANG!


    A lightning bolt swept past the area the puppet was and went straight at the constricted puppet.


    "Retreat to the g!" ke shouted to his teammates as he grabbed Castiel and ran to the g.


    ''I have a n. Brian create a dome around us and the g, make it as thick as possible. Castiel get ready to cast Night mist.'' ke said as he regrouped to the g.


    Earth vault!


    Night mist!


    3yers of earth erupted from below and formed a dome around the group and at the same time, dark gaseous mists beganing out of Castiel and escaping through holes on the walls of the dome and into the battle ground.


    At this point of the battle, every team except that of ke and Damon which consisted of Haldor, Cami, Esmeralda, and La, every other team had been eliminated.


    Although 2 matches were still on, almost all of them had their eyes on ke''s team.


    From the regrouping and holing themselves up in a dome to the Night mist that covered the entire battlefield. Everything was totally confusing.


    They thought that if they were unable to beat the mechanical puppets then staying in a dome was pointless, but they had no idea that ke had figured out the main goal of the exercise.


    ¡­


    BANG!


    BANG!


    Inside the dome that was being bombarded by arcane spells, the team had no idea why they had regrouped but there were noints since ke said he had a n.


    "Alright, you guys should trust me on this one." ke began quickly exining his n to the team.


    "Any objections? Alright let''s begin." ke said.


    On the outside, the students had watched as the 1styer of the dome was destroyed by the arcane spells being rained down on it.


    Soon the secondyer began cracking, but that was when an ethereal dome appeared over the 2ndyer.


    The students turned to instructor Zirrack thinking he would disqualify them, but to their surprise he didn''t say anything.


    Since he wasn''t doing anything they didn''t think much about it, besides it was only a matter of time before they lost. Or so they thought.


    When they turned back to the battle ground, they saw multiple earth spikes erupting from beneath the dome and moving towards all sides of the battle ground.

 Chapter 201: Capture the flag (final part.)

    <h4>Chapter 201: Capture the g (final part.)</h4>


    The earth spikes had gotten to every part of the battle ground and that included their g post.


    Everyone including the mechanical puppets had thought that the earth spikes were a desperate attempt? by ke''s team but none of them knew it had a greater purpose.


    From the special screens which had appeared the moment Castiel activated Night mist, the students were able to see mechanical puppets formation.


    4 of them were relentlessly attacking the barrier, while thest one was standing beside their g.


    Inside the earth dome, Castiel was concentrating on keeping the Night mist active, thereby reducing the vision of the mechanical puppets.


    Brian was still busy with the task at hand, while ke, Luciano, and Tessie were maintaining the barrier array.


    Yes, only the 3 were powering the array. ke and Luciano were in charge of 2 parts of the array, while Tessie was in charge of thest part.


    "Done." Brian said panting as he hadpleted a mini underground tunnel to the enemy''s g.


    "This might take a while so try to distract them as much as possible." ke said as he jumped into the hole.


    He had noticed from his lightning attack that mechanical puppets had incredible mana senses, and even though Night mist drastically reduced one''s mana senses, he couldn''t take chances.


    That was why he decided not to use lightning reinforcement to increase his speed, rather he would crawl to the other end.


    ¡­


    Outside the dome.


    Damon''s team had just been eliminated. Not only had Haldor and Esmeralda been ''killed'' by the mechanical puppets, but their g had been captured.


    When they joined the rest of the team, they saw when the barrier dropped, but soon it came back up.


    "That''s strange¡­" Damon said with furrowed brows.


    "I know right. Why will you take down an array only to bring it back up again?" Haldor said.


    "No that''s not it." Damon said.


    Due to him being a Darkbringer he senses a decrease in the darkness energy of the Night mist and piecing together the part of the barrier being taken down and brought back up.


    ''Does it mean only 3 people were maintaining the array all this while?" Damon thought.


    ''If that is so, then why isn''t the barrier stronger?'' Damon began taking a close look at the rock spike before seeing the one that went towards the g.


    "Unless¡­" The moment Damon turned to the mechanical puppet''s g he saw the ground shattering and ke who was encased with mana, came out and grabbed the g.


    "4500 points to ke for being the most outstanding in the team, and 3000 points to each person in team 1." Immediately Instructor Zirrack made the announcement, the mechanical golems were warped away.


    "Good job guys." ke said as he initiated a team high-five.


    "To be honest, the n was to continue the exercise for 2 more sses I never expected anyone of you to havepleted the exercise." Zirrack said.


    "The exercise aimed at focusing on objective, but at the beginning, every one of you was focused on fighting the mechanical puppets.


    It was at the ending that Damon realized this, but it was already toote. As for ke, he was cautious right from the start and it was at the middle of the battle he realized it, then at the ending that he formted his n."


    ording to the rules, you weren''t allowed to make killing attacks, but it was at the moment when they tried to eliminate Castiel that ke understood the real aim.


    Due to their insane healing factor,bat skills, and tremendous mana control, ke knew it was impossible to beat.


    "Your team isposed of 5 people and if the rest of the team misses something you are meant to inform the rest." Instructor Zirrack said "So, remember team exercises are about coordination and objectives. ss dismissed."


    "Alright, guys let''s go get some rest. Same ce, same time." ke said to the team as they headed to their various rooms.


    Unknown to ke, his ingenuity had greatly affected both Luciano and Damon.


    Luciano was impressed by ke''s performance both in and off the exercise. He no longer saw him as someone strong and worthy to be his friend, but he began seeing him as a great leader.


    The only reason he had never fought for the leadership position was that he didn''t care, besides no one could order him around, but right now he was actually ready to be led by ke.


    On the other hand, Damon was greatly displeased with himself. He was undoubtedly one of the strongest, but he was indifferent about almost everything.


    The exercise greatly limited ke who mostly relied on weapons and the fire element for mobility and support, but he still outperformed him.


    ke made him realize that for a long time now, he has been sleeping on his current level and if care isn''t taken he wouldn''t even be able to eat ke and Luciano''s dust.


    ¡­


    After ke was done taking his bath, he went straight to his bed to take a quick nap, but that was when the system spoke to him.


    [I was greatly impressed by your performance and for that, I will like to congratte you and give you a reward. You will be rewarded with information and guidance on anything you want as long as it isn''t under the dangerous category.] The system said.


    "There are so many things I want to know, but right now I think I will put the reward on hold." ke said to the system.


    [Whenever you are ready.] The system agreed.


    ¡­


    At the agreed time, ke and the team were in one of the practice rooms and the training was about to begin.


    ''Is it me or is Luciano excited about the training?'' ke couldn''t help but think when he saw Luciano''s expression.


    "First of all, I would like to say congrattions to each and every one of us on our first official victory as a team."

 Chapter 202: Best professor.

    <h4>Chapter 202: Best professor.</h4>


    "First of all, I would like to say congrattions to every one of us on our first official victory as a team." After the rounds of apuse, ke continued. "We still have to continue training and working hard to keep securing victory in future exercises."


    "Before we continue training I will like to address some of the issues I noticed in the match." ke said.


    "The first is our formation, it was more of a defensive formation than an offensive one. Castiel''s elements are offensive, but I ended up putting him in the support role." ke exined.


    During the exercise, the students were meant to be on the offensive to capture the g and end things quickly because the mechanical puppets couldn''t get tired. If Castiel was part of the attack, they would have had a better chance of capturing the g.


    "So, if there are 3 on the offensive, are you nning on putting Tessie alone as the support?" Brian asked.


    "Yes, but instead of putting the support role at the center I was nning on cing Brian at the center and Tessie behind or at the same position." Seeing them think about it ke exined the reason behind his thoughts.


    When the 2 mechanical puppets had gone through the front lines. They made quick work of Castiel because the enervative ability of the darkness element was useless against non-organic entities.


    If Brian was at the center, not only would he be able to easily defend against the mechanical puppets but it would have been easier for him to support and defend the attack.


    "ke is making a point. I think we should go with the 3 of us as the offense, then Brian and Tessie as the defense because it will be quite risky to spread ourselves too thin." Luciano said.


    "Since they are no oppositions then let''s move to today''s training." ke said. "Our overall close-quarterbat skills are quite poor but before we address that I think I found the problem with the barrier array."


    ording to the system, battle arrays were like spells from the mother-stream, and just like normal spells they can be manipted with the caster''s willpower.


    When a fire ball is conjured, it takes a default shape of a ball, but when the ignitor put in his will he would be able to control the shape and direction of the mes.


    The same was for battle arrays. For example, the barrier array had the default shape of a dome and all it needed was the caster''s willpower.


    "Your theory is nice, but it will be very difficult for the willpower of 5 people to be in perfect synch." Tessie said after thinking of ke''s ''proposal''.


    "I thought of it and I don''t think arrays should be that difficult. Maybe it should be the willpower of the person controlling the center of the array." ke ''suggested''.


    The center of an array was where all the other parts emanated from, so once themand was given through his willpower, the other parts of the array will follow suit.


    "I think that makes more sense. Let''s try it out." Castiel said.


    ke began with the central region of the array and once it was formed, he envisioned it as arge square barrier.


    The team followed the usual procedure and synched the mana flow of their parts with that of the center region.


    Just like before a transparent barrier appeared but this time it was arge square.


    "It worked!" The team screamed with joy as they celebrated.


    "How did you know it will work?" Tessie couldn''t help but wonder how ke could havee up with such an idea.


    "Like I said it''s just a guess." ke lied through his teeth.


    With that settled the team started their closebat training.


    ¡­


    During their next array mastery ss professor Mack Hoffenheim warped into the ss with his trademark smile on his face.


    "Good morning everyone. From what I have been seeing you guys are having a fun-filled week." Professor Mack soon noticed the shaking of heads from most of the students.


    "What''s wrong?" Professor Mack asked.


    "Although the team exercises are quite stressful, my main problem is finding the perfect team. Most of the high rankers have already teamed up with themselves leaving us low rankers with ourselves." A studentined.


    The reason why Mack was considered to be the best professor in the magic school was because of his close rtionship with the students. He was the only professor that would chat with the students about the difficulties they face.


    "So yourint is that you are getting low points because of this?" The student nodded.


    "I will say you are looking at it the wrong way. In most of the team exercises you are not asked to face these high rankers, but toplete certain tasks.


    Although the first toplete the task get extra points, as long as youplete the task you will still get the standard assigned points and even if you don''t, you still get points for trying."


    "Are you saying the members of the team don''t matter?" The student asked.


    Professor Mack shook his head. "I am saying you shouldn''t me them for your failure. From your statement you are clearly rejecting your fellow low rankers, so why do you expect anyone to team up with weaklings?"


    "What I am trying to say is that you should grow at your own pace and not look at the exploits of the high rankers, because if you were strong enough to aim for the rank 1, then you would have already been in a good team or do the same thing."


    "I understand. Thank you very much, professor Mack." The student bowed before taking a seat.


    "Since we''ve heard from what seems to be the bottom of the ss. No offense. Let''s hear from the top, ke please tell us how you feel about the school so far." Professor Mack said.

 Chapter 203: Elemental battle arrays.

    <h4>Chapter 203: Elemental battle arrays.</h4>


    It was at this part of the conversation that the entire ss was interested because only very few people had talked to ke talk more of hearing his ideology.


    ''I guess this was what I signed up for by choosing to be number 1.'' ke thought as he stood up.


    "Well, the school activities so far has been quite challenging for me, but that''s the fun part about it. In the space of 2 weeks, the sses and exercises have opened up my mind to new possibilities and the strength of teamwork." ke said.


    "So, what can you say about your team with respect to hisint?" Professor Mack asked.


    "Individual strength maters to some certain extent, but most of it can be covered up by teamwork. As long as the gap in power level isn''t that much, the team with the greater teamwork will surely win." ke said.


    "Well said. Alright, that''s enough for today, let''s get today''s lesson started." With that professor Mack warped all of them to one of the practice rooms.


    "Today''s lesson will be on elemental battle arrays, but before that let me give you all a chance to get more points."


    Professor Mackpleted the barrier array within a split second, but unlike usual dome shape, it was that of a diamond barrier in front of him.


    "Let''s see how far you all have gone with the barrier array." Professor Mack gestured for them to try.


    "This is free points for us." ke''s team were delighted about the task.


    Just like they had practiced ke began with the central region of the array and once it was formed, he envisioned it as arge diamond barrier.


    The team followed the usual procedure and synched the mana flow of their parts with that of the center region and at that moment a diamond barrier formed right in front of the team.


    "1500 points to each member of ke''s team!" Professor Mack announced with a proud smile on his face.


    The entire ss were dumbfounded by ke''s team. They were still trying to figure out how to approach the task, but ke''s team had alreadypleted it with ease.


    Seeing this, Damon''s team tried to do the same thing but they ended up making the same mistake that ke''s team had done.


    "Is there any other team that feel they can do it?" Professor Mack looked around the ss, but no hands were up.


    "I had purposefully not taught that part of battle arrays, in order to give you guys something to discover and y around with, but it seems it was only their team that did that."


    Professor Mack was quite disappointed but he went ahead and exined to them about the use of willpower in battle arrays.


    "Since all that is done, let''s talk about elemental battle arrays."


    "Elemental battle arrays are kind of simr to you normal ones, but they harness the elemental particles in the environment to carry out the task while you power the energy conversion with your mana." Professor Mack exined as he cast a light battle array that made him turn invincible.


    "This is the concealment battle array that distorts the light rays of a given area thereby concealing the team."


    "Note, the greater the number of users in that particr element, the more powerful the array especially if they took control of the central region of the array."


    "So, in this case if I were to have a team, I will have to take charge of the central part of the array while they supply it with mana." After the exnation Professor Mack disyed an elemental array for each element except for those of space and darkness.


    Since ke''s team had 3 fire users they chose the fire battle array called me rings. They went into position, but this time Luciano was the one in charge of the central region of the array.


    me rings!


    Once the elemental array was activated 2rge golden rings of me appeared, followed by 5 smaller rings.


    All the rings began spinning in different directions and a secondter fire balls 3 times the size of normal ones came hauling out at incredible speeds.


    "Try changing the direction of the mes with your willpower." ke suggested to Luciano.


    Closing his eyes, the mes began obeying Luciano as they all changed direction.


    "1500 points to each member of ke''s team and 500 extra for being the first." Professor Mack announced.


    Since they hadpleted their task, they looked over to the other teams only to see that they had me rings were orange in color.


    "Was that because of you?" Brian received a nod from Luciano.


    ''Golden mes are lit!'' ke thought.


    [Because of little fireworks you think they are cool. Wait till you find out what they could really do.] The system said with a ''smirk''.


    After the ss the team went to the cafeteria, but this time someone wasn''t there.


    "Isn''t it strange that Cami hadn''t joined us for lunch in a while?" Tessie asked.


    "It isn''t. She is officially part of the Damon''s team so I don''t expect her to join us." ke said.


    "Even if she did, I won''t let here here." Luciano said in a mean tone.


    Everyone on the table looked at him before returning to their meal. They had no idea why he hated Cami so much, but they didn''t feel it was right to ask.


    ¡­


    The ss free day had finally arrived, but unlike his usual days where he went out on an adventurer party mission, he was going on a hunt with his team.


    After the failed assassination attempt, ke along with Castiel and Brian had decided to take a break frommissions.


    The reason why he was going hunting with his team was for people like Tessie to gain experience of being in the wild. Also, he had to make sure they were prepared for all types if situations they might meet.

 Chapter 204: Tessie in her element.

    <h4>Chapter 204: Tessie in her element.</h4>


    They made sure to restock on the potions before heading to the southern gate on a carriage.


    "So what''s the n?" Luciano asked when they were out of the southern gate.


    "To increase Tessie''sbat ability, she would be the one to fight any solo beast. If we end up meeting packs of beasts then we are all up." ke answered.


    "What if something goes wrong?" Tessie asked in an anxious tone.


    "You don''t have to worry, you won''t be put up against what you can''t handle and if anything is to go wrong, we are here for you." ke said with a smile that boosted her confidence.


    "So how deep into the forest are we going?" Luciano asked.


    "Well, nothing below the Elite rank will be a challenge, but let''s see how things go." ke''s words made Luciano smirk.


    He knew if ke was looking for a challenge then they were looking at Knight ranked beast.


    Using the system''srge detection range, ke was able to pick out isted beasts before sending Tessie to fight against them.


    They always stayed out of sight while paying attention to the fight in order to swoop in when Tessie needed it the most. As for being ambushed, ke didn''t think much of it because the system was ''standing guard''.


    As the current fight between Tessie and a sde was going on, ke was trying to note down her ws, but so far there was nothing noticeable because it was too easy.


    Due to how annoying the nt element and defensive capability of the water element were. The sde wasn''t even able to get within 10 meters of her.


    "She is the clear definition of mages who don''t let their opponentse close. Let''s see how she fares against a stronger opponent.


    On looking for a stronger beast, the team came in contact with a group of venomous rors which basically a roon thrice the size of their earth counterparts, but this time they had razor-sharp ws and teeth that secreted poisons.


    The rors were tricky and dangerous due to their speed and venom, but the team was fully stocked with antidotes which enabled them to wipe them out without fear.


    "Alright, I can sense a scaled mutt ahead. Tessie that''s your Que.'' ke announced.


    Scaled mutts were dark scaled dog-like creatures who had no eyes, but used vibrations to picture their environment.


    Scaled mutts possessed creepy green teeth that glowed in the dark and extremely infectious razor-sharp ws. They were known for their impressive speeds and power-packed attacks.


    With their sharp ws and agility, the scaled mutts were skilled climbers, and facing them in the forest was a disadvantage.


    Taking a deep breath, Tessie moved out of their hiding spot and loudly approached the beast. The goal wasn''t to ambush it but to test her strength. So she had to draw its attention.


    "Grrrr!"


    The resting scaled mutt growled when the vibrations of the wind drew the outline of a human in its head.


    The scald mutt barked a few times in order to warn Tessie of her trespassing into its territory but seeing the human had no ns of moving out, its rtively passive nature changed to aggression as it lunged at Tessie.


    Water barrier!


    A water barrier formed in front of Tessie as the scaled mutt was about to reach her, but instead of crashing into the barrier. It used it as a base to propel itself to a tree before lunging back at her.


    The same action repeated itself a few more times before Tessie began using her nt abilities.


    The scaled mutt is said to have an advantage in the forest due to the trees but as a nt user, Tessie was literally in her elements.


    The presence of century old trees attracted a lot of life energy, giving every nt user a significant boost in their nt abilities.


    Vine constrict!


    From all the nearby trees thorny vines began sprouting as they all aimed to constrict the scaled mutt. The volume of the nts were increased due to the location boost but even at that, the scaled mutt got away from them before they came in contact with it.


    ''She is too passive. If thigs continue this way she would run out of mana.'' ke thought as he saw the scaled mutt dodge and tear through the nt vines.


    Just like ke had predicted, Tessie had begun running out of mana and the battle was moving towards the relentless scaled mutt due to its monstrous vitality.


    As the scaled muttnded more strikes on Tessie''s barrier, her fear kept on growing and she began making mistakes but that was until she snapped.


    Right from when ke had said she was to face a stronger beast, she had quite afraid. Even when she met the beast face to face and it lunged at her, her fear kept on growing but she was able to keep it in check.


    It was up until now that she realized that the more her fear grew, the lesser her chances of survival. She became frustrated at her own weakness and soon the frustration turned to anger.


    Water geyser!


    The scaled mutt lunged at her water barrier with a power packed w, but that was when the surface of the water barrier distorted and a jet stream of water shot out.


    Bam!


    The force of the jet stream sent the scaled mutt flying into a tree causing a deep dent, but that wasn''t all.


    Vine constrict!


    Before the scaled mutt could fall off the tree, thorny vines wrapped around its body. It''s thick scales protected it from most of the damage from the thorns but it knew if it stayed there any longer it would be a goner, but it was far toote.


    "You are not going anywhere." Tessie shouted.


    Blood Drain!


    At that moment,rge spikes rushed out from the tree behind it impaling the scaled mutt before draining its body dry.


    "Holy shit!" The guys were shocked when they saw Tessie move from 0 to 100 in an instance.


    "I think that is a lot of training for her. It''s time to head back." ke said as they approached her.


    "Nice job. I am really proud of you." ke said as he spread his hand and Tessie came in for an embrace.


    "Thanks." The moment was in ke''s arms she forgot her worries and wanted it tost forever.


    ¡­


    The next day was a break for the team, but not for the order of chaos adventurer party.


    Since their goal was to train Tessie and their team work, they hadn''t done much of hunting, because unlike Luciano and Tessie who received their beast cores on a tter of gold, they had to work for it.


    They entered the Mina forest and wereying waste to any group of beast that were unlucky toe their way.


    With the system''s detection range they were farming beast cores at an unbelievable rate.


    ''It''s funny how some months ago I was using it to avoid beast but now I am using it to track them down.'' ke thought to himself.


    Although they were farming a lot of beast cores, ke''s main goal was to find a knight rank beast.


    [I know you are hoping to find a knight rank beast but I would like to inform you that the beast rank isn''t as straight forward as that of humans.] The system said. [It is at the knight rank that beasts receive a lot of boost, and this boost is dependent on their genes.]


    [Beasts like reptiles that possess the bloodline of their ancestral forefathers, Dragons and Basilisks receive a tremendous boost. While those that have normal bloodlines aren''t that powerful.


    Now if two of these set of beasts are to face each other, the reptile will definitely be the winner.] The system warned.


    No matter the rank of beasts, even at the ancestral realm there were hierarchies that were determined by bloodlines.


    ''Alright, I will try to be careful.'' The system''s words tuned down ke''s enthusiasm for the search.


    The search went on as they kept farming, they found no trace of Knight rank beasts.


    ...


    The day went by and sses resumed but it came with an interesting announcement.


    After their ss with professor Gibson, he made an announcement to the entire elite ss.

 Chapter 205: Team knockout exercise (1)

    <h4>Chapter 205: Team knockout exercise (1)</h4>


    The day went by and sses resumed but it came with an interesting announcement.


    After their ss with Professor Gibson, he made an announcement to the entire elite ss.


    "The scheduled team exerciseter this week will be a team knockout exercise. So, when you are sure about your team thene to my office to register yourselves." Professor Gibson said.


    "Note, if you don''t have a team by the day before the exercise you will automatically be paired with others." With that said, Professor Gibson warped out of the ss.


    "So, when are we getting registered?" Tessie asked in a tone more confident than before.


    "We aren''t in a rush, so whenever we are ready we will go register." ke replied while taking note of Tessie''s tone.


    "Alright time for Lunch I am starving." Brian said as he led the way to the cafeteria.


    Brian was the first to other, but things got strange when they saw the enthusiasm he disyed when the pot-roast beef with onion gravy he ordered appeared.


    For a moment they thought they were looking at ke, but he was also staring at him.


    "What?" Brian asked when he felt the eyes staring at him.


    "Nothing." The team said in unison before looking away.


    "Do you guys think we have what it takes to beat Damon''s team? I mean the team is made up of only top 10 students." Tessie asked.


    "Hahaha!" Luciano burst intoughter when he heard the question.


    "Only ke will be able to handle more than half, if not the entire team." Luciano said as he tried to contain hisughter.


    "True, only these 2 can take care of the entire team. So, you don''t have to worry about the exercise." Brian said.


    At this moment, Tessie was stunned, not only because of Luciano''s sudden outburst ofughter but because of how much hype ke was receiving.


    ''Are you saying we''ve never seen his full strength?'' Tessie thought to herself as she looked at ke who was quietly sipping his vegetable soup before turning to Damon''s team.


    Unbelievable!


    ¡­


    After lunch, Tessie headed for her alchemy ss while the boys went to the forge for their ss with Tacitus.


    ''Finally!'' ke screamed in his head as professor Tacitus warped into the room.


    "Last ss I said I will give you a demonstration of the integration method." Professor Tacitus said as he moved to a forging table.


    "Every integration method begins with finding the power source that will be suitable for the selected arrays." Professor Tacitus brought out an emerald crystal from his pocket dimension.


    The greater the power source the greater the number of arrays that could be integrated and also the less damage the item being forged would receive.


    "After selecting the power source, then you beginning merging the arrays with each other." It was at this point that He knew that the students were no longer following.


    He paused the process and turned to exin to the students. "Every stage of the integration method will be taught to you, but for the sake of the demonstration I will give a little exnation."


    "Arrays can be considered to be thenguage we use to convey our request to the mother-stream. A strengthening array is a single request, but when we merge different arrays together it acts as a chain of requests." Professor Gibson exined.


    "Now, you might ask what is the difference between chaining arrays and the normal method of inscribing them one at a time. There are 3 reasons, the first is that you can''t use the normal method during the integration method.


    Second, not only is it 100 times more efficient, but a chained array will be more powerful than unchained ones and it will be less mana intensive on the power source."


    "Back to the demonstration." Professor Gibson continued and the students watched as different arrays merged with multiple other arrays, forming a chain of arrays floating in midair.


    "The next step is the real integration method. It involves integrating the arrays with the chained arrays to the power source."


    Using mana maniption to pick up the emerald crystal and began etching an array on it before cing it at the empty center of the arrays.


    Once the two parts came in contact which each other, the chained arrays attracted a tremendous amount of mana and looked like it was about to blow. But that was when the array etched on the emerald crystal caused it to emit an eye-blinding light before the floating arrays were nowhere to be seen.


    "Wow!" ke was stunned when he saw that the clear emerald crystal was now covered in arrays.


    "Now, for the final stage." Professor Gibson began forging a sword right in front of them.


    After the grinding stage, the sword had taken the desired shape but was still very soft. That was when Professor Tacitus ced the emerald gem on the hilt.


    Right in front of their eyes, the glowing emerald crystal began shrinking and symbols began making their way to all parts of the sword.


    By the time the symbols had reached the tip of the sword, the emerald crystal had be a little diamond at the hilt of the sword.


    "And that is a demonstration of the integration method." Professor Tacitus said as the concealing array kicked in and the symbols on the sword disappeared giving it a in appearance.


    ''I wonder how the real surface of Ebony and Ivory looks.'' ke imagined as the surface of Ebony and Ivory werepletely filled with arrays.


    "Next ss we shall take a deep look at every step in the integration method." Tacitus said as he warped out of the ss.


    ''Can you tell me more about the integration method?'' ke asked the system.


    [Usually, I wouldn''t teach you this because you will soon be thought, but from seeing how he did it I have to.] The system said.


    ''What was wrong with how he did it?''? ke asked?


    [You know how they thought you guys a lesser version of the fusion process? This is a repetition.] The system replied.


    ''I am all ears.'' ke said in an excited tone.


    [The second stage of the integration process requires a lot of knowledge and skills with arrays.


    The power of an array begins from the central region before moving towards other parts. Your goal is to manipte the symbols of the array in such a way that it won''t affect the array, but will also synch with the flow of the other array.] The system exined.


    ''How is that even possible?'' ke was shocked by the info.


    [Just like he said, single arrays are just single requests, while chained ones are multiple requests. So in order to make the requests sensible you have to add or change things in the sentence.] Although ke didn''t fully understand it, at least he got an outline of what it meant.


    [The problem I identified in the second stage was when he used an array to merge both the crystal and the arrays.


    There isn''t much wrong with it, but if you were to use the bonding process the amount of energy released will be reduced. Meaning the limit to the arrays a power source can hold will be increased.]


    [The same can be done when merging it with the forged item. Instead of allowing the bond to initiate naturally, you should use the bonding process which will reduce the amount of damage the material will take.]


    ''When are we starting?'' ke asked the system.


    [Right after you find a good book that I will assist you with, and after you restock your forging materials because there will be a lot of errors. Especially with the power source.] The system answered.


    ''So I will be pathing with you guys so soon.'' ke silently wept when he thought of the exchange points about to leave him.


    [I knew you would act like this. You can use beast cores in ce of a standard power source since it is just for practice, but note that that will limit the number of arrays you can integrate.] The system shook its head when it saw ke''s joyous reaction.


    "I was nning on making a trip to the library and exchange store. I will meet you guyster at training." ke said as he made his way to the library.


    ke was excited because finally, he had found something he could be doing after such a long time.


    ¡­


    The days went by quickly as ke went through days of both personal and team training.


    After their breakfast, all the students moved to the battle grounds outside the castles.


    Nervousness reeked the atmosphere because it was finally the day of the long-awaited exercise.


    Students who hadn''t gotten a team were automatically paired with themselves ording to what Professor Gibson had said.


    No one, even the members of those teams were confident in themselves because there was no way a team put together the previous day would outperform those who had been training a long time ago.

 Chapter 206: Team knockout exercise (2)

    <h4>Chapter 206: Team knockout exercise (2)</h4>


    ording to what Professor Gibson had said, students who hadn''t gotten a team were automatically paired with themselves.


    No one, even the members of those teams were confident in themselves because there was no way a team put together the previous day would outperform those who had been training a long time ago.


    The teams were given serial numbers ording to the time they were registered. ke''s team was given number 7, while that of Damon was given number 1 since they were the first to register.


    "Apart from Damon''s team, what other team are we meant to look out for?" Tessie asked as she looked at the different teams present.


    "None." Luciano said.


    "Don''t you think it is wrong to underestimate our opponents?" Tessie said to Luciano.


    "I am only stating a fact." Luciano said indifferently.


    Truly, Luciano was stating a fact because during the capture the g exercise, not only were their 2nd elements prohibited but their weapons were also prohibited.


    This time they were able to use any and everything they had.


    "I think what she means is who are some exciting team to watch?" ke asked Tessie who nodded.


    "I will say that of Kade and d." ke answered.


    "Why?" Brian and Castiel asked with raised brows.


    "Well, Kade has always been an interesting character even though he isn''t in the top ten, and I will like to see how much he has grown. As for d, I am just interested in seeing who ends up knocking his team out." ke said with a smile.


    "To prevent idents like that ofst semester''s team exercise. The school has decided to make sure every team has a level of coordination before going into the wild once again and that is the main reason for this exercise." Professor Gibson said.


    "The rules of the exercise are quite simple. There are 13 teams, meaning there will be 4 rounds and the matchups will be random. As for those not meant to take part in the 1st set will be a random pick while the second will be determined by the fastest in the 1st round." With that said, the random match-up began.


    (AN: The teams are odd numbers so a team is meant to take a rest each round.)


    "Team 7 versus Team 9."


    "This should be interesting." ke thought.


    The team leader of team 9 was none other than Beyoni who was the current rank 13 and his teamprised mostly of lower 5 in the top 20.


    "I don''t want to spend too much mana so let''s get that position." Luciano said with an unchanging expression.


    "Alright, save your mana and leave this to us." ke said as they walked unto the battleground.


    ''Why are the heavens against me?'' Beyoni cursed when he was matched up against ke''s team.


    If ke hadn''t eliminated him then, there was a very high chance that he would have won the exercise. Now he was going to be eliminated in the first round, but his main concern was that his steam would be the first.


    Everyone knew ke was a beast among the students, but right now the number 2 was also in the picture.


    "Begin!"


    Once the announcement was made, ke and Luciano stepped forward while the rest stepped back.


    "What are they trying to do?" The students from the normal ss couldn''t help but wonder.


    "Now they are getting too corky." The spectating students snorted.


    ''Fuck me.'' Unlike what the spectating students thought, Beyoni was cursing the heavens in as manynguages as he knew.


    Just as he had thought, ke and Luciano were nning on ending it quickly.


    ke activated lightning reinforcement and summoned Reaper before dashing towards the enemy team at a terrifying speed. Luciano''s body burst into golden mes as heunched himself forward.


    ''Let''s see how long we canst.'' Seeing ke''s speed, Beyoni didn''t waste any more time as he spread out his hands sending for rays of light towards ke.


    Mirage rays!


    The rays moved at very high speeds, but ke had no ns of dodging them.


    When they hit him a sharp pain spread to every part of his as the rays of light had solidified and became two light rods that pierced through him.


    "Huh?"


    Beyoni expected to see ke on his knees, but instead, ke continued moving forward without showing a sign of pain.


    "How?!" Beyoni was shocked but managed to get himself together. He cast a water barrier in front of him, but it was useless.


    With his incredible speed, all ke needed was a few maneuvers and he was already behind Beyoni.


    Ding!


    A golden barrier appeared just in time, protecting him from ke''s sword, but ke wasn''t done yet.


    Not wasting a second more with Beyoni, ke had already spun beside his female teammate who tried putting up an earth wall.


    Ding!


    Before the earth wall was up, a golden barrier had already enveloped her.


    ''Too predictable.'' ke thought as he sensed the wind deing at him.


    Using mini me bursts to propel himself out of the way, ke appeared behind the student, spinning with legs thrust by mes.


    BAM!


    kended a devastating roundhouse kick strong enough to shatter his skull into bits, but that was when a golden barrier appeared.


    "AH!"


    The student was sent crashing into another student, but that was when extremely scorching golden mes engulfed both of them, activating the other student''s golden barrier.


    "I surrender!" Thest opponent surrendered out of fear when he saw keing for him.


    "You know you should have left some for me." Luciano said as ke returned to the team.


    "Sorry, got carried away." ke said with a smile as scratched he the back of his head.


    ''Now I understand what he meant when he said there was no one to look out for.'' Tessie was stunned by ke''s performance.


    She knew ke was very strong, but not to this extent. Who would have thought he would be able to single-handedly wipe out a team made up of the top 20!


    "Winner team 7!" The referee announced. Getting the first victory, ke''s team automatically got to the resting spot.


    "Too bad I didn''t get to watch his match." Just when they had moved to the team resting area, Kade''s team had been eliminated by that of Damon.


    "At least we get to watch Damon''s next match." Luciano said.


    The first round quickly came to an end and the 2nd round of random match-making began.


    Damon''s team was matched against team 6 whichprised of students in the top 30''s, while d was paired against team 13.


    Team 13 was a randomly assembled team, but surprisingly they were paired against a simr randomly assembled team and won.


    "He really is lucky, but why do I have the feeling he will be matched up with us in the next round." Luciano nodded in agreement.


    It was a free win for d, so they didn''t bother watching the match because it would be boring.


    They switched over to Damon''s battle ground, but all they saw was a one-sided beat down.


    Their opponents weren''t considered a threat, so they went on an all-out attack, effortlessly crushing the team.


    "Winner Team!" The referee announced.


    ¡­


    Minutester, the second round was over and the random match-making began.


    "Team 3 vs team 7!"


    "Just like I thought." ke shook his head as they began walking to the battle ground.


    Team 3 was d''s team whichprised of Ansgar, Owen the rank 6, and the other 2 from the top 15.


    ''d always feels like the stupid noble who ends up getting killed by the MC in novels.'' ke thought as he saw the smirk on d''s face.


    [It is quite surprising how he was able to convince the rank 6 to join his team.] The system thought.


    Owen was a white-haired noble who had with haired and caramel skin color. He was 5'' 9" meters tall and gave off an arrogant noble vibe.


    "Although it doesn''t matter I would like to know who the leader of the team is." ke asked. It was then that Owen signified by raising his hand.


    "Just like I thought." ke said while trying to hold back hisughter.


    "What do you mean by that?" d asked with furrowed brows.


    "Nothing¡­" ke couldn''t hold back hisughter.

 Chapter 207: Team knockout exercise (3).

    <h4>Chapter 207: Team knockout exercise (3).</h4>


    ''Just a random thought. What will happen if I use Ebony and Ivory against the golden barrier, will it break?'' ke asked the system.


    [Although Ebony and Ivory are at the peak epic tier you haven''t even neared its current power cap. So, it should be safe.] The system replied.


    The current main skill of the legendary sword was cognitive empathy and apart from the active skill of Ivory that made him immune to Beyoni''s illusions, ke hadn''t even used the skills of Ebony for once.


    "Begin!" The referee announced the start of the match.


    "I really wonder what gives them the confidence." Luciano shook his head as he saw the opponent team rushing towards them.


    Owen Ulrik''s team wasn''t making the same mistake as Beyoni''s. Instead of defending, they chose to gain the advantage by being on the offensive, or so they thought.


    Owen began preparing earth spells to support his team, while d activated lightning reinforcement and dashed towards ke''s team along with Ansgar and the rest of the team.


    "Alright guys, let''s show them their ce." ke said as Ebony and Ivory appeared before splitting into dual des.


    ke went to meet d head-on but before he could blink, ke was already behind him with Ebony swinging towards his neck.


    Earth eruption!


    At that moment, multiple earth spikes erupted from below aiming at ke''s lower region, forcing him to withdraw his attack and retreat.


    ''With him here, things will be slightly difficult.'' ke thought as he looked at Owen who still had his arrogant smile on his face.


    Being from the Ulrik family, Owen was the best Geomancer in the school. The only reason Haldor was above him was that his barbaric fighting style and skills inbining fire and earth elements were excellent.


    Without effort, ke dodged the iing wind des and fire arrows, but when d''s lightning bolt came at him, he epted it with open arms.


    Literally!


    "Is he crazy?!"


    Everyone was waiting to see ke sent flying, but what happened shocked every one of them.


    Zzzzg! Zzzzg!


    When the lightning was a meter away from ke, He used the passive skill of an electrode and his insane mana control to redirect it to Owen along with his own lightning bolt.


    BOOM!


    3yers of earth wall erupted from below and blocked it just in time, but that was when ke appeared right in front and stab through them.


    Ding!


    Owen''s golden barrier appeared just in time, protecting him from the lightning-infused Ebony.


    "How is that possible?!"


    "What? When?" Owen who had been teleported out of the battlefield was confused about how he had been eliminated.


    "Don''t try to block his attacks, only dodge them." d announced to his teammates, but that was when Luciano who was engulfed in golden mes appeared right in front of Calvin.


    ''Shit! He is too fast!'' Before Calvin could do anything, Luciano grabbed him by his throat before lifting him and squeezing his throat.


    A golden hue from Calvin''s badge covered his body before teleporting him out of the battle.


    Luciano wasn''t done yet, he stretched his hands towards Ansgar and a sea of golden mes plunged at him.


    Ansgar conjured 2yers of earth domes, but Luciano controlled the fire to converge at one spot using his will.


    BOOM!


    The force of the fire wave crashed into the earth domes, breaking through it and attempting to roast Ansgar alive, but the golden barrier appeared before teleporting him out.


    Everything was happening so fast, d was unable to help Ansgar in any way and when he turned to hisst surviving teammate, he saw him on the floor protected by the golden barrier.


    "What the fuck?!" d looked up but ke was nowhere to be found.


    "Looking for me?"


    Hearing the familiar but annoying voice, d turned back to see ke, but that was when he heard Luciano''s voice.


    "They are almost done so let''s wrap things up." Luciano said.


    Going against the rank 1 and 2 in such a close range, even a retard will know it was all over.


    "I surren¡­" d wanted to surrender, but that was when ke''s fist knocked him out.


    "Winner Team 7!" The referee announced.


    "Was that necessary?" Luciano lightly chuckled.


    "Na it was just fun." keughed.


    "Why the look on your faces?" ke asked when he saw mixed feelings in their expressions.


    ''How is this still a team exercise?'' Brian thought.


    ''They should have made this two form their own team.'' Castiel said.


    "Erm¡­ nothing." Tessie struggled to say.


    "You don''t have to worry, thepetition officially starts in the next match." Luciano said to the three as he began walking to the resting area.


    Most of the students had the same thoughts as Castiel and Brian. ke alone was a beast on the battlefield and Luciano was an unsurmountable wall, forming a deadlybo.


    The normal thing was meant to be the rank 1 and rank 2 being in different teams and contesting for the 1st position, but here the reverse was the case.


    They couldn''t do anything butin because ke and Luciano were in no way breaking the rules.


    After the 3rd round was over, both teams were given some time before the final round began.


    "We won''t have the advantage of the darkness, water, and nt element because of Damon, Esmeralda, and La respectively." ke said to the team when they huddled up.


    "We have the advantage when ites to lightning, fire, and earth. Meaning we would automatically dominate the offense, so we should be mindful of our defense."


    ¡­


    The students who were analyzing both teams agreed with the first part butpletely disagreed with the second.


    They argued that team 1 dominated the water element because of La, Esmeralda, and Cami. nt because of Esmeralda, Darkness because of Damon.


    As for the earth element, it was Haldor because even though it wasn''t his main element you couldn''tpare the rank 4 to someone in the ''30s.

 Chapter 208: Team knockout exercise (4)

    <h4>Chapter 208: Team knockout exercise (4)</h4>


    As for the earth element was Haldor because even though it wasn''t his main element, you couldn''tpare the rank 4 to someone in the ''30s.


    The main reason for this thought was because of therge gap between them, but only ke''s team knew the reason why he was still in the same rank was that he was still in training.


    As for the lightning element, they would have given it to ke especially after redirecting the lightning during their match with Owen''s team, but they had to give it to Damon''s team.


    Not only did they have 2 lightning users, but Cami was from the Karius family that was known for their lightning talent, so she was at least meant to be on par with ke.


    The only reason they were given the win in the fire element was that they had 3 fire users, but if not for Luciano they would have said it was useless because of the presence of 3 submergers.


    "Yup, they are all waiting to see all fail." Brian said when he found out about the views of the majority.


    "Lol, we never came here to ask for their opinions, we came here for the points." ke said in an expectant tone.


    "What is lol?" Tessie asked.


    "Oh, it means tough out loud." ke said with a sheepish smile on his face.


    "Why say it when you didn''tugh out loud?" At this point, ke didn''t know how to exin but that was when an announcement came from Professor Gibson.


    "It''s time for the final round. Team 1 and team 7 please move to the battleground!"


    ke thanked the heavens as he made the team hurry to the battleground.


    "Begin!" The referee announced the start of the final match, but unlike what everyone expected, both teams didn''t initiate.


    "Leave Damon to me, you guys should handle the rest." Luciano said as his body was engulfed by golden mes before dashing towards Damon.


    Seeing this, ke activated lightning reinforcement and dashed towards the next biggest threat, Haldor.


    On seeing ke and Lucianoing, Damon''s team decided not to make the mistake of letting these two get close to their backline and support.


    Damon brought out 2 daggers, while Haldor covered his body with a spikyyer of earth. They dashed towards the 2, meeting them in the middle.


    Damon was considered to have the advantage in closebat and since ke was superior in speed Haldor decided to focus more on his offense.


    When Damo approached Luciano, he swung his daggers aiming for his neck, but to his greatest surprise, Luciano easily dodged the attack while hitting him on the inner part of both of his wrists.


    The attack caused his grip on the daggers to loosen while leaving him open.


    meburst!


    BOOM!


    Damon was sent flying backward, but that wasn''t all from Luciano. He began charging arge me spear at an incredible speed in order to seal the deal, but that was when multiple thorny nt vines appeared below him.


    "Humph¡­" Luciano snorted on Esmeralda''s futile effort as he jumped into the air while releasing a burst of golden mes before throwing the me spear at Damon who was still on the floor.


    The nt vines woefully failed to stop Luciano, but that was when a 6yered water barrier appeared and stopped the me spear.


    ''Interesting¡­'' Luciano thought as he looked at the 3 submergers responsible for the water barriers.


    His eyes quickly changed from them as they continued moving through empty spaces.


    ''How the fuck can he see me?'' Thanks to the water barriers Damon was out of his previous spot and was in stealth mode, but somehow Luciano kept on seeing his every move.


    From their little exchange, Castiel discovered that Luciano was twice as much of a beast as ke when it came to martial arts. Because of that Castiel was keeping his distance.


    "So, be it..." Seeing that Damon had no ns ofing close, Luciano turned and I instantly fired a fireball thrice the size of a regr fireball at Esmeralda.


    Damon keeping his distance meant there was no one stopping him from attacking the backline.


    Water barrier!


    Once again 6 water barriers blocked the attack, causing Luciano to frown and that was a bad sign.


    On seeing the frown on Luciano''s face, their heart skipped a beat, and to prevent their backline from being wiped out, Damon dashed towards Luciano with 7 darkness tendrils sticking out of his back.


    ¡­


    On ke''s side of the battleground, he tries the normal way of dashing in and easily eliminating the target, but the support was making things hard.


    From their previous matches, Damon''s team had learnt not to try to block his sword but to dodge it.


    The problem was that when Haldor failed to dodge them using fire or earth elements, things like nt vines and water spells were aimed at him to either eliminate him or make him lose miss his attack.


    ''Time to get serious.'' ke said with a frown as he took in a deep breath causing the lightning arcs on his body to double in size.


    He threw Ebony and ivory in theirbined form before dashing towards Haldor while dodging fire and earth spells.


    The sword was quick but Haldor wasn''t slow either. He easily dodged the sword, and when he turned, ke was already in front of him, but this time not with his sword.


    Covering his fists with mana, ke pped out Haldor''s right handing for him, before unleashing a barrage of punches that shattered theyer of spiky earth on him.


    Haldor was still stunned by the passive of the Raiju breathing technique, giving ke the time to charge meburst punch.


    BOOM!


    Haldor was sent flying, but that was when ke released a strong maic field that attracted the great sword back to him at a terrifying speed.


    "Noo!" The 3 girls screamed when they saw the de going for Haldor.

 Chapter 209: Team knockout exercise (final part)

    <h4>Chapter 209: Team knockout exercise (final part)</h4>


    Luciano''s golden mes were surprisingly so hot and powerful that the 3 of them had to defend against it especially since he was conjuring them almost instantly.


    They had just defended Esmeralda from a fireball, but that was when they turned and saw Ebony and Ivory flying towards Haldor.


    They had wanted to hit the sword of course, but that was when they saw ke lunch himself forward, kicking Haldor into the sword.


    Ding!


    A golden barrier appeared and protected him at the nick of time, before teleporting him off the battleground.


    Immediately, Haldor was eliminated ke couldn''t help but smile because this only made the battle easier for him to take out the backline, but that was when Cami appeared in front of him.


    Among the 3 of the girls, Cami was the best candidate not only because of herbat skills but because she was the closest person that could match up to ke''s speed.


    ''They are literally handling the strongest students by themselves!'' The entire school including Castiel, Brian, and Tessie were shocked.


    Damon''s team wasn''t in the best of positions. Before Haldor was eliminated, it was hard for them to keep up with the offense of the 2.


    Now that he was no longer around, even a retard knew the battle had already been lost. Besides, even if they were to perform some sort of miracle the rest of ke''s team hadn''t acted.


    ¡­


    On Luciano''s side of the battle, Damon had re-engaged him in closebat, but this time it was with darkness tendrils and increased speed from lightning reinforcement.


    Theoretically, Damon was meant to be dominating the battle due to his increased speed and the draining effects of dark siphon, but right in front of their eyes, the opposite was happening.


    His speed wasn''t as fast as that of ke, but it was not too far from that of Cami but Luciano was keeping up without any troubles.


    Also, whenever Damon tried to grab him with the darkness tendrils, the mes on the part he was grabbing would explode, thereby destroying the tendrils.


    ''How the hell is he so strong? He hasn''t shown this level of strength and control before!'' Damon used the side of his eyes and that was when he saw that Haldor had been eliminated.


    ''At this rate, we will definitely lose. I have to do something now!'' Damon retreated from Luciano and began casting night mist.


    A ck hazy mist began filling the battleground, blinding everyone except his team.


    This was a n for his team to gain the advantage on ke''s end beforeing to help him with Luciano, but this meant he had to survive long enough


    ''Not done yet¡­'' Still being wary of Luciano''s sensory ability, Damon activated the ne artifact thatpletely erased his presence.


    Everyone was allowed to use whatever artifact they had. The rule favored mostly the nobles but they had to be maintained because in the real world artifacts were very important and everyone had to be trained to get used to them.


    "This is bad!" Castiel was the first to react when night mist was activated.


    Due to being in the same pathway as Damon, he wasn''t affected much by night mist.


    At first, he wasn''t worried much about ke and Luciano because they weren''t your average student, but he became worried when Damon''s presencepletely disappeared.


    "You guys should protect yourselves, I am going to assist ke." Castiel said as he went into stealth and dashed towards ke.


    He wasn''t worried about Cami overpowering ke. He was worried that the entire team would use the cover of night mist and gang up on ke.


    He had gotten to ke who was now surrounded by 3 of the girls, but that was when they heard Luciano chanting.


    "The lord of chaos, bestow upon this ground the light that destroys all iniquity."


    Immediately the chant was over golden rays of lights burst out of the stone in Luciano''s hands, instantly revealing the location of both Damon and Castiel who was already behind Cami.


    "Ahhhh!"


    Out of nowhere, Damon''s body burst into golden mes as he dropped to the floor and winced in pain.


    "We surrender!" Seeing the condition of their leader, Cami had no other choice than to forfeit the match.


    At that moment Luciano walked up to Damon who had serious burns and said. "I was just waiting for you to do that. Nice fight." He gave him a thumbs up before turning around and leaving.


    "Winners of the team exercise Team 7!" The referee announced.


    ''What the eh hell happened just now?'' ke couldn''t help but ask the system.


    When Damon had activated night mist, he wasn''t worried about getting ganged up by the rest of Damon''s team because he had the system.


    He was worried about Damon attacking Castiel, Brian, and Tessie, but that was when all this happened.


    [It was as if the artifact was specifically tailored to face the darkness element, but apart from that there is something interesting about? the chant.] The system said.


    ''What''s wrong with it?'' ke had no clue about chants to activate artifacts so this was an opportunity to learn.


    [Some artifacts are made from the essence of a Deity and in order to activate them chants are needed.


    The one he used was the same as that of the vermillion rood used during the battle between the demigods. Meaning they are meant to have a simr chant.] The system quickly yed the memory of the chant.


    "The lord of chaos, Eternal mes that''s turns everything to ashes, bestow on your faithful servant the power to turn all my enemies to ashes and fulfill my master''s wishes."


    [Chants are used to get the attention of the said deity in order to avoid automatically getting smite by the deity when using the artifact.


    It always starts with the honorific name of the deity before its titles, then before making the request based on the ability of the artifact.] The system exined.

 Chapter 210: Synder is alive?!

    <h4>Chapter 210: Synder is alive?!</h4>


    [Calling the honorific name of a deity without its titles is as good as digging one''s own grave, but your friend over here did it.] The system pointed out as it reyed the memory.


    [For a member of the royal family, especially one as high in rank as him. It is almost impossible not to know this.]


    ''So, how is he still alive?'' ke asked.


    [It could only mean 1 thing, he is a blessed of the fire God and that opens doors to a lot of possibilities.] the system said.


    ''Possibilities like what?'' Hearing the system talk in a serious tone, he couldn''t help but ask.


    [Emperor Synder is still alive and is the lord of chaos and destruction, Synder.]


    ''What the fuck! Hold up Hold up.'' For some reason, ke couldn''tpletely process the info he just heard. ''I need a detailed exnation of what it means to be a blessed to this possibility.''


    [When we get back to your room, first find an excuse for standing still and your expressions.] It was at that moment that ke realized that his team was looking at him.


    "Sorry, I was thinking about how useful artifacts were and how to get one." ke lied through his teeth.


    "Sometimes your expressions are like you are having a full-blown conversation with a voice in your head." Tessie said jokingly causing Brian and Castiel to look at him with widened eyes before going turning.


    "Anyways congrattions guys, we won the exercise." ke said changing the topic.


    "More like you guys won thepetition." Brian chuckled.


    It was then that it dawned on ke that he and Luciano had made a mistake.


    This was the perfect opportunity for them to get a team experience but it had been wasted.


    "I am so sorry guys, I put the points first before the experience." ke sincerely apologized.


    "What are you doing?" Castiel asked. "There is no need for you to apologize."


    "Seriously, there isn''t any need to. Who wouldn''t prioritize the points, besides it was either the opponent was weak or strong." Brian said.


    "The other teams were too weak and not worth our time. As for Damon''s team, they were too strong because of the high-ranking members and if you guys were to reduce your strength their was a possibility they would have capitalized on it." Tessie gave a detailed analysis.


    "No matter what you guys say, I will try to make up for the lost experience in one way or another."


    ke had thought of it and they were right, but he didn''t feel right leaving it that way.


    Unknown to him, The level of care he had shown to the team had further reinforced Luciano''s decision to follow and help him.


    "Time to announce the teams ranking and their rewards." Professor Gibson drew the attention of all the students.


    "At third ce is team 3 with 2500 points to every member of the team."


    (AN: Owen''s team was eliminated, that was how team 1 learned not to Block ke''s sword.)


    "Team 1 in second ce with 3500 points to every member f the team."


    "And finally Team 7 in 1st ce with 5000 points to every member of the team."


    Professor Gibson announced, but that was when the other students began protesting.


    "How can you call 2 people trashing another team a team exercise."


    "Why how can the 2 of them be in the same team!"


    Uselessints beganing up causing Professor Gibson to frown. "Silence!"


    In fear of incurring Gibson''s wrath, the battleground instantly turned silent.


    "At the beginning of the exercise, most of you thought Team 1 was the favorite to win even though they had more high-ranking members.


    No oneined about it, but it was when you saw the 2 of them were way stronger than you thought, then you beginining.


    It just shows you are terrified and threatened by their strength." Professor Gibson said.


    "Secondly, for those saying it was a team exercise and the 2 soloed their way to victory, the answer is a very easy one.


    Even when the most likely to win Team was no match for them, what was the need to involve their team?" Professor Gibson asked a question that shut the mouths of every hater.


    With that said, Gibson warped out of the area and students began dispersing, but that was when someone approached them.


    "Hi, I wanted to ask a question?"


    When they turned and to their surprise it was Damon!


    The team looked at each other before ke nodded for him to go ahead.


    "How are you guys so strong?" Damon asked with a lowered head and a swallowed pride.


    He was waiting for a rejection especially from Luciano, but that was when Luciano spoke.


    "I like you." Luciano said, shocking everyone including Damon because he hadn''t expected that especially from him.


    "I respect you for not attributing my strength to my background and for that I am willing to help you as long as he agrees." Luciano said pointing at ke.


    "I agree. You could join us in some of our training." ke happily agreed because this will solve their problem of inexperience.


    Others might see it as being crazy to train your close rival, but the 2 saw it differently.


    Of course, they weren''t to show him their secrets, but if he ended up defeating them with what he was taught then it was only a matter of time till it happened anyways.


    After their victory meal, they scattered to their different rooms, because ke had dered it a training-free day.


    "Okay, let''s continue from where we stopped." ke said to the system after he was done freshening up.


    [Starting with the blessed. A blessed could be described as a human who a god had taken interest in.


    As long as they remain faithful, they receive blessings in the form of insights, additional strength, lessened chanting and the ability to draw more power from their artifacts than others.] the system exined.

 Chapter 211: Synder is alive?! (II)

    <h4>Chapter 211: Synder is alive?! (II)</h4>


    [For him to be alive means he is a blessed, and that leads to a theory.] The system said. [What is the prominent deity worship in the empire and who made that so?]


    "Vulcan, the lord of mes and destruction. The royal family.'' ke answered.


    [It might look like a coincidence, but if you check the date when the religion was introduced into the empire you will notice that it was when Synder was close to dying.] The system pointed out.


    "So, you are saying that when Synder was proimed dead, he had transcended to godhood?" ke was stunned.


    [Yes.] The system said.


    "It makes a lot of sense because there was no way his grandchild wouldn''t be his Blessed." ke stated.


    [And that exins how he was able to defeat the emperor tier Inazuma in the battle angel realm.] The system added.


    All history books about Emperor Synder had one thing inmon, and that was him dying at the peak of the Battle angel realm.


    The stories didn''t make much sense to non-believers like ke because it was impossible to perform all the feats he achieved even if he was a genius.


    But now the system''s theory had exined some things but not all.


    "If your theory is right then the royal family is still being controlled by him but is it him helping me through Prince Bryon or is Bryon doing it on his own?" ke wondered.


    ke and the system had no idea that they had just discovered a piece of information that only the top families in the empire knew of.


    The strength of the royal family wasn''t the only thing that feared the top noble families. It was because they had one of the strongest deities on their side.


    So, if none of the noble families were loyal to the royal family and even if they were to borrow the strengths of other empires there was no way they would beat a deity.


    Also, if they were to truly have evil ns against the royal family, it wouldn''t get to that level because they would have already been wiped out before then.


    After pondering over a few more things, ke continued studying arrays.


    The most difficult part of the integration method was learning how to merge the arrays properly, and ording to the system he needed adept knowledge before he could proceed.


    It involved understanding the rhythm of the different parts of an array at an atomic level from when it was activated till when it was fully operational.


    Once he had understood that, he would be able to decide the point to join a different array with the same rhythm, thereby forming the chain of array disyed in the previous ss.


    ¡­


    Due to the team knockout exercise, the next day was the for the students to rest after weeks of relentless preparation and a draining team knockout exercise.


    It wasn''t the same for the Order of chaos adventurer party. Unlike the nobles who got their beast cores on request, they had to grind for theirs.


    The party went hunting for beast crystals for beast cores and after close to 6 hours of hunting, they made their way to the adventurer''s association to sell the spoils.


    They currently had a problem and that was the number of beast cores they were getting was barely enough. This was because the more stars they filled up the more beast cores needed.


    So far, they had been using quantity over quality to meet up but currently, the number of beasts needed to be hunted to meet the quota wasn''t corresponding with the number they came across in the forest.


    "We have 2 options right now. Either we move deeper into the Mina woods or we could sell the spoils of the hunt and purchase better grades of beast cores." ke said.


    Strong magic beasts possessed a certain level of intellect and due to the fear of being hunted, they choose not to stay close to the city.


    If they chose to go in search of them, not only was there a chance they would meet a beast beyond their level, but it meant they would be looking at camping overnight in such a dangerous ce.


    "First option." After thinking about it Castiel and Brian stated.


    Since the school''s exchange points covered all of their needs they had no use for gold coins at the moment. So it wasn''t a bad idea.


    "Although this is much safer, it is only a temporary measure to meet up with our needs. Sooner orter we will still have to hunt for them." ke said.


    The carriage soon reached the adventurers association and they went straight to Susan.


    "Before I proceed with your request I would like to inform your party about thetest update.'' Susan said as she pulled out 3munication orbs from beneath the counter.


    "Due to the assassination attempt on your party, the association has upgraded its policies to protect its adventurers.


    Every party and adventurer at the C rank and above will receive amunication orb that links them to the association and are only meant to be used for emergencies and special requests." Susan exined.


    The grade and functions of the orb were determined by the level of the adventurer.


    That of ke could connect him to themunication department of the association, while that of Zirrack could link him directly to the guild master of any region he was in.


    ''This is so thoughtful of the association.'' ke couldn''t help but admit.


    If they had this during their journey to the Bulian hills, it would have been reported and actions to identify the problem would be carried out immediately.


    "Thank you, this will go a long way in making life easier for us." The team collected themunication orbs and went ahead to meet an appraiser.


    ¡­


    The next day, sses had resumed but it did on a sour note. At the start of the ss, they were informed that their test with the 2nd years was scheduled to hold in 2 weeks time.

 Chapter 212: Sach.

    <h4>Chapter 212: Sach.</h4>


    The next day, sses had resumed but it did on a sour note. At the start of the ss, they were informed that their test with the 2nd year students was scheduled to hold in 2 weeks.


    It wasn''t much of bad news at first until they were told each team will beposed of 5 randomly selected students.


    ording to Professor Gibson, the team knockout exercise was aimed at assessing the students on how well they performed with known allies. While the second will be aimed at working with unknown allies under the supervision of a 2nd-year student.


    The students greatlyined, but they were assured that it was for only the test and it wouldn''t be the same for the examination which was the beast tide.


    Even after the news was announced, nothing changed in the way or pace they were taught.


    In the Fusion magic ss, Professor Gibson was true to his words when he said he would inculcate the habit of making use of arcane spells. He kept on giving them different exercises that covered many scenarios and made sure they used only arcane spells toplete them.


    His goal was to make them see mana as an extra pair of limbs with much more functions. Almost all students in the top 10 had aplished the desired level of understanding but he had to make sure more than 80% of the ss were carried along.


    When that had been aplished they would move to mana vision which was onerge step away from fusion magic.


    In the Forgemastery ss, Professor Tacitus quickly covered the 1st part of the integration method by telling them to read up on the different grades and types of power sources.


    He went on to the second stage that was where he was brought to a halt. He did a lot of exnation and demonstration but almost none of the students could understand half of what he was teaching.


    Seeing the number of blockheads in his ss he had to do the 2 things he hated the most. Being patient and slowing things down.


    His ss hours for the entire week were focused on trying to make them understand, one array at a time.


    Unlike the integration method of the forgemastery ss, the array mastery ss was moving smoothly as always.


    They had been studying all types of arrays and it got to the point when the students were asking him to teach them dimensional magic. Professor Mack rejected their plea because he had already scheduled it for after their test with the 2nd year students.


    To ke, the most interesting ss that week was advancedbat technique ss. The school had fulfilled their promise of giving everyone abat technique.


    It was a basic tierbat technique called Mana enhancement. It granted the user extra power when using arcane spells.


    It wasn''t much but it was enough for the absorption stage of thebat technique lesson to carry on.


    Instructor Zirrack had taught them the mechanisms behind the absorption process of allbat techniques. Although he had already been taught by the system, ke had gotten some insights learning from someone else.


    He was excited about this because there was a chance for him to unlock the second stage of the breathing technique as long as he had enough understanding of the technique.


    ¡­


    Unlike the ke''s set which had the elite and normal sses, the second year only had 1 ss and they could all be considered elites.


    When they were being admitted, the magic school didn''t lower their standards like that of ke''s set, also there was no one to expose their conspiracies against themoners.


    But even at that quite a lot of them managed to pass thanks to intervention from Bryon and Principal Lovren, but unfortunately that wasn''t the end of their tyranny against themoners.


    Some of themoners ended up dying due to ''mistakes'' of their noble team leaders, while some ended up quitting the school when they could no longer handle the maltreatment.


    All these drastically reduced the number ofmoners to like 7 to 1 ratio, and even though equality system used for the 1st years were implemented for them, every day was a struggle.


    They had recently been briefed that the test would be an expedition exercise deep in the Mina woods and it was tost for an entire week.


    But unlike the first years who were busy preparing for whatever they maye across in the test, the pressure wasn''t that high for the second years.


    Due to their lesser numbers, each student was to lead a team in the test. The top 13 second year students were to lead each of the randomly selected 13 teams of the elite ss. As for the rest they were meant lead the teams of the normal ss.


    Both sses were to be tested in different location. Unlike the location of the elite ss that of the normal ss wasn''t going to be too deep into the Mina forest, but one thing for sure was they were going to be huge.


    "I hope I get a not so useless team in the Test.'' Sach prayed as he unlocked the door to his room.


    Sach was amoner with a warm beige skinplexion. His face was not young, but he hadrge eyes that made it look simple. He stood at a height of 5'' 8'''' and had a great deal of hair which was not dressed.


    Sach was the current rank 20 in the second yeah even though he was amoner. He was very talented but was known as a professional bootlicker.


    During the pre-school training, Sach''s performance had been above average and this had drawn the attention of nobles.


    He was constantly getting bullied and ''putted'' in his ce once in a while, but due to him being (street) smart he was able to get the message they were trying to put through.


    From then onwards he had always reduced his performance to an eptable level, thereby reducing the attention on him, but that didn''tpletely stop the bullying.

 Chapter 213: A task greater than him.

    <h4>Chapter 213: A task greater than him.</h4>


    Once in a while, he would still be picked on but it was through the bullying that he found out 2 things that had taken him so far.


    The first was that the nobles were united only when it came to fighting against nobles. 2nd was that, if you can''t beat them you work for them.


    He began monitoring the activities of nobles and themoners they had issues with. Once he had assessed that it was someone he could beat, Sach would take the risk of approaching the noble and suggesting he did the job for them.


    They didn''t trust him, but since there was no harm in doing it and they found it amusing they allowed him to do it.


    Sach would approach the target in the open and start a fight. He wouldplete the assignment sessfully and sometimes get in trouble for doing it.


    The nobles would be quite pleased with the result and would sometimes tip him with some beast cores.


    From there he began approaching other noble groups and doing the same thing. At first, the rewards weren''t that much but he was thinking about the long-term goal.


    As hepleted a few more requests, he became quite infamous for doing it. More nobles began approaching him for his services, but that was when he began charging them.


    Fortunately for him, the nobles were rich, and since he was the one getting into trouble they didn''t mind paying a little price.


    His targets were mostlymoners but on rare asions, a noble would hire him to target another noble, but this time he would triple the price if not quadruple it.


    He alwaysid low and didn''t make the mistake of showing off, this made everyone underestimate him. Also, he never took a task that was greater than him or one that involved an influential noble.


    Slowly, he branched its other services like setting students up and being messengers for influential nobles.


    As all these went on, Sach began rising in rank and was slowly being acknowledged to be strong, but he always made sure to never threaten those that were above him.


    Sach''s shameless actions brought a lot of hate from his fellowmoners and from the lesser nobles he had used as stepping stones. He didn''t care about the hate he received because he was stronger than them, and in the jungle, the strong preyed on the weak.


    "Who owns this and how did it get here?" when Sach looked over to his bed, he saw a high-qualitymunication orb.


    Immediately he picked up the orb to inspect it, the orb received amunication request.


    ''Don''t know it got here, but the moment I touch it I received a call. This could only mean one thing.'' Sach thought as he epted the call request.


    "I have a task for you." Themunication orb produced a deep voice that was experiencing a lot of static that prevented anyone from discerning the true thing, but clear enough for him to understand its words.


    "Who are you?" Sach couldn''t help but ask because the hologram was empty.


    "That you don''t need to know." The deep voice said. "If you want wealth and cultivation materials beyond your imagination, then listen to the request. If not cut themunication link and the orb will be destroyed."


    For a task with so much reward it had to be very risky, but the term risk was something that had brought him so far.


    After thinking about it for a while, he nodded for the voice to continue.


    "The task is for you to set ke Wilson up during the test." The deep voice said.


    "Isn''t he the rank 1 of the 1st year? It won''t be possible for me to lead the team, besides I am not in the top 13 rank and it is a random selection." Sach exined the obstacles in his request.


    "The random selection process has already been handled. As for your rank, Challenge Tommy tomorrow, he will forfeit the match earning you a ce in leading the elite ss." The voice said.


    ''What the?! I don''t even think someone in the top 3 families will be able to have so much power to meddle with school affairs and also control the descendants of other noble families. The only people thate to mind are Prince Bryon or the councilors.'' Sach thought.


    "I know you are afraid of spoiling more than a year worth of hard work to bring yourself to your current rank." The voice had taken his silence for fear.


    "If you sessfullyplete the mission, not only will you receive a lot of wealth but all noble students will be ordered to have nothing to do with you." The deep voice mad a very tempting offer.


    This was a life changing offer which allmoners were hoping for. It sounded too good to be true but there was only one way to find out.


    "Alright, I agree to your request but there has to be an upfront payment." Sach said.


    "You are a smart one, I like that." The deep voice said with a low chuckle. "After you be the rank 13 tomorrowing to this location in the slums to receive half payment."


    Once Sach had registered the location on the orb, thick smoke beganing out of it, before turning to ashes.


    "We can always find out if it real when I meet tommy tomorrow." Sach thought. "But why do I have the feeling that I have epted a request bigger than me."


    From the moment the voice gave him the option to cut the link, Sach knew there was no going. It was impossible for him to know such a n and remain alive if he knew.


    Even if he had cut off the link for the fact that he already knew the targets name he could have been killed.


    If it was how he could be killed. The appearance of themunication in his room was a clear answer.

 Chapter 214: The plot.

    <h4>Chapter 214: The plot.</h4>


    The ranks of the 2nd year were strictly controlled by the nobles, to the point that Sach was the onlymoner in the top 20 students.


    The nobles were very strong but it wasn''t because of that. Right from pre-school, they had been using a lot of underhand schemes to hinder the growth ofmoners, such as threatening their families.


    Because of this manymoners had been had avoided challenging those high-ranking nobles. They didn''t want any trouble at all, all they wanted was to just graduate.


    The next day, Sach did as the deep voice had instructed, and challenged the rank 13, Tommy. He was one of the direct descendants of the Nystrom family and had awakened the fire and wind element.


    When the news of the challenge hade none of the nobles were surprised about it, but things were quite different with themoners.


    They didn''te to the battle ground to cheer Sach, but to see him beaten to a pulp.


    Although Sach was amoner they didn''t like him one bit because of his shameless actions over the years.


    Sach had done so many shameless acts that if not that he was an orphan, his parents would have been killed by either the nobles or fellowmoners.


    "Begin!"


    The start of the match was announced but instead of an exciting fight which they were expecting something shocking happened.


    "I Surrender!" Tommy said as he began walking off the battle ground.


    "Winner Sach!" The referee announced.


    "What just happened?!"


    "What is going on?!"


    Themoners were shocked by what just happened and couldn''t help but ask questions. It was as if Tommy had no ns of even fighting for his rank.


    This was so unreal!


    Themoners couldn''t believe it. This was a scene that usually happened but it was the other way around.


    If an influential noble wanted a rank, what they would do was to threaten their family, and when the match had begun themoner would surrender.


    Unlike themoners that had no clue of what was going on, the nobles already knew the oue of the match. So it didn''t take long for them to disperse and return to their daily activities.


    ''Interesting...'' Sach took note as he saw the reaction from the nobles.


    Throughout his stay in the school, Sach had seen how the nobles treated everyone and that included themselves.


    Unknown to most of themoners, the nobles were divided into 4 groups.


    Wealthy merchants, mid-ss nobles like the Winchester family, and the top 3 families. Thest group is one which only those in the top 3 families knew of and they are the ancient bloodlines. Which the royal family was among.


    Just like themoners, nobles in the mid-ss and wealthy merchant ss were also being bullied by higher nobles. The difference was that themoner wasn''t considered as humans, while that of lower-ss nobles had a limit to how much they could be bullied.


    ''For the nobles including those from the top 3 to know about this, it means that it has to be a counselor.'' Sach thought.


    Prince Bryon was known to be against the nobles, so who else can have such power if not for a counselor.


    ''Well, this means the deal is legit. Time to head to the slums.'' Sach made his way out of the school and into the slums.


    The agreed location was a dpidated 2 story building not too far away from a famous local pub. After circling the building a few times to make sure no one was tracking him, he entered the building.


    "It''s been a while." Sach couldn''t help but think back to his life before the academy.


    The dpidated buildingprised of multiple 1 bedroom apartments which were verymon in the slums.


    He walked through the corridor which was infested with rodents and reeked of piss, before stopping in front of one of the doors.


    ''Life is not fair, but not even the Gods care.'' Sach''s soul began burning with rage as he saw the dead body of amoner who had died from cold and starvation being eating by rodents.


    He calmed himself down and walked up the stairs to room number 12. When he entered the building he didn''t see anyone, except for an unbounded high-quality dimensional pocket.


    He quickly checked the content of the amulet and found a lot of gold coins, beast cores, a high-qualitymunication orb, and a map.


    "Time to leave here." With that settled he left the slums and returned to the school, before locking himself in his room and emptying its contents.


    He was tempted to swim in the pile of gold sitting in front of him, but he knew what was needed to be done.


    He picked up themunication orb and just like before it activated.


    "It is good to know you have kept to your words so far. Like I said I like people like you." The familiar static deep voice said.


    "The map in front of you is the designated location of the test and it includes the strength and exact location of any noteworthy beast." The deep voice exined. "Your job is to lead him to any area of your choice and let the beast kill him. Also do not make the mistake of underestimating him because he is rank 1 for a reason."


    "I see a lot of problems with your n. If he was to be killed by a beast, surely a professor would appear to save him.


    Also, the exam is constantly monitored and recorded, so if something like that is to happen I will be expelled for ipetence." Sach said.


    "You don''t have to worry about the professor''s saving him, because all professors will be busy at that time." The deep voice said in a sinister tone. "As for the second one, I have that covered, you will only be punished and not expelled."


    "How can I trust you?" Sach asked because one thing he couldn''t risk was getting expelled and not fulfilling his goal.

 Chapter 215: Team Test (1)

    <h4>Chapter 215: Team Test (1)</h4>


    "How can I trust you?" Sach asked because one thing he couldn''t risk was getting expelled and not fulfilling his goal.


    "If you are still having doubts, when you be his team leader you wouldn''t doubt my power again. Besides the coins and resources, I gave you should be more than enough tost you your entire lifetime if you invest properly." The deep voice said.


    "Alright, consider it done." Sach said.


    Just like before, thick smoke came out of themunication orb before turning to ashes.


    Sach looked at the gold coins but this time he didn''t have the urge to dive into it because a lot was currently on his mind.


    ''Why would you offer so much to kill amoner?'' Sach was trying to answer a question that has been on his mind since thest interaction.


    ''There can only be 1 option. He has a strong backer, but who can make such a powerful person wary?'' Sach was having a question and answer session in his mind as he paced around his room.


    "Prince Bryon." That was the only answer he could think of.


    "How did amoner get the attention of the Emperor''s son? That doesn''t matter right now, I have already epted the request." Sach said to himself but that was when a thought came across his mind.


    "What are the implications?"


    He had already thought about this, but now he had discovered ke was being backed by Bryon, it was a whole different matter altogether.


    If hepletes the task, it will surely be investigated and he might be killed by Prince Bryon''s men or even silenced by that voice.


    If he didn''tplete, there was no way he would be alive because if he was dead there was no way to bring up the caseter in the future.


    If he decided not to carry on with the task, he would also be dead and there was nowhere he could run to.


    "I am fucked." At this point, Sach stopped pacing around and sat down on his bed with tears in his ears.


    "After everything I have gone through, I am going to die so soon. What will happen to all the dreams we had brother?" Sach cursed the unfairness of life.


    Some were born with golden spoons while some were born with none at all, but the worst part of it was that those with nothing weren''t given the ability to acquire 1. They were always stuck in a rat race for survival talk more of having dreams.


    Sachy down on his bed thinking about his past and imagining a future where he had aplished his dream of being an S rank adventurer and being able to truly helpmoners, but that was when he suddenly stood up and wiped his tears.


    "If I am going die, crying won''t solve the problem, besides there are people that need these more." Sach said as he put the gold coins and beast cores into his dimensional amulet before heading for the orphanage he grew up in.


    If he ended up dying with so much wealth in his dimensional amulet there was a chance that the person who maye to kill him may take it.


    So it was better to donate it to the poorly funded orphanage, besides if hepleted the mission and didn''t end up dying, the full payment would take him a very long way.


    ¡­


    On the day of the Test.


    The 1st year students were gathered in the hall waiting for the principal to arrive.


    After 20 more minutes of waiting, Principal Lovren finally arrived but at the same time, so did the 2nd year students had been warped into the hall.


    Immediately they appeared in the hall, they began taking their seats but the entire first years could clearly see the disgust in the eyes of the nobles.


    It was disgust on both themoners who were lower lifeforms and on the nobles because they had proven to be ipetent in handling themoners.


    "This test is aimed at assessing two things. For the first years, the test is aimed at assessing how well you coordinate yourself when being led by someone.


    For the 2nd year students, it is aimed at assessing your leadership skills." Principal Lovren said.


    "This test will be taking ce deep in the Mina forest and willst for a week. Both sses will be tested in a different location. The location of the normal ss won''t be as deep as that of the elite ss.


    Each team will be a randomly selected team of 5 and the same will go for its leader. For the elite ss, each of the 13 teams will be randomly assigned to a 2nd year student from the top 13 ranks." Principal Lovren exined.


    "The aim is to hunt as many beasts as possible while trying to survive from them.


    For each beast you kill a certain number of points are assigned to your team. A magic beast is worth 5 points, a chief rank beast is worth 50 points, an Elite rank beast is worth 200 points, a knight rank beast is worth a thousand points.


    By the end of the week, the team with the highest points would be the winner." With that said Principal Lovren stepped back as Professor Gibson stepped forward.


    With the names of all students inputted into an energy ss orb, Professor Gibson began assigning students to their teams and leaders.


    "Team 6. Damon, Kade, ke, Beyoni, and Ansgar. Team leader: Sach." Professor Gibson announced.


    The newly formed team gathered and began introducing themselves.


    ''This is a mess.'' ke thought as he saw his teammates.


    Almost everyone had issues with each other. Beyoni hated most high rankers, Ansgar hated ke for shaming him multiple times, and also Kade and Beyoni for beingmoners.


    It was only Damon and Kade who he thought was reliable because he had no clue about the strength and weaknesses of?their team leader.

 Chapter 216: Team test (2)

    <h4>Chapter 216: Team test (2)</h4>


    ''This feels strange.'' ke thought.


    In almost every exercise he had done so far ke had automatically given the team leader role because of his rank and strength.


    This time he was forced to be led by someone else and he didn''t feelfortable leaving his sess in the hands of another person.


    "All teams have been assigned, and it''s time for the team test to begin. Please step into the warp arrays." Professor Gibson said.''


    One by one the teams made their way into the warp arrays that teleported to random locations in the designated location for the test.


    ''Let''s just hope it isn''t as chaotic as predicted.'' Professor Gibson said as he turned his eyes towards the screen.


    It wasmon knowledge that ifmoners and nobles were to work together there would definitely be some friction between them.


    So far, the 1st year students had been doing well but now that the 2nd year students were in the picture Professor Gibson couldn''t be so sure about things going well.


    ¡­


    At argely controlled location deep into the Mina forest, the teams had appeared in random locations moment.


    Having some experience from their previous tests, the first thing they did was scan their environment.


    Some of the teams were unlucky to meet beasts, while teams like ke''s were lucky to be in a beast-free environment.


    "Let''s scout the area before regrouping back at this spot." Sach gave out orders.


    The team of 6 quickly scattered in different directions at least 100 meters in order to make sure they weren''t sneaked upon.


    "Why are weing back to the same spot, other teams are already farming points." Ansgarined as he saw the points of other teams rising while they were still at 0 points.


    "They can get as much point as they want, but this is for both our safety and sess in this test." Sach''s actions received nods from ke and the others.


    "The first thing I will like to speak on is the rules. They never mention that we couldn''t attack other teams so we have to be careful.


    Also, it never stated that we were to submit the crystals, meaning everything we get is for us." Thest part was aimed at themoners who worked for their


    "The second and most important thing is that if we are to win this test, then normal magic beast won''t cut it. The higher the beasts rank the greater the points, so we have to move to areas with stronger beasts." Sach said.


    "We have no idea of where we currently are, neither do we know the center or edge of the arena. So how are we to know the location of a strong beast?" Ansgar said with visible annoyance against Sach who was still wasting their time.


    ''Too bad Luciano isn''t here to shut him up.'' ke just like every other member of the team was irritated by Ansgar''s nagging, but since their team leader hasn''t done anything they decided to ignore him.


    "While scouting atop the trees I saw a rocky hill and if my guesses are correct we should be able to find a lot of Elite rank beasts in the area, if not Knight rank too.


    The higher the rank of a beast, the greater its intellect. It wasn''t a good thing to stay in the open or on trees that were why most of them had used the hills as shelter.


    ''Things will be a lot more interesting.'' From the mention of the hill in Sach''s report, it meant there would be a lot scattered around the map meaning they would be arge number of elite and Knight rank beasts.


    Unlike the location of their previous survival exercise which was a forest. The overview of the current location had a lot of hills pounds, craters, forests, and underground tunnels.


    It could be said to be a perfect ecosystem to those that cared about animal life, but unfortunately for the beasts, those that were sent here saw them as either points or beast cores.


    ¡­


    On their way to the hill, ke''s team were meeting a lot of beasts. Out of the total number of beasts they had in, 90% of them were elite rank beasts.


    This would have been a little bit scary if it were some months ago, but right now this was what mots them had been hoping for, especially ke.


    ording to the rules they had agreed on, the one to kill a beast got the beast core and kill stealing wasn''t allowed.


    SLASH!


    SLASH!


    SLASH!


    ke breezed through the exoskeleton of 3 elite rank 7 poison centipede, wiping out thest set at the foot of the hill.


    "What next?" ke asked about their next line of action.


    "Knight rank beasts won''t stay in the open, so we should be looking out for caves." Sach said as they began scouting the hill.


    Just after 10 minutes of searching, the team spotted a cave thrice the height of a human and 4 times the width. This was one of the dangerous areas marked on the map given to Sach


    [There is a 3 headed venomous python in that cave, be careful.] The system warned ke after scanning the cave.


    This


    "We have no idea what might be in the cave, but one thing is that we can''t fight it in there. We have to draw it out of there." Sach said.


    "I and ke would be the ones to draw it out since we can easily escape. Be on your guards for an ambush and prepare to attack." With the n drafted, carefully headed for the cave.


    Hiss!


    When they were 30 meters away from the cave''s entrance, they began hearing the hiss of a 3 headed venomous python.


    "Shit, it already knows we are here!" Sach quickly warned ke, but it was at that moment that the 3 headed snaked sprung out of the cave, aiming to decapitate the upper part of their bodies in 1 go.

 Chapter 217: Team test (3)

    <h4>Chapter 217: Team test (3)</h4>


    Ding!


    The head that was rushing towards Sach came to a halt as it mmed its head against the mana barrier he had conjured.


    Lightning reinforcement!


    Before the head could recover, Sach had activated lightning reinforcement while using me bursts to propelling himself away.


    HISS!


    The moment Sach was at a safe distance, a deafening hiss of agony was echoed all around the area. When the team turned towards ke''s direction they saw that the head that had attacked him was split in half.


    When 3 headed snakes had attacked them, ke was taken by surprise and hadn''t had much time to cast any spell.


    So, he used Ebony and Ivory to block the attack, but instead of the sound of 2 hard objects shing it was that of a skull being split into 2.


    [Watch out for its acid breathe!] The system warned as the other heads open their mouths and shot out 2 streams of corrosive acid.


    "On it¡­" ke conjured a mana barrier in mid-air and used it to propel himself out of the way, before conjuring another mana barrier in front of him.


    Sizzle!


    Immediately the mana barrier appeared a jet-stream of purple corrosive acid shot unto it, followed by another round which melted the barrier, but ke was no longer.


    Using multiple me bursts by continuously triple casting, ke instantly maneuvered behind the main head without his feet touching the ground.


    "Gotcha!" Throwing a void dagger at the other head ke used a me burst and went full thrust at the main head.


    Slice!


    Ebony and Ivory went through the scales and skull like a hot knife through butter, but he wasn''t done yet.


    Void shift!


    Ignoring the acid breathing at him, ke fell into a spatial corridor and appeared behind thest head.


    "Die!" ke stabbed into thest head, finally ending the life of the knight rank beast.


    "Wow¡­" These were the only words that coulde to the mouths of his teammates as they watched him solo a knight rank beast.


    "What grade is his sword?" Kade couldn''t help but ask as he watched as the sword slice through all objects with no resistance.


    "I have always wanted to know the answer¡­" Damon said.


    ke''s sword being able to cut everything wasn''t new news, but from the way he had effortlessly butchered a knight rank beast, it seemed they had actually been underestimating its power.


    "There is a problem¡­" Ansgar said drawing the attention of all the teammates.


    "What is it?" Sach asked as the team gathered at the 3 headed python''s corpse.


    "There are only 3 beast cores and we are 5. Also, who is to get the knight-grade beast core?" Ansgar asked, causing everyone to stare at him as if they were looking at a retard.


    The 3 headed venomous python was a special kind of beast that had a beast core at each of its heads. The other 2 heads had elite grade beast cores while the main head possessed the knight grade beast cores.


    "The answer is very simple, ke takes everything." Sach said without even looking at him.


    "What? Why?" Ansgar asked in an annoyed tone.


    "If I remember clearly you didn''t even cast a spell to help him while he soloed the beast. So, why should you get a share in it?" Damon was getting tired of Ansgar''s nagging.


    "ssical self-entitlement of nobles." Beyoni snorted.


    Ansgar had some more words to say, but with the way the others were looking at him, he was sure to get some bruises if he did.


    "If you guys have noticed this ce is more dangerous than ourst survival exercise. So, I suggest we take shelter in the cave because it is getting dark." ke said to reduce the tension in the air.


    "Great Idea, but first let''s make sure it is cleared up." Sach said.


    With their attention brought back to the mission, the team began working to make sure the cave would be safe at least for the night.


    After making sure nothing else was in the cave, the team cast a mirror spell at the entrance of the cave before Ansgar and Kade blocked the entrance with the earth element.


    After that, they began inscribing presence reduction arrays on the walls of the arrays to make sure that any beast that came close to the area wouldn''t be able to sense them.


    ¡­


    Because the team wasn''t that close, they weren''t gathered at the burning fire, but scattered at different corners of the cave.


    ''He is actually a nice guy and is very skilled for someone his age. He is able to maintain the rank 1 even whenpeting with the nobles and the emperor''s son.'' Sach thought. ''No wonder they want him dead. If I was the nobles I would have done the same thing.''


    ''Do I really want to kill him?'' Sach asked himself.


    What he had always thought was that themoners, especially those living in the slums needed a savior and that was meant to be him.


    Although he had done a lot of bad things over the years, he saw all his actions and victims as being for the greater good. Because at this rate themoners would continue to remain in their shackles forever.


    With ke''s achievements so far, his future looked promising and because he would eventually end up dying. Was it a good idea to kill a potential savior for themoners that might not appear in more than 100 years toe?


    ''If I do this I can''t be forgiven in my next lives toe.'' Sach thought.


    ''Rather than plot against him or remain on the fence, why don''t I help him?'' At this moment, a light shone in Sach''s eyes as a thought came to him.


    ''What if ke''s backer can save me?'' Although Sach thought it was quite a wishful thought he wanted to bet on it because he had no other option.


    "Rather than taking him to the hotspots (Areas of strong beasts) to get killed. We will go there and farm points together."

 Chapter 218: Team test (4)

    <h4>Chapter 218: Team test (4)</h4>


    "Rather than taking him to the hotspots (Areas of strong beasts) to get killed. We will go there and farm points together." Sach clenched his fist as he decided to help ke.


    For the rest of the night, the team took turns keeping watch till the next day.


    ¡­


    The next day, Sach led the team on a killing rampage as they search for another knight rank beast on the hill in order not to raise suspicions.


    "We won''t find any other Knight rank beast here. We need to move to a better location." Ansgarined when he saw the team''s point position moved from 1st to 2nd ce.


    A knight rank beast was worth a thousand points and after ke had in the 3 headed venomous python, along with all the beasts they had killed, his team climbed up to number 1 in the test.


    "I think he is right. We won''t be finding any more knight rank beast here, so we should head out to a different location." Sach had just been waiting for the predictable Ansgar toin. So that he could move on to the next hotspot.


    He led them through a forest infested with elite rank 7 poison centipedes and after close to 2 hours of none stop fighting they finally made it to ake at the other side of the forest.


    Theke spanned about 40 hectares and had a depth of 2000 meters, but the odd part of it was that it was surrounded by a lot of the forest but had no magical beasts drinking from it.


    ''It could either mean it was a saltwaterke or there are very dangerous beasts in it." ke thought as the team kept a safe distance from theke.


    The first was very unlikely because water bodies like oceans were probably only slightly salty. But over time, as rain fell to the earth and ran over thend, it broke up rocks and transported their minerals to the ocean making them saltier.


    In this case, theke''s surrounding were grasses meaning the first option was scrapped and they were left with thest option.


    ''Can you detect anything?'' ke asked the system.


    [No, theke is quiterge and deep, but nothing is within range.] The system reported.


    ''So how are we meant to draw out an armored hippo without getting the attention of the others?'' Sach began thinking about a n.


    ording to the map, theke was the home to a bloat of armored hippos. Armored hippos were knight-rank beasts with the ability to breathe both underwater and onnd.


    While in water they possessed smooth skin that enables them to easily swim, but whenever they came onnd. They had the ability to use the water absorbed by their skin to harden their skin and form armored spikes.


    ''Seems there is no other option.'' Sach sighed as he decided to use himself as bait. "I will go and check theke out. If there is any powerful beast we will have to lure it into the forest."


    This was the location he had nned on setting up ke by asking him to go check out theke, but funny enough the situation has been reversed.


    Theke was one of the most dangerous ces on the map and the only reason Sach had brought the team to theke was that it was literally packed with points.


    He feared that if they ended up drawing the attention of the entire bloat, they might not be able to escape.


    Sach quickly left their hiding spot on the treetops and began walking towards theke. When he was some meters away from theke that was when the system began detecting some movements in theke.


    Sach''s steps had greatly slowed down as he was now 5 meters away, but that was when ripples began appearing on the surface of the water body.


    ''Time leave.'' Without dy, Sach activated lightning reinforcement and immediately retreated.


    It was at that moment that an armored hippo flew out of the water with 6 feet wide jaws open.


    Boom!


    The armored hipponded with its tremendous weight causing the ground to slightly shake. It stood at 3.2 m tall with ash-colored skin with blue stripes all over its body.


    ''What the hell!''


    Right in front of their eyes, the armored hippo''s smooth skin began hardening and the blue strips began shrinking as thick spikes beganing out of their skin.


    [I don''t think you want to be hit by any part of its body.] The system warned ke.


    ''Of course¡­'' ke couldn''t help but agree as he saw its 4 feet wide lips and tusk-like canines and razor-sharp incisors, capable of easily biting 2 Knox in half.


    "Retreat!" Having faced an armored hippo before, Sach shouted for his team to quickly move into the forest.


    At first, they didn''t know why he was shouting since he was still far away until they saw the armored hippo dash at Sach at a terrifying speed.


    "How is that even possible?!" ke was shocked by how something so big was able to move so fast.


    [At the Knight rank armored hippos have the innate ability to manipte water to some certain extent to boost their physical capabilities.


    They can absorb and store an insane amount of water in their system, which they use for their armor, spikes and increase their movement speed by constantly lubricating their joints.] The system said.


    ''Are you telling me that this thing can move so fast and form as much as armor as long as it still has stored water?'' The system nodded to ke''s question.


    ''Any weakness I should take note of?'' ke asked.


    [The 2 main weaknesses are its eyes and its mouth, thetter is quite tricky because it is its strongest weapon.]


    The detail about the weakness wasn''t for him but his teammates because he had Ebony and Ivory.


    "Aim for its eyes and mouth!" ke alerted his teammates. ''Time to secure a thousand points.''

 Chapter 219: Team test (5)

    <h4>Chapter 219: Team test (5)</h4>


    "Aim for its eyes and mouth!" ke alerted his teammates. ''Time to secure a thousand points.''


    Once the armored hippo had moved quite some distance into the forest, ke jumped down the treetop at full speed with Ebony and Ivory in both hands.


    GROWL!


    The armored hippo growled as it sensed the human trying to sneak up on it. With only thought, it shot out the thick spikes all over its body in all directions.


    ''Didn''t know it could do that!'' ke was surprised for a moment, but he kept his cool as he simultaneously cast 4 me bursts that helped him maneuver out of the way and made his way to its right side.


    "Gotcha!" Like a knife through butter, Ivory through its thick armor and into its flesh, but before it could sink deeper, the armored hippo had quickly moved out of the way.


    GROWL!


    Immediately the hippo had separated from ke, fire and lightning spells aimed at its eyes rained down from the treetops, but before they were 5 meters away the armored hippo had already sensed it.


    It turned its head away and tanked the spells while its damaged armor began healing instantly.


    ''Wow!'' The system had informed him about its healing capabilities but he didn''t think it would be this quick.


    Immediately its armor was healed and thick spikes immerged from the blue stripes. It faced its open mouth in the direction of the tree Beyoni and Kade were on.


    BOOM!


    A strong jet of waterunched out of its mouth and instantly cut right through part of the tree''s stem, making it lose its bnce.


    Seeing the tree fall, Beyoni conjured a water whip andtched onto a nearby tree while Kade had simply jumped out and floated to another tree.


    "Holy fuck!" ke was shocked by the power of the jet stream as he watched the tree which was more than 400 meters tall, fall to the ground.


    ''We need to end this quickly!'' ke had a feeling that if the battle drew out a mistake might lead to a bad ending for one of his teammates. But it wasn''t only him that thought so.


    Damon who was previously one of the treetops with Ansgar had appeared on the ground and had begun casting night mist.


    Dark gaseous mists beganing out of him and filling the area around, blocking the vision of the armored hippo.


    His was almost twice as potent as that of Castiel and in a matter of seconds, the vitality of the energetic hippo had dropped at a visible rate.


    ke saw this as a chance to end its life but that was when they heard an ear-piercing grunt from the armored hippo and in a matter of seconds, the ground began quaking.


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    ke took a look at the armored hippo right in front of him but it didn''t seem to be moving that was when thought to his mind ''OH MY!''


    BOOM!


    Before he could react a strong jet of water passed some meter right in front of him.


    "Run!!" ke shouted as he activated lightning reinforcement and began dashing away from the area.


    "Shit!" Seeing the 2 unwanted guests, Damon knew there was no chance for them winning, he cast his stealth spell and left the area.


    By the time ke and Damon were gone, night mist had cleared up more armored hippos could be seening out of theke.


    "Holy fuck! That was a close one." ke said as he regrouped with the team on a treetop.


    "We can''t continue to hunt here, it is too risky." Damon said as they watched the number of armored hippos on the ground reach 7.


    They were currently looking at 7000 points, but everyone in the team, including Ansgar, had to agree to Damon''s words.


    Even if they waited to try it again, the same thing might happen and that would leave them far behind in the leaderboards.


    "It is agreed. Since there is nothing here that is worth our time, I suggest we keep moving while searching for a ce to sleep." No one opposed the suggestion so Sach began leading them to the most dangerous area of the map.


    Due to their failure in killing the armored hippo, their team had gone down to 4th ce in the leaderboards and Sach felt that in order to catch up it called for drastic measures.


    The team kept on moving and killing their way through the forest. Unluckily for them, they wereing in contact with mostly insect-type magical beasts.


    Not only were they more difficult to deal with, but for some reason, the mother-stream decided to make all insect creatures poisonous.


    After close to 4 hours they finally reached the most dangerous area on the map.


    "Is it only that has noticed that for the past 10 minutes we haven''t been attacked by any godforsaken insect?" Beyoni who had been poisoned twice pointed out.


    "Yeah, it''s true." Kade nodded in confirmation, but this made ke and Damon deeply frown.


    If there was one thing ke had understood from his stay in Infinite realm, it was that everything was prey.


    So for the fact that there were none in the area meant 2 things, either the one meant to be here were killed or they had been driven away by something stronger.


    Sach would have loved to exin to tell them that they were currently in the most dangerous location on the map, but that would bring about moreplications. So, he decided to y along with the script he had nned.


    ''Scan the area.'' ke gave amand to the system.


    [Oh no!] The system scanned the environment and was shocked by its own discovery.


    [You are walking on an ant hive!] The system warned ke.


    ''Fuck me sideways!'' ke greatly cursed his bad luck.


    The main problem now was that his team were walking deeper into great danger but he had no idea how to warn them!

 Chapter 220: Team Test (6)

    <h4>Chapter 220: Team Test (6)</h4>


    "Something is not right¡­" ke said as he scrunched his brows.


    "Yeah, I noticed." Damon said. "Just like you guys said, we have not been attacked for a while and the only reasonable exnation is that we just entered the territory of a strong beast."


    "That means we are on the right track to getting more points." Ansgar said with a smirk.


    "No idiot! It means we are walking into danger." Beyoni couldn''t help but smack his forehead at Ansgar''s stupidity.


    "Since you can''t understand then let me spell it out for you." Damon said.


    "We have walked so far without seeing a single beast and even with our sensory abilities, we can''t detect a single thing. The territory is way toorge for a solitary beast meaning it is most likely a very strong group of beasts." Damon exined but this was ke''s cue to warn them.


    "I highly doubt this is the doing of a group of beasts. This area of the forest is infested with insects and there is no way a group of beasts will be able to kill or chase away every insect-type beast in the area." ke said.


    "Are you saying this is the work of another insect?" Beyoni instinctively touched the area where he had been stung.


    "Exactly." ke nodded.


    "If what you are saying is that it might be arge hive of insects, then why haven''t we seen anything so far?" Ansgar said pointing at their environment.


    ke shook his head before saying. "You are looking above but from what I know some of the most dangerous insect colonies live underground."


    "¡­" This line of thought stunned everyone in the group.


    "That exins why we haven''t seen any beast. It''s because we are standing above them." Damon was impressed by how fast ke had thought of it.


    ''The more time I spend with him the more I realize how hard it would have been to set him up'' Sach thought.


    His team had discovered their location and the danger thatid there but that wouldn''t be a problem because he always had a backup n.


    "Now that we know where we are what do you guys think we should do. Go back from where we came from or farm a lot of elite rank insects?" Sach was looking at Ansgar as he said thest part.


    "I say we should stay. Insect colonies could contain more than a thousand members, this is a mine of points just sitting and waiting for us." Ansgar said.


    ''Just like I thought.'' Sach made an inner smirk as Ansgar yed right into his script.


    "That is one way to look at it, but have you considered if we get overrun by a thousand insects?" Damon said.


    "It just means we have to y it safe because the greatest rewardse with risks." Ansgar countered.


    "I have to agree with Ansgar on this one. Staying is a lot of points and even if we end up getting overrun we will end up getting saved by the professors." Sach gave a tempting reason that the team couldn''t refuse.


    If they chose to go back they were not sure of finding a knight rank beast or a hunting ground as good as this. Also, the more time they spent searching the more the gap between the other teams would widen.


    After looking at the other 3 and seeing they had agreed to stay, ke spoke up. "What we are nning on doing is very dangerous and that is why I would want to take leadership for this operation."


    The entire team looked at him first before turning to Sach.


    Sach was surprised because this was something he hadn''t expected but he soonposed himself. "I agree."


    ''That went smoothly¡­'' Just like every other person on the team, ke was surprised.


    He had nned on the different scenarios that may have urred and even nned on threatening to leave, but this had happened.


    "Okay. The first thing we have to address is our current location and where will take shelter for the night." ke said to the team.


    If not they had found a cave to sleep in, the normal practice was for geomancers to construct underground spaces where they could sleep.


    This time there was no cave to sleep and making an underground cave close to the hive burrowing insects was as good as ying Russian roulette but with the cylinder filled with ammunition.


    "Second, before we start hunting we have to have a sufficient idea of the entrances and how far their tunnels go. To avoid being surrounded."


    "Lastly, if we eventually start farming everyone should obey orders try not to get greedy because that can get us wiped out." ke said looking at Ansgar.


    "I don''t see any problem with the points you stated, but if we are not to make underground spaces or stay in the open where else are we going to take shelter?" Beyoni couldn''t help but ask.


    Replying to his question ke simply pointed up.


    "The trees?" Beyoni asked with a raised brow.


    "Exactly, but before we begin constructing what I have in mind. We need to check for the nearest tunnel entrance from above." ke said.


    They didn''t know what he had nned so they decided to follow him as they began moving through the treetops in search of a tunnel entrance.


    Just after 10 minutes of searching, the team finally found a hole the size of a full-grown man, and moving in and out of it were ants that were 3 and a half feet tall.


    "Out of all the insects we could meet, it had to be ants!" Damon cursed his bad luck.


    Unlike the ants on Earth that couldn''t pose much of a threat to human lives, that of Infinite realm was more than 10 times dangerous.


    ''Just a random thought. Why are insect-type beasts not much around the forests of Calton city and why haven''t?I seen ants before?'' ke asked.


    [The answer to your second question is very simple. The moment you see a fully operational ant colony close to a city, know the city is as good as destroyed.] The system said.

 Chapter 221: Team test (7)

    <h4>Chapter 221: Team test (7)</h4>


    [The answer to your second question is very simple. The moment you see a fully operational ant colony close to a city, know the city is as good as destroyed.] The system said.


    ''How is that possible, they are just ants?'' ke was surprised by the system''s reply.


    [That is exactly the problem they are ants. Their reproduction speed is absurd and because of their ability to dig, they can destroy a city from below without the inhabitants knowing.


    Also if you are thinking it shouldn''t be a problem with all the demigods and angels in Calton city, well you guessed wrong because their strengthy in numbers, and if the city was destroyed of what use is in fighting them.


    That is why they are among the magical beasts meant to be killed on sight or reported to officials.] The system said.


    "Is it only me that feels that the tunnels are way too big for the ants?" Kade''s observation drew the attention of the others.


    "It might be possible for them to dig a tunnel almost twice their size, but there is a chance that apart from the queen there might be other knight rank ants." Sach said.


    ''What do you think?'' ke asked the system.


    [Normal members of the colony are at the elite rank, so definitely there are knight rank ants which are most likely its guards and generals. But that should be the least of your worries.] The system paused for some time as if it was pondering over something.


    [The problem here is that if the knights or generals were at the same level as the queen a kind of coup is meant to take ce, but the question is why will the school use the hive of a king rank ant for a test?] The system asked.


    ''Remember what you said about king-rank beasts being stronger than the others. Isn''t it possible that the same applied here?'' ke asked the system hoping he could receive a positive answer.


    Whenever ke remembered hisst encounter with the berserk king rank beast, his body involuntarily shivered. If Zirrack had appeared even a secondter that would have been the end of his journey.


    [There is a chance that that might be the case, but you know what they say, If there was a chance for something to go wrong then it will definitely go wrong.] The system said.


    ¡­


    A month earlier, the professors were tasked with finding and mapping out a perfect location for the team test.


    Due to the location having arge variety ofndscapes and beasts, they had agreed on using it which led to the next, eliminating all extreme dangers.


    They first began scanning twice the usualndmass surrounding the location with artifacts and arrays, in order to prevent the berserk wyvern from reurring.


    The artifacts picked up a veryrge ant colony led by a King rank ant queen and immediately Zirrack was dispatched eliminated them.


    After they had made sure that there was nothing to interfere with the test from outside, they began scanning the location.


    It turned out there were 2 King rank beasts in the area. The first was a crystal back gori, while the second was a King rank armored hippo that had mastered water maniption.


    Once again Zirrack was dispatched and living up to his name as the Kingyer, he dispatched both with his bare hands.


    Once the threats were taken care of, the scanning continued and they found a newly formed ant colony. It was a break-off from the one they had recently destroyed.


    They calcted their reproduction rate and after making sure it wouldn''t be a serious issue by the time of the test, they decided to leave them.


    Unknown to the school 2 weekster, the ants dug deeper over 200 meters into the ground while building their hive, they got to an area where thin pink veins were radiating with energy.


    (AN: You should already know what this is? :)


    Due to the mana-rich environment, the ants stopped digging deeper and used the area as the queen''s chamber. Thereby enabling the guards and queen in the chamber to grow faster than expected.


    ¡­


    Back to the present¡­


    "So what next?" Sach asked ke who snapped out of his reverie.


    "The next thing is to build where we will sleep and I will say over there should be great." ke said pointing at an area on the treetops where multiple branches crossed each other.


    Everything in Infinite realm was way bigger than those on Earth and that included the trees. For example, the average width of tree trunks on earth was 4.5 feet but normal trees on Infinite had an average width of 11 feet.


    "Okay?" The team gestured for the next step.


    "We create a water barrier battle array on the branches and power it with an energy source." ke said looking at Beyoni.


    "Isn''t it better to use rocks since they provide more defense, rather than wasting an energy crystal?" The team nodded at Ansgar''s suggestion.


    "Earth undoubtedly has more defense, but water is transparent and allows us to keep track of our surroundings and their movements." ke said. "If an ant was to get close without us knowing, it would return to the colony for back up and that is something we don''t want."


    Seeing no other objections ke continued exining his n. "Since ants have poor eyesight we will be making use of a presence concealing array and we will also be needing Night mist to block their eyesight in case theye closer than expected."


    "Also, we can keep the water barrier warm by regrly heating it." ke said.


    Once the n was out and the team saw no problem with it, they went to work and in minutes they were already done with the shelter.


    ''Yup, it wasn''t a bad decision letting him lead.'' Sach said as they went into the warmfort of the water barrier.


    ''Just like I thought it would be, warm and soft.'' ke let out a sigh of relief as he rested his head on the water barrier.

 Chapter 222: Team test (8)

    <h4>Chapter 222: Team test (8)</h4>


    Ants had poor eyesight but made up for it with their antenna that help them sense vibrations in the air, taste, smell, touch, andmunicate with other ants.


    There was no difference in day and night time for them, but it wasn''t the same for the team. By the time they were done with the shelter, it was quite dark and since fighting then was disadvantageous, ke decided it was best to do some scouting.


    "I going to scout the routes for the ant. I will be back soon." ke said to Beyoni and Ansgar who were the first set of night watchers, but that was when a hand touched him on his shoulder.


    "It would be best if Ie with you." Damon said to ke.


    "Alright." Without a thought, ke agreed to the request because he knew how helpful his stealth skills were.


    "Be careful out there and try not to lure anything to us." Beyoni said to both of them as he made a space in the water barrier for them to leave.


    Ants of Infinite realm were sensitive to mana, that was why there were 2 people standing guard instead of using the mirror spells.


    Once they were out, Damon cast Darkbringer on both of them before they began moving. The good thing was that ants never stopped working no matter the time.


    Right from the entrance close to their shelter, under ke''smand, the system made a map as they followed one of many trails of ants that had branched out from the tunnel.


    It turned out that the ant scouts were sent to the area to scavenge for food and other beasts were kill by a sde, but one of them had managed to escape.


    When the battalion of ants arrived at the scene, it was still munching on the dead bodies of the ants. Having their eyes on the target, the ants attacked the sde. The elite sde fought bravely killing 3 ants, but soon it began getting tired leading to deep injuries.


    Seeing that there was no way for it to win the fight, it nned on fleeing but by then it was already toote.


    The army of ants had surrounded the sde and in a matter of minutes, its entire body was covered with ants.


    "Lesson learned, never let an ant escape." ke said in a hushed tone.


    "And if one was to escape never remain in the same position." Damon said.


    They watched as the ants tore the corpse into smaller chunks with their mandibles before carrying them back to the hive.


    ''I wonder what they do with the beast''s core?'' ke thought.


    [Every beast core gotten is sent to the queen to absorb.] The system said.


    After they had followed back the ants to the hive, they went in search of all the entrances to the hive. In total, they found 5 entrances, and after making sure there was none they decided to follow another batch of ants, but it turned out they were on a scavenging mission.


    By the time they had returned it was their time to stand guard while the others slept.


    ¡­


    The next day, after breakfast, the team was up and ready to start hunting, but first, he had to exin the n he hade up with.


    After seeing how the Sde was killed the previous day, ke had decided to divide the team into 3 groups.


    His n required them to follow a trail of ants then when they were quite a distance away from the hive they would block their path of retreat and kill them all.


    The first group consisted of 3 and were to start the attack, while the second group which had 2 persons were in charge of setting a barricade and start killing from behind to prevent anyone from escaping or back up from joining up.


    Thest person was meant to be quite a distance away in case one managed to get past the barrier. His job was to kill any escapees and to also warn them if they hadpany.


    The 1st and 2nd groups were where the main fun was. So to make it fair for everyone, ke decided to evenly share any rewards they got and to also rotate those to take the position.


    "If that is clear, then let''s move out." When ke was done with his exnation, Damon cast Darkbringer on all of them.


    They waited directly above the entrance looking for an ant group that wasn''t toorge or too small. Finally, after 10 minutes, they found a group of 30 elite-rank ants.


    The team quietly trailed the group of ants and once they were a safe distance away from the hive, ke gave the sign to Ansgar and Kade.


    Earth Eruption!


    Immediately 2yers of earth walls stretching over 20 meters erupted from behind the ants, ke, Sach, and Damon started raining down spells on them as they jumped down.


    me burst!


    Lightning bolt!


    Most of the ants were lucky to sense the iing danger in time, but unluckily for some, the explosion from the me bursts sent parts of their bodies flying.


    For some of those that were able to dodge the mes, lightning bolts pierced through their hard exoskeleton and into their brains, killing them on the spot.


    "We have to end this quickly." Ebony and Ivory appeared in both of his hands as he dashed into the midst of the ants.


    At the back of the army of ants, seeing that their brothers were being attacked by humans and knowing they couldn''t win. Their instincts kicked and some began running back to the hive to call for backup, but that was when Ansgar and Kade appeared in front of them.


    With the wind and earth element, Kade used wind des to easily cut off the thin joints that connected the head to the thorax, and for those that managed to dodge them, earth spikes erupted from below impaling them.

 Chapter 223: Team test (9)

    <h4>Chapter 223: Team test (9)</h4>


    The team were both efficient in dispatching the ants. In less than 20 minutes all 30 elite rank ants were killed and ced in their dimensional amulets.


    "How did it go?" Beyoni asked as the team arrived.


    "It was way too easy, I am thinking if we could increase the next batch?" ke said.


    "I agree, but remember it isn''t as if we are to decided the number in each group." Sach pointed out.


    "Let''s just hope our luck is good." putting that into consideration the team returned to the hive and began waiting for their next victims.


    "Seemsdy luck is on our side." ke said with a grin on his face as they saw a trail of 45 elite rank ants leave the hive.


    ¡­


    On different parts of the map, the other teams were quite shocked when they saw team 6 move up to 3rd ce.


    Among the most likely to win the exercise, ke was at the top but from the beginning of the match, his team was almost out of the list.


    Unlike most teams that had begun hunting for beast right away ke''s team had dyed to sort things out.


    But after they killed their way through the forest and unto the hill where ke had in the 3 headed python. The team had risen to the top, but it didn''tst for long.


    As they killed their way to theke they remained on the top of the leaderboard but the day they had failed to secure the Knight rank armored hippo, had dropped to 4th position.


    Also because of the journey ant hive,bined with ke''s meticulous preparations, by the next day team 6 had dropped one step lower to 5th ce.


    As of that morning, team 6 was in 5th position with 10250 points, while team 1 was in the first position with 22700 points.


    After ke''s team had wiped out the first batch of ants, they had gained a whopping 6000 points that shot them straight into third ce.


    It was quite shocking when the other teams saw this, but since ke and Damon were part of the team it was quite reasonable.


    Well, that was until 2 hourster when they saw team six in 1st ce with 25250 points!


    It was unimaginable and the first thing that came to most people''s minds was that they were cheating and they had found a way to bribe the school. But when they realized there was no one high profile enough to even bribe a normal their previous thought sounded very useless.


    The next question that was on everyone''s mind was how were they able to take on 6 Knight rank beasts and in less than an hour still have the energy to fight 9!


    Not every student in the school was like ke who could solo knight rank beasts. That is why the school had made it so that it would be a team of 6 that would face them.


    In this case, it seemed as if each one of them were soloing a knight rank beast at the same time which was quite impossible.


    This was because even if they were powerful there was no way 15 knight rank beasts were to gather in one ce waiting to be ughtered.


    The mystery led to peopleing up with theories that ke was way stronger than what he had shown in school and since his team was in a bad position and he didn''t want to lose he used his full strength.


    "We take a break before we continue hunting." Lucianomanded and without uttering a word, the rank 1 of the 2nd year, Serhan obeyed hismand.


    ''Keep hunting ke, I won''t slow down just because we are friends.'' A smile appeared on Luciano''s face before quickly returning to his usual indifferent expression.


    ¡­


    Back to their shelter.


    After wiping out the second batch of ants, the team had decided to call it a day because, by the time they had waited and trailed the third batch, it would have been quite dark and that was a situation he was trying to avoid.


    Once they had returned and they were done with dinner they began sharing the spoils of the battles. In total, they had gotten 75 elite rank beast cores and since everyone had contributed to the mission, it was to be shared equally.


    Each member of the team got 12 and since the sess of the mission was all thanks to ke''s scouting and nning the extra 3 were given to him.


    "You can have half of mine." Sach said as he passed 6 beast cores to ke. "Trust me I have no use for them."


    Since there was a very high chance that he was dying after the team test, of what use was it to hoard beast cores?


    Not being someone to shy away from gifts, ke collected the beast cores.


    That night, when Beyoni and Ansgar were standing watch, ke and Damon went out once again to scout the area.


    ke wanted to see just how the ants when they found out that 75 of their brothers had gone missing.


    Hidden by Darkbringer, ke and Damon watched the entrance for a while and before heading to the areas they had barricaded the ants.


    "Just like I suspected." When they had reached the area, they found arger trail of ants and it seemed they were searching for their brothers.


    Ants used pheromones in several different ways, such as releasing ''danger'' pheromones upon death to alert nearby ants, or to create chemical trails from the nest to promising food sources. Ants in the colony could use their antennas to detect these pheromones and respond ordingly.


    ke had put that into consideration, that was why they had use fire to char the ground before the geomancers changed the topyer of the soil.


    ''I had taken into ount that their pheromones and antennae were a whole lot stronger, but not this strong.'' The situation was giving ke a headache.

 Chapter 224: Team test (10)

    <h4>Chapter 224: Team test (10)</h4>


    ''I had taken into ount that their pheromones and antennae were a whole lot stronger, but not this strong.'' The situation was giving ke a headache.


    ke''s fear was that due to being unable to erase signs of their death, depending on their level of intelligence they would be sending bigger and stronger forces the more they killed the ants.


    "I think that is all I need to see for tonight." ke said Damon as they returned to the team.


    The next day after breakfast, the team was ready to begin hunting, but this time not in the same location.


    The ants knew that some of their members were missing, so it was best that they avoided going to the same ce over and over again.


    The team went to a different entrance and began monitoring their movements. Unlike the other entrance it turned out the ant trails here were quite smaller.


    "It seems they had already explored and conquered everything in this region." ke said


    From the little number of ants that were leaving and entering the hive, it was quite clear that very little operations were carried out. It just turned out to be scouting team making sure that nothing had invaded their territory.


    "At this rate, it is no longer a question of if they can capture the entire location. It is a question of when will it happen." Kade said as he remembered how the previous entrance was bustling with ants.


    ''No wonder they are among the ''destroy on sight'' magical beasts.'' ke couldn''t help but acknowledge the invading power of the ants.


    Seeing that they weren''t ants to hunt, the group left for another entrance.


    The next entrance they went was livelier but not as that of the first entrance, so this time the team decided to do multiple batches. This time Kade was the one be on the lookout as they cleared each batch.


    At the end of the day the team were only able to get a little bit above 8000 points and this made them consider returning to the original spot.


    "I doubt there will be another hive, so how are they getting points so fast?" ke couldn''t help but wonder how team 1 were 6000 points behind them.


    The previous day they were leading with 3000 points and if points from the day was added it was meant to be a gap of 11k points. Meaning they had gained 5k points in a single day without facing a hive of insects.


    ''If I was to face their team who would win?'' ke asked the system.


    [If their leader, sorry the second year meant to lead them was as strong as he is meant to be, then I would you will lose. But if you are to team up with Damon then you would undoubtedly win.] The system reported after running an analysis.


    The members of team 1 were Cami, La, Brian, Philip who was Kade''s best friend, Serhan Karius who was meant to be their leader and finally, Luciano who didn''t like being led by a noble so he had taken leadership of the team.


    Their teamposition was way better than that of ke''s, but luckily ke was worth more than 1 student.


    ¡­


    The next day, because they were afraid of Luciano''s team catching up, they decided to return to the first entrance.


    For sure, the ants were now weary and had close to double the original number of each trail. The number was a threat for the, but it had increased the chances for some to escape and report back to the hive.


    "Just like you said, they do have a quite a high level of intelligence. Once a group doesn''t return they keep sending more to the area until a set returns." Sach said as the team observed the ants. "If we continue this way we might end up attracting a Knight rank ant or more."


    "Alright guys, we have ourselves a target. I, Sach and Damon are leading the attack. Beyoni and Kade are in the barricade team, while Ansgar it is your turn be on lookout." ke said to the team, but it seemed like Ansgar wasn''t happy with his decision.


    "Why must it be now that we are about to attack the biggest set so far. You are purposefully doing this to reduce my individual points." Ansgarined.


    Just like the previous exercises, apart from the team that won the exercise, rewards were given to individual contributions to the teams overall score.


    Before finding the hive ke had been the one getting most of the points and he suspected that the reason he had done so was to maintain his position by giving others lesser and easier jobs.


    "We don''t have time for your nagging right now." ke said in a hurried tone as they jumped through the trees and began tailing the ants.


    When they were at a safe distance away from the hive, a long earth and water barrier appeared behind the ants, preventing them from escaping. ke, Damon and Sach jumped down in front of the 60 ants with their weapons drawn.


    To their surprise, the ants didn''t attempt to run because 3 humans weren''t considered to be a threat. So they began swarming forward in an attempt to tear the humans apart.


    Seeing the ants moving forward, Beyoni and Kade jumped down from their hiding spot, dividing the attention of the ants behind.


    Without even a hand movement, light rays began emanating from Beyoni, striking the feeble psyche of the ants. Beyoni''s radiant rays were very effective against humans, talk less of ants who couldn''t think for themselves.


    All ants caught in the illusion stood still as both water and wind des sliced through their joints, ending their short lives.


    ¡­


    At a different part of the map, team 1 were just done killing a knight rank emerald crystal back gori and were taking a break while using the corpse to attract more beasts to their locations.

 Chapter 225: Team test (11)

    <h4>Chapter 225: Team test (11)</h4>


    At a different part of the map, team 1 was just done killing a knight rank emerald crystal back gori and was taking a break while using the corpse to attract more beasts to their locations.


    That was when they saw the points of team 6 rising at an rming rate. It kept on increasing for close to half an hour before finally settling at 45k points!


    ''Just like I suspected they have found an insect hive and at this rate, we won''t be able to catch up to them if they decided to take 2 days off.'' Seeing that their speed of farming wouldn''t cut it, Luciano began thinking of other options.


    Close to Luciano who was in deep thoughts, Serhan was meditating in a crossed-legged position. His ck spiky hair was being fluttered by the wind and his Greek nose rhythmically widen and contracted as he controlled his breathing.


    Since more beasts were to be attracted by the smell of blood from the corpse, he was absorbing as much energy from the environment as possible.


    That was when his earring released a dim glow and an elderly voice interrupted his mediation.


    ''Surprisingly, he failed us.'' The elderly voice said.


    ''How? If offered a lot of riches there was no way he was to go back on the deal.'' Serhan was shocked but tired as much as possible to remain respectful to the elderly voice.


    ''It seems he was way smarter than we thought because the only reason I can think of is that he found out that he would still be killed after the mission.'' The elderly voice exined.


    ''Does this mean that the mission is aplete failure?'' Serhan asked.


    ''Not really. Actually, the kid had made it easier for us to get him killed. All that is needed is to change the one that was to initiate the chain of events that would lead to his death, and that will be you.'' The voice continued. ''For you to do this you have to meet up with him at the ant hive. So here is the map.''


    Because his eyes were close no one was able to see them glow as the image of a map simr to the one-handed to Sach.


    ''So what will be of themoner after the exam?'' Serhan asked the elderly voice.


    ''You shouldn''t be thinking of that right now, your main concern should be finding out a way to convince him to go to the hives.'' The elderly voice referred to Luciano who was still in deep thought.


    ''Once needed, the teleportation array would malfunction and he will be killed. So just do your path.'' With that said the elderly voice disappeared and his mind became quiet.


    At least for some seconds before he began brainstorming on how to approach Luciano with the proposal.


    "Listen up, after this, we are done with this set of beastsing our way. We are going to locate the location of team 6." Luciano said breaking everyone''s attention.


    ''Speaking of the devil.'' Serhan couldn''t help but smile when what he was looking for came his way.


    All around the test location. After seeing how their points were skyrocketing, the various teams hade to a conclusion that ke''s team had found a hive of insects.


    Just like Serhan, the noble leaders of the other teams (except for that of Haldor''s team leader who had been eliminated by Haldor himself) had received a mental map of the test''s location from simr pieces jewelry.


    ¡­


    Back to the ant hive.


    ke and his team had wiped out the army of 60 ants and were currently over the hive''s entrance with Darkbringer concealing their presence.


    They watched as over a 120 elite rank ants move towards the forest they came from just before they had found the hive. It was a sign that the ants had solidified their position in their current area and had begun expanding.


    ke and the rest the decided it was better to be patient. During their quite long wait, they saw as corpses of insects and different kinds of beasts were being conveyed into the hive.


    It was after close to 4 hours of wait that the team saw a trail of 50 ants moving towards a different direction, but the problem was that they were being led by a Knight-rank ant.


    "So what do you guys think, do we attack them?" ke asked seeking the consent of his teammates.


    "I say we should. Although the knight rank ant will be quite troublesome, you can handle it, while we take care of the others." Sach said receiving nods from the others, well that was except for Ansgar.


    ''Why is it in my turn of being the lookout that we are to face a knight rank ant?!'' Ansgar was unhappy about it, especially the idea of ke taking on the knight rank ant. This meant that he would further continue to take up most of the individual points for himself.


    "Alright then, let''s move out." Seeing noint from his team, they moved out and began tailing the ants.


    After close to 10 minutes of following them, the ants got to an area of the forest infested with 7 poison centipedes.


    ''This will be quite tricky.'' ke thought as they watch both groups engage inbat.


    He wasn''t too sure on how both groups would react to their presence. He didn''t want a situation when both groups would gang up against them or where some ants were able to escaping, thereby leading to the location being overran by ants.


    ''What do you think?'' ke asked the system for the best course of action.


    [Well I think you are thinking about it from a human perspective and forget you are dealing with beasts.] The system said. [All you have to do is wait for when the battle has reached its peak before attacking. By then every insect in the area should have been upied making it even easier to eliminate both groups.]


    ''That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the advice.'' ke thanked the system before signaling everyone to take their positions.

 Chapter 226: Team test (12)

    <h4>Chapter 226: Team test (12)</h4>


    The team continued to watch as the battle between the 2 groups raged on, but slowly it began tilting towards the side of the centipedes.


    The army of 50 ants were led by a Knight-rank ant against 15, 7 poison centipedes. They were numbered more than 3 to one, but somehow the centipedes were wining.


    Apart from the Knight rank ant, the others were finding it hard to prate the hard exoskeleton of the 7 poison centipedes. Coupled with their length which was close to 4 times that of the ants, the centipedes were able to handle 3 ants at a time without much problems.


    "If we let the centipedes we would lose a lot of points, we have to end it now they are busy." ke said, signaling the team to attack.


    Kade and Beyoni cast water and earth barriers blocking their path of retreat, while the ke, Damon and Sach jumped into the midst of the battle.


    With the 2 sides in heated battle, they had no clue when the humans entered their midst and began killing anything that came their way.


    ''This is way easier than out previous battles.'' ke thought as he ran through the battlefield harvesting the lives of the insects like the grim reaper.


    KI! KI! KI!


    The knight rank ant furiously nked its mandibles when it sensed the presence of the humans ying its brothers.


    It quickly bit of the bit of the head of the centipede facing it, before rushing towards ke who was dealing the most damage among the others.


    [Watch out!] The system warned ke as the knight rank ant suddenly appeared behind his head and snapped his mandibles at his neck.


    ''Wow!'' Thanks to the lightning reinforcement that was already active, ke was able to dodge the attack and distance himself from the knight-rank ant.


    ''Is that ant fast or what?!'' ke was still stunned by the how he was barely able to dodge the attack, when an acidic spit came hurling at him.


    ''Shit!'' ke quickly cast a meburst that propelled him out of the way.


    Sizzle! Sizzle!


    The acidic spit missed ke andnded on a 7 poison centipede and 2 ants, instantly melting them on the spot.


    ''What the hell! This shit is too dangerous to be left alive.'' ke tightened his grip on his swords as he took in a deep breath and dashed towards the knight-rank ant.


    He shed forward with Ebony at his right hand, but the knight rank ant had dodged the attack and shed at him with 2 of its limbs.


    ''How is it keeping up with my lightning reinforcement boosted by Raiju breathing technique?'' ke as shocked by the Knight-rank ant''s reaction speed, but didn''t fail to dodge its attacks before retreating.


    ''This is going to be troublesome.'' ke thought.


    ¡­


    Some distance away from the battlefield, Ansgar was watching the points of the rise from the holographic projection of his badge.


    "This isn''t fair at all. Not only are they facing a knight-rank ant, but they would also get free points from the 7 poison centipedes." Ansgar thought as malice and anger kept on rising in his heart.


    "No! He can''t just have all the individual points like that. I have to find a way to steal the knight-rank beast." Individual points were simr to team points. Meaning if he was to kill it he would be getting


    Ansgar soon came to a conclusion and began heading back to the battlefield to wait and deal thest blow to the knight-rank ant.


    All these while he was thinking about it, he had no idea that the ring he wore that was simr to that given to all nobles had been glowing since the mission started.


    ¡­


    Unknown to both Ansgar and the rest of the team. A bigger army of 100 elite rank ants were being sent to their location to reinforce the previous ones on their fights against the centipedes.


    And since Ansgar had left his position, there was no one to warn them about the iing when it arrived.


    ¡­


    Back battlefield.


    ke had seen that the knight-rank ant was slightly better than him when it came to speed and it need tond only a single attack at his vitals to end his life. That was why he decided to take a new approach.


    Ebony and Ivory were practically a one shot one kill weapon, but since it could dodge his strikes, the only option was to reduce its movement area.


    ''Let''s do this!'' ke dashed forward dodging the ants acidic spit before he spun beside it and thrust Ebony at its thorax.


    The knight quickly moved back but that was when a mana barrier formed behind it restricting its movement and giving it no other choice than to deflect it with one of its limbs.


    KI! KI! KI!


    The knight rank screeched in pain as the part that came in contact with ebony was instantly chopped off.


    ''Time to end this.'' Happy with the result, ke continued with the same strategy as he cut 2 of its limbs and antennae.


    With a lot of bleeding and a little lightning that affected its entire nervous system. The Knight-rank anty on the ground in pain waiting for ke to end it, but that was when an earth spike appeared from below and pierced through its brain.


    ''What the¡­'' ke was shocked by the development and instinctively turned to Kade who was the only earth user around, but he was engaged in physicalbat with some ants. Meaning there was no way he would have done that.


    That was when the system informed him about Ansgar who was on one of the tree tops.


    ''That bastard!'' ke rained curses on Ansgar, but it only turned out to be a very deep frown on the outside.


    ''I will have to deal with himter, but wait¡­'' ke paused for a second. '' If he is right here, then who is on the lookout?''


    [24 ants just entered detection range, 37, 68, 100 ants just entered detection range.] The system reported.

 Chapter 227: Team test (13)

    <h4>Chapter 227: Team test (13)</h4>


    [Not to be the bringer of bad news, but among the 100 ants there are 2 Knight- rank ants.] ke didn''t even have time to curse as the system gave him more bad news.


    Ansgar''s lookout spot was quite a distance away, so that once they were alerted it would give them some time to clean up and leave the scene.


    The fact that the system had already detected the iing horde of ants meant they had no time left.


    ''Shit! That idiot is going cost us a lot.'' ke was furious at Ansgar and would have loved to strangle him to death but this wasn''t the right time.


    "Grab as much as you can and leave, a lot of ants are on the way!" ke announced to the group, stunning most of them.


    ''How? I didn''t see or hear any form of alert from Ansgar. Unless¡­'' Damon and Ansgar came to the same conclusion and simultaneously their expressions changed to anger.


    Damon and Sach began cing the corpse of both ants and centipedes into their dimensional space.


    Click! Click! Click!


    The team wasn''t able to grab much when the swarm of ants began attacking the water and earth barrier.


    "Gather we are leaving!" ke said to the team as they all gathered towards him, before opening a spatial corridor below them.


    ¡­


    In their still active water barrier shelter, a spatial tear opened and the team walked out before it disappeared.


    "What the fuck was that?!" ke was the first to shout at Ansgar.


    "You selfish, greedy, hind sighted bastard!" Sach was fuming with anger as he grabbed Ansgar by the neck.


    "Calm down, we need to know why he did it before we take action!" Damon said prevented them from making a terrible mistake without hearing the other side.


    "Seriously, I don''t what came over me. At one point I was at the lookout spot thinking of how many points I was missing, then the next thing I can remember is me appearing here with you gu¡­" before Ansgar could finish his sentence, Sach had grabbed one of his des and stabbed at him.


    Just before the de touched his neck, Ansgar was teleported back to the castle and was officially eliminated from the test.


    "What did you do that for?!" Damon was shocked at Sach''s action.


    "Even a child wouldn''t believe that lie. He is a serious liability and is of no use to the team. So rather than things like this repeating itself, he should be gone." Sach said as he put back his de into his dimensional amulet.


    "If he didn''t do it, I would have done it myself." ke said when Damon looked at him seeking his reaction.


    "I never liked that guy in the first ce." Kade said as he sat down and rested his back on the soft water barrier.


    "Me too." Beyoni did the same.


    "So what''s next?" Damon asked as he took a seat. "I mean with uscking 1 member, how are we going to keep hunting?"


    ke''s formation was very simple and effective, but with Ansgar out, things wouldn''t be that easy.


    The first group was the ones to draw the focus of the entire army, while the 2nd group confused them by dividing their attention and blocking their path.


    Having a lookout was a must and the 2nd group had to be 2 people to make sure none escaped. The question now was, if they were to reduce the numbers from the 1st group will they be able to handle so much pressure?


    "It is actually easy. We could just decrease the amount we face in every batch." Beyoni suggested.


    "Isn''t as easy as you think." ke shook his head. "You see, for the fact that more ants were deployed when groups had gone missing mean their intelligence is quite high."


    "Right now the horde of ants led by 2 knight-rank ants had seen us meaning they would be weary and deploy more ants in every group." ke exined because that was exactly why he always emphasized leaving before the ants arrived.


    "So what are you proposing we do?" Beyoni asked.


    "I am thinking¡­" ke said as he closed his eyes and began having a conversation with the system.


    After a while opened his eyes and spoke. "Alright, so I have two options, but they would be based on the situation."


    "The first situation is when we scout all entrances and see that we can''t handle the increased number of ants. What we would actually do will be a random and scattered attack." ke said. "Because if our presence has been noticed, then there is no need to remain stealthy. We need to grab as much as we can."


    "The second situation is when we find out that the number of ants at other entrances was quite manageable. That is when I will have to switch to the 2nd group and you guys will fully have faith in my sensory skills" In his sensory skills ke meant that of the system.


    "Both options are great but I think they will lead to the same result." Damon spoke. "For the second option, if we find less concentrated areas and start hunting there. The ants will still increase their number and it will leave us with no option other than to do the first option.


    As for the first option, it is quite dangerous since not much nning will be done, but that isn''t all. If we start attacking them and leaving some to return to the hive. The ants will continue to increase their numbers and even send out multiple Knight rank ants, making any other attempt a death trap."


    "You are correct, but it isn''t as if we have a choice." ke looked around looking for who had a better suggestion, but no one spoke. "So, after tonight''s scouting mission then we will decide on which approach to take."


    After nning the team began sharing the spoils they had managed to grab.

 Chapter 228: Team test (Xiv)

    <h4>Chapter 228: Team test (Xiv)</h4>


    It waspletely dark, ke and Damon left the water barrier and under the cover of darkbringer, they began scouting all entrances.


    At the entrance closest to them, the number of ants there had more than doubled just like ke had predicted. Each trail that was moving out of the hive was nothing less than a hundred.


    "Well, this entrance is known to have the highest traffic. So I think we should have better luck at the other entrances.'' Damon said.


    As the team was close to the second closest entrance to the water barrier, the system picked up the presence of other humans.


    [A team of 6 has been detected some meters away from the hive entrance.] The system reported.


    ''So a team has finally discovered the hive. Let''s check things out before I decide on what to do with them.'' ke thought as he checked out the situation at the hive''s entrance.


    "Their number isn''t as much as the other entrance, but I still don''t think we can handle it especially with our reduced number." Damon stated.


    This entrance was meant to be the one with the least ants, but even at that, it was way past what they could handles.


    "This leaves us with no other option." ke said. "Before we move to the other entrance, let''s check something out."


    Without asking any question, Damon followed ke to where the system had detected the team.


    "What are we looking for exactly?" Damon asked when they reached the spot but couldn''t see anything.


    "There is a team camping underground¡­" ke pointed out.


    Damon heightened his senses, but he still wasn''t able to sense find anything.


    "So, what are you nning?" Because he couldn''t sense them didn''t mean they weren''t there.


    "Eliminate them of course¡­" ke answered while thinking of his next move.


    "Apart from team 1, we can solo any other team, but doing so here will attract a lot of trouble." Damon tried to warn ke before matters gotplicated.


    "First, most of the students are idiots, and leaving them here means there is a chance they might alert the ants even more." ke pointed out.


    "Second, who said we had to get involved." ke said with a spine-chilling grin.


    "Sit back and watch." ke left Damon and headed close to the hive entrance.


    [You are despicable.] The system couldn''t help butment when he understood what ke was going for.


    ''No mercy forpetition.'' ke said as he began bringing out beast parts from his dimensional space and cing them on the floor.


    He formed a trail of beast parts that led to the location of the underground shelter.


    Once the first ant scout found the first beast part, it called back up to help it transport it back to the hive and that caused a chain reaction.


    After a few minutes of waiting, Damon saw ke began making a circle around the shelter.


    ''Diabolical!'' When Damon figured out what ke was nning, he was very happy he was on the same team as him.


    Click! Click! Click!


    Soon the sound of a marching army of ants being led by a knight-rank ant was heard.


    The ants began circling the area but that was when the knight-rank ants screeched and pointed at the area the team was hiding underground.


    Under themand of the knight-rank ant, the ants left the bait and began digging.


    Seeing they had been discovered, ke and Damon watched how the team forced their way out of the underground shelter.


    ''A bowl of popcorn would have great, but this will do.'' Now under the cover of darkbringer, ke began eating a roasted chicken drumstick as they watched the event unfold.


    ''He is sometimes crazy, but I have to say it gets the job done.'' Damon couldn''t help but stare at ke who seemed to enjoy every moment.


    10 minutester, the team had managed to kill over 20 ants, but they were soon overwhelmed by the ants and were teleported back to the magic school.


    "A few beasts for an interesting show, that was worth." ke as thest person was teleported.


    They moved to the 3rd entrance and the poption of ants was greater than the previous entrance. On their way to the 4th entrance, the system detected another team.


    This time, the team was had Owen and they weren''t as foolish as the previous team to stay underground.


    Damon had no idea how ke was able to sense so far out, but that wasn''t important at the moment. "What are you going to do about it?"


    The more teams that were in the area meant the possibility of being ambushed at critical moments and making things harder for everyone if they ended upmitting a blunder.


    "We can''t eliminate them with the ants because they can easily escape using the trees." ke observed as the gears in his mind began spinning.


    After some minutes, there was only one option still in his head, and that was dealing with them personally.


    "We have no other option than to take care of them ourselves, but before we do that let''s scout the environment." ke said.


    When the duo arrived at the entrance, they found nothing different from the rest, but that was when another report came from the system.


    [Another team has been detected 300 meters away.]


    ''What the fuck!'' ke furrowed his brows on hearing the news.


    ''I knew we would soon encounter other teams, but 3 is a whole lot.'' ke thought.


    [After how your points skyrocketed it will be easy for people to figure out that you found a hive and would want a piece of it.


    But it is quite suspicious that many of them are here at the same time. It is as if they were all given a map at the same time.] The system said.


    ''Yeah, it is quite suspicious, but there is nothing we can do about it.'' ke agreed.


    From the day they discovered the hive, ke always scouted the entire area to make sure they had no unknown guests that could ruin their ns.


    But out of nowhere, 3 teams had appeared at the same time.

 Chapter 229: Team test (15).

    <h4>Chapter 229: Team test (15).</h4>


    "Is anything wrong?" Damon asked when he saw ke pause for quite some time.


    "Yes, I can sense another team." ke said.


    From when ke had warned them about the iing ants to now, he had been disying incredible sensory feats. Damon had no idea about how he does it, but he knew he was never wrong.


    "Does that mean we have a lot of work to do this night?" Damon asked with a helpless sigh because he already knew ke''s answer.


    "It has to be done." ke said as they began returning to Owen''s team''s location.


    Owen''s team had constructed an earth dome on crossed branches and had ced mirror spells as surveince, but this only made their work easy.


    "Whenever you are ready." ke said to Damon who nodded and began casting night mist.


    ck gas beganing out from Damon and moving towards the rock dome.


    ke''s attention was fully focused on the rock dome in front of them, but that was when he noticed that the night mist was misty instead of ck.


    ''How is he able to change the color of night mist?'' ke asked the system.


    [You can change the shape of your fire element and also the areas the boost of lightning reinforcement affects. So, what makes you think this can''t happen?] The system asked.


    ''I don''t know I thought it was fixed just like the space element.'' ke said.


    [The darkness element is just like any other element. The reason it is second to the space in both strength and difficulty is that you need a lot of control.] The system replied. [If he has so much control that he can extend darkbringer to all of you, then changing the color of night mist shouldn''t be an issue.]


    ''No wonder he is number 3, even Castiel can''t do that.'' ke thought.


    [He is on a different level from Castiel. His background is way deeper than he is showing.] The system pointed out.


    ''Think of it, he is so talented with an element so rare but till now he hasn''t been approached by any of the big families. Also, I have noticed? that he is treated with respect by even the nobles.'' ke said.


    [Exactly, he even owns an artifact rted to the darkness element!] The system eximed to stress how rare it was.


    By this time, the entire area including the rock dome was immersed in night mist.


    Not only was night mist able to take away sight, drain vitality, or jam any form of sensory abilities, it was able to erase sound in the area.


    On giving Damon the signal, the entire area turned pitch ck and the mirror spell meant for surveince was jammed.


    "What the fuck is going on?!" Dustin Ulrik, the number 2 student of 2nd year couldn''t help but ask when the mirror spell turned pitch ck.


    "Wake up, we are under attack!" Dustin shouted, but that was when they heard a noise.


    THUD!


    A void dagger was stuck unto the firstyer of the rock dome, and that was when a spatial opened and ke came out thrusting Ebony and Ivory in theirbined form.


    Ding!


    The greatsword went through the 5 thickyers of earth and stopping when a golden barrier engulfed Dustin who was still screaming at his teammates, before teleporting him back to school.


    With Ebony and Ivory still in the rock dome, ke easily carved a little hole before randomly throwing in 3 void daggers into the dome.


    ''lol¡­'' ke chuckled before jumping back into a spatial corridor.


    On appearing into the dome, ke quenched the fire at the center with the power of an ignitor. Using the system''s night and heat vision it was time for ke to hunt down his victims.


    He dashed into the spatial corridor and appeared right in front of a female noble who was trying to understand what was going on.


    Ding!


    The golden barrier activated revealing ke''s outline, but before they could blink, ke stepped back and appeared beside one of the team''s ignitors who was trying to conjure a me ball.


    Ding!


    The golden barrier was showed ke''s outline and that was when everyone began understanding what was going on, but it was already toote.


    Opposite Owen, ke had eliminated their submerger, but before he could act, a trail of lightning went crossed the dome and ke had already grabbed him by the neck.


    "ke!" Owen said when he finally figured out who it was, but ke grinned before eliminating him.


    By the time Owen was eliminated, the room was already filled with night mist and even though thest ignitor had conjured multiple me balls he couldn''t see a thing.


    "Do you want to end it yourself or do you want me to?" ke''s voice


    On hearing ke''s voice, the student knew who was speaking, and knowing it was useless, he brought out a de and stabbed himself on the head.


    Ding!


    The golden barrier appeared and that marked the end of ke''s hunting.


    "EZ." ke said as he released an electromaic field that attracted his void daggers.


    "Done." After he retrieved the void dagger on the outeryer of the rock dome, ke appeared at the void dagger beside Damon.


    "On to the next then." Damon deactivated night mist and the duo went over to the next team.


    ¡­


    Back at the water barrier, Beyoni and Kade who were standing watch were now getting worried because ke and Damon had taken more than 3 times the usual time.


    They had to wake up Sach and they began debating on if they were to go in search of them.


    "It could be they went out to hunt." Sach said.


    "Let me check." Kade activated the holographic projection of the leaderboard, and that was when they saw that a team had been eliminated.


    "Could it be them?" Beyoni asked.


    "There is a possibility, but it could be a random team fighting by this time of¡­" Before Sach couldplete his sentence, a dash appeared on team 13 signifying they were eliminated.


    "It is surely them." Kade said.

 Chapter 230: [Bonus Chapter] Team test (16)

    <h4>Chapter 230: [Bonus Chapter] Team test (16)</h4>


    "That is why you should not use a rock dome, you will never see your attackering." ke shook his head as he appeared beside Damon.


    It turned out to be team 4 and theyprised of 2moners and 4 nobles.


    When the noble team leader had been sent the map of the location, one of themoners had protested against the idea, but he was quickly eliminated by the team leader.


    Unluckily for them, the stupid action of the team leader made ke''s work easier as he eliminated all of them effortlessly.


    Seeing the rock dome that was still intact but currently empty, Damon couldn''t help but agree to ke''s words.


    "Time to return to the shelter." Without diverting again, the duo went straight to the water barrier.


    "We know you eliminated 2 other teams, so what took so long. Did you discover something interesting?" Beyoni asked.


    "No, we went after the 3rd team, before returning." Damon answered as he took sat down.


    "What?" Beyoni activated the holographic projection of the leaderboard and found out that another team had been eliminated.


    ''MONSTERS!!'' That was the only word that could for in his mind.


    Seeing Beyoni''s shocked expression, Damon spoke as he pointed at ke. "Don''t look at me that way, I just cast night mist and he did the rest."


    "I need to get some rest. Tomorrow we will talk about what went on tonight." ke didn''t say it just to avoid the conversation, because he was seriously tired.


    Throughout the fight against both teams, ke had been spamming void shift without using mental boost, and that hadpletely drained him of mana.


    Unknown to ke, almost all the teams still in the test had arrived at the ant hive, just some minutes after they had returned to the barrier.


    ¡­


    Because of how much stress ke had gone through during their scouting missions, ke was given more time to rest.


    When they were back, Damon had taken over the watch since he hadn''t done much. He handed over to Sach who stayed till 3 hours before daybreak.


    When ke was woken up for his turn to watch over the barrier, Sach looked at his movements and noticed he was bubbling with energy.


    ''How did someone who fought against 2 teams and had less than 5 hours of sleep, be bubbling as he had slept for 2 days?'' It was quite surprising, but he didn''t think much about it and went back to sleep.


    Once ke made sure that everyone was back to sleep, he sat in a cross-legged position and began absorbing energy from a beast core, while the system stood watch.


    2 hourster, ke had finally filled the 28th star and the elite rank beast core in his hands had joined the pile of dust on the floor.


    He was about to grab another elite rank beast core, but that was when the system reported the strange movements at the entrance of the ant hive.


    "This needs to be checked out." ke left the water barrier and moved to the hive entrance which was just a few seconds away.


    "It''s either they are going to battle a group of beasts or insects or they are attacking humans." ke thought. "Let''s check it out then."


    ke released the holographic projection of the leaderboard and noticed the points of team 10 increasing rapidly.


    "Are they insane? The sun isn''t even up, and they are already hunting." ke couldn''t imagine how stupid people could be. They had alerted the entire hive of their presence.


    [Even after eliminating the 3 teams yesterday, their points are still below 2 of the 3. So, it is natural for them to be desperate.] The system exined.


    "We have to deal with them before things get out of hand.'' ke said as he returned to the water barrier and informed the group.


    "Why do I have a feeling that there are other teams in the area apart from team 10?" Sach said.


    He was dumb and he knew the hirer wasn''t either. He hadn''tpleted the mission or showed signs ofpleting it, so it was natural for him to have a backup n.


    Since basically, all the team leaders were nobles, Sach had already guessed that they were gathering them here to cause a ruckus. So that in the heat of the battle when ke was facing multiple teams and ants and was about to be eliminated. He would tamper with the safety mechanism, ending up killing him by ''ident''.


    "That is also my suspicion." ke said in a pondering tone.


    "So, should we continue with the n of going free for all?" Beyoni asked.


    "Of what use is it?" ke said. "First of all, because of their idiotic actions it the difficulty of hunting ants would have doubled because it now looks like an all-out war against them and humans.


    Second, although the exercise aim is to gather as many points as possible in 7 days. If the test was only left with one team wouldn''t it be automatically over?"


    "You are saying we should eliminate the other teams?" Kade asked.


    "Since we are already leading with more than 5000 points I don''t see why we shouldn''t just end the test before time." ke replied.


    "So are we just to wait till night time before doing anything?" Damon asked because he saw it pointless to do nothing when others were farming points.


    "Who said we had to wait till night? Funny enough it is way easier during the daytime." ke spoke with an evil grin as he thought of ns in stock for the other teams.


    "First let''s deal with team 10." ke said.


    "Isn''t team 10 your girlfriend''s team?" Kade couldn''t help but ask.


    Ignoring the girlfriend part, ke spoke without thinking. "This isn''t a life or death situation, so it doesn''t matter. Winninges first."


    ke sounded like a viin ready to do anything to win, but Sach couldn''t help but beg to differ the first part of the statement.


    "Right now, at any moment it might actually be." Sach thought.

 Chapter 231: [Bonus Chapter] Team test (17).

    <h4>Chapter 231: [Bonus Chapter] Team test (17).</h4>


    Under the cover of darkbringer, the team reached the location of the battlefield undetected.


    Tessie''s team had raised a wide expanse ofnd to over 6 meters high, giving them an advantage as they attacked the ants as the ants tried to climb up.


    "It isn''t a bad set up, but we don''t have to do a thing because they would eventually be overrun by the ants." Damon said.


    "You might be right, but from what I am seeing they are aggressively farming points. If they wanted to escape it wouldn''t be too hard since they have the Photomancer." ke pointed out.


    "So we should deal with your girlfriend first?" Sach asked. After Kade had said the same thing and ke hadn''t refuted it, he thought it was normal.


    "Eliminating only her gives them so chance of survival, we have to make sure none of them makes it out of here." ke said with a serious look on his face.


    ''Is he naturally evil or is it because of the test?'' Beyoni couldn''t help but think when he heard ke.


    "Just leave it to me." ke signaled Damon to dispel darkbringer before he stepped out of their hiding ce.


    "I am on a tight schedule, please can you guys make things easier for me?" ke announced his presence to the group.


    "Shit it''s ke!" One of Tessie''s teammate screamed his name when saw him, drawing the attention of the rest.


    ''There is no hope at all.'' Tessie shook her head as she saw ke with ebony and ivory in theirbined form resting on his shoulder.


    She currently felt helpless and had lost a will to fight, but that was when a female teammate began sobbing before pulling out a de and stabbing herself.


    Things weren''t going well for them. They had the 2nd lowest score when putting the eliminated team into consideration.


    They had finally found a good way to increase their points, but that was when ke who couldfortably solo a team appeared.


    ''Such bad luck.'' Tessie brought out a de and eliminated herself.


    "What the fuck is going on here?!" Michelle Nystrom had a Caucasianplexion, an orange hair, and was also the number 5 in the 2nd year. She was shocked to turn back and see that 3 of her team hadmitted suicide.


    "Sorry, we can''t beat him so there is no point in remaining here." Thest 2 members of the team brought out daggers and eliminated their selves.


    "Fucking morons throwing away the test just because of 1 person!" Michelle was furious by the actions of her teammates.


    She turned to the ants climbing the raised earth, before mming her fist on it.


    Fusion spell: Stgmite eruption!


    Multiple thick earth spikes erupted from the sides of the raised earth impaling all of the ants on them. Before a scorching wave ofva erupted from the rock, burning every ant to ashes.


    "Come over here let''s see what you are made of." Michelle was fuming with anger as she stared at ke.


    ''Wow, a fusion spell, but that isn''t enough.'' ke smiled before throwing a void dagger at her.


    Ding!


    Michelle effortlessly deflected the dagger to the side, but once she blinked ke was no longer there.


    ''An ambush?!'' She quickly sensed somethinging from behind her and quickly dodged, only to see that ke had appeared behind her.


    ''How did he get there?'' Michelle couldn''t help but ask when she saw him enshrouded in lightning arcs, but once again he was no longer there.


    ''The daggers, that''s why!'' she figured out how ke was disappearing, and that was when she remembered the dagger she had dodged, but it was already toote.


    Zzzg Zzzg Zzzg


    On turning back to the dagger, ke was already in front of her.


    "Nice try, but you are no match." ke raised Michelle up with one hand before stabbing her with ebony and Ivory.


    [Of what use if fusion magic when you are not given a chance to use it.] The system shook its head.


    "Let''s go search for other teams." ke said as he stepped back and appeared at the void dagger close to his teammates.


    ''I knew he could solo an entire team, but his presence alone made them lose all hope andmit suicide. This is insane!'' Damon was shocked.


    Damon was among the few that could solo a team, but with the presence of Michelle, he wasn''t too sure about that. Also, he didn''t think his presence would have such an effect like that ke.


    ''Good thing I am on his side.'' Beyoni was familiar with the feeling of helplessness when going against ke, he could only pity for them.


    ''Damn! Even Serhan can''t achieve this.'' Sach thought as the short encounter reyed in his head.


    As ke returned the ants finally reached the top of the raised earth but they didn''t see any humans.


    ''Let''s see who our next target is.'' ke activated the holographic projection of the leaderboard. He was looking for those who were currently farming points because they would be the easiest targets.


    "What do we have here?" ke saw that team 3 had been eliminated and it seemed that almost every team was currently hunting.


    "The usualst-day rush that leads to useless decisions." Sachmented.


    "Alright let''s make sure it''s theirst wrong decision." ke said.


    The team moved from one of the hives to another, and with the help of the system''s detection range, they spotted another team.


    When they were a few meters away ke received a notification.


    [Do you want to activate mind link?]


    ''No.'' ke closed the notification. ''I wonder who it is.''


    When the team got to the specified location, they saw a raised earth tform simr to that of team 10, but the system had informed ke about the tunnel at the center that led into the forest.


    This was an escape tunnel for the team in case something went wrong, and if not for the system no one would have noticed.


    "Seems like I don''t even have to step in." ke chuckled.

 Chapter 232: Team test (18)

    <h4>Chapter 232: Team test (18)</h4>


    On therge pir of earth, surrounded by his teammates was Brian. Using the earth element and the earth pir as a conduit, Brian regted the number of ants his team fought.


    Whenever the ants on the pir reached a dangerous level, barriers erupted at different levels of the pir, cutting off the ant army into waves.


    "Although it''s one day left and every team is in a rush to take the lead. I think they are shortsighted." Damon said. "Not only are they making the entire hive aware of their presence, but they are also making other teams aware of their presence."


    "The other teams saw how our points were raising. So they think that once they got here it will be a sea of points, but they have no clue that special tools and techniques are needed to fish for the points." Sach snorted.


    "This is exactly the greed you were warning against. Too bad Ansgar didn''t understand that on-time.'' Kade shook his head.


    When ke wasing up with the hunting strategies, getting overrun by the ants wasn''t his greatest concern.


    If his greatest worry was the ants, then every day they would stand in front of the hive entrance, and was they were tired he would teleport all of them back to the water barrier.


    He was afraid of getting ambushed by another team while they were hunting.


    Although he was confident that with Damon and the rest he would be able to defeat any other team. He couldn''t be too sure when they were in the middle of a battle and they were ambushed.


    "Alright guys, it''s almost time for us to attack. Soon their mana will finish and their next line of action will be to escape. When this happens, I want you all to find a way and make arge hole at the lower part of the pir." ke exined his n.


    "As for me, I will make sure that none of manage to escape." ke said to the group before leaving.


    The team wasn''t too sure on how this was meant to wipe the team out, but so far ke hadn''t failed them, so they just agreed to do as instructed.


    Besides if he said he was to make sure none escaped then there was no better person to do that.


    ¡­


    ke left the team, and using the system''s detection skill, ke went for the tunnel exits.


    ''I don''t think this is was done today because there is no way they would be able to construct such arge tunnel and still be able to fight so many ants.'' ke thought as he observed the tunnel''swork.


    Brian''s team was one of the teams that had arrived just after ke was done eliminating 3 teams.


    The team leader already knew the area thanks to the map. So, he had asked Brian to build a tunnel that would help them escape in case something happened.


    [Interesting¡­ Seems your paranoid nature has begun rubbing off on him.] The system said when they found out that the tunnel had 3 exits.


    ''What can I say, I am an agent of change.'' ke''s words causing the system to chuckle.


    When ke got to the farthest exit, which didn''t seem to have an opening. ''I don''t sense anything wrong with the tunnel. Check if there are any detection arrays.''


    [Same here. It''s just a in tunnel.] The system reported.


    With the coast clear, ke used his sword to dig a hole at the top of the tunnel before dropping in a void dagger.


    "So this is where they got all the rock to make such arge pir." ke continued walking until he reached the part of the tunnel that led to the different exits.


    "Time to wait."


    ¡­


    Back at the battlefield.


    The fight for points was still going on and the team of 3 was watching how an army of just a hundred ants had more than tripled.


    Because of Brian, team five wasn''t feeling much of the pressure, but things changed after they defeated the first of the many knight rank ants.


    It had taken them a lot of mana to kill the knight rank ant but currently, at the foot of the pir were 2 knight rank ants.


    (AN: You might be wondering. If the knight rank ants have a certain level of intelligence, then why not destroy the pir from below since they are good diggers.


    Well this might be possible for other beasts but not ants because doing so will cause the pir to copse, killing a lot of their brothers.)


    "We can''t deal with so many especially with those 2. We have to retreat!" Brian warned his team and luckily, they had agreed with him.


    He opened the surface of the pir and a slide leading to the tunnel below appeared.


    Using almost all his mana, Brian conjured 2yers of earth wall to buy them some time.


    "GO! GO!"


    One by one they began jumping into the slide and once everyone was in, on his way down Brian closed the hole.


    "Let''s get out of here." The team hadnded on their feet and were a little distance into the tunnel, but that was when they heard a loud explosion.


    BOOM!


    A barrage of spells had crashed into the walls of the pir, blowing up a veryrge hole in it and killing some ants in the process.


    The ants turned towards the unknown guests or will I say meals, but that was when Damon activated darkbringer and the team left the area.


    Being unable to locate the prey, the ants turned back to the tunnel to see humans running.


    ''Shit! It''s a setup!'' Brian continuously cursed the orchestrators of such diabolical act, as he ran with all his might.


    "Prepare to split up!" The team leader announced as they were approaching the junction, but that was when they saw someone smiling while lightening up the dark tunnel with a fireball.


    It was none other than ke.


    ''Who else will do that other than ke.'' Brian thought as his team came to a halt.


    ke hadn''t moved and the same went for Brian''s team because a lot were currently going on in there mind.


    ''Moving forward is no different than fighting the horde of ants behind us.'' Brian couldn''t help but sigh.


    The tunnel was wide enough to fit 2 people, but even at that, it wasn''t wide enough for someone to maneuver. This meant they would be free kill with Ebony and Ivory in ke''s hands since they couldn''t dodge.


    There was the option of trying to take him done with them, but Brian knew that ke was able to teleport so the idea was thrown out the window.


    "I guess this is the end of the road for us." ke helplessly shook his head as he brought out a de and eliminated himself.


    His teammates were confused about what to do, but his action was the push they needed to eliminate themselves.


    ''As I said, I didn''t need to act.'' ke chuckled as he stepped back into a spatial corridor before appearing at the dagger he handed Damon.


    "Six teams left. Who are we going for next?" ke asked.


    "It''s 5. A team was eliminated while we were waiting for the perfect opportunity." Sach said.


    "That makes our work easier." ke smiled.


    Unknown to ke there was no reason for him to smile because everything was about to change drastically.


    ¡­


    Half an hour ago at the queen''s hive.


    The primary queen had one foot into the king realm and was about to evolve, but that was when the news of the invasion of her territory.


    Due to the stupid and desperate actions of the students, the ants had suffered a lot of casualties that were now in the thousands.


    If things were to continue this way, there was a chance that her advancement was would be disrupted. So, it was time to fight back with full force.


    Shemanded every of her Knight rank guards and generals to take care of the invaders.


    With themander given, all fighting ants in the hive were sent out, and unluckily for team 8, they had met 5 knight rank ants and more than 200 elite rank ants.


    They stood no chance to flee talk more of fighting back. In less than 10 minutes they were wiped out.


    If ke and his team were to be there, they would have noticed that these weren''t any ordinary knight rank ants. Especially for the ant generals.


    Normal knight rank ants were the height of a full-grown human, but the ant generals stood 8 meters tall and were twice as powerful as them.

 Chapter 233: Team test (19)

    <h4>Chapter 233: Team test (19)</h4>


    ¡­


    A few days back in the school.


    The ash corps personnel who were in charge of monitoring the entire test map had noticed an anomaly in the ant colony


    Not only had their numbers increased way beyond what they had projected, but they seemed to evolve way faster.


    They call the attention of Principal Lovren, and after he had seen the activities in the area. He called for a small meeting between Gibson and Zirrack.


    After the meeting, they had concluded that the ants weren''t much of a threat. Only that it would be a little bit challenging for the students, but that was okay.


    Besides, if they were to eliminate the colony, they had to make sure no student was in the area. This meant they would have to end the test and it wasn''t worth it.


    As the days went by, they watched as multiple knight rank ants were deployed out of the hive, but it still hadn''t gotten to the level they had to intervene.


    It was when the queen ant had deployed all of its generals and bodyguards that Principal Lovren decided it was time to end the test.


    Calling Zirrack and Gibson, principal Lovren began exining the situation to them.


    "The ash corps suspects that the reason the ants have grown so quickly is because of a crystal mine vein. Judging from their rate of growth, they suspect that it is a thranium vein." Lovren exined in a hurried tone.


    "It ismon knowledge that the ant queen would use the area with the highest mana concentration as herir. If we take a look at the level of her generals then that means it isn''t far from the Queen rank."


    (AN: It sounds odd using King rank for female beasts. So decided to change it :)


    "So we have to warp all the students back to the castle and warp in the strike team to eliminate the colon." Principal Lovren gave then a detailed exnation of the n.


    (AN: In case you don''t know the strike team. It is Zirrack ;)


    "Bring the students back to the school and warp Zirrack into the area." Principal Lovren instructed the ash corps personnel.


    "Mass warpingmencing in 1, 2, 3¡­"


    The warp arrays for every team began glowing, but when it when the countdown was over, nothing happened.


    "What is going on?" Principal Lovren asked in confusion.


    "We have no clue, sir. Let''s try it again." They retried the mass warping, but it ultimately failed once again.


    Seeing it wasn''t working, the leader of the ash corps personnel frowned deeply as he began simultaneously tinkering with arrays to get to the root of the problem.


    ''Don''t tell me it''s happening again.'' Principal Lovren paused for a moment as the reason why students had ended up dying in thest survival test reyed in his head.


    It was the same reason why the school had changed from having the professors warp to the location, to warping the students out of the location.


    It turned out that when the berserk king rank wyvern had crossed through the barrier ced around the location. For some reason, the arrays there hadn''t warned them.


    The worst part of the entire story was that when they had finally discovered the berserk wyvern. They had nned to send all avable professors into the area to protect all students and then Zirrack to face the wyvern.


    The same thing that happened now had urred then. The teleportation was dyed for close to 6 hours because of a problem with the castle''s core.


    When the problem was finally resolved, the professors were warped to the location, but they appeared at random locations.


    That was why Zirrack was extremely vexed as he had to fly to the location where ke and his team were located.


    (AN: There was ament that asked for an exnation, here it is. Tell me what you guys think about it in thement section.)


    "The problem is from the core. An override should set things back in order." The leader of the ash corps personnel group reported.


    The core of the magic school''s castle was always bounded with the principal. Giving them control over all its defensive systems and arrays, but after the hack that urred in thest survival test. Prince Bryon had sent the ash corps to fix and install measures to prevent history from repeating itself.


    "The manual override!" Principal Lovren warped to the core room where arge pink thranium crystal was located.


    cing his hand on the control panel, he began activating the manual override which would take 2 and a half hours.


    His only prayers at the moment were that the ant queen didn''t evolve by then and that the students yed it safe.


    ¡­


    ke and his team had left the area still swarmed by ants in search of the other teams.


    "No other team is hunting. Do you think they found out that we are hunting them?" Damon checked the leaderboard and found out that the points of every team weren''t rising.


    "Since 3 teams were eliminated on the same night and another 3 were eliminated this morning it is logical for them to think so, but there is another possibility." Sach wanted to give the team, especially ke a hint about the chaos that was about to ur. "There is a chance that something has gone wrong in the area all around the hive?"


    "That makes sense because there is no way the ants wouldn''t retaliate when so many of them were being killed." Kade stated.


    "If what you are saying is true, then that means the number of ants needed to scare the other teams will be almost the entire hive." Damon pointed out.


    [I don''t think numbers would be enough to scare the other teams, especially people like Luciano.] The system said.


    ''Are you saying not only do they have quantity but quality?'' ke couldn''t help but ask.


    [Yes. If you have noticed, you all have been going on a rampage on the ants, but they never seem to finish especially the Knight rank ants.] The system pointed out.


    ''Since Ansgar''s stupidity, almost every army of ants was led by a knight rank ant. It seems as if the knight rank ants are¡­mon.'' ke said in realization.


    [Exactly. If they are somon, then there is no way they could be the generals and bodyguards of the queen¡­]


    ''Unless there are things stronger.'' kepleted the sentence.


    "There are chances that 1 of them will happen, but I think the 1st is the most likely to happen." Beyoni said.


    At this point, every one of thest 5 surviving teams knew that ke''s team were the ones eliminating everyone. Because at the time the 3 teams were being eliminated, team 7''s points weren''t rising.


    ''Murphy''sw says otherwise.'' ke thought when he heard Beyoni.


    (AN: For those who don''t know. Murphy''sw states that if something can go wrong, then it will go wrong. All of hisws are funny but very true.)


    Since all the teams were no longer in the open, the team decided there was no point in searching for them. So the next best thing was patiently waiting.


    They were currently leading in points and even if other teams didn''te out they would still win.


    On their way to the location of the water barrier, the team had gotten close to the second hive entrance, but that was where they saw a swarm of ants being led by an ant general.


    The swarm of ants was more than 5 times greater than whatever they had seen so far. Making the area look as if trees were growing from a sea of ants.


    "Is that a King rank ant?!" Beyoni asked in a hushed tone, afraid that even under the cover of darkbringer they would be discovered.


    "No, it''s just a much stronger knight rank ant. One of the ant generals to be precise." ke answered after using the system to identify the ant.


    "It usually takes time before we realize how much of a mess we are in, but just some minutes after talking about it, it happened." ke bitterly smiled.


    Having no business with the sea of ants, the team moved way higher on the treetops to avoid the few ants on the lower part of the trees.


    They finally got to the 2nd hive entrance and to their surprise they saw only 2 bodyguards.


    [There is something very wrong about this ant hive. Not only are they way stronger than usual, but the number of higher-tier Knight rank ants are just outrageous.] The system warned ke.


    If 2 bodyguards were position at each entrance, that meant they were up to 10 higher tier knight rank ants and that was apart from the generals.


    Unknown to the system and ke, even school had noticed this anomaly and had begun making ns to end the test.

 Chapter 234: Team test (20)

    <h4>Chapter 234: Team test (20)</h4>


    ''What makes you think the queen ant is about to evolve?'' ke asked with deeply furrowed brows.


    After analyzing the pattern of events, the system hade to a conclusion that the queen ant was about to advance to the Queen rank realm.


    [Ants have a simple social structure. Once one feels the queen isn''t worthy to lead them, a female ant starts a coup.


    In this case, all ants were deployed it means it is still in control. Also, it means that the queen doesn''t want anything including traitors to disrupt the advancement process since she will be at her weakest then.] The system exined.


    ''If you know this, isn''t it clear to the school. So, why aren''t they reacting or ending the test before students get hurt.'' Rage began building up in ke''s heart as the memories of thest survival test yed in his head.


    [I know you are thinking that the school is doing this on purpose, but I highly doubt.] The system said trying to calm ke down.


    ''Why wouldn''t I think so when they haven''t given an exnation for them failing to save innocent students.'' ke said to the system as he tried as much as possible to keep a calm expression.


    [Although you have grown quite a lot in the past months, you are still na?ve.] The system shook its head when he saw how ke was reacting.


    [So tell me, why would professors like Gibson, Mack Hoffenheim, and Zirrack who care about their students sit down and watch as students are mauled down by a wyvern?] The system asked.


    [Don''t go telling me it was Lovren''smands, because we both know he can''tmand Hoffenheim and Zirrack against their will.] The system interjected knowing ke''s reply.


    [There are a lot of factors that need to be put into consideration. An example can be a political struggle because this isn''t the first time nobles are plotting.] The system said.


    "Why is your face like that, is something wrong?" Damon asked when he saw ke''s furrowed brows.


    "Yes¡­" Since they were in this together, there was no reason for ke not to warn them.


    He began exining the system''s analysis before arriving at the conclusion.


    "If something is wrong at? the school what should we now do?" Damon couldn''t help but ask.


    Just like ke, every one of them didn''t want what happened at thest survival test to repeat itself.


    "We need to find Luciano." ke said stunning his teammates.


    If something was stopping the school from ending the test and dealing with the problem. It meant that they won''t be warped out if they were in danger.


    ke imagined what would happen when a team saw him and they decided to ''eliminate themselves'' it would be suicide!


    ''Thank the heavens that Brian and Tessie were warped out before things went wrong.'' ke couldn''t imagine how he would have felt if 2 of the few people he cared about ended up dying because of him.


    "How does that sound like a good idea?" Beyoni looked at ke as if he had gone nuts.


    "We need a team that is strong enough to not kill themselves when they see us. Besides I know Luciano, he would have already figured out the anomaly. Also, he isn''t the type of person that would attack me without thinking." ke assured the team that it was safe meeting them.


    "How are you sure that they are in the territory of the ant colony? We can''t go around on a wild goose chase." Kade pointed out a possibility.


    "This is quite true because team 1''s points haven''t moved up much." Damon added because no matter how one was to hunt in a hunting paradise like the ant hive, their points were meant to be boosted significantly.


    "For the past 30 minutes, the points of every team has remained the same and since thetest event has made everyone scared. It means that they are all in the area." ke said.


    "Besides, from what I know about Luciano. He would have figured out that we were the ones that eliminated 3 teams yesternight and he would have been careful not to hunt." ke exined.


    "I think I have an idea where he would be." ke said with a smirk.


    The hive had 5 entrances that formed a star. Using simple logic, ke thought that it would be best for the queen to stay as far away from any entrance as possible.


    This meant it would most likely stay at the center of the entrances underground and if he was right, that was where Luciano was meant to be.


    They quickly moved out and with the help of the system''s map, it didn''t take long for them to reach the location.


    [Yup, this is the right spot.] The systemmented when they arrived at the location.


    ''You found Luciano?'' ke asked.


    [Yes, but that wasn''t what I was talking about.] The system harrumphed.


    [The mana in the area was is highly concentrated. I was correct about the queen ant advancing.] The system''s words made ke check. The area had a mana density that was more than 4 times the normal density.


    When beasts were about to advance in realm, they had to undergo a tribtion set by the mother-stream. The tribtion came in the form of a mana geyser that would ascend from below the beast and reach far into the sky.


    The beasts that were found worthy and ready to willed the power of a king rank beast will be blessed by the mother-stream, but those who had ended up failing would either die on the spot or turn berserk.


    If a beast was to go berserk, although their power level wasn''t on the king realm, it wasn''t too far from it either.


    The berserk beast would end up going on a rampage before being put down by king rank beast or humans. The chances of a beast surviving after a failed tribtion were extremely low.


    Although there were cases where there was no one to put down the rampaging beast and they ended up recovering after decades, they were extremely rare.


    The berserk beast would end up going on a rampage before being put down by king rank beast or humans. The chances of a beast surviving after a failed tribtion were extremely low.


    Although there were cases where there was no one to put down the rampaging beast and they ended up recovering after decades, they were extremely rare.


    In the case of those who were found worthy by the mother-stream. Their body would evolve into a way stronger form, they would gain the ability to control an element rted to them, and most importantly, they obtain higher intelligence.


    (AN: This is for the beasts that do not control an element at the Knight realm. The armored hippos can already control water to an extent, but when they advance they would be way better than an aquamancer at the same level.)


    As for the intelligence part. The beast would be able to learn thenguage of humans and speak. The way they reacted to things wouldn''t be on instinct but intellect.


    No matter if the ant queen passed the tribtion, it wasn''t good news for the students.


    If it failed the tribtion they would be butchered and if it was found worthy they were still fucked. This was because even though it gained intellect, for the fact that they had killed a lot of its subjects they would not go free.


    "We need to speak to Luciano ande up with a n." ke said.


    ke and the team had a chance to escape because of his void daggers and Damon''s darkbringer that concealed their presence, but the same couldn''t be said for other teams.


    He was no hero who wanted to save all the students. All he wanted was to make sure Castiel and Luciano were safe too. He didn''t care if other people were to join them, but he had one rule and that was that no one came in their way.


    The system''s detection skill showed where Luciano and his team were camping on the treetops, they approached them using darkbringer.


    [If I were you 4, I wouldn''t take another step forward because if you do you will be set aze.] The system warned ke.


    ke remembered the artifact Luciano had used against ke and quickly halted his team.


    "Disable darkbringer." ke told Damon and once they did, they appeared in in sight, causing team 1 members to be startled as they stood up for battle. That was except for Luciano.


    "Should have noticed the anomaly by now." ke said to Luciano.


    "Lower your arms, there is no point in fighting at a time like this." Luciano said to his teammates.

 Chapter 235: Team test (21)

    <h4>Chapter 235: Team test (21)</h4>


    ''Are you kidding me right now?'' Sach was shocked by what he was happening right in front of him.


    He knew Luciano was the emperor''s son and for that he should be able tomand any and every noble.


    What shocked him was that Luciano had taken over the team!


    His case was quite different because ke was the team leader as long as they were in the ant hive and there was no way ke would boss him around like that.


    But from what he was seeing it was as if Luciano had taken control of leadership immediately the test started.


    "Yes, I did. It is most likely that the school is facing some issues at the moment. So we can''t eliminate anyone or let them eliminate us." Luciano hade to the same conclusion as the system.


    If they couldn''t be warped back to the school, there was a high chance that even the golden barrier wouldn''t appear to save them during danger. So they had to y it safe.


    "So what are your ns, you have Damon to lead you guys out of this area to a safer ce. So why are you still around?" Luciano asked.


    Because the queen ant was about to advance, it had ordered its generals to eliminate the intruders and make sure that nothing disturbed it.


    Currently, the entire forest around the hive was surrounded by a sea of ants, meaning nothing could get in or out.


    Leaving the area bynd was impossible and doing so by treetops was close to impossible because the ant generals were 3 times sensitive than the normal ants.


    The only safe way of leaving was with a concealing artifact or using the darkness element.


    "Not everybody is smart enough to conclude that something is wrong with the ants, talk more of the school. So I am here to save my friends and those that wish toe along." ke said.


    "If what you are saying is true then why do you need our help? The only reason I can see is that you want to gain our trust before eliminating us." Serhan said trying to cause amotion.


    "I don''t remember permitting to speak, especially when I am talking with my friend." Luciano said in a calm but bone-chilling tone that made Serhan shut up and bow his head in apology.


    "I didn''t know the rank 1 of 2nd year was a moron, but I will answer your question." ke said with a smirk.


    "The 2 teams I eliminated this morningmitted ''suicide'' when I revealed myself without attacking. 2 of my friends were in those teams, but luckily they had been warped back to the school. Now, I wouldn''t want the same thing to happen to thest 1." ke said.


    Serhan was enraged by ke''s insult and wanted to attack ke, but he knew that if he did he would be killed by Luciano then or after the test.


    On the other hand, the other members of team 1 were shocked by ke''s statement. If it was any other person that said this they wouldn''t even bait him/her an eye, but it was ke talking.


    Ignoring? the stunned look on their faces ke continued. "From what I know, you have the ability and resources to get your team out of here. Does that mean we have the same goal?"


    "Yes. Actually, I have been waiting for you to arrive so that we can go get Castiel before leaving here." Luciano said as he stood up from his crossed-legged position.


    The members of both teams watched as Luciano and ke talked about their personal interests, but they didn''t dare utter a word after seeing his reaction to Serhan.


    "Is there anyone we should look out for?" ke asked his teammates.


    He would be a douche bag if he put them in danger only to save Castiel, especially when Damon could take them out of the area.


    "Nope, If there was someone I would have wanted to save it would have been Philip, but he is right here." Kade smiled he saw his best friend safe and sound.


    Members of team 1 were waiting for Luciano to ask the same question, but it never came.


    [Oh shit! The tribtion has begun.] The moment the system warned ke, a blue pir of mana erupted from below and shot into the sky.


    The pir of mana was 5 meters wide and unlike what they had expected, it hadn''t destroyed things in its way. Rather it just phased through them.


    ''Why did the mana in the environment has returned to normal and how is the mana pir able to phase through the ground and trees?'' ke was confused.


    Being quite close to the mana pir ke had expected the area to be highly saturated with mana. Also, he couldn''t understand how the mana pir didn''t make a hole in the ground or turn the trees to ashes.


    [This is one of the mysteries of the Mother-stream which we haven''t understood, but it never gets old.] The system replied.


    ''What will happen if one was to enter there?'' ke asked.


    [You will undergo the same tribtion which the ant queen is going through, and since your body isn''t strong enough or is it meant for you. You will die.] The system answered.


    "We don''t have much time. Once the tribtion is over and we are still here consider us dead." Luciano gave members of both teams who were awed by the mana pir, a reminder that the pir was an hourss was a countdown before they died.


    ¡­


    Unknown to the group, the moment the mana pir had appeared, from all around, the sea of ants had divided into 2 groups.


    One maintained their position at the borders to ward off intruders and the other group was returning to the hive''s proximity just in case the guards weren''t enough.


    They had to make sure that nothing was to disturb their queen''s evolution!

 Chapter 236: Team test (22)

    <h4>Chapter 236: Team test (22)</h4>


    As the 2nd half of ants were returning to the hive, theymenced a thorough search on their way back.


    To shoe the level of intelligence the queen had, it had ordered the ant generals to eliminate the humans that had shown themselves and not conduct many searches.


    The aim of themand was for the ant army to block the borders, therefore trapping the humans.


    Now that the mana pir had appeared it was time to start phase 2 of eliminating the humans.


    On their way back, the army of ants began searching every corner and climbing every tree. Due to theirrge numbers, it didn''t take much time as they were moving closer to the hive.


    When the ants were had gotten halfway back to the ant generals which had very high sensory abilities began detecting the teams.


    Castiel''s team was on the treetops where anti-detection arrays were carved into the trees. They all held their breath as they saw the sea of ants moving, but that was when they heard an ear-piercing screech.


    It was from an ant general and it was looking in their direction.


    "Shit! We have been found out!" The team leader shouted.


    Immediately ants began climbing the trees and swarming in their direction.


    "Move! Move!" The team leader shouted as they began using their various elements to jump from tree to tree.


    They had an advantage because even though the ants could jump they weren''t as efficient as those using me bursts or water whips or nt vines to move across the trees.


    (AN: Yes, ants can actually jump 100 times their body length! Crazy right! :)


    The ants were losing the humans, but if the ant general was able to smile it would have an evil smirk on its face because they were running towards the hive.


    The phase two n wasn''t to kill the humans but to force the remaining to the center of the hive for the queen to feed after evolution.


    Castiel''s team had no idea of the ant queen''s evolution or that the school was having issues warping them back to the school.


    The only thing that was on their mind was to get as far away as possible from the ants and the only ce they could think of was the mana pir that shot high into the sky.


    ¡­


    20 minutester, the students were done admiring the mana pir and they had decided on the direction to head, but that was when Castiel''s team enter the system''s detection range.


    ''Seems we don''t have to go looking.'' ke thought when he heard the system''s report.


    "What are we waiting for?!" Serhan asked in an angry tone, but a look from Luciano shut him up.


    After 3 more minutes of waiting, Castiel''s team out of the forest panting.


    "Shit¡­ that was a close one¡­"Castiel said while trying to catch his breath, but that was when they looked up and saw ke and Luciano''s team looking at them.


    "We have been for you guys. Hello..." ke waved at La who was also part of the team.


    "It''s not as if we stand a chance against any one of them alone, but now they are working together It''s hopeless¡­" La said as she conjured a water dagger.


    Seeing the rank 1 and 2 who were known to be close friends, in the same area not fighting each other meant 1 thing. Even if they weren''t with their team it was still hopeless.


    "If I was you I wouldn''t do that." ke said when he saw La conjuring a dagger. "If you do that you will end up dying because the school is experiencing issues."


    ke went on to exin the queen situation and why the school hasn''t ended the test.


    "I hope you all heard it because I won''t repeat myself." When he was done with his exnation, ke looked at an empty part of the forest and across the mana pir.


    "You know we don''t have much so why don''t you guys save our time and stop hiding." The forest was quiet for some time before thest 2 teams stepped out.


    Both teams were shocked by how ke sensed them, but Haldor had an important question to ask. "How can we believe you?"


    "It''s very easy, if we wanted to eliminate you all the 3 of us can easily do that." ke said pointing at Luciano and Damon.


    His words made a lot of people angry, especially Serhan because he was being regarded as anything, but ke continued without caring what they thought because he was saying facts.


    (AN: Lol. Almost said ''spitting facts'' :)


    "Besides it''s not as if I am here to save you all, I am here for him." ke pointed at Castiel. "You are free to join in as long as you don''t get in our way."


    "My team would like to join." Haldor said.


    ke looked at the team of 5 and had a clue of what must have happened to their team leader.


    [The team has 4moners and 1 noble. Considering the fact that the team leader was a noble, I am 80% certain that they had eliminated him.] The system said.


    Seeing Haldor''s team join, it didn''t take time for 2 of the other teams to join.


    "Alright, since everything is settled it''s time to n how to leave here undetected." ke said to Luciano and Damon.


    Damon could cast darkbringer on others but their number was just too much.


    "My artifact should be able to conceal everyone and get us out of here, but we need a backup n." Damon said.


    "That should be enough." ke looked at Luciano who nodded.


    With everything nned, the trio returned to the students and exined only the parts of the n they needed to know.


    Also, ke handed Castiel a void dagger and used mind link tomunicate with him.


    ''If something is to go wrong, I want you to go as far as possible.''

 Chapter 237: Team test (xxiii)

    <h4>Chapter 237: Team test (xxiii)</h4>


    Before Damon activated his shadow cloak artifact, Luciano made sure to turn off his, because no one would want a situation where everybody was set on fire.


    Right from when his team had made their way into the territory of the ant colony, Luciano had been wary of ke''s team sneaking up on them. Especially, when the best ''assassin'', ke, and the stealthiest student, Damon were part of the same team.


    "Here we go." Damon clenched his hand on the shadow cloak artifact and poured mana into it.


    With a low hum, the artifact produced a dark glow that spread into arge dome that covered every student with some extra room to walk freely.


    Once everyone was in the area of the dome, the color of the environment had a dark dimmed to it, but it wasn''t that bad.


    For Damon and Castiel who were in the darkness pathway, the passive skill of darkbringer gave them automatic night vision and the environment was as bright as usual.


    "Always make sure you are within the dome''s range at all times and cast spells only when necessary." Damon exined to the team.


    Because of the number of students, Damon had to increase the artifact''s range of effect, but doing so required more mana to keep it active.


    Also, because the range of shadow cloak was increased there was a chance that its effectiveness would reduce. That was why he decided they stay on the safe side and minimized the number of spell cast.


    With everything exined, the group of 28 students began moving away from the mana pir towards the 1st hive.


    From what the other teams had said the entire area around the mana pir was surrounded by a horde of ants. So no matter the direction they went, it was still the same thing.


    The group kept advancing slowly until they got close to the 1st barrier made up of thousands of ants.


    Every inch of the ground was upied by ants and hundreds of ants could be seen littered on the trees to make sure they couldn''t escape from the treetops.


    Amid the sea of ants, the group could see 2 ant generals. Their antennae were high up, scanning for the slightest hint of intruders.


    The sight alone was scary, but the thought of ants of such size swarming over one''s body and tearing it to pieces sent shivers down their spine.


    "Stay together and kill quickly kill any ant that makes it into the dome. Remember to use as few spells as possible." Damon gave another reminder.


    The shadow cloak concealed everything including sound, but once anything made its way into its range, they would be concealed and see everything within.


    That was why whenever Damon was using it, He always made sure that the range was as thin as a halo on his body.


    They began moving from branch to branch stealthily killing all ants around them.


    Due to the outrageous number of ants that could be found on just a branch, the team was moving at a very slow pace.


    ''Even in my next, I will still hate insects.'' ke cursed as he continually used a single swipe to kill an ant.


    Due to the fear of death, almost everyone had forgotten that the test wasn''t yet over and that as they killed the ants their points were still rising.


    The system had reminded and apart from staying amid many people that could ambush him, that was the main reason he was at the front.


    For most of the students in the other team, it felt like forever as their hearts were racing as they were inching their way out of the ant barricades.


    After more than 20 minutes they were finally out of the 1st ant barrier and were now quite some distance away from the hive. They were currently at the free zone at the center of both ant barricades.


    Their journey so far wasn''t that long, but it was quite stressful mostly because of the fear. So, the group had decided to rest for a few minutes before continuing.


    "You know, we would have avoided this situation if we were eliminated before this." La said in azy tone.


    (AN: Who can rte to La being one of those students that arezy or im to be, but end up doing well anyways. :)


    ''It is life and death situations like this that make us stronger than those who are always in the ssroom.'' ke thought, but a part of him couldn''t help but agree with her.


    Although times like this made him stronger, he wondered why in significant events like this something would always go wrong.


    (AN: You are the MC, what else do you expect? Lol)


    "We don''t have much time, we need to keep moving. Luciano said in an impatient tone as he stood up.


    "I agree with him." ke said.


    The mana pir was their hourss, but the difference was that they had no way of telling when it would be over.


    Knowing they had no say in when they wanted to continue the journey, the other teams hurriedly got up and were ready to leave, but that was when something unexpected happened.


    The pieces of jewelry worn by most of the nobles let out a dimmed glow, and instantly it went straight to their pupils.


    "Watch out!" ke shouted when the system alerted? him about the nobles charging up spells.


    At that moment, different spells were fired at those who weren''t wearing simr pieces of jewelry.


    Luckily many had their guards up and were able to protect themselves thanks to ke''s warning, but the few unlucky ones who were hit were fatally injured.


    The nobles wearing the pieces of jewelry numbered 16, while the normal ones were now 9 due to 3 being fatally injured.


    ''What the fuck is going on here?!'' ke had a confused expression as he conjured a mana barrier blocking the spells that were aimed at him.


    He had expected and prepared for the other teams trying something funny, but he was shocked when he saw even teammates attacking each other.


    ''They are all nobles, but are they trying to kill themoners?'' ke decided to take cover and understand what was going on before acting.


    [I doubt because they are also attacking Luciano.] The system observed.


    ''That''s true¡­ wow!'' ke looked over at Luciano and immediately went behind cover, dodging a wind de.


    [There are 2 options. Either they are tired of living to try to kill the emperor''s son in front of the entire school or they are being mind-controlled.] The system said.


    ''I don''t have much time. Tell me which one it is.'' ke said as he blocked lightning from Cami with a mana barrier and moved to another cover.


    If it was the first, ke wouldn''t think twice to take out his swords and ughter everybody attacking them.


    As for the second possibility, ke would try his best not to kill them since they had no clue of what they were doing. But he wasn''t an idiot to prioritize their lives over his and his friends.


    Once he was sure he couldn''t them, he still wouldn''t hesitate to kill them. Besides, it could be categorized as self-defense.


    [It''s most likely mind control because they are emitting a faint energy simr to that of Ansgar when he killed the Knight-rank ant.] The system stated.


    ''That exins a lot.'' At that time ke thought that Ansgar was the most stupid person he had seen in both worlds.


    ''But, for mind control to work there has to be something transmitting the signal from the controller to the brain?'' ke asked.


    The system was silent for some time as it began revisiting ke''s memories of all the nobles attacking them.


    [I found it, their jewelries. If you can take it off then it should stop the mind control.] The system reported.


    "¡­" At this point, ke was considering if he should just go ahead and kill them because how the fuck was he meant to move around the battlefield removing rings, nes, nose rings, and earrings?!


    There was the option of cutting off their fingers, ears, and pulling out nose rings, but it was too messy and he was seriously considering if he should just kill them.


    [Oh fuck! Ants from both sides areing this way!] The system reported the bad news.


    ''Are you kidding me?! Just when we are trying to solve a problem another pops up!'' At this point, ke knew he had to make a decision quickly.

 Chapter 238: Team test (xxiv)

    <h4>Chapter 238: Team test (xxiv)</h4>


    Although the mana from the exchange of spells couldn''t be sensed from the hive or thest barricade. Sound traveled farther with air and it didn''t take long for the ant generals to pick up the vibrations with their antennae.


    With the number of vibrationsing from their direction, the ants sensed a lot of humans. Both groups of ants had no clue how more humans had appeared, but they had one thing in their minds, and it was to deal with them.


    *Screech!*


    The ant generals let out an ear-piercing screech that?made all the ants match towards ke''s direction.


    ¡­


    ''I have decided what to do.'' ke said.


    "They are being mind-controlled so try not to kill them." Arcane magic magnified his voice.


    "If we do that we will be killed instead." Haldor spoke the mind of everyone that wasn''t being controlled.


    "I never said that you should sit and watch. The ants areing from both sides. I want you all to follow Damon and leave the area, I will save as many as possible and hold off the ants." ke said as he jumped out of the cover of a tree and went for his first target.


    ''Castiel I need you to go as far as possible without the group. Remember you are the only chance of survival for me and the nobles.'' ke said to Castiel through mind-link.


    With the speed boost from lightning reinforcement, ke spun beside a female noble, and with little effort, he knocked her out.


    ''That should by us some time.'' ke thought as the female noble was unconscious.


    [They might be out cold right now, but when they wake up it might be troublesome.] The system warned him.


    ''When we reach that bridge we will cross it.'' ke said to the system as he dashed forward, dodging spells and moving to his next target.


    With the army of antsing from both directions and ke holding the nobles, those that weren''t mind-controlled saw this as an opportunity to escape.


    They didn''t care about ke who could escape but decided to sacrifice himself, their fatally wounded teammates who couldn''t move, or the mind-controlled nobles. All they cared for was their lives.


    (AN: The human nature :( Smh.)


    "Gather together we are about to leave!" Damon was a little bit worried about ke, but if there was someone that could make it out alive from such a situation, it was ke.


    The mind-controlled nobles saw the normal students gathering to leave, but surprisingly they didn''t attack or try to stop them. Instead, they focused all their attacks on ke.


    [I see what is going on here. They never nned on killing the others, you were the main target all along and if they aren''t strong enough, the ants are to finish the job.] The system warned ke.


    ''And you always say you aren''t the bringer of bad news.'' ke said in a sarcastic tone as he threw his void daggers in all directions, before conjuring a mana dome that protected him from the rain of spells.


    [I do have good news, but it ismon knowledge. Because multiple people are being mind-controlled their fighting capabilities won''t be as good as when they are sane. That is why they have been using mostly spells.] The system said.


    The main aim of the mind controller wasn''t for the students to kill ke but to dy him till the ants arrived. ke was known as a melee fighter that was why they were keeping their distance while firing spells.


    As ke''s barrier was being bombarded, Luciano who was engulfed in golden mesnded beside him.


    m"I am not leaving without you. I will handle the ants, while you save these idiots." Luciano said as the army of ants hade into view.


    ''That clears most of my worries. Activate mind boost.'' ke smiled as his eyes turned white and the intensity of the lightning arcs swarming all around his body increased.


    To make sure that he wasn''t overrun by ants, Luciano conjured a circle of golden mes from which he began firing waves after waves of scorching mes.


    Seeing that there was no way Luciano would be overrun as long he still had mana. ke activated void shift, simultaneously conjuring 4 spatial corridors around them.


    The spells aimed at them flew right through the spatial corridors and flew out the exits formed at the locations of the void daggers.


    Instantly, the area above them became chaotic as spells flew all around, hitting those unable to react on time and causing most of them to dodge or block.


    Having no ns of letting the opportunity go to waste. ke dashed forward and in a matter of seconds, he appeared in front of 2 nobles.


    Taking in a deep breath, ke gave the 1st noble a jab to the head before dodging a fireball and then slide tackling the 2nd noble.


    The noble lost his bnce and fell on the thick branch =, but that was when a powerful stomp to the head turned the lights off.


    BOOM!


    The 1st noble had just recovered from the jab, but a fireball sent him crashing into the tree.


    Thud!


    Opening his eyes, a fist encased in mana knocked him out.


    ''Let''s get these guys.'' Using the system''srge range of detection, ke went after the 4 that were injured by their own spells.


    Due to their fighting capabilities being further reduced by their injuries, it took only seconds for him to knock them out.


    [I think you would want to help your friend out.] The system drew ke''s attention back to Luciano.


    Luciano was doing a very good job in making sure that the sea of ants didn''t get close to ke or even the mind-controlled students.


    With how hot the golden mes were, it didn''t take much effort for Luciano to turn the sea of ants swarming towards him to ashes.


    Even the knight rank ants weren''t faring better. The reason why the system had called ke''s attention was the ant generals.


    Normal fire element was very effective against ants, talk more of golden mes. Both elite and knight rank ants were turned to ashes by the golden mes.


    The reason why the system had called ke''s attention to the ant generals was because of their thicker exoskeletons. Due to their thickness being close to 3 times that of normal ants, their exoskeletons were more heat resistant.


    This was a big issue for Luciano because the tactics of the ants were to sacrifice themselves, so that many could dy the target give their brothers enough time to overrun the target.


    2 ant generals wereing from both sides and if Luciano wasn''t able to burst them down immediately, they would pave a for the rest to swarm him.


    ''He just needs a little bit more time.'' Luciano thought as he sensed that 7 students were already unconscious.


    The reason he had asked ke to take care of the nobles was that in the entire 1st year and possibly 2nd. ke could be considered the fastest when it came to eliminating both single and multiple.


    ''I will buy him as much time as possible.'' Luciano was about to begin chanting, but that was when ke shot out through a spatial tear from a tree above Luciano.


    BOOM!


    With ebony and Ivory in his hands, ke crashed into one of the ant general''s head, and immediately he touched the ground, a burst of mes killed the ants around.


    Storing the corpse o the ant general in his dimensional amulet. Before the ants regrouped to attack him, ke fell into a spatial corridor below him and appeared back on the tree.


    With half of the pressure gone, Luciano didn''t need help as he continued his onught.


    Immediately ke appeared back on the tree, Serhan and Cami appeared in front with their bodies wrapped in arcs of lightning.


    It was then that the pir of mana that shot into the sky disappeared and a shockwave of mana was felt miles away.


    The ant queen''s evolution wasplete and not only was it found worthy it had awakened the earth element and wasing for them.


    [Shit! It was meant tost longer how did it quicken the evolution process?!] There was a trace of worry in the system''s voice. [You need to get out of here as fast as possible.]


    ''On it¡­'' ke felt that death was just minutes away.

 Chapter 239: Team test (xxv)

    <h4>Chapter 239: Team test (xxv)</h4>


    The moment ke turned to deal with Cami and Serhan, golden fireballs crashed into them, sending them flying towards him.


    ''Well yed.'' With his back against the tree, ke gave Cami a fire-propelled punch instantly knocking her out. Using the momentum at which Serhan was flying towards him, ke grabbed him by the waist before spinning and mming him onto the tree branch before giving him a heavy stomp to the head.


    "We need to be quick, the queen ising!" Luciano warned ke as he had left the ground and moved up to the tree


    "I just need a few more seconds. I will take care of the rest and try to gather them at one spot." ke went to meet the noblesing his way.


    The person controlling the nobles hadn''t expected ke to try and save the nobles nor Luciano helping him, but as always he had a backup n.


    His initial n was to kill as manymoners as possible alongside ke and some insignificant nobles, before warping the others out of danger.


    Right now he nned to dy ke as much as possible for the queen ant to arrive, but ke kept on making his job easier by trying to save them.


    [You are reaching your mana limit, remember you still need to warp out of here.] The system made ke aware of his dangerously low mana.


    ''I am aware.'' He was trying to save as many students as possible while conserving mana.


    While dodging the spells from 10 students ke engaged in closebat with 3 nobles.


    With his superior physicalbat abilities and the extra boost gotten from the Raiju breathing technique, it didn''t take time for ke to knock out 2 of them, but that was when the ground begin to quake, and trees being broken.


    The ant queen was tops, 5 minutes away, but once it arrived there chances of escaping were very low.


    ''How fast is it!'' The pressure on ke had more than multiplied. He gave the 3rd noble kick to the abdomen beforending a roundhouse kick that knock her out.


    [You are taking way too many risks. You need to get out of here now or you might end up dying with those you are trying to save.] The system screamed at ke who was hell-bent on saving all of them.


    ''There are 4 left I can do this!'' With a determined expression, ke dashed towards one of the nobles while firing lightning bolts to stun him.


    "ke we need to leave now!" Luciano screamed at ke, and the mind controller agreed too.


    With ke being surrounded by the ants from both sides and the queen ant being a few minutes away, there was no way for ke to escape.


    He was about to activate the mass warping system for a second and get the nobles including Luciano out of there before turning it off. But that was when the wind in the area became chaotic.


    It was the ant queen floating in mid-air with 6 wings of equal sizes. Its brown exoskeleton had changed to a pitch-ck and its gigantic body had shrunk to a humanoid form with spikes at different parts of its body.


    ''How did it get here so fast?!'' ke''s heart began racing as he saw the ant queen.


    ''Fuck we need to get out of here!'' Using void shift, ke began gathering the bodies of the unconscious nobles to Luciano''s location.


    If it was in a normal situation the system would have snorted at ke''s thought but it was a life-threatening situation and it could be left forter.


    "Shit! I have to get them out of them.'' The mind controller was about to warp the nobles and Luciano back to the school, but that was when the core''s manual override wasplete and he lost control of the core.


    "How?! The override is meant to take over half an hour. Lovren had no clue of what he has done!" The mind controller spoke with a dread-filled voice when he thought about the massacre that was about to take ce.


    It was one thing killing ke who was amoner, but it was another story if the emperor''s son died.


    In ke''s case, there would be a lot of investigations, and with his position, he was sure not to be discovered. As for Luciano''s death, all sorts of investigations will be carried out. Unless he was emperor Cinder or Prince Bryon there was no way he wouldn''t receive a punishment a thousand or more times worst than death.


    ¡­


    Back in the forest.


    The ant queen had appeared above the battlefield. On assessing the situation It saw ke gathering other unconscious humans to the one controlling the golden mes.


    The human was making things easier for him, and although it was hungry after its evolution. It decided to make sure none of them escaped, so it went for the other humans still standing.


    Instantly, it appeared in front of one of the nobles, and with a swipe of its hand. The noble''s head fell to the ground and blood gushed out like a water fountain.


    ''Holy fuck!'' ke was astonished by the ant queen''s terrifying speed.


    [You can''t take all of them, you need to prioritize the most useful ones.] The system screamed to ke with urgency written all over its tone.


    ''On it!'' ke snapped out of it and warped to the 3 injuredmoners, before moving to Cami and the others.


    "ke we need to leave!" Luciano shouted when he saw the ant queen killed thest mind-controlled noble.


    "Went to retrieve my daggers." ke appeared beside Luciano with 4 void daggers in his hand. "Time to get out of here!" Using hisst bit of mana, ke began casting thergest spatial corridor he had ever made.


    But that was when the ant queen sensed the spatial energy and immediately turned towards the group and let out an ear-piercing screech.

 Chapter 240: End of team test (I)

    <h4>Chapter 240: End of team test (I)</h4>


    But that was when the ant queen sensed the spatial energy and immediately turned towards the group and let out an ear-piercing screech.


    ''I won''t let you.'' Having seen the terrifying speed of the queen rank ant, Luciano knew they had a close to no way of defending or reacting to an attack from the queen ant. So he went for the only option avable.


    Biting into his thumb, Luciano smeared his blood on the surface of the golden neckless which had the image of an armored warrior on mes.


    Luciano went down on one knee bowed. ''I need your protection grandfather.''


    The ant queen dashed forward at a blinding speed and appeared in front of Luciano. It raised its hand to decapitate Luciano''s head but that was when a pir of golden mes descended from above.


    BOOM!


    The pir of mes crashed down heavily on the ground and turned everything in a 20 meters radius to ashes. That included the ants, trees, and the corpse of the nobles murdered by the queen ant.


    (AN: Wow, protection from the god of destruction still ended up destroying things. Lol)


    The only things that had survived the pir of mes were the group, the tree they were standing on, and the ant queen which had managed to dodge it on time.


    The ant queen was lucky enough to have sensed the attack on time on time, but even at that, the force of the st had sent the ant queen crashing into multiple ants and trees.


    Due to its enhanced body, it had taken close to no damage at all. When it got up, it didn''t care about the ants it had crushed but stared at the pir of mes that formed a continuous me barrier around the humans.


    It was afraid of it because if it had wasted even a second more before retreating, it would have been instantly killed!


    It could only stare at the human as a spatial corridor opened below them and they fell into it.


    ¡­


    Having gotten a head start from the other group, Castiel had used the boost gotten from darkbringer to weave through the forest.


    After he had made sure he was far away from the former position of the ant barrier. Castiel made sure the area was free from any beast before casting night mist.


    3 minutes into waiting for ke, he saw a golden pir of mes descended from above.


    Golden mes were Luciano''s signature mes and seeing it meant that he was helping ke. This reduced Castiel''s worry, but it didn''t take long for a spatial corridor to open. Luciano and ke, along with the unconscious nobles, fell on the tree branch.


    Once ke was sure that they were out of danger, he turned to Luciano and Castiel and said. "We are not sure if they would still try to kill us. So keep knocking them out till we are warped back to the school."


    Immediately ke was done he slumped and fell unconscious.


    "What is wrong with him?" Castiel panicked when ke fainted.


    "Mana exhaustion. I am even surprised that he had reached this level because he used mana way greater than a normal person." Luciano exined as he sat down in a crossed-legged position.


    Seeing that ke wasn''t in a life-threatening situation Castiel rested his back on the tree because he too needed rest.


    ¡­


    Back at area ke and Luciano left.


    The ant queen was rage not only because the humans and pile of unconscious bodies had managed to escape, but the 3 humans it had decapitated had been turned to ashes.


    Since there was no food for it after its evolution. The ant queen was about to go on a feeding rampage on its subjects, but that was when a human appeared.


    The human had a very muscr physique and was bald with scars all over his body. The human didn''t carry any weapon on him and he didn''t have any form of aura meaning he was weaker than thest ones.


    Driven by hunger, the ant queen was about to rush forward and tear the bald human apart, but that was when it noticed it couldn''t move.


    "First, let''s deal with the small fries. God says die." With a snap of his finger, all the ants below the king realm began exploding into ash.


    "You see. Everything living thing emits a certain level of mana no matter the power level." Zirrack said as he slowly walked up to the ant queen that was rooted to the spot. "So if you are unable to sense the aura, it means it is too strong for you to gauge.


    At the King rank beats gained abilities simr to mana vision and one of its functions was to see the aura of anything. At lower beast realms it was termed as instincts.


    One''s aura could be defined as the amount of mana a living thing unconsciously emitted. For both humans and beasts, their aura and control over it were mostly dependent on their realm and mana control.


    At the human realm, a human had an insignificant aura the size of a pebble at the center of his body. When he/she advanced to the warrior realm it expanded to the entire body and formed a thin halo. At the champion realm, it increased to 20 meters around the body.


    As for Zirrack, he was in the battle angel rank and if he was to release his aura it would epass more than double the size of the test location.


    The only reason the queen ant couldn''t detect it was because Zirrack had absolute control over his aura, but if he decided to release it to the full extent everything below the king rank that was within range would die on the spot.


    As for King rank beasts, they wouldn''t die on the spot but be paralyzed, but that wasn''t the reason the ant queen couldn''t move.


    The reason was that they were both from the same earth pathway.

 Chapter 241: End of team test (II).

    <h4>Chapter 241: End of team test (II).</h4>


    The reason the queen ant was rooted to the spot was because it was in the same pathway as Zirrack.


    When it had passed the tribtion, the ant queen had awakened the earth element and due to the suppression that came from meeting someone higher in the pathway, it was paralyzed.


    Unable to move or use its wings, the ant queen tried to spit out a highly corrosive acid from its mouth, but its body wasn''t responding to itsmand.


    To show how great the suppression was, the ant queen waspletely consumed by fear, but it was unable to shiver as Zirrack kept walking towards it one step at a time.


    "At this point, I don''t know if the kingyer title is still fit for me?" Zirrack said to himself as his hand lit up in darkish-purple me and he brought it to the chest level of the ant queen.


    Zirrack''s mes were so hot that the ant queen''s exoskeleton was melting like butter on a hot pan without himing in contact with it. The ant queen was unable to scream in pain and could only watch as Zirrack''s hand slowly made its way to its core.


    "Let''s make sure that none of these bastards are alive in the hive." Immediately Zirrack got hold of the ant queen''s core, the rest of its body exploded into ashes.


    ¡­


    Once the manual override was over and the warping array was back online. The school principal Lovren decided to send Zirrack first because it would be easier to warp 1 person than bring back more than 20 people.


    From the live feed of the test location, they saw when the ant queen had advanced to the King realm and watched as it headed in ke''s direction.


    At that moment principal Lovren had thought that it was over for ke, Luciano, and nobles, but to his surprise, they had pulled it off and had managed to escape.


    He had mixed feelings about the nobles that had died, but he still felt bad for them. "Why do they have to involve kids in this."


    Everything was ready, they he gave themand and the students were warped back to the school. Once the students appeared fire corps personnel began scanning the nobles for any trace of mind control.


    What happened at the test could be considered to have in a way endangered the life of the emperor''s son. Meaning a proper investigation was to be carried out.


    They scanned their dimensional amulets and everything on them. When they got to the different pieces of jewelry on them they discovered that it was the source of the mind control.


    Under further scanning, they found out that all of them had self-destructed the moment they were knocked out. This had erased 1 of the 2 chances they had in tracking whoever was behind it.


    Thest option was to interrogate the nobles with the?mind control jewelries, but it wasn''t the best of time so they were detained in their rooms under surveince till they were to be investigated.


    As for ke who was still unconscious, he was given some mana regeneration potions and was dropped in his room to rest.


    ¡­


    Once Zirrack had eradicated all forms of life from the ant hive. The school began conducting investigations on how the ants were able to increase in both strength and numbers so quickly.


    Once they confirmed their suspicions that it was a thranium vein, it was reported to Prince Bryon and multiple squads of ash corps were sent to the area.


    Immediately they touched down at the test location, multiple arrays and barriers were set up. They went ahead to check how big the thranium vein was and it turned out to be quite a small one, but it was more than enough.


    Once the size of the thranium vein had been checked, a massacre began. To to make the vein safe for mining, everything that could move in the area was to be hunted down.


    If this was earth, the Synder empire would be under fire for wiping out the ecosystem of an area just because of a little mine.


    Well, things were different in Infinite realm. The not-toorge thranium vein was worth more than 20rge gold mines because of how rare the pink crystals had be.


    Also, the beast tide season was fast approaching, meaning the more beasts they killed the safer the city would be.


    ¡­


    The next day ke woke up with a pounding headache and a grumbling stomach.


    ''How many days have I been out?'' ke held his head.


    [6 hours.] The system replied.


    ''That was way shorter than I expected.'' ke thought as he stood up and left to take a shower.


    This wasn''t his first time of him passing out due to mana exhaustion. It had urred multiple times when he first started practicing space freeze and void shift, but this was undoubtedly the worst that had happened so far.


    [I would usually start with stating how many mistakes or foolish decisions you made, but that will be forter. You did a good job ke, and I have to say you have grown a lot from when you came to infinite realm.] The systemmended ke causing a wide smile to appear on his face.


    It was very rare for the system tomend ke, most of their conversations were when the system was lecturing him or roasting him.


    From the first time the system hadmended him, ke always got a feeling of having achieved something great. This was because the system had unconsciously be kind of a fatherly figure that watched his every step and made sure he didn''t stray away.


    With a smile on his face, ke made a bow before going to take a bath before heading to the canteen to have dinner.


    ¡­


    At exactly the same time ke had woken.


    Unlike others who had gone straight to their room after they returned to the school, Sach had been moving around highly popted areas.


    He was avoiding going to his room because death was literally waiting for him?there, but it had gotten dark and he had no other option but to return.


    "Here goes nothing."

 Chapter 242: Standing ovation.

    <h4>Chapter 242: Standing ovation.</h4>


    After having an early dinner Sach knew there was no running from his fate. So he decided to head to his room, and if he was to die, he would finally escape this painful world.


    "Here goes nothing." Sach took in a deep breath before cing his palm on the door.


    After the array had scanned his fingerprint and made sure it was him, a click was heard and the door opened.


    The room was pitch ck as always, but he could not sense anyone in the room. So he stretched his hand towards the wall to turn on the lights.


    ''It''s not as if I could do anything to the assassin even if I could see him¡­ Why isn''t it turning on?'' Sach frowned as he looked at the light switch. The light switch was the same as the door, but all it needed was for anyone to hover their hand over it. He tried it multiple times but nothing was happening.


    "You know that would have been a perfect opportunity for you to kill me. Unless you want to have a word with me before you end me?" Sach spoke to the darkness, and after a while, the corner of the room lit up.


    It was a hard fire chair construct, but the light was dimmed to the level that only the silhouette of a man could be seen. The 2 things he could notice about the silhouette were that it was muscr and the hair was permed.


    "Nope, I think you were talking about him." The intensity of the lower part of the fire chair construct increased and Sach saw the corpse of a masked man on the floor just below the hidden man.


    Sach quickly got back to his senses and tried to get a look at the man on the fire construct but the light ha dimmed just in time.


    "Who is he?" Sach asked the hidden man.


    "That you don''t need to know. What you should know is that his highness prince Bryon had sent me to save you." The?hidden man said. "We knew about the assassination attempt on ke''s life, but we had no idea where and when it was toe."


    "Are you saying I was considered useless?" Sach let out a self-deprecatingugh.


    "It is only an idiot that would let amoner who he/she deeply hated to spearhead such a vital operation." The hidden man said in an unchanging tone. "It was when you began helping ke that his highness, decided to save you."


    "So, what is the catch?" Having had a very tough life while growing up, Sach knew that nothing was free especially when it came with the nobles.


    Having read Sach''s profile, the hidden man had expected such a reply. "You are given a proposal, but there is no catch involved. Saving you is a reward for not carrying out the task, so we want nothing in return."


    "As for the proposal. Prince Bryon had read about your past and achievements in the school. He has found you worthy and would like you to work for him." The hidden man said.


    "Recruit me for what?" Sach couldn''t help but ask.


    "That you don''t need to know, but you rest assured that it won''t be something bad." The hidden man stated.


    He''s not being given much info on it was risky, but what was worse than dying. Besides he was meant to be dead by now.


    "So what''s in for me?" Although he was meant to be grateful for saving his life, Sach always tried to bargain for a gain in all situations.


    "You will receive training to improve your fighting capabilities and be given extra resources. Also, you will receive protection from any other assassination attempts and you will no longer need to fear the nobles." The hidden man exined.


    ''This is more than double thest offer.'' Sach was stunned by the benefits.


    Although he wouldn''t be given arge amount of wealth like the previous offer. He was to receive training at the noble standard and since there was no need to fear the nobles any longer, he could aim for the rank 1.


    The most important benefit was receiving protection from future assassination attempts.


    Sach knew how vengeful and cautious nobles were. If he didn''t ept the offer, it was certain that more assassins will be sent to silence him.


    "I agree to the offer." From the hidden man''s words, it seemed as if Sach had an option, but they both knew the other option was death.


    "Good. Your next line of action will bemunicated to you in theing days. So just live life as if nothing happened." The hidden man stood up from the fire construct chair. "I don''t need to exin to you why this should be kept a secret, but if you decided to do otherwise, then I will end you personally."


    It was at that moment that the light blinked for a second, but the only thing Sach could catch was that the hidden man possessed red hair.


    After the blink, the light finally turned on, but both the red-haired man and the fire construct were nowhere to be found.


    ''Was the threat necessary?!'' Sach shook his head but didn''t dare to say it out, in fear that the red-haired man had just turned invisible.


    ''With the way the castle''s core is being breached, and with how different people keep popping up in my room without the school noticing. I wonder if the core has a single defensive array on it.'' Shaking his head, Sach went to take a bath and rest because it had been a long day.


    ¡­


    ke was still tired and would have loved to stay an hour more in the steam hot bathtub, but his protest going on in his belly was turning into a civil war.


    He quickly put on his clothes and dashed towards the canteen, but on entering the students in the area stood up and began pping. In no time, he was receiving a standing ovation from all the students in the canteen.

 Chapter 243: I like you.

    <h4>Chapter 243: I like you.</h4>


    He quickly put on his clothes and dashed towards the canteen, but on entering, the students in the area stood up and began pping. In no time, he was receiving a standing ovation from all the students in the canteen.


    ''What the hell is going on here?'' With his mind focused on pleasing his belly, ke was stunned and confused by the reaction of the students.


    [It is quite surprising to see even the nobles apuding your performance.] The system said.


    ke had most likely saved a friend or someone rted to the nobles. But knowing how much hate they had formoners, he hadn''t expected them to apud him.


    ''So how am I to react?'' ke couldn''t help but ask because he was feeling awkward just standing and doing nothing as the students pped.


    (AN: Have you ever been in such a situation and you end up pping for yourself. Lol.)


    [I don''t know. It isn''t as if you care about them, but make sure not to p for yourself.] The system said.


    ''Thank the heavens you said that on time cause I was this close to doing it.'' ke thought as he used the system''s detection skill to locate Luciano and the rest.


    By the time ke had gotten to the group''s table, the students were done pping and had continued with their meals.


    "What''s going on guys¡­" Just as ke greeted his friends, Tessie stood up and gave him a tight hug.


    ''What the hell is wrong with everybody today?'' ke thought.


    [How will you react when the person you like risked her life and was unconscious for hours?] The system shook its head.


    "You don''t have to worry, I am fine now." ke gave in to the hug and wrapped his hands around her.


    After a few seconds, ke saw she had no ns of letting and their actions were getting a lot of attention. "Well, I won''t be alright if I don''t get to eat."


    His words snapped her out of her reverie, and on seeing the number of students that had their eyes on them, her face turned beet-red.


    ''Yup, she didn''t think of how people will react before acting.'' ke chuckled when he saw Tessie''s reaction.


    "How are you all doing?" ke asked as he took a seat and began ordering dinner.


    "We are the ones meant to be asking that question." Luciano said.


    "Apart from my grumbling stomach, I am fine." ke said with a smile as he began digging into his ale-zed beef.


    "Are you sure because mana exhaustion is quite serious?" Luciano asked because during all the fights he had noticed that ke was using almost twice the mana of a student.


    He was worried because once one exhausted the store mana in his stars and continued to cast spells. They would be draining energy from their life essence to cast spells and that would lead toplications that might even cripple one''s cultivation.


    "Yeah, I am sure. I have been through worse so you don''t have to worry." ke said with a stuffed mouth.


    The reason he was surprised when he found out that he was knocked out for 6 hours, was because there had been multiple asions where he was unconscious for almost an entire day.


    Most of it urred when he was in the underground facility. There, he had been pushing both his mental and mana capacity to the limit.


    The reason why he had such a grievous headache was that he had used mind boost for a long and was now experiencing the bacsh.


    That was why Castiel and Brian weren''t that worried about him because he had really been through worse.


    "So.. who won the survival exercise and why haven''t I received any points?" For his performance in the exercise, ke was meant to receive a chunk of exchange points. But when he checked his exchange points were still the same.


    "ording to principal Lovren, you were the MVP of the test. So you have to regain consciousness before anything happens." Castiel exined.


    At that moment ke who had his head down stopped eating and looked up. "He said that?" ke asked in a shocked expression.


    "Yeah." Castiel nodded.


    "That is new¡­" ke said as he continued eating.


    ¡­


    After dinner, the group had chatted for some time before they all went to their rooms.


    When ke got to the corridor where his room was located, he saw Cami and it seemed she was waiting for something.


    "Were you waiting for me?" ke was confused because practically nobody hade looking for him in his room. And even if there was someone Cami was way done in the list.


    "Yes." Cami nodded.


    "Alright. So how can I be of help?" ke asked.


    "I came to thank you for saving me and my brother." Cami said.


    "Serhan is your brother?" ke was shocked.


    [Here is an image of the 2nd year rank 1.] The system reyed a memory of Serhan. From the time Serhan had tried to cause trouble till when they attacked him with lightning reinforcement active.


    ''Wow, I didn''t get the chance to notice the resemnce.'' ke thought.


    "Yes, he is and I am here to thank you on both our behalfs." Cami bowed.


    "Let''s take a walk before passersby begin thinking of something else." With that ke and Cami began walking down the long corridor.


    "You know I don''t care if you thank me or not. Also, by now you should know that I am not na?ve and your tricks can''t work on me." ke said. "So, why are you apologizing?"


    "Because it is the right thing to do." Cami answered, but from ke''s expression he sure wasn''t buying it.


    "Alright, I will say it. For the fact that even though the nobles are against you, and you still risked your life to save them means you don''t deserve the injustice from the nobles." Cami said. "This is why I want to sincerely apologize for every time I have wronged you or your friends."


    "Finally¡­" At this point, Cami paused and even stood still. "I¡­ I¡­ like you."

 Chapter 244: You have to prove it.

    <h4>Chapter 244: You have to prove it.</h4>


    "I am apologizing because I really do like you and I want us to be lovers." Cami said after she mustered confidence.


    "¡­" For a moment ke was stunned by Cami''s sudden confession because he had in no way expected that.


    Looking at Cami, ke saw that her head was lowered to avoid eye contact. Her smooth face had turned beet-red and her fingers didn''t stop moving around.


    ''Seems like her seductive acts is how she masks true nature. Right now she reminds me of a less shy version of Tessie.'' ke thought.


    "Your first reason is horse shit." ke said causing Cami to look up. "The problem with you nobles is that you all think that all that matters is power and wealth. So all thosecking any or both of them are not considered humans."


    "If it was anothermoner that saved your lives, will you thank him or feel disgusted?" ke said. I don''t care much about what is going on between the nobles andmoners, but think of it.


    "Commoners can''t harm or rival you nobles in both wealth and power, and will not, even if given the power. It is only when they were treated like shit that the thought of revenge wille into thought." At this point, ke took in deep breaths to calm himself down.


    "The only reason I can think of is that nobles are afraid that themoners will rise and crush if they were left to grow. That is why they keep on scheming to stunt their growth, but that brings us to the question. Why don''t you just treat them right and avoid the inevitable destruction from their uprising?" ke said.


    Infinite realm was meant to be a world ruled by the strong no matter the race or background, but the nobles had reconfigured it in such a way that only those with a certain background were allowed to rule.


    "As for your proposal, let me ask you 1 question. Why should I trust you after you have been against me on multiple asions? Besides, you are a top noble and I am amoner?" ke asked as he stared into her eyes.


    "You know I am sincere. You can see it in my eyes."?Cami said as her eyes were beginning to tear up.


    "Even if I could see it in your eyes. It doesn''t mean that all the times you have wronged me will automatically be erased. You have to prove it." ke said as he kept a straight face.


    "Are you saying you don''t like me?" Cami asked to confirm as tears rolled down her eyes.


    "I never said that, right now I am not sure if I like you or not. All along you have been giving me a reason not to. So all I am saying is for you to give me a reason to like you." ke said.


    "¡­" Cami was silently sobbing as she was trying to think of a reason, but after a while of silence, she concluded that there was none.


    "Thank you for making me realize a lot of things." Cami said with a forced smile before she left ke.


    Due to being one of the most beautiful nobles in the empire, she has been receiving a lot of proposals from nobles and evenmoners who couldn''t control themselves and were stupid to propose to her. Ultimately they had all been rejected, but right now she truly understood how every one of them felt.


    What hit her the most was that all this would have been avoided and ke would have most probably liked her from the beginning if she wasn''t like other nobles.


    [I saw what you did there, I must say you are truly evil.] The system said as they both watched Cami sobbing as she left the area.


    ke hadn''t outrightly rejected her, but he made her feel bad about herself, before making her feel indebted to him.


    Although she was meant to feel bad and indebted. The speech he gave about the nobles would more than double how bad and indebted she felt. So right now, he was looking forward to her turning a new leaf and doing a lot of crazy things to prove herself.


    ''I don''t like seeing a damsel in distress or even cause distress to one, but it had to be done.'' ke said to the system.


    (AN: Out of Cami and Tessie, who do you guys think deserves ke? The first to have feelings for him (Cami), but had some shes with him because of her family or the one that has been true to him from the moment they met?)


    ''Love is blind.'' ke thought as he turned and went to his room.


    When ke got to his room, after some seconds of thinking of something to keep himself busy, he decided to get some more rest.


    "So what do you think about the investigation?" ke asked the system as hey on the bed.


    ording to what Luciano and the rest had told him. The mind-controlled nobles were interrogated, but they had no memories of the pieces of jewelry and had no idea it was even on them.


    It sounded unbelievable, so the ash corps used the power of a demi-god lumomancer to gain ess into their memories and it turned out that they were speaking the truth. They had no idea of how they got in possession of the jewelries and it was as if they were not there whenever they looked at it.


    [It''s most likely that directly or indirectly (their consent or them being forced by their parents) they had agreed to the assassination, but they had no idea of how it was going to happen.] The system said. [Since no one important apart from the mind-controlled nobles died and the fact that there are top nobles involved, they weren''t punished in any way.]


    "If Luciano happened to have died. The royal family would have been the only top noble family left." ke shivered when he thought of the amount of blood that would have been shed.

 Chapter 245: I can get used to this.

    <h4>Chapter 245: I can get used to this.</h4>


    The next day.


    After breakfast, all students were told to assemble at one of the auditoriums in regards to the team test.


    When ke and his team arrived at the auditorium they found the 2nd year students seated on the right side, while the 1st year students were asked to seat at the left hand side.


    "Does anyone have any idea why Cami is looking in our direction like that?" Brian whispered to the group.


    "Is it me or are her eyes kind of swollen. Like the one you get from crying a lot?" Castiel couldn''t help but ask.


    It was when ke looked over in her direction did she stop staring.


    Everyone turned to ke at the same time, but he acted as if he had no clue of their presence.


    ''Did she propose to him?'' Brian''s eyes widened.


    ''Did he reject her proposal?'' At this moment, Brian stood still as his eyes and mouth were wide open.


    ''If other students were to find out that he had rejected such a goddess, there is a high chance they will mob him!'' Brian thought as the group took a seat.


    After all the students were seated, a warp gate opened and principal Lovren alongside Professor Gibson and Instructor Zirrack.


    "By now you all should have heard about the incident that urred in the elite ss team test." Principal Lovren referred to members of the normal ss.


    (AN: Remember it''s only the first-year ss that is divided into the elite and normal ss.)


    "Before I go into what caused the death of 3 students, I want to exin how every location for exercises, tests, and examinations are scouted and chosen." Principal Lovren began exining every step they took to ensure the safety of the students.


    "At the first siting of the ant colony, multiple scouts were carried out on the hive. Their numbers were a little bit above a thousand, which isn''t considered dangerous." Principal Lovren exined. "Although we were unable to detect the thranium vein we could still warp any student out of the area in case something was to go wrong."


    "It was when all the ants had been deployed and the ant queen was about to evolve that we decided to end the test and everyone back to the school. But it was then that the school''s core was taken control by an unknown person, but this isn''t the first time." Principal Lovren began exining to them what had happened during thest survival exercise.


    "This is where I will have to apologize to everyone, especially ke. At that time I was frustrated about the death of my students, and we were still trying to figure out how and who bypassed the core''s defenses." Principal Lovren bowed in ke''s direction. "To apologize for reacting in a wrong manner, you will be rewarded 5k points."


    [I told you there was something behind it.] The system said to ke who just ignored it.


    "Moving over to the next topic which is the mind-controlled nobles. Till now the ash corps hasn''t been able to trace anyone, due to the high level of anti-tracking array ced on the pieces of jewelry and crucial parts of their memories." Principal Lovren said with a stern look on his face.


    He knew the mind-controlled nobles had in one way or another consented to the n. He wanted to severely punish them for attempting to kill their fellow student, but he didn''t have enough evidence.


    "With the 2 points mentioned, it is certain that the incidents of both the survival exercise and that of the team test were orchestrated by the nobles." Lovren''s statement caused quite somemotion as the hall was divided into 2.


    One half was themoner and they reasoned that there was no waymoners would have such resources to bypass the school''s defenses. To further prove their point, even after the ash corps had upgraded the school''s defenses, the same thing happened again.


    The second half was the nobles and just as expected were denying having any hand in the incident. They were protesting that they shouldn''t band both innocent and guilty parties together.


    "Uhm!" Principal Lovren cleared his throat causing the entire hall to turn silent before continuing. "The school has noticed the increase in the misuse of status by the nobles. Previous crimes shall be overlooked but anyone caught from now on will be severely punished."


    ''Looks like he has some kind of beef with the nobles.'' ke thought as he saw a deep frown on Lovren''s face.


    "Before Professor Gibson takes over, I want to warn you all just in case something like this reurs. In future exercises, I want you all to bear in mind that there is a possibility that the school wouldn''t be able to save you. So don''t go taking extreme risks. Good day to you all." With that said, Principal Lovren warped out of the stage.


    "Before I go on to the main event, I would like to announce that the school has decided to reward everyone that was affected by the incident. 5k points for everyone that was still in the test location when the school''s core was down, except for the mind-controlled nobles that is..."


    This caused the few mind controlled nobles to protest, but it took only angry gazes from their peers to shut them up.


    "Also the school will be rewarding ke, Luciano and Damon for their act of their selflessness and bravery. Damon will receive 10k points for his crucial role in leading most of the students to a safety.


    Luciano will receive 15k points and 5 knight rank beast cores for holding off a horde of ants and buying time for the nobles to be saved.


    Finally, ke will be rewarded 20k points and 10 knight rank beast cores for not leaving anyone behind even though the mind controlled students were clearly after his life."


    Immediately Professor Gibson was done with the announcements, rounds of apuds echoed all around the hall.


    ''This I can get used to.'' ke said with a smirk.

 Chapter 246: Soul candles.

    <h4>Chapter 246: Soul candles.</h4>


    Once the students had settled down, Professor Gibson continued. "The team exercise aimed to give the 2nd year students a go at leadership experience, and to teach the 1st years how to take order from superiors."


    "I won''t give a long pep talk. Let''s see how you all performed." Multiple disys appeared all around the hall. The first image that appeared was that of ke''s team when they go to the ant hive.


    "In this situation, Sach was well aware of his strength as well as his weaknesses. So he didn''t waste time to temporarily pass team leadership to ke who had more experience in situations like this." Professor Gibson exined as he switched to a different scene.


    It was the scene of Haldor''s team. It showed how their team leader, Tanvir''s performance.


    The team consisted of 4moners and not only was he treating his team like shit, but he assaulted and harshly scolded them on every mistake they made.


    When it came to hunting knight rank beasts he made them left thest hit to him and ended up taking all the knight rank beast cores.


    "A good leader should always keep in mind that his top priority is his followers. Tanvir''s foolish and greedy decisions led to his team eliminating him in a well-deserved manner." Professor Gibson said with a smirk.


    The eyes of almost the entire auditorium turned to the 2nd year section in search of the moron, but luckily his off-white-colored cast that wrapped almost his entire body made him stick out like a sore thumb.


    As part of his punishments, the school didn''t patch him up with light or water magic, but by the normal means meaning it would take a while till he fully recovered.


    "Wow, that was one hell of a beating." ke was finding it hard to hold back hisughter.


    Many including the second years wanted to spit on him and even give him a beating of their own, but with the presence of both Professor Gibson and Instructor Zirrack who has been silent all through, no one dared.


    "As you can see he is currently being punished, but that isn''t all. His score in the exercise will be distributed among his team making it as good as he didn''t participate in the test." On hearing this the students thought it was a well-deserved punishment.


    "These 2 are just the best and worse types of leadership skills that were disyed during the test. Now, let''s move to team scores." A holographic projection appeared in front of Gibson.


    "This was both a survival and an objective-based test. So all those eliminated are by default below those that survived¡­" There were murmurs but he ignored them and continued. "Also points gained after the test was canceled don''t count."


    Professor Gibson went on announcing the positions of each team. Tessie''s team came in 10th position, Brian in 8th position, Castiel in 3rd, Luciano in 2nd, and ke in 1st.


    As the number 1 team, ke and his fellow teammates received 30k points and 20 knight-rank beast cores each.


    "We will be moving over to the best leader of test and it has a reward of 10k points. This was quite a close call between ke and Luciano but it goes to His Highness." After the round of apuds, Professor Gibson exined the reason why.


    Apart from nning methods of hunting, most of ke''s escapades were those with Damon. On the other hand, all activities carried out by Luciano were with his team and the fact that he was leading right from the start gave him an edge over ke.


    "Finally, the MVP of the test undoubtedly goes to ke. 10k points reward and 4 soul candles to him for his outstanding performance." Professor Gibson announced causing an uproar.


    "4 entire soul candlesticks, isn''t that too much?!" A first-year noble shouted.


    "Isn''t it suspicious that the school didn''t give Luciano any other thing apart from points, but gave him something special?"


    The uproar was entirely caused by nobles from both 1st and 2nd years, themoners were quiet because most of them had no clue of what the soul candles were, and that included ke.


    Seeing the look on ke''s face, Luciano decided to exin the reason for all the noise.


    "Soul candles are dark blue candlesticks which when lit produce darkish blue mes and a sweet scent. The sweet scent of the soul candles increases the user''s awareness and mana control so far you are still in the area.


    Most importantly, it induces the state of mana vision to the user and lets the user experience it for a short period." Luciano exined.


    "That exins a lot!" ke was stunned by the effects. Although it may not sound like much, something that could put him in the state of mana vision for some time was magical.


    (AN; Note he tapped into the system''s mana vision, so he hasn''t felt it.)


    "How much do you think they cost?" Castiel couldn''t help but ask after seeing how the nobles were reacting to the news.


    "A lot. You can say it is very rare and expensive for even nobles. That is why even the top 3 families can''t provide it for all their descendants in the first years only a selected few." Luciano said.


    "I wonder how many things you nobles get that wemoners don''t have an idea of?" Brian thought.


    "They do get a lot more than you can imagine. Almost no noble family would want their descendant''s rank to be below that of amoner so they keep giving them everything they need and more." Luciano said.


    "That exins theirck of skills and morals." Castiel said in anger. It was vexing that the nobles got all they needed but still ended up being useless.


    "That is exactly what the royal family is against. They believe in natural talent so as long as you are not on a certain level you don''t receive anything no matter who you are." Luciano said with a hint of pride in his tone.


    "Dismissed!" Professor Gibson announced before warping away with Instructor Zirrack.


    "Forgot those 2 were still there." With his mind still focused on the soul candles ke was unaware of his environment.

 Chapter 247: Narcotic effects of soul candles.

    <h4>Chapter 247: Narcotic effects of soul candles.</h4>


    "Doesn''t it feel weird that the 2nd years were here with us, but it didn''t feel like they took part in both the test and assemble?" ke asked when he looked over at the 2nd year students who were making their way out of the auditorium.


    "You feel that way because they didn''t have a noteworthy performance especially as seniors." Luciano said as he too got up.


    "The person who everyone was looking forward to his performance was Serhan, but you have seemed to suppress him throughout the test." ke stated but Luciano didn''t deny it rather he smiled.


    ''He took out thepetition without even baiting an eye.'' Castiel was astonished by the revtion.


    [From my analysis from the test highlights and the 2nd year students you faced. I havee to a conclusion that 2nd-year students are generally weaker than the 1st years.] The system stated.


    ''I have to confess the school''s method is quite effective. Although most of the nobles are practicing pay to win to a certain extent, the school''s training has forced them to reach a decent level when it came to their overall fighting capabilities.'' ke thought.


    Unlike other sets, ke''s set had an almost hundred percent interaction rate with practical magic. With people like Mack Hoffenheim and Instructor Zirrack, ke''s set could boast of superior physical and magical capabilities.


    ''No wonder it felt kind ofcking when I fought the second years.'' ke realized when he thought back to the fights he had with some of the second-year team leaders.


    Although he always had superior stats when it came to closebat due to the enhanced lightning reinforcement and void daggers. All his fights right from when he was ''assassinating'' teams, till when he caused them tomit ''suicide'', the only memorable moment wasn''t any close-quartersbat, but the fusion magic.


    [Seems you guys are really underappreciating Zirrack''s efforts.] The system pointed out.


    When Zirrack had first introduced himself, he had mentioned to them that no matter one''s ss, they would receive a standard level ofbat training. This made a lot of people curse him, silently that is, but right now the difference was already visible whenpared to the 2nd year students.


    Not long after the assembly was dismissed everyone had returned to their rooms to count their gains.


    "A lot of points but not many things to spend it on." ke thought of what he could blow more than 100k points which he has been umting on, but nothing came to mind.


    [ording to lists of items at the exchange store, there are many things to spend your points on. It is just that you don''t have an idea of most of their functions and you feel almost everything is a waste of points.] Once again the system hit him at his weakness which was his stinginess.


    "We are done with the test. So what''s on the list of things to do?" ke asked the system changing the topic.


    [You know you are the one that always starts topics like that. So why change it?] The system chuckled.


    "Just answer the question." ke rolled his eyes.


    [Mana vision.


    Fusion magic.


    Still learning the Integration method.


    2nd stage of Raiju breathing technique.


    Lessons of body enhancement still going on.] The system listed out the items on his to-do list.


    "If not for the space inheritance, dimension magic would have been among them." ke thought.


    "ke Wilson your package has arrived." A voice was from the walls of the room was heard.


    "Wow, that was quicker than I expected." ke thought as he turned to the reading table not too far from his bed.


    There were 2 dimensional amulets. The 1st was his monthly resources given to him by the school for his position as the rank 1, while the second dimensional amulet was the test reward.


    He picked up the 2nd dimensional amulet that had been sent from the school and activated it.


    On activating it, multiple knight rank beast core appeared on the bed, followed by 4 darkish blue candles.


    ''This can wait, let''s check what vors these bad boys are.'' On seeing the soul candles ke put aside checking out the second dimensional amulet.


    "Good thing there are no windows for the fragrance to escape to." ke said as he ignored the system''s throat-clearing actions and sat in a crossed-legged position before lightning one of the soul candles.


    On lighting one of the candles, ke began taking in steady but deep breaths.


    ''Mint vor with the simr effects to weed. Even on earth, this will be highly sorted out for.'' ke thought as he felt his body and mind getting lighter.


    Ignoring ke''s uselessment the system began asking him questions in order to analyze the effects of the soul candles.


    ''So far, apart from feeling high, I don''t feel any different.'' ke said to the system.


    [Luciano mentioned something about mana control so try casting a spell.] The system instructed ke.


    ke cast a basic fireball but didn''t stop there. He began using the power of an ignitor to change the shape of the fireball to that of the Eiffel tower.


    "I can feel that my mana control is up a bit." ke said in a surprised tone. ''It''s been only 5mins and it has such effects. At this rate, we could be looking at doing some crazy shit!''


    [Remember that increased mana control isn''t the main reason why these things are costly. Let''s see how long it takes till the mana vision automatically kicks in.] The system said.


    So far, unlike ke who was impressed by the narcotic effects and increased mana control from the soul candles. The system saw them as overprized bars of darkish blue wax until they disyed the promised effects.


    ke maintained the same position for 30 more minutes and the fire Eiffel tower structure in front of him had tripled in size and had gotten more details. As each second passed by ke felt like the mana around him was getting clearer.

 Chapter 248: Commission from the Winchester family.

    <h4>Chapter 248: Commission from the Winchester family.</h4>


    It soon got to the stage he was getting a glimpse of the blue mana with his eyes. At that moment he felt like the entire environment including his was damped by a liquid.


    2 hourster after the soul candle was lit, the color of the air in the room had changed to blue and so did ke''s eyes. His ck pupil had changed to light blue while his eyes as a whole began radiating a blue color.


    "Is this mana vision?" ke waited for the system''s confirmation before he could celebrate.


    [Yes, it is the initial stage of mana vision. At this stage, you can see the basic representation of spells as the blue form of mana, but the effects of the candle aren''t done yet.] The system exined.


    ke looked around the room, and apart from the damped blue look and the now mana Eiffel tower in front of him, everything had remained the same.


    Unlike average candles that couldst 5 ¨C 7 hours straight of burning, ke had been in the same position for a lit bit close to 3 hours and the soul candles had gone half.


    "Not bad, 6 hours of narcotic effects will be considered godly back on Earth." ke thought aloud as he continued to inhale the mint scent fragrance of the soul candles.


    His sensory skills continually kept on getting sharper. After 5 hours, he felt like the environment pixels had shed skin and had gotten brighter.


    [I think you have reached the 2nd stage of mana vision. Try casting an arcane spell.] The system instructed ke.


    ke followed his instructions and conjured an arcane barrier, but this time it wasn''t blue. The block of mana had turned to abination of colors thatprised of the 9 elements.


    His eyes moved from the mana barrier to his sheets which now had a blue kind of glow to it.


    "Seems everything really is made out of mana. I just need to go into more levels of mana vision for everything to turn to mana particles." ke thought.


    "Almost forgot to check this out." ke took out an array inscribing te from his dimensional space and inscribed a basic mana gathering array.


    "Why isn''t everything like when I share your mana vision?" ke couldn''t help but ask the system because right now he was feeling scammed.


    [The 1st stage of mana vision grants you the ability to see mana. The 2nd stage breaks down the mana into its 9ponents. It is from the 3rd stage that the quality of magnification of your vision increases. If not everyone can go ahead and start cracking arrays.] The system exined.


    "You got me hyped for no reason." ke could onlyin because he couldn''t sue the system for false advertisements.


    Just as expected the soul candle got burnt out at the 6-hour mark and immediately the narcotic effect wore off.


    "Things are getting better, not only can you get high for 6 hours straight but you will return to normal with no side effects immediately after using it." ke couldn''t help but imagine being a trillionaire from trafficking soul candles.


    [Ahmm!] The system cleared its throat.


    "Alright back to business." ke got serious and began recounting what he felt when he activated mana vision.


    The main reason he used the soul candles was to give him a feeling of using mana vision and giving him something to refer to.


    "My mana sensitivity was increasing rapidly. It felt as if everything was peeling away and was getting clearer." ke paused as he began thinking of his next approach, but that was when his adventurermunication amulet began ringing.


    "What could the association possibly want from me?" ke thought as he picked up the call and a hologram of Susan appeared.


    "Mr. Zero there is a jobmissioned to the order of chaos adventurer party by the Winchester family. We would like to know if you will be avable to ept themission?" Susan reported.


    "My team will need more info about themission before we can make a decision." ke replied to Susan.


    "Of course, the information will be sent to themunication amulet. Whenever you are done making a decision you can call up the association using the amulet." Susan informed him. "Also note that the earlier the better."


    Once the conversation with Susan was cut off, ke left his room in search of both Castiel and Brian.


    To make sure he didn''t move around in circles or miss them ke used the powers of a Locator.


    The irvoyant ash light led him to Brian''s room before he led them to band together and moved to Castiel''s room.


    "The Winchester family wants us to transport crates containing liquor, spirits, and so on. From their manor to one of their establishments which is a popr pub in the slums." ke exined the details of the mission to the rest.


    "Doesn''t sound difficult and it is something we can aplish in a day." Castiel said.


    "I say we ept themission." Brian suggested.


    "Since you 2 say so then it is agreed." ke said as he began contacting Susan to inform her that they were epting themission.


    Once the info was ryed to Susan, the trio boarded a carriage that took them to the association where they met Arnold, the butler of the Winchester family.


    "Good day adventurer Zero. Before we go ahead in determining a price for themission. I have been tasked to deliver something to you." Arnold brought out a gift wrapped in leather and sealed with wax that bore the insignia of the Winchester family.


    "The Winchester family congrattes you on your outstanding and brave performance in the recently concluded team test." Arnold said as he handed ke the package.


    "Thank you." ke made a courtesy bow as he undoubtedly collected the free gift and ced it in his dimensional space.


    With that out of the way, both parties began going back and forth in the price for themission.

 Chapter 249: Black scorpion gang.

    <h4>Chapter 249: ck scorpion gang.</h4>


    When they were still D rank adventurers their rate for escort missions was 6k gold coins. Meaning that now they were a C rank adventurer party their charges were meant to increase by more than double.


    "Although it is a simple escort mission I say we should leave it at 12k gold coins. It isn''t up to the charges for C rank escort mission and there will be no need topensate us for any extras that may ur." ke said to Arnold.


    "I agreed to your proposal." Arnold didn''t waste to agree to ke''s terms. He knew that ke reduced the charge out of his goodwill to the Winchester family. So just like ke, he couldn''t say no to a free gift.


    Since the payment was settled and the contribution points were to be determined by the association after themission, the group left for the Winchester manor where the packages were to be picked up.


    Soon they arrived at the manor gate which bore the insignia of a crowned shield that had a 4 leaf clover at its center.


    When they went past the gate, they crossed the fantastically geometric hedges and got to a fountain with a 3 faced sculpture of a shield with a 4 leaf clover, and on top of them was a crown that spouted water from its tips.


    Once the carriage stopped, Arnold left the carriage to make preparations for the mission. Not long after 2 empty carriages parked right in front of the fountain and soon rows after rows of servants carrying crates made their way out of the mansion to the carriages.


    It took less than 30 minutes for both carriages to be filled up and for Arnold to return to the carriage they were in.


    "Everything is ready, shall we?" Once they gave Arnold the signal that they were also ready, he tapped on his specialmunication amulet and the 3 carriages began making their way out of the Winchester manor.


    ke''s party was located at the carriage at the center to enable them easily monitor and take action in case they were attacked.


    Unlike the carriages of Earth that needed to be protected by bodyguards on horses and other contraptions, those of Infinite realm were quite different.


    They possessed defensive mechanisms like barrier arrays and energy attacks powered by the carriage''s energy core. Also, they possessed detection arrays, concealing arrays, tracking jamming arrays and so on, to make sure they had control of their environment and didn''t get ambushed.


    [This just confirms our suspicion that the Winchester family wants to rope in you guys, especially you.] The system said to ke. It was now clear because he had won the team test and on the same day they were giving him a gift. It was as if they were monitoring his every progress.


    ''That is why I don''t ask for favors and why all my actions are not siding any noble family.'' ke said to the system as he kept on monitoring the carriage''s radar.


    ''I wonder if Tessie is aware that we are on amission from the Winchester family.'' Brian asked in their mind link.


    ''I doubt it. It''s not as if they need to get permission from her to have deals with us.'' ke said. ''Also, the less she knows of our deals the better because things like this can make our rtionship with her awkward.''


    "I agree with ke." Castiel thought.


    It didn''t take long, the 3 carriages made their way out of the mid-region and into the slums. If there was somewhere something was to go wrong, it was here.


    For 30 more minutes, the pressure was high as the carriages made their way through the streets of the slum.


    "Just another turn and we will arrive, but first we havepany." Arnold informed the trio, but that was when the sound of heavy metals dropping to the floor was heard.


    It turned out that a group of 20 bandits had blocked the road with what looked like spikes contraptions to prevent carriages from moving any further.


    "We are under attack." ke said with a deep frown on his face. Why would they be attacked when they were just some minutes away from their destination?


    "Let''s see what they have to say." Arnold seemed unbothered as he looked at the disy of the bandits.


    "We are from the ck scorpion gang and we already know there are 3 adventurers in the middle carriage. All we want is 10% of the contents from the carriages and no one gets hurt." The hairy bare-chested man who seemed to be their leader announced.


    "10 percent! That is daylight robbery." Brian eximed, but he got ''isn''t that what they are doing'' faces from both ke and Castiel.


    "Are there any specifics on how you want them to be taken care of?" ke asked Arnold as they were about to step out of the carriage.


    "They haven''t disyed any intent to kill. So try not to kill any." Arnold replied.


    "Alright, guys let''s get this over and end thismission." The carriage door opened and the trio stepped out.


    ''So what are we looking at?'' ke asked the system as he scanned through the bandits that were mostly above 30 years of age.


    [Just 10 champions and 10 warriors. No artifact in sight. These guys are just small time bandits.] The system reported to ke after running and analysis on the bandits.


    "Kids?! Hahaha!" The hairy bare chested bandit burst intoughter.


    "They were aware that they were passing through the turf of the ke scorpions and they still had the guts to hire kids as bodyguards? Seems you take us for granted, time to show why we control this side of the slums. Get am!" The leader bandit shouted.


    The 10 warrior level bandits charged at the trio while the champion level bandits began charging different spells to attack them.


    "I must give it to them. They are quite organized for bandits." ke said as he activated lightning reinforcement and Ebony and Ivory appeared in his hands.

 Chapter 250: Business proposal.

    <h4>Chapter 250: Business proposal.</h4>


    "I must give it to them. They are quite organized for bandits." ke said as he activated lightning reinforcement and Ebony and Ivory appeared in his hands.


    ''Brian you should protect the carriages, I and Castiel will handle them.'' ke said to Brian who jumped on top of the carriage and began casting water barriers around the carriages.


    As for ke, since Arnold told him not to kill anyone he used Ebony and Ivory to slice apart both spells and weapons of the bandits.


    With just his base speed and physical abilities as a champion, it didn''t take up to 3 minutes for them to dispatch the 10 warrior-level bandits.


    "Boss, what should we do?" One of the bandits asked the bare-chested leader.


    The bandits nned to rob the carriages attack the adventures while simultaneously robbing the carriages. That was why they continuously fired spells at both the adventurers and the carriages to deplete their shields.


    They had thought it would be an easy operation where they would easily break into the carriage and cart away with as many goods as possible before the ash corps arrived, but everything seemed to have been turned on its head.


    Not only were the 3 adventurers not being overpowered by their sheer number, but every attack they seemed to throw at the carriages was being blocked by the dark muscr kid on dreadlocks.


    "We can''t break through the carriage''s defense like this. Everybody focus on the 2 kids on the ground!" The bare-chested banditmanded, but that was when night mist began filling the area.


    "What is going on?" One of the bandits asked in a confused tone when their vision was getting blurry.


    The bandits could be considered to be bumpkins when it came to magic. Because they have lived all their lives in the slums where magic was rare, they didn''t have the exposure the magic school gave them causing them to have no clue of what the darkness element looked like.


    In a matter of seconds, the bandits began losing sight of themselves as the ck mist engulfed them all.


    In fear of the unknown, the bandits fired spells in all directions, but since they couldn''t see or hear theirpanions they felt that they weren''t hitting anyone so they continued in an attempt to stop any ambush.


    "We can seriously watch them wipe out each other." Castiel said to ke who was watching the chaos ensue from the top of the 1st carriage.


    "It would be nice to watch that, but we can''t keep the client waiting." ke replied.


    If they were to wait, the bandits would most likely wipe themselves out, and even if they were smart enough to realize they were attacking each other, it would be toote because they would have no energy to move.


    "Whatever you say." Castiel said as they both dived into the ck mist.


    With the enhanced speed granted by the night mist, Castiel was phasing through the shadows and knocking out the bandits. On the other hand, ke was appearing to the bandits as shes of electricity before they lost consciousness.


    "The ash corps should already be on their way, lets get out of here." ke and Castiel stepped into the carriage, while Brian manipted the earth to restrict and get the unconscious bandits out of way.


    ''Seriously? You think binding them with earth will stop them from escaping?'' Castiel asked with a raised brow.


    ''I know practically everyone can break free from the earth binds, but it is way better than not binding them at all." Brian exined his actions.


    On Earth handcuffing a criminal to a fixed object was more than enough to make sure that the police capture them, but in Infinite realm, things like normal handcuffs were beyond useless. The only reason Brian had bonded them was to make sure that any passer-by would know that they were bandits.


    With everything cleared up, the unharmed carriages and drivers continued on their journey, and in a matter of minutes, they arrived at the brotherhood pub.


    It was a one-story pub more than thrice the size of your usual pub. The brotherhood pub was among the top 5 pubs in the entire slums and it was usually packed to the brim at the end of working hours.


    The brotherhood pub was one of the many establishments of the Winchester family, but unlike most of them that were run by trained personnel from the Winchester family, this one was managed by amoner.


    With the history of enmity between the nobles andmoners, it had be a normal urrence formoners to not patronize noble establishments. They were all against the idea of making them richer.


    That is why the Winchester family had made the smart move of making someone themoners could rte, to be the face of the establishment.


    Regrly themoners knew the pub had a kind of rtionship with the Winchester family, but charlie the pub owner had ''exined'' to them that the rtionship between the Winchester family and the pub was that of a buyer and supplier.


    Themoners had no problems with this because everyone knew that themoners didn''t have ess to high-quality alcohol and neither could they produce it. So those things were left to the nobles.


    After the crates were offloaded by the workers of the pub, the trio alongside Arnold and 2 empty carriages left the slums and returned to the Winchester family.


    They were about to be taken back to the adventurers association, but that was when ke made a business proposal.


    "From what I saw today, it is safe to say the gang is terrorizing the area and is in one way affecting business. Is there a chance that we could deal with them?" ke''s question stunned Castiel, Brian, and even Arnold.


    ''What the fuck are you doing?'' Brian couldn''t help but ask through the mind link.


    ''This is a chance for us to make a name for ourselves and rapidly get contribution points.'' ke replied.

 Chapter 251: Business proposal II.

    <h4>Chapter 251: Business proposal II.</h4>


    "I am not in any position to make a decision. Let me report this to my master and give you feedback." Arnold said to ke as he went into the mansion.


    "Don''t you think you should have told us before doing that?" Castiel asked.


    "Well I would have, but I haven''t fully thought about it." ke said.


    "¡­" Castiel and Brian were stunned by his reply.


    "Think about it. This is a low-level gang and eliminating them shouldn''t be that dangerous." ke exined. "Also, if we are to just keep taking normalmissions it would take a lot of time to advance to the next level. So we need to be taking opportunities like this."


    "Now you put it that way, it makes sense." Brian agreed with ke''s line of thought.


    "So what makes you think they would ept? Why shouldn''t they just go to the ash corps to settle the issues in the area?" Unlike Brian who didn''t have a problem with ke''s n, Castiel was skeptical about it.


    "Gangs like these are small fries and don''tmit high-level crimes. You can say they are a product of poverty, that is why their area of activity is restricted to the slum." ke said. "Since theymit petty crimes like extorting businesses I don''t think it is worth the time of the ash corps, especially now that the beast tide is close by."


    "Also, most of those being extorted are the nobles. Most of them have the manpower to eliminate them, but they chose not to because they feel it isn''t worth the trouble. So that is where wee in and offer our services." ke exined.


    If a noble family was to deal with a gang that meant they would have to recall their forces which were out exploring dungeons or gathering resources. This would set their progress back, so the next best option would be to hire external help.


    Why ke was confident about his offer was because since their adventurer party consisted of 3 members, their pay wouldn''t scare the customer off.


    ke didn''t care much about the pay, his focus was gaining the trust of the Winchester family in order to receive more jobs like this in the future and to also make a name for the party among the nobles.


    "If things are to work out well then we will not be stuck at escort missions only. We will be receiving mid to high-endmissions from other noble families." ke exined his vision.


    "Wow, that makes a lot of sense." Castiel was stunned by ke''s ability to think that far into the future.


    "This is the key that opens many doors, so let''s hope they ept." ke said as the group waited for 10mins before Arnold came out of the mansion.


    "Before we can agree to your offer we have to know your terms and conditions." Arnold said to ke.


    "My conditions are quite simple. The transaction should be done through the adventurer association and info on the ck scorpion gang is needed. Unless you want to include information gathering to the contact?" ke asked.


    The reason he wanted the adventurers association to be involved in the deal was to gain contribution points from the mission and most importantly to eliminate all chances of dishonesty.


    He was trying to avoid a situation where the Winchester family would not keep to their part of the deal because he wasn''t familiar with the justice system of the empire. That was if it truly existed.


    As for the part where the Winchester family was to provide information on the gang, it was perfectly normal. If ke''s team were to gather the information they could charge a hefty amount and make ims of the difficulty of the process.


    "They are truly simple conditions and we agree to them. Themission will be sent to you through the adventurers association and when the info on the gang has been gathered it shall bemunicated to you." Arnold didn''t hesitate to ept the deal.


    He didn''t see anything wrong with the deal. Not only would the Winchester family get reputation points for setting upmissions with the association, but the information gathering was a free steal for them.


    They owned one of the most famous pubs in the slums, and when it came to information they could be considered hubs. So all he needed to do was task the workers to listen to conversations rted to the ck scorpions, set up arrays to do so, or even 2grease the palms of bandits.


    "When epting the mission I will also send a list of info needed." ke said as he finalized the deal by shaking Arnold.


    With the deal confirmed, the trio entered the carriage and they were taken back to the adventurers association building. ke went in to receive their pay and to ask Susan questions concerning the legal side of the recently eptedmission.


    It turned out that it was normal for noble families to want to take out gangs like these. So the ash corps gives them the right to eliminate the gang and depending on how notorious the history of the gang was, they could give the noble family the right to kill the members.


    ''If the gang ends up having a lot of members, being unable to kill them will be quite troublesome.'' ke thought as they boarded a carriage back to the school.


    "It''s high time for you guys to get a weapon and armor." ke said they dropped for the carriage.


    It was quite shocking that Castiel and Brian had gone through a lot of shit with him without armor or a weapon.


    The sky was already dark, so the trio had dinner before going to one of the training grounds to decide on which weapon they were most familiar with.


    "We have gone through a lot of weapon mastery sses with Zirrack so how have you guys not chosen a weapon?" ke couldn''t help but shake his head when he saw the rows of weapons they were to test out.

 Chapter 252: Purchasing weapons.

    <h4>Chapter 252: Purchasing weapons.</h4>


    "We have gone through a lot of weapon mastery sses with Zirrack so how have you guys not chosen a weapon?" ke couldn''t help but shake his head when he saw the rows of weapons they were to test out.


    "The answer is quite simple. We didn''t have much use for it." Brian answered as he checked out the weapons.


    "What is the use of a weapon when I can make unlimited numbers dark siphon which can solidify." Castiel said. "As for Brian, his elements and roles are focused on defense so there isn''t much need to attack."


    "Any suggestions on what will fit their elements and fighting style?" Not having the time and energy to argue with them, ke asked the system in order to save time.


    [With fire and darkness element, Castiel can switch from being stealthy to explosive, so I rmend a dagger. It is a nice choice when ites to assassinating people and even when in close-quarterbat it doesn''t weigh you down.] The system said.


    "I have always felt something for the dagger, but I felt it was kind ofcking in power." Castiel said as he dropped a chain sickle and picked up a dual dagger.


    [As for Brian, since his elements are all about defense I suggest he goes for something with an offensive capability. The system said. [With that said we have to put his elements into consideration.]


    [He needs a weapon that works with strength because of the physical boost granted by the earth element. Also, we need something that still allows him to make us of the dynamic nature of the water element.] The system exined.


    "Are you suggesting I use gauntlets?" Brian asked with a raised brow as he dropped a heater shield and a great sword.


    [You can always change if you don''t like it, but I highly doubt that my analysis is ever wrong.] The system said with a smirk.


    Ignoring thest part of the system''s words ke asked. "Why didn''t I get such a detailed analysis?"


    [Because a sword is a perfect weapon thatpliments your explosive elements, so I didn''t have to say anything.] The system rolled its eyes. [Also, from what I know about you. Even if you were meant to use a different weapon you wouldn''t let Prince Bryon''s gift go to waste.]


    ke couldn''t deny the system''s words, he knew he was stubborn so it was natural that he would force himself to use the katana no matter what.


    "Let me try out other weapons before making a decision." Castiel said as he moved back to the weapon racks.


    "Before you go for the chain sickle I would like to warn you because it wouldn''t be a pleasant experience." ke said to Castiel whose hands were just inches away from the chain sickle.


    "How did you know that I was going for it?" Castiel asked with a surprised expression.


    "Because we have watched how cool it looks in movies." Havinge from Earth where martial arts movies were revered, ke would have done the same, or you can say he had already tested it.


    "Before you ask how I know it is a bad experience, well I have tried it out." ke said with a sheepish smile as he remembered how the system''s barrier saved him from one of the des that almost prated his skull.


    After 10 minutes of trying out different weapons, Castiel and Brian went back to the weapons the system had suggested.


    "Is there anything we should be looking out for when training with the weapons?" Castiel asked the system.


    [You should be focused on training on your speed and closebat capabilities.] The system said. [As for Brian, the earth and water elementpliments yourck of speed. So you should focus on your closebat capabilities and how to incorporate your elements with your fighting style in both offensive and defensive manners.]


    "After purchasing the weapons and armor from the exchange store, we will head to the library to get books on fighting techniques." ke said.


    After they were done ying with the dual daggers and gauntlets, the trio left for the exchange store. Immediately he arrived at the exchange point, they went straight for one of the translucent orbs that contained the list of items.


    With their hands on the same orb, they were able to see exactly the same items in stock. Their priority was the dual daggers and gauntlets, so they used the filter function.


    ''Thank the heavens I got Ebony and Ivory for free.'' ke thought.


    They went straight for the 100k point mark because weapons were way more costly than armors. So if they wanted to find anything useful they had to spend a lot.


    Luckily for them, Castiel and Brian hadn''t made any expensive purchases from the 1st semester till now, so they had quite a lot to spend.


    "Check this out." Castiel pointed at the dual dagger named Typhlosion.


    [Name: Typhlosion.


    Grade: High quality.


    Item: Dual daggers.


    Type: Elemental (fire).


    Active Ability(s): spell channeling, Fiery Eruption.


    Passive Ability(s): Fire amplifier.]


    [Active ability(s):


    Spell channeling: The user can channel (cast) fire-based spells through the daggers.


    Fiery Eruption: While Typhlosion is in use, the cores of the dual daggers absorb fire energy from the environment and when full, the host will be able to release the stored mana in form of an explosion.]


    [Passive Ability(s):


    Fire amplifier: Power of fire-based spells channeled through the sword are doubled.]


    "It is amazing and worth the price." ke emphasized thest part.


    They went on to check the list for better dual daggers at the 100k mark but they didn''t find any, so they went over to the gauntlet section.


    "Seems gauntlets aren''t that popr." Brian said as he scrolled past the 110k point mark. He was feeling depressed because out of the 3 of them he had fewer points meaning if he spent too much on the gauntlets he would be getting mediocre armor.


    "Take a look at this baby." ke drew their attention to a gauntlet name Seismic guard.

 Chapter 253: Night veil.

    <h4>Chapter 253: Night veil.</h4>


    "Take a look at this baby." ke drew their attention to a gauntlet named Seismic guard.


    [Name: Seismic guard.


    Grade: High quality.


    Item Type: Gauntlet.


    Type: Elemental (Earth).


    Active Ability(s): Spell channeling, Force barrier, Seismic st, Tyrannical boost.


    Passive Ability(s): Earth amplifier.]


    [Active Ability(s):


    Spell channeling: The user can channel (cast) earth-based spells through gauntlets.


    Force barrier: The user is able to generate a barrier of any shape with any hand of the gauntlet.


    Seismic st: Once activated user is able to absorb vibrations from below and send out an amplified st of force.


    Tyrannical boost: Once activated, strength and defense of user are tripled. Lasts for 10 minutes. Cooldown: 3 hour.]


    "I love everything about it, but I don''t get the seismic st ability." Brian said in a confused tone.


    [I have an idea of what the ability does, but first, purchase it.] The system said.


    Not doubting the system Brian spent 120k points on the Seismic guard before they moved over to the armor section.


    "I don''t think it will be worth buying a trashy armor of 40k." Brian said after looking at the list of armor with the 40k mark.


    After purchasing the guantlets, Brian could be considered broke. He had been hoping that something manageable would appear for 40k but seems he wasn''t that lucky. The stats were so useless that he felt his elements were good enough and that they were better things to spend it on.


    "I agree, let''s go for those at 50k. I will pay extra 10k for both of you to get good armors." ke said taking both of them stunned by his kindness.


    "Thanks a lot." Brian and Castiel said with grateful smiles as they scrolled to the list 50k point''s armor.


    [It''s quite contradictory how you are stingy with your points but feltfortable to give away 20k points.


    With the extra EP, Castiel went for a 60k armor since he needed the defense more than Brian, but both of the armors were nothing special.


    Apart from call function, barrier, and mana harness which allowed the armor to absorb energy from the environment and replenish its core, there was nothing special about it.


    "I think there is something I need." ke said as he moved over to the cloak section.


    He scanned through cloaks of different colors and designs, but there was one that caught his attention.


    It was ck and white in color and was named night veil. ording to the image of the night veil, it was a cloak which the left part of it was knee length while the right part of it was waist length.


    At the shoulder and waist level were thin white lines that bordered 3yers of continuous white diamond-shaped design that stretch around the cloak.


    [Name: Night veil.


    Grade: High quality.


    Item Type: cloak.


    Active Ability(s): Conceals the user''s presence, cloak and full-body camouge, control over all parts of the cloak.


    Passive Ability(s): Auto-clean and repair, a thinyer of barrier to all parts of the body.]


    "The effects and abilities are awesome and will be perfect for someone like you, but do you think it is worth 40k?" Castiel asked, but all he got was a nod with a big grin on ke''s face as he purchased the cloak.


    [I am lost at this point. Did someone transfer me to the mind of a ke lookalike or am I dreaming?] The system was shocked by ke''s actions.


    Some minutes ago he was thanking the heavens that he got Ebony ad ivory for free, but now he just blew 40k EP.


    ke ignored the system''s remark and the system didn''t think much about it. 40k Ep was quite a lot for other students but was nothing to ke who before the purchase was nearing 200k EP although he bought the rampant armor which was 70k EP.


    "Time to head over to the library, before getting some rest." ke said as the trio moved to a warp array that sent them to the library.


    By this time it was already dark and the library was empty, but due to the absence of any form of curfew, they moved in a rxed manner.


    Using the power of a locator, ke easily found books on dagger techniques and closebat. Once they were sure that that was all, they registered at the door of the floor by scanning it against a blue orb on the wall.


    "Let''s check this bad boy out." ke said with a wide grin as he bounded with cloak before storing it in his dimensional space and using the call function.


    Using the wall mirror beside his close to his almost empty closet, ke watched as the night veil shrunk to a perfect fit. He shrunk the length of the left side and move it towards that of the right making it the same length.


    "Let''s try something crazy." ke shrunk both sides to a half cape and formed a hood with the extra part.


    [Now I know why you bought the cloak, but it really isn''t like you.] The system said in a wondering tone.


    "It isn''t what you think. Actually, my n is to create my unique persona as the adventurer Zero." ke said as hey down on the white sheet to test the cloak''s camouge ability.


    [That exins a lot, but I must say that is a brilliant idea. Standing out from other adventurers, especially with your controversial history will get you a lot of attention.] The system said.


    "My point... It isn''t bad at all." ke said as he stood up from the bed and his body returned back to normal before the designs of the cloak turned pitch ck.


    "I think that is enough for today, time to do useful things.'' ke recalled the cloak into his dimensional space and began practicing chaining spells.


    ¡­


    The next day the sses had resumed and the students were back to exercise to help awaken their mana vision.

 Chapter 254: [Bonus Chapter]Auction.

    <h4>Chapter 254: [Bonus Chapter]Auction.</h4>


    The next day the sses had resumed and the students were back to exercises to help awaken their mana vision.


    Among other courses, that of Professor Gibson was the slowest when it came to the student''s progress. He was afraid that 80% of the students wouldn''t be able to cast fusion spells before the beast tide season.


    The process of awakening mana vision was a very slow one, and Gibson was tempted to tell the students to purchase herbs that would quicken the process. The problem was that methods like these result in them awakening an inferior version of mana vision and they always came with serious side effects.


    The 4 soul candles given to ke by the school couldn''t be considered as artificial shortcuts, but an item to grant him insight into what he was doing wrong.


    Giving each student soul candles wasn''t an option, because not only was it too expensive, but from what he could see so far there was a high chance that 40% wouldn''t receive any form of insight.


    Rather than wasting a ridiculous amount, it was better they gave out the artificial shortcuts, but that also wasn''t an option.


    At this point, the students were being given nothing except mana control exercises. For most of the students, it was depressing and stressful, but for someone like ke who had an insane amount of mana control, it was a way for him to bag points.


    After they were done with the second andst exercise for the day, ke walked up to the front of the ss.


    "Ahem!" ke cleared his throat, attracting the attention of more than half of the ss.


    "I have seen that most of the ss is struggling with the exercises. So I have decided to auction 2 of my soul candles to help." ke announced to the entire ss with a straight face.


    The reason ke didn''t feel too bad about spending 40k EP on night veil was that he had a n on getting twice that amount. This was the introduction and it had to be perfect for the n to work out. His targets were both the nobles andmoners, but it was most likely the former.


    He had to make sure he didn''t appear too prideful especially to the nobles because attacking their egos would cause the n to be a total failure. Also, he had to keep a straight face to let them know he meant business.


    "Have my ears gone bad or did I hear he wants to sell his soul candles?" A noble student asked.


    "As expected ofmoners, they are dumb and don''t know the value of things, lets be of help and take them off his hands." Another noble student said.


    "Hahaha, it''s a free steal!"


    There was an uproar from the nobles because the major problem they had with the soul candles wasn''t that it was too costly but it was rare. So ke selling it was seen as a dumb move by most of the nobles, especially since he hadn''t awakened mana vision.


    Ignoring the words of the nobles, ke waited for the whispers to die down before he continued. "To give everyone a fair chance at the soul candles, only exchange points will be used in the auction."


    At the moment ke had no use for gold coins, but that wasn''t the main reason for limiting the auction to only exchange points. The main reason was the first step and it involved manipting both sides psychologically.


    With themotion the soul candles had caused back at the auditorium, everyone knew about the effects of the soul candle, meaning bothmoners and nobles would most likelypete for them.


    Now that ke made the auction ''fair'', it was natural for the nobles to not be happy with this decision. So they would try to put themoners in their ce by spending more than necessary.


    [How are you sure that the nobles have more points than themoners?] The system asked.


    ''It''s very simple. The nobles are provided with almost everything they need by their families, meaning they have way fewer needs than themoners. Also, why would they spend something as precious as exchange points when they can purchase it with gold coins?'' ke said.


    He was right. When themoners were admitted into the school they came in with almost nothing. As they gathered points they began purchasing things like weapons, armors, and training items to reduce the gap between them and the nobles.


    As for the nobles they came in with good armors and always received extra resources from their families to make sure they maintained the gap. This meant those from top noble families had spent close to 0 exchange points.


    "As I said, I will give everyone a chance, so the price for one soul candlestick starts at 50k points." ke''s announcements were followed by whispers before a noble bided.


    "80k Exchange points!"


    "What! 80k points doesn''t he know what to do with points?!" Some of themonersined because the price had instantly skyrocketed way past their total points.


    "90k Exchange points!" As themoners wereining Haldor bided.


    It was shocking that amoner had so many exchange points to spend, but before they could get over the shock, Ansgar bided.


    "110k exchange points!"


    At this point, the entire ssroom went silent in shock, they were still trying to process exactly what was going on.


    ''More than 100k points! Isn''t this what people earn in a semester?!''


    ''A semester''s worth of effort for blue-colored wax?''


    "120k exchange points." The voice of a girl was heard and when they turned in its direction they saw Esmeralda. Not only did this rendermoners speechless, but also some nobles.


    "120k exchange points going once, going twice, gone." ke waved his hand in the direction of Esmeralda.


    ''Just like I expected, let''s see how the second one goes.'' ke made a mental grin as announced the auction of the second soul candle.

 Chapter 255: Auction II

    <h4>Chapter 255: Auction II</h4>


    The ns involved 3 steps, the introduction, psychological maniption, and finally the backup n in case his ns failed and the 2 soul candles didn''t sell for high prices.


    After Esmeralda had transferred the points to ke, he handed over the soul candle and began the second round of auction.


    "The second stick of soul candle will begin at the same price." ke announced.


    "100k exchange points." Haldor didn''t waste time to bid.


    He wanted to eliminate all hopes from those that couldn''t avoid it, and although he knew he couldn''tpete if the nobles at the top 10 rank decided to bid. He didn''t want them to get it so easily.


    "110k!" Owen bided.


    "120k!" d bided.


    ''The top guns are finally biding. This will be fun.'' The thought of so many exchange points pumping in made him smile.


    "125k!" Owen counter bided as he shot d a death re, but he was ignored.


    "130k!" d counter-bided.


    At this point, even most nobles could do nothing but watch. This was the battle of the top 10 and they couldn''tpare to the points they gain daily.


    ''That jerk can''t get it so easily.'' La immediately bided 140k exchange points with a smirk on her face.


    When it came to obtaining rare resources, the noble families couldn''tpare to the influence of the royal family and the adventurer association. The royal family controlled the resources that entered the empire, while the adventurers association had argework that stretch into all the empires.


    As the daughter of a famous A rank adventurer, it wouldn''t be too difficult for her Dad to get one as long as she requested.


    It was just that she didn''t need it, but she wanted to punish d a little bit for being a jerk on multiple asions.


    ''That bitch is trying to mess with me!'' d felt like walking up to her and giving her a piece of his mind, but he decided to hold himself back and make a final bid.


    "150k!" This was the highest he could go, if not he would be able to purchase basic things from the exchange store.


    Since he didn''t hear anyone else''s bid, ke decided to close the deal. "150k exchange points going once, going twice¡­"


    ''C''mon!'' d''s heart was racing as his eyes were focused on La who didn''t bother to look at him. At the second count he let out a sigh of relief, but that was when she turned to him with a smirk on her face.


    "160k!" La bided.


    "Fuck you!" d smashed his hand on the desk in anger. If she had bided 5k extra he would have had no problem in using all his points, but she bided 10k extra.


    "160k exchange points going once, going twice, gone." ke waved his hand in the direction of La.


    Once that was done, La transferred the points to ke before walking past d and moved to Owen.


    "I am willing to sell it to you for 125k points." La said. Although she was going to lose 35k points, annoying d was worth it.


    Owen was shocked by her offer. The reason he backed out of the bidding war wasn''t that he had fewer points than d, but because he didn''t think it was worth it.


    d had recently entered the top 10, but Owen had been in the 6th position from the start. Besides, as the top-ranking descendant Owen would surely get a soul candle if he requested.


    "Deal." Owen shook her hand and quickly transferred the points.


    "Bitch!" d mmed his fist on his desk before storming out of the ssroom.


    ''I wonder what happened between them.'' ke thought with a smile on his face. Seeing d angry gave ke a rare feeling of joy.


    Apart from random noble girls that crushed on d and some nobles who were jerks like him, every other student hated him. With his rank, he was the highest-ranking bully in 1st year.


    [Seems like he keeps getting foolish as the day goes by. I mean, isn''t it clear that she was trying to annoy him?] The system shook its head. For someone his age he was just too impulsive.


    ''It works in my favor so I can''tin.'' ke chuckled as he signaled to his friends that he was leaving for the canteen.


    "Do I need to ask why I am being stared at?" ke didn''t even bother to raise his head as he slurped up noodles.


    "Are you just going to act as if you didn''t get almost 300k points now?" Brian asked with a raised brow.


    "How do you expect me to react? There is nothing special about what I did. I was just lucky enough to identify a need among the students, so I just took hold of the opportunity." ke said.


    "No, it''s just you acting humble and trying to make it sound easy." Disbelief was written all over Castiel''s face.


    "Seriously I am not trying to sound humble. If you had the soul candles you would have done the same thing." ke exined.


    "So how do you n on spending it?" Brian asked.


    "I don''t have anything in mind so I just n on keeping it."


    ¡­


    After lunch, they headed to the forge, but surprisingly Professor Tacitus wasn''t there. So ke, alongside Castiel and Brian went to one of the training grounds to train and check out the abilities of their newly purchased weapons.


    Castiel tested out the spell channeling ability of the dual daggers. He was able to shoot out twice the normal size of a fireball. He also tried using the ability of an ignitor to control the mes and it turned out he had better control over the mes.


    After testing out everything, Castiel signaled them to step back, before he crossed the daggers and an explosion thrice the width of a human burst out.


    "Worth every point." Castiel said with a wide smile on his face as he stared at the daggers.


    "It''s my turn." Brian mmed his fists together as took center stage.

 Chapter 256: Body enhancement.

    <h4>Chapter 256: Body enhancement.</h4>


    "It''s my turn." Brian mmed his fists together as took center stage.


    He first tested the spell channeling skill and amplifier effects of the gauntlets by smashing his fist into the ground and creating a long row of spikes.


    ''Not bad. Let''s check out the force barrier." Brian injected mana into his left arm and a transparent barrier in the shape of a tower shield appeared.


    [That should be the default shape. Trying changing it.] The system advised him through the mind link.


    "That was easy." He had thought he needed to concentrate to do it, but surprisingly it took only a thought.


    "You guys should try hitting me with something." Brian''s words caused ke and Castiel to look at themselves before they hurled 2 me spears at the barrier.


    The me spears crashed into the barrier before exploding, but after the smoke had cleared up Brian was standing at the same spot with no injuries.


    "That was way better than I expected." ke was impressed by the gauntlet''s defensive capabilities.


    Without wasting time, Brian tried out the seismic st but nothing happened. That was where the system was toe in.


    [ording to the abilities description Vibrations are needed below your feet for it to be activated.] The system exined.


    "Doesn''t that make it useless, because how many times have you been in a situation the ground quaking?" Castiel pointed out.


    [Do you want to continue with the exnation?] The system snorted for being interrupted. [If my spections are correct, the key to solving this w is thest active ability. So activate it and I shall continue the exnation.]


    Brian did as the system instructed and activated Tyrannical boost. He felt a rush of energy spread to every corner of his body, but it soon dissipated.


    "The system''s console shows the skill is still active. Why do I feel normal?" Brian asked in a confused tone, but that was when he took a step forward, and the ground beneath slightly vibrated.


    "What the¡­" Intrigued by what just urred Brian stomped his foot on the floor causing it to tremble, but at the same time the gauntlets lit up with an ash glow.


    Having no clue of why they were glowing, Brian threw out 2 jabs, but that was when a force field in the shape of a fist flew out and crashed into the walls.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    "Holy cow!" The three of them in the room were utterly shocked by the powerful explosions.


    The walls had 2rge damages, but in a matter of seconds, they were as good as new thanks to the castle''s auto-repair function.


    [When you activate the Tyrannical boost, all of your movements are strong enough to cause vibrations. The power of the st would be determined by the magnitude of the vibration.] The system exined.


    "This is godly!" ke had noticed that when the seismic st had crashed into the walls, another round of vibrations urred, meaning Brain could perform a chain of seismic sts as long as he was in a rtively confined location.


    "Points well spent." Brian couldn''t help but admit.


    "Alright, that should be all. The info about the mission hasn''t arrived so I have to keep myself busy." ke left Castiel and Brian to train as he returned to his room to continue studying chaining arrays.


    After using the soul candle, ke understood that he had to zoom in on mana, and working with arrays meant a continuous exposure to how the mother-stream empowered the arrays with mana.


    His bid to gain mana vision didn''t stop at chaining arrays. It stretch to almost everything he did, from casting spells to even paying more attention to how the mana circted through his body while cultivating.


    Since the day was practically over, ke kept on studying chaining arrays for hours and only stopped to get dinner before continuing tote hours of the morning.


    ...


    The next day at the training ground, Zirrack had given them a simple exercise to make sure they had mastered the 1st stage of a body enhancement.


    The first stage involved absorbing mana into their stars and moving them through the mana pathways without letting the stars process the energy.


    After the little exercise of seeing how much mana they could absorb into their mana pathways in a few seconds, Zirrack went over to the second stage.


    The second stage dealt with processing the mana absorbed.


    "The second stage requires you to circte the absorbed mana to a certain part of your body. For example, your arm, before further absorption into the cells." As instructor Zirrack exined, the ground quaked and a boulder 4 times his height formed from below creating a crater.


    Boom!


    He levitated the boulder and dropped it on a leveled ground, causing the ground to slightly quake.


    "The absorbed mana grants a burst of energy to the cells of the body, thereby granting the said body part increased strength and defense." Zirrack lunged his fingers into the boulder and lifted it.


    Although the human body was getting more refined to be stronger and faster as one advanced in realm. The physical abilities of the beasts were increasing at an exponential rate, but that was where body enhancement came in.


    It gave their bodies an extrayer of protection in other to prevent beasts from one-shotting them.


    In the battle between Zirrack and the Inazuma, the reasons he was able to opt for a physical confrontation was because of the insane physical boost granted by the earth element, rage mode, and body enhancement.


    If not for these 3 skills he would have been turned to shreds by the prative and destructive power of the lightning element.


    "You all know how to channel mana to different parts of your body. So our lesson will be aimed at monitoring the energy as we circte it around that part before we even attempt absorbing it." Zirrack said.


    "Why do we use external mana when we could use our own?" ke asked instructor Zirrack.


    "That is a very important question. 200 points to you." Zirrack awarded him some points before continuing. "The mana stored in your stars had been processed and fined tuned to power spells, and not damaged the pathways when arge quantity of mana is released to cast a huge spell."


    The processing of the mana courses it to lose the ability to seep past the mana pathways and into the cells. It can be considered an advantage and as well as a disadvantage."


    "As for external mana, it is still in its pure form and hasn''t been tampered with. So when it moves through the mana pathway it will be able to seep through them and into the cells." Zirrack exined.


    "Doesn''t that mean the unprocessed mana can harm us?" A student asked.


    "Yes, it can, but just like casting spells, only when it is done in excess." Zirrack answered.


    Comparing the rate of mana flow between body enhancement and casting spells, that of the former was slower. Unlike burst damage type of spells that required arge amount of mana to be released instantly. That of body enhancement could be a one-time flow of mana or a mild and steady one to keep the effects constant.


    It had almost no chance of hurting the user unless it was used over a very long period of time. Only then would the mana pathways feel sour.


    Once there were no questions left, Zirrack made everyone seat in a crossed-legged position as they absorbed energy and began circting it back and forth the mana pathways located in their arm.


    ke was more of studying the mana flow in order to increase his insight of mana vision, but that was when he began to notice that which each cycle the amount of mana was decreasing. He was intrigued by this and continued to observe the phenomenon.


    It was when he had gone past 300 cycles that he noticed something. His right arm was feeling kind of energetic.


    ''Is it what I think it is?'' ke looked around the training ground but it seemed everyone was focused still trying to understand the aim of what they were doing.


    ke''s mana control was higher than that of everyone, that was why he was the first to notice that the mana was decreasing. The same went for his arm feeling energetic, but it was twice difficult to notice.

 Chapter 257: Dimension magic.

    <h4>Chapter 257: Dimension magic.</h4>


    "From your looks, it seems like you have figured out the purpose of the exercise. Just remain and silent and continue the process, others still need to find this for themselves." Zirrack appeared in front of ke and spoke without any other person noticing.


    After 20 minutes of waiting, most of the ss had noticed the reduction and absorption of the mana by the body. So Zirrack rewarded them with points before exining to the few who weren''t able to detect the change.


    "Now that is out of the way, let me exin the aim of what you just did." Zirrack said as he paced around the training ground. "When mana continuously circtes back and forth over a long period of time, the body prevents the pathway from getting sore by absorbing part of the energy with each cycle."


    "The aim of this exercise and future ones will be to turn this unconscious action of absorption into a conscious one. We will start small by enhancing one body part at a time and at the end of the course you should be able to enhance any and every part of your body instantly." Zirrack exined. "ss dismissed."


    Immediately Zirrack warped out of the training ground, the silent training ground turned rowdy. ke was busy imagining how a full-body enhancement would feel like when his team walked up to him.


    "Is it only me that feels like Instructor Zirrack had been less violenttely?" Tessie asked causing the trio to look around.


    "Yeah, I noticed it. Maybe he had a life-changing experience." Luciano lightly chuckled, but none of the 3 were smiling about it.


    With thest ss of the day done, the group split and ke returned to his room and took a shower.


    "It''s boring repeating the same set of activities every day, but funny enough I am not too bothered about it." ke paused as hepared his current life to when he was back on Earth.


    When he was back on Earth, without videos games or browsing through the web he would easily get bored to death, but here on Infinite realm he had undergone a massive transition. If not for sses and having to go to the canteen for meals ke would be stuck in his room training his skills and wouldn''t be bothered to meet people or search for fun.


    "Come to think of it. If gadgets and the inte were introduced to this world there is a high chance a lot of students will be distracted, I included, will no longer be serious with cultivating."


    ke couldn''t help but chuckle when he imagined himself gaming for hours and procrastinating cultivating.


    "Funny enough I am kind of excited about this kind of life." ke said as he crossed his leg, before absorbing mana and circting it at his right hand.


    Unlike back on the training ground where he just noticed that his right hand had be energized, this time ke heightened his senses to observe how the body was absorbing the energy.


    After close to an hour ke fell on his back as his face was covered in sweat. Right from the start, it was mentally tasking, but ke had persevered, but he was still unable to trace even an ounce of mana getting absorbed by the body.


    [At this rate he will unlock mana vision in no time.] The system thought to itself when it saw ke''s zeal to learn.


    ¡­


    The next day, as the students all moved to the ssroom for Professor Hoffenheim''s ss, ke could notice a slight hop in some of their movements.


    ''Why are they so excited?'' ke couldn''t help but ask himself.


    They got to their seats and exactly at the assigned time for the ss, a warp gate appeared and Professor Mack walked out.


    "As I promised you all, we will be looking at an introduction to dimension magic." Professor Mack''s words caused many to let out a loud ''Yes!''


    ''Oh, that is why they were so excited.'' Unlike the other students, ke wasn''t too excited about the new topic because he already knew it.


    ''Hopefully, I learn something new.'' ke said to himself because there were a thousand and one things he would have loved to be doing.


    "Dimensional magic could be considered as an attempt by humans to rece the space element. In the early days of Infinite realm when the space element was introduced to humanity, they saw and envied how life could be so convenient if.


    Imagining having to spend days on a journey from one city to another, but that distance could be covered by a chronomancer in minutes."


    "In the case of battle, a chronomancer was unmatchable due to their insane mobility and the overpowered spells granted by the pathway. This made many to start looking for the weaknesses of a chronomancer but that ended up as a failure because they had little knowledge on how the pathway worked.


    Note, at that time elements were yet to be fully categorized under pathways.


    That was when researchers decided to carry out intensive research on the pathway.


    As centuries went by, they began understanding the space pathway more and more. It was after a thousand years that they discovered that the space element was able to manipte space at special mana frequencies. This led to a widespread campaign to replicate their feats" Professor Mack exined as he paced around the ss.


    "As we all should know things like these never end up in a good way." Professor Mack said as he shook his head. "Before you think this was their first time in doing something like this, think again because centuries ago they had managed to replicate multiple spells in all pathways apart from those of space and darkness."


    "The problem here was that the space element wasn''t your regr element. For more than 2 centuries they were met with nothing but failure and this led to a lot of mad researchers to result in using forbidden magic.


    Many died without even scratching the surface, while some were able to make some breakthroughs but didn''t live to share their discoveries due to them being lone wolfs."


    "There were a small group of researchers who managed to quickly and properly store bits, but they still ended up dying. The only researcher known to have survived the use of forbidden magic was Azkelwart. He shared his dicoveries with the world and this led to another widespread research."


    After the news went viral, forbidden magic was no longer used for the research. Normal magic was used but a lot of them ended up dying. Unlike the space pathway that started from the harmless powers of a locator, the researchers jumped multiple levels and went straight to trying to open spatial tear.


    For those that got to the stage where they sessfully opened a spatial. Well, they walked right into the void and seized to exist.


    "Now, you all have to note that there were not many researchers during this time, so with the numbers that were dying many stopped working on the project, leaving very few left." Professor Gibson pointed out.


    ''That would have been a wrong age to be a researcher.'' ke thought to himself.


    It was just like in the early days of physics, no researcher wouldn''t want to work in a newly discovered field of physics. In Infinite realm, it was just that newly discovered fields of magic were deadly, but it didn''t stop people from researching about it.


    "It was at this point that Azkelwart made another groundbreaking discovery. He was the first toe up with creating a spatial corridor, pinpointing a location in the real world while in the void, and finally creating a second spatial tear in the void." Professor Mack said with a proud smile.


    "Now I shall stop here with the storytelling." At this time professor, Mack stopped in front of the ss. "Thest part of the story I just told contained the processor of warping and that is what we shall be looking into."


    "Doesn''t that mean it is dangerous for us to practice it?" A girl asked.


    "That is one of the reasons why I was hesitant about teaching you guys dimension magic, but you don''t have to worry I havee up with ways to make the lesson safe for everyone." Professor Mack said with an assuring smile.

 Chapter 258: Liquor or Coffee?

    <h4>Chapter 258: Liquor or Coffee?</h4>


    "For us to properly cast a warp gate, we first have to create a spatial tear, create a spatial corridor to protect us, pinpoint a location in the real world, and finally creating a second spatial to exit the void."


    "One step at a time, we shall look at tearing a hole in space. Like I said in the story, interacting with space is done in different frequencies. Meaning it is different for everyone." Professor Mack began demonstrating in front of the ss.


    "So you would want to focus your mana in the shape of a sharp object on a particr spot. Then you would want to steadily increase the flow of your mana in order to detect the right frequency."


    The students watched as the area around the little-shaped triangle conjured by Professor Mack began producing spikes. When it got to its peak he slid his arm downward forming a cut in space, before drawing a circle around it causing it to widen.


    "Now let''s move to a conducive location." Professor Mack snapped his fingers warping them to a practice room.


    "Before we start, there should be a great distance between each person and also between the spatial tear you are trying to construct." He warned them in case of an explosion while detecting the right frequency.


    "ke there is no need for you to participate in the exercise, so please stand aside and watch." Professor Mack said to ke causing him to receive envious res.


    ''Only if I could skip the ss.'' ke helplessly sighed as he began watching the students try out dimensional magic.


    As Professor Mack had demonstrated, the students had created small triangles and were very slowing, they were increasing the rate of mana flow into the triangle. After 20 minutes of going nonstop pumping in of mana, there were still no signs of sparks from any student.


    10 minutester students began dropping to the floor. For the top-ranking students, it took them 10 extra for them to also drop.


    It wasn''t only a case of mana exhaustion but also mental exhaustion. It required constant pumping of mana and precise control over their flow of mana and control over the conjured triangle on the same spot.


    "At least none fainted." Professor Mack said as he watched the students panting and their clothes were drained in sweat.


    ''Why is it so difficult for them? Back when I was in the warrior realm I could only attempt it twice a day, but they only have a limit of 1 time a day, and they are champions? Also, why didn''t you mention anything about the frequencies?" ke through multiple questions at the system.


    Having listened to Professor Mack''s exnation of the process, ke had found it to be almost the same thing the system had thought him, except for the frequency part.


    [All your questions share one answer. Remember Dimensional magic is an attempt to replicate the spells of the space element and that makes things harder. The space pathway makes things easier by automatically tuning all your spells to the right frequency with only your thoughts.


    In this case, they are spending more than 4 times the mana you spent back when you were in the warrior realm, just to locate the right frequency.] The system exined.


    ''This is actually a good way to train one''s mana control. Too bad I wouldn''t gain anything even if I took part in the exercise.'' ke shook his head in disappointment.


    "Why¡­ is it¡­ so difficult?!!" Damon who rarely spoke in public couldn''t help but ask in between breaths.


    "Dimensional magic normally requires quite a lot of mana to cast spells, but the reason it is so difficult is that you are still trying to determine the frequency the spell operates. Once you get past this stage, it will be rtively easier." Professor Mack exined.


    "Rtively easier?! Then how is ke able to spam the spells without effort?" d asked in an envious tone.


    "Now, there are certain people that are naturally blessed with very high mana control that allows them to easily detect the required frequency. In ke''s case, he had had months of training to reach this stage." Professor Mack answered.


    The truth was that by ke being naturally blessed he meant having the space element. If it was some months ago he would have been wondering how ke had mastered void shift to such a level on his own. This was because most young self-taught dimensional magic mages ended up dying.


    "You all are tired and need to recover, this will be the end of the ss and please remember not to try this without supervision" Professor Mack dismissed the ss, and warped them back to the ssroom. Immediately ke stood up to leave the ss, but that was when he heard someone speak into his ears.


    "I will meet you at the corner." It was Professor Mack who was standing in front of the ss, but his lips weren''t even moving.


    The ss was still panting and were weak to get up, so ke did as instructed and left the ss. When he was out of sight a warp gate appeared right in front of him and he was teleported to Hoffenheim''s office.


    "It''s been quite a while since we talked one on one." Hoffenheim said with a smile.


    "Yeah, I have been very busy with school and adventurer life." ke said with a helpless sigh. He felt kind of bad because Professor Hoffenheim had helped him a lot, but had forgotten about him for so long.


    "I know the feeling of trying to remain at the top. It feels like there are tons of weights ced on your shoulders." Hoffenheim said. "Is there anything crazy that has happened so far?"


    "Apart from what happened during the break it has just been nothing but school and not too crazymissions." ke replied.


    "I would love to hear more about this adventure of yours. Please take a seat." He gestured for ke to take a seat. "Liquor or coffee?"


    (AN: So apparently Infinite realm has no age restriction for alcohol. XD)

 Chapter 259: Arrival of intel.

    <h4>Chapter 259: Arrival of intel.</h4>


    "I would love to hear more about this adventure of yours. Please take a seat." He gestured for ke to take a seat. "Liquor or coffee?"


    "Water will be okay." ke said.


    Professor Gibson nodded with a smile as a ss of water appeared. "It''s quite odd that someone your age decided to go for a cup of water, but that makes you special."


    It would have been odd for any indigene of infinite realm. Most nobles start drinking wine from quite a young age, and when it came to themoner kids they had water all their lives, so when an opportunity like this came up they wouldn''t reject it.


    After the system made sure the ss of water wasn''t spiked, ke emptied it before talking. "It started when the Winchester offered us an escortmission¡­"


    ke began narrating his entire adventure to the underground facility. When he got to the researches going on, ke didn''t go into details. Professor Mack was asking a lot of questions when it came to the researches, but all ke gave him were surface-level descriptions.


    He finally got to where they got to the control room. He even told him about the part where they freed Azkelwart and got Ebony and Ivory.


    During the report at the adventurer association, ke hadn''t told them that the body looked exactly like Professor Mack, but he decided to tell Mack about it.


    ke felt there was some kind of rtionship between Mack and the body they saw. So it wouldn''t be nice if it turned out that he knew about the ce and everything in it.


    "From your description, I will say it isn''t a research facility, but kind of a base and from history, there are only a handful of people who had bases like that. From your description, I could tell that a high tier of forbidden magic was being researched there and the only person I know that is familiar with forbidden magic is..."


    "Azkelwart!" ke said in realization when he remembered the story Professor Mack had told them back in ss.


    Him surviving not getting killed by forbidden magic during his research on the space pathway might sound like luck, but adding info from the base to the picture was kind of suspicious.


    "Maybe that was is why a lot of people say that I am a reincarnation of Azkelwart." Professor Mack chuckled.


    ''That sounds very odd and is too much to be a coincidence!'' ke''s head felt overloaded.


    [Very very odd.] The system confirmed.


    "May I have a look at the sword you got?" Professor Mack asked, but ke seemed to be hesitant about it.


    "You don''t have to worry, I am not interested in weapons and I don''t have any need for swords." Professor Mackughed when he saw ke''s reaction.


    ''It''s not as if I will be able to do anything even if he was to attack me.'' ke warned him about the sword''s defensive mechanism before handing over Ebony and Ivory in theirbined form.


    Not nning on touching the sword, Professor Mack made it levitate as he examined it.


    ''It''s just like I remembered it to be.'' Professor Mack felt like caressing the two things that had kept himpany while he was still in the base. "Wow! An epic rank greatsword, no wonder you were hesitating to let me have a look."


    "Thanks a lot I enjoyed your story andpany, but I have other things to do." Professor Mack said as he returned Ebony and Ivory.


    "See youter then." When ke stood up to leave, a warp array opened and he appeared in his room.


    When he was sure that he was in his room ke let out a sigh of relief. "It is usually at that scene that the character gets killed."


    [I am surprised that he was unable to detect that it is a legend tier sword.] The system thought.


    "What do you think would have been his reaction if he knew it was a legend tier sword?" ke asked.


    [Well, I don''t think he is that kind of person.] The system replied, but that was when his adventurer amulet rang.


    "Good day Adventurer Zero, the info you requested has been sent in by the Winchester family. They would like to know when you will be ready to take action." Susan reported.


    "Tell them that after I take a look at the info, I would get back to them." ke replied.


    "Have a nice day." Susan said with a smile as themunication was cut off.


    "That was way quicker than thought. Let''s see what''s inside here." Not wasting any more time, ke opened the info to know its contents.


    The info contained the number, the location of the gang''s hideout and its defenses,?the number of henchmen controlled by the gang, and their individual strengths.


    "They really did a good job, this was way better than I expected. Come to think of it I wonder how difficult it would have been if we were the ones to gather the info." ke thought.


    The Winchester family was able to gather this level of intel on the gang because they controlled a lot of people. If it were ke''s team, it would have been many times harder because they were only 3 people.


    It means they would have missed a week of sses, and even at that, they wouldn''t be as efficient.


    "I have to go meet the guys and set a meeting for tonight. A lot of preparations have to be made." ke went off in search of Castiel and Brian.


    ...


    Back in Professor Mack''s office.


    "From our interaction, I can say he trusts me to a certain level, but his hesitation when I requested for the sword showed it isn''t fully." Hoffenheim thought to himself.


    "On second thought, I think it was a natural reaction to be afraid of the greed of someone a lot stronger than you. Well, I think he deserves the gift I left for him." Professor Mack thought with a smile.

 Chapter 260: Crack down (1)

    <h4>Chapter 260: Crack down (1)</h4>


    After dinner, the trio gathered at ke''s room where they began nning their raid with the help of the system.


    "First, let''s take a look at theyout and location of their hideout." ke clicked on themunication amulet and a holographic projection of a map of the slums appeared.


    It showed the ck scorpion gang''s area of operation which epassed more than 20 blocks. Their hideout was marked with a red dot.


    "In the sewers, interesting¡­" ke clicked on the red dot and the holographic projection disyed the undergroundwork of the sewers.


    It disyed the entrance to the hideout to be a wall but ording to the info attached to it, the entrance was a sliding stone door with an illusion and rm arrays on it. Also, they were protected by a by 2 guards at all times.


    "This will be troublesome. We need to get into the hideout without alerting everyone." ke said as he looked at the power connection of the sewers.


    The map was so detailed to the point it even disyed the power connections of the sewers.


    "Seems they were smart enough to not use the same power connections as the sewers. If not this would have been an easy job." ke said when he noticed the power line didn''t enter the hideout.


    If the power line was connected, ke would have been able to draw them out to fix the problem and that would have been his tickets to entering.


    "The walls are protected by arrays, so manipting it is not an option." Brain said.


    "I don''t think we can infiltrate the hideout without any direct confrontation. I think what we should be looking at is reducing themotion to the barest minimum." Castiel suggested.


    [I don''t think there is a need to be stealthy, your goal is to kill everything in the hideout. Once ke gains ess into the hideout he would have to shut down their arrays and defenses. That alone would draw their attention.] The system pointed out.


    "You are right, but we still need some time to position ourselves. It is way better than getting swarmed by them from the moment we get in." ke said.


    Once that was settled they began looking into the strength of the over 70 gang members. The gang leader was at the peak of the champion realm and he had 2 bodyguards who were roughly on the same level as them.


    As for the normal gang members, over 30 were at the early stages of the champion realm while the rest were at the warrior level. ke had no idea if the group they had defeated were among the 73, but he thought they weren''t too much of a problem.


    After an hour the team was done with nning. They had decided that ke and Castiel were to deal with purging the hideout while Brian was to stay at the entrance just in case backup arrived.


    "Time to get supplies." ke moved to the exchange store to purchase mana disruptors.


    Instead of wasting time and leaving himself vulnerable by disabling the arrays, the mana disruptors acted like an E.M.P that would spread from any point of array, to the core and then to other arrays.


    It was very effective for ces like the hideout because the ck scorpion was a low-level gang with poor array defense. If ke was to use a hundred of the mana disruptors on the castle there wouldn''t be a scratch.


    "5000 exchange points for a piece. This better be good." ke said as he purchased 5 pieces, totaling 25k.


    When he returned to his room, ke called up Susan to inform her that they would take action on their ss-free day.


    "I shall send the information to them. Also, they sent in extra info not too long ago." Susan quickly transferred the information to hismunication amulet before cutting off themunication link.


    ke opened the information for the rest to see. It turned out to be the schedule of the ck scorpion gang.


    "At this point, I havee to a conclusion that we almost made the mistake of gathering for information." ke said.


    He had been thinking it will take them at least a week to gather the info they needed, but now he was thinking they wouldn''t be able to do it at all.


    Theycked connection so it wasn''t possible for them to even find out about their hideout without alerting the gang. Not to talk of their number, strength, and even schedule.


    [Yup, I really thought you were cocky when you gave that option.] The system said.


    The info showed that the ck scorpion gang had a major operation on the day they were to wipe them out. This meant the number they would face would be reduced.


    Minutester, Susan called back informing them that they Winchester family was okay with the day they had selected.


    ¡­


    The rest of the week went by quickly and the day for the shakedown had arrived.


    ke and his team had agreed that they would strike by noon, because by night most of the members would be scattered all around different locations of slums.


    Their goal was to wipe out the gang so they needed to kill the leaders and as much as possible to make sure they couldn''t rise again.


    They had agreed beforehand that the price was 50k gold coins, so they had no need to meet up with Arnold again.


    When the time was near, they boarded a carriage that stopped them not too far away from the brotherhood pub in slums.


    Stopping at the brotherhood pub would attract too much attention since they were kids and were dressed up in fine clothing. Stopping close to the sewer entrance wasn''t even an option because gangs like these would have people around the vicinity monitoring the entrance.


    That was why they decided to go through a farther sewer entrance and move towards the gang''s hideout.

 Chapter 261: Crack down (2).

    <h4>Chapter 261: Crack down (2).</h4>


    The trio walked into the empty alley where the manhole was located. It was only after the system had reported that there was no one at the other side did they open it up and jump in.


    "Holy fuck!" ke quickly held his nose when the distinct stench of rotten egg mixed with lots of shit, flowed into his nostrils. They quickly grabbed the gas masks in their dimensional space and put them on.


    "This isn''t how I imagined the sewers to be." ke felt like throwing up when he saw liquid sewage flowing through the channels. The ''sidewalks'' weren''t clean either, algae, excrements, and insects could be seen all around.


    [Seems you have forgotten you are at the slums.] The system reminded ke. As expected the sewer system of the slums was the worst in every aspect possible. Not only were they less maintained, but they were rarely cleaned unlike those of the middle ss and central region.


    Trying to ignore the nasty sight, the trio continued moving through the tunnels, in 10 minutes'' time they arrived at a safe distance away from the hideout entrance.


    While Brian monitored the entrance, ke and Castiel went into stealth mode to ce a mana disruptor at the tunnel that directly led to the hideout. This was to make sure their escape route was secured in case something went wrong.


    "Any activity so far? ke asked through the mind link when they returned.


    "Nothing at all." Brian replied.


    "It''s about time they return from their operation. So all we have to do is have a little patience." ke said.


    After close to 20 minutes of waiting, people began popping up on the system''s detection range.


    "It''s time boys." ke and Castiel went into stealth mode as they positioned themselves at the top of the ceiling using arcane magic to hold themselves.


    Soon after footsteps were heard and in a few seconds, gang members appeared, and after one of the 3rd inmand leading them made a call with hismunication amulet, the stone door slid open.


    The crates they had robbed had been taken into the sewers. So they need more people to carry them into the hideout.


    ''This would take some time.'' The door wasn''t tall enough for him to crawl past. So they could do nothing but watch.


    They watched as some of the ck scorpion gang members came out of the hideout and helped the rest to carry the crates.


    ''That''s a lot of crates, did they empty the entire warehouse?'' Castiel was stunned as crates after crates were being taken into the hideout.


    [This should be thest guy.] The system reported to ke.


    ''Finally.'' ke crawled down and stood beside the door, but because of the camouge effect and presence concealment of the night veil, the guards were unable to see or sense him even though he was up close.


    When thest gang member arrived ke went behind him, and just when he got past and the stone door was about to close, ke threw a void dagger at his head.


    CRASH!


    The void dagger pierced through his gang member''s skull and he fell face-first causing the crate to shatter.


    "Huh?"


    By now the door had closed, but before the guards could realize what was going on, a spatial tear open. ke who was wrapped in arcs of lightning dashed out, beheading them before they could even make a sound.


    "I knew Fin will be clumsy to drop one of the crates. Unlucky for him, the boss hasn''t been in a good mood after Jones failed to rob the carriages of the brotherhood pub."


    The shattering of the crate made quite a loud noise and had gotten the attention of 2 other gang members who were not too far. ke activated the night veil''s camouge and climbed to the top of the ceiling.


    "What is going on here?" When the 2 gang members arrived they saw 3 dead bodies and were about to raise an rm but that was when ke appeared behind them and decapitated them.


    ''Not a bad hideout.'' ke said as he looked around.


    Beyond the entrance of the hideout, the walls were smoothened and every corner was properly lit by light sources at the top of the ceiling.


    ''Time to shut this ce down.'' Using the hideout''s map which had been integrated into the system, ke located the best spot to ce a mana disruptor. It was located at the point of the entrance which branched off into 2 corridors.


    ''Do your magic.'' After setting the mana disruptor which was in the shape of a disk at the top of the ceiling, ke gave a little bit of distance before activating it.


    Zzzg Zzzg


    ke heard the sound of sparks from it before everywhere went dark.


    ''Perfect.'' He switched to the system''s night vision, before going to the stone door and opening it for Castiel to enter.


    ''Let''s end this as soon as possible.'' ke thought his mind link before activating the skill of a locator. The ash irvoyant light appeared and went through the left corridor.


    The n was for ke to go after the gang boss and his 2nd inmand while Castiel was to take care of the other.


    When the lights went out, the boss who was currently in darkness with one of his 2nd inmand looked at each other.


    "Warn them immediately, there is an infiltrator." The boss said to his 2nd inmand, who immediately left the room.


    "Fuck they actually went for the power!" The boss cursed as he stood up from his chair and went into the core room.


    The hideout had only 1 exit, but the boss had a 1 man warp array in case they were found out. The problem was that it needed power to run.


    It sounds stupid in a way, but the truth was that warp arrays with their own independent power source were 5 times costlier, and for a small gang like them it was even surprising that he could purchase this one.

 Chapter 262: Crack down (3).

    <h4>Chapter 262: Crack down (3).</h4>


    ording to the map given to them by the Winchester family, the hideout was divided into 2 parts.


    The right corridor led to the storage area and kitchen of the hideout, while the right side led to the living space of the gang members, meeting room, boss'' office, and the core. The right side contained quite a lot of rooms that it extended into a lower floor.


    ''Good luck.'' Activating lightning reinforcement, ke dashed into the left corridor which could contain 4 men standing side by side.


    Once the power of the entire hideout was out, the gang members were confused about what was going on.


    In one of the rooms which was upied by 3 gang members. The lights were out and they were chatting about what might have gone wrong with the core, but that was when they heard the sound of the door opening, and a dagger pierced into the skull of one of the members.


    THUD!


    The room was pitch ck so they couldn''t see anything but they heard the sound of a body dropping, so they instantly pieced the series of actions that urred together and immediately jumped on their feet.


    "It''s an intruder!" One of the gang members shouted


    The remaining 2 upants of the room faced the door and began charging spells, but that was when spatial tear opened behind them and 2 fire chains shot out, wrapping them on their heads before exploding.


    Once all the upants of the room were confirmed to be dead, a fire chain grabbed the void dagger into the spatial tear.


    "4/70." ke said as he deactivated the system''s heat vision, before moving on.


    At the other end of the right corridor, Connor, the 2nd inmand of the ck scorpion gang was going to as many rooms as possible to alert them of the intruder. From there, the informed gang members went ahead to alert the others.


    After ke was done killing the 3 upants of the second room, the system began detecting that the gang members were leaving their rooms and gathering at the corridors.


    [They are aware of your presence.] The system informed ke.


    ''That doesn''t change anything does it?" Still wrapped by lightning reinforcement, ke continued moving down the corridor which turned to the left.


    At the other side of the corridor, 12 gang members could see the shing lights and hear the crackling sound of lightning as they stood shivering with me torches.


    They had no idea of who the intruder or intruders were, but the fact that they decided to attack a ce with up to 70 people in it meant they were confident in their strength.


    Before they could take in another breath, a ck-haired boy in a ck and white cloak, wrapped in countless arcs of lightning appeared.


    Without thinking, they began firing countless spells at him, but he kept on dodging them by moving side to side and even on the walls at an incredible speed before he disappeared out of in sight.


    "Where did he go?" The gang members stopped firing and checked the ceiling and even behind, but they couldn''t see ke.


    ''This is too easy.'' ke who was camouged on the ceiling watched as the gang members looked around in confusion, but the moment most of them turned their back. The crackling of lightning was heard and ke dashed at them with two swords in his hands.


    Swish!


    Once he got within range of the gang members it was over for them. Ebony and Ivory went through the bones and flesh of the gang members like a hot knife through butter as the grim reaper, ke, swiftly harvested their lives.


    "This is nasty¡­" ke felt his stomach churn as he saw the flesh and brain fluid mixed brain and blood, sttered all around the walls of the corridor and on his cloak.


    [Seriously? Like right now?] The system said as he saw ke waiting for the auto-clean function to cleaning all the shit on his cloak.


    "Drip is eternal. Can''t do anything without it." ke said with a smile as the system was trying to understand what he meant by drip.


    (AN: Sheeesh! ;)


    "19/70." ke dashed forward with heat vision on as he made sure that no soul was alive wherever he crossed.


    He went past the rest of the corridors which were toilets and bathrooms. His next turn was a corridor that led to a staircase that went to the lower floor and the system detected 20 gang members.


    ke didn''t waste time, as he made the turn and fired two me bursts which were easily countered by spells, but it left behind thick smoke which was ke''s n all along.


    Using the cover of the smoke, ke moved to the top of the ceiling, dodging the rain of spells, before throwing a void dagger at those at a gang member in the middle.


    While the void dagger was still in flight, ke activated void shift and appeared in mid-air before throwing out another void dagger towards the backline. On detecting danger, the rampant armor''s shield activated and tanked most of the damage, before he dropped into a spatial tear and appeared at the backline.


    The gang members at the front turned to fire at ke who appeared in midair, only to see he was already gone and one of their members had the first void dagger he threw stuck to his head.


    Before they could pity the member, noises were heard from the back as ke dashed towards the front at a terrifying speed.


    Instantly, the corridor became silent and ke remained the only man standing. "39/70."


    Compared to those at his level, ke was considered a beast talk less of those that just made it to the champion realm.


    Apart from the difference in level his stats and equipment were just off the charts. Even if their numbers were doubled there was still no match because the problem ofcking mana wasn''t for him, because he had more than 30% more mana than your average champion thanks to him having 3 elements.


    ¡­

 Chapter 263: Crack down (4).

    <h4>Chapter 263: Crack down (4).</h4>


    The moment ke dashed into the left side of the hideout, Castiel turned invisible as he moved into the right side. He saw 2 crates dropped on the floor and kept on moving down the corridor.


    Currently, the right side of the hideout had 20 gang members and that included the 3rd inmand and those that were moving the crates.


    At the moment of the ckout, the 3rd inmand had realized what was going on and had alerted the gang members that were close to him.


    They were only 15 he could get to because the rest were still on their way and were slowed down by the crates they were carrying. So, he sent out 5 members to meet up with the other 7 (AN: ke killed 2) and make sure they came back safely. But he had no idea that Castiel was already close to them.


    "Did something go wrong with the core?" One of the 5 bandits who were carrying crates asked when the ckout urred.


    There were 3 at the front and 2 behind as they moved forward. So, the one in the middle cast a me ball and made it float above the group, but that was when they began hearing footsteps.


    "What took you 3 so long?" The one in the middle asked as they turned to see their teammates who weregging behind for an unknown reason.


    When they turned they didn''t see their 3 fellow gang members, but they saw 2 daggers with a burning glow to them. The one at the middle immediately increased the intensity of the mes, but they only saw 2 floating daggers.


    "What the hell is going on?" The 5 bandits were utterly confused and scared, but soon the floating daggers disappeared.


    "Is it me or are my eyes ying tricks on me?" One of the gang members at the front (the previous back which had 2 people) asked, but that was when something liquid began touching him at his back.


    "What the¡­" The gang member turned back only to see it was blood, and it wasing from the slit throat of the member in the middle.


    With the death of the caster, the fireball floating above them extinguished and the corridor returned to darkness.


    "Shit!" The bandits cursed as they had no idea of who and where their opponent was, but that was when 4 sharp ck solid tentacles went through their heads and killing them instantly.


    CRASH!


    With their grips loosened, the crates crashed onto the ground and shattered.


    "What was that?" Immediately the crates had shattered, that was when the 5 gang members sent to fetch them arrived at the scene.


    "Shit!" The bandit in front cursed when the light from the me torch fell on the 4 corpses which had arge hole on their head.


    "Get back!" The gang member shouted. He didn''t know who the invader was, but he didn''t want to take any chances.


    The bandits didn''t ask questions as they began to run back to the storage room where they came from, but that was when they looked back in horror and saw 2 ming daggers chasing after them.


    At that moment their adrenaline began pumping as they increased their speeds.


    They kept on looking back at the ming dual daggers, but that was when it suddenly disappeared and they began hearing tinkering sounds from above.


    They pointed their me touches to the ceiling, but that was when they saw a shadow jump down, and the gang member at the back screamed in pain as tendrils pierced through his heart and head.


    "What the fuck!'' At this point the bandit at the front tripped and fell on the floor, causing a chain reaction that led the rest to fall. They began crawling backward in fear as the ming dual daggers were slowly closing in on them.


    They had no clue of what they were up against and were scared shitless about it.


    ording to their logic, it couldn''t be a human because this wasn''t a power they had knowledge of and it couldn''t be a beast because even though it had tendrils they couldn''t see the rest of its body.


    They were so scared to the point that their hands became too weak to crawl backward and they had forgotten they had powers.


    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!


    Deciding he had seen enough, Castiel''s daggers went through the skulls of 2 gang members, while his tendrils bore 2 holes each in the heart and head of the others.


    ''Don''t know why, but that was quite fun.'' Castiel thought with a guilty smile on his face.


    After he made sure they were no longer breathing, Castiel didn''t rush towards the storage room, but he took his time by walking.


    ¡­


    At the storage unit, 5 minutester


    "It''s most likely they have been killed. You guys should get ready and take your positions." Taft the 3rd inmand of the ck scorpion gang said to the remaining 9 men that were in the room with him.


    They waited for 5 more minutes but there was still no sign of anyone. This made the hearts of everyone in the room beat faster as their palms and foreheads became sweaty.


    That was when the door suddenly opened and ck mist rushed inside the room.


    ...


    For close to 3 minutes, Castiel had been outside the door monitoring the position of the 10 gang members in the room with the system''s heat vision.


    (AN: Remember, all summoned to Infinite realm possessed system and it had basic functions such as night and heat vision. PS: Castiel doesn''t need night-vision :)


    He had been outside controlling and umting night mist to a restricted area. So when he thought the quantity was enough for the room, he use a tendril to open door to the storage room and let the gas flow.


    "What the suck is that?" The gang members were confused by the ck gas but that was when Taft screamed at them.


    "Don''t let the room get filled with it. Use wind spells to blow it out of the room!" But this only made Castiel smile.

 Chapter 264: Crack down (5)

    <h4>Chapter 264: Crack down (5)</h4>


    Castiel could only smile when he heard the 3rd inmand. Night mist wasn''t just any gas that could be blown away by the wind, rather, spells fueled the strength and volume of the gas.


    The gang members that were in the wind pathway began unleashing spells at the ck mist which was pouring in, but soon they began noticing that the ck mist was only getting bigger.


    "What is this mist?" The 3rd inmand was confused by the scene because it defiedmon sense.


    When Taft got back to his senses he immediately screamed orders at the gang members. "Stop casting spells on it, you are only making it stronger!"


    Immediately, the gang members stopped casting spells and they watched as the ck mist slowly filled up the room.


    "What are we to do boss?" One of the gang members asked, but Taft had no idea of what to do.


    The ck mist didn''t seem to have any poisonous or sleeping effect and this confused him on its purpose.


    ''Time to end this.'' Castiel blocked the senses of everyone within the night mist and then activated the vitality-draining effects.


    "What is going on?" Taft looked all around in confusion when everyone had suddenly disappeared. He began shouting their names but he received no reply. At this point, he took a defensive position, as he heightened his senses in an attempt to locate the enemy.


    Castiel on the other hand had made his way into the room and began mowing them down.


    With the speed boost granted to him by Night mist, the gang members were unable to react even when they finally got to see him.


    In the space of some seconds, 3 gang members were already dead, and Castiel had made sure that the rest in the room heard only their screams. This tripled their heartbeat rate and it also made them back away from thest direction they heard a scream.


    ''Fear of the unknown is the greatest.'' Castiel thought as a fire whip shot out from one of the daggers andtched onto a bandit''s leg and drew him towards himself before plunging the free dagger into his head.


    AHHH!


    The other bandits heard the sound of one of their members being dragged away, followed by the sound of metal piercing through bone. Immediately, they fired countless spells in that direction but Castiel had already moved out of the way.


    Castiel appeared at the back of one of the gang members and 4 ck tendrils pierced into his body. Castiel had unblocked their sense of sound for them to hear the scream, but that was when Taft shouted.


    "Gather at the center!"


    ''Nice one, but resistance is futile.'' Castiel smiled as he saw the bandits slowly moving towards the center of the room.


    Not holding back again, Castiel rapidly changed location as he began throwing out multiple fire spells from his daggers. Some of them were either dodged or blocked in the nick of time, but 2 unlucky ones got hit and Castiel wasted no time to pick them up.


    ''They are only dying the inevitable.'' Castiel shook his head when he saw Taft and 2 other gang members huddled together.


    He didn''t make any attempts to attack, he just simply stood at a door of the room and threw out multiple fireballs to all the corners of the room, before using the power of an ignitor to make them triple in size.


    Soon the smoke from the mes blended with night mist causing the temperature of the room to rise.


    ''Let''s see how they get out of this one.'' Castiel smiled as he wore the gas mask and leaned on the walls.


    ''If we defend we can wait for back up to¡­ Is that smoke that I smell? Is he trying to burn down the room?'' Taft thought about different scenarios, but he soon snapped out of them and came up with a way to stop them from choking to death.


    "Blow away the smoke with a wind spell." Taft ordered the gang member at his right. The wind element couldn''t affect night mist, but it was still able to move the smoke away for them.


    Once they were breathing in fresh air, Taft conjured a water barrier to prevent the smoke from entering in. Also, to make sure they didn''t run out of oxygen, the gang member on the right continuously generated oxygen.


    ''Dumbasses.'' Castiel chuckled when he saw what they did. The thing was that they managed to get rid of the smoke, but not the night mist. They had trapped a chunk of the ck mist with themselves and with the constantly generated oxygen, the mist was only getting stronger as it drained their vitality.


    This continued for 5 more minutes and that was when Taft began noticing some things. Not only was his body getting weaker by the second, but he was pumping in more mana than usual to maintain the water barrier.


    "Shit!" Taft cursed in realization. ''The ck mist doesn''t only absorb the mana of spells but spells, but it also drained our vitality. No wonder he hasn''t attacked.''


    This realization brought up another problem. They couldn''t afford to stay in the room any longer, but them going for the exit would leave them open and that was obviously the intruder''s ns.


    ''Seems like we have no other choice.'' Taft thought to himself. "On my mark, move slowly to the door and prepare for any form of attack."


    Immediately, the 3 began moving one step at a time towards the door, but Castiel was still didn''t move out of his position.


    "We are almost there." Taft said as they were less than 5 meters away from the door.


    "Yes, to see your maker." At that moment, Castiel deactivated the night mist, but what they saw were crossed lines of mes that crashed into the water barrier and exploded.


    The explosion instantly destroyed the barrier and sent the 3 flying to the other end of the room where the supplies were dropped.


    The explosion was so great that the 2 gang members instantly died on impact with the walls, while Taft was only seriously injured thanks to the armor he was wearing.


    At this time night mist had cleared up, leaving only the smoke from the fires that were still raging on.


    "Uhh¡­" Taft held his broken ribs as he tried to get on his feet, but that was when 4 dark ethereal tendrilstched onto his limbs.


    "Who are you and why are you attacking us?" Taft asked in a weak tone as Castiel who was wearing a dark gas mask stepped on his chest.


    "Hades, and I am here to take your soul to the underworld." Castiel said as a dark glow appeared on the 4 tendrils, increasing the rate at which Taft was being drained.


    In less than 2 minutes, Taft had been drained to the point that his skin was hugging his bones.


    "That was really fun." Castiel chuckled.


    "Time to regroup." He snapped his fingers causing the mes to extinguish before walking out and heading back to the entrance.


    ¡­


    On the other side of the hideout. After killing 20 of the bandits, ke began walking down the stairs.


    "They shouldn''t be much left, and from how empty this corridor is, it seems like they have gathered." ke thought.


    [Come to think of it, ces like this should have some sort of way to escape just in case they are trapped.] The system.


    "If not they should have all gathered together and attacked at once, but it seems they were just defending?" ke said in realization.


    Zzzg! Zzzg!


    ke immediately activated lighting reinforcement and dashed towards the meeting room. His goal was to make sure everyone died, and from the looks of it seems there was another escape route.


    [They are 8 in the room.] The system reported.


    ''This should be easy.'' ke charged a me burst and shot it at the double door of the meeting room, sending pieces of it flying into the room and leaving a cloud of smoke at the door.


    The gang members began firing spells at the door, for more than 3 minutes, until Fin signaled them to stop. They waited for the smoke created by the spells to clear, but that was when a void dagger was thrown into the room.


    "It''s about to go down." ke said with a creepy smile on his face.

 Chapter 265: Crack down (6)

    <h4>Chapter 265: Crack down (6)</h4>


    The entrance to the meeting room was still engulfed in smoke, and to avoid getting taken by surprise, they ignored the dagger when they saw it wasn''t going for someone, but that was ke''s n.


    As the void dagger flew across the room, a spatial tear opened and 4 fire chains shot out aiming for the heads of 4 bandits.


    As the chains shot out the second inmand Fin sensed the fire spell and reacted by dashing towards the nearest target and deflecting the fire chain with a burst of wind.


    As for the other 3 gang members were facing the door when they wrapped on their heads and exploded, sending bits of their brain and flesh flying all around the room.


    The gang members were confused about how their fellow members had died, but that was when they turned to the dagger that had dug into the other end of the wall.


    That was when 2 me bursts came flying through the door, but Fin has already expected something like this.


    Earth eruption!


    Stomping his foot on the floor, 2yers of earth walls erupted from below.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Bothyers of walls were sted into pieces by the first meburst, and the second one continued unhindered, but soon a rain of spells stopped it in its tracks.


    Zzzg! Zzzg!


    "Ahh!" They heard the sound of the crackling lightning followed by the sound of a scream.


    The gang members turned around, only to see the hand of a ck-haired boy on the head of a member who was being electrocuted.


    "Is that where your boss is?" ke pointed to the door some meters behind him.


    "What business do you have with our boss?" Fin asked with a frown on his face.


    "What else? I am here to kill him and you all." ke chuckled aloud as he let go of the gang member whose body was now charred and stiff.


    THUD!


    "So who do you guys want me to kill first? You guys or give you all a head start by killing your boss first." ke said with a smirk on his face.


    ''This is the one that has been ughtering everyone?'' Fin was stunned and afraid at the same time. Although ke seemed to be quite young, he felt a dangerous auraing from him.


    As for the option of running away. It wasn''t an option at all because in situations like this they would be easily picked off. Also, there was always a way that the boy would catch up to them.


    "Attack him!" Fin made up his mind and gave out amand.


    "This is where you should think outside the box. Suicide was a better option than the other too." ke couldn''t help but shake his head when he saw the gang membersing at him.


    ''Activate Mind boost.'' The intensity of the lightning arcs increased as ke''s eyes began glowing blue.


    He threw out a void dagger at Fin, who managed to dodge it at the nick of time, but this only made ke smile.


    Void shift.


    A spatial tear appeared beside ke, and he lunged his hand inside and came out of a spatial tear at the path of void dagger.


    ''Gotcha!'' ke grabbed the head of a gang member who was passing by and dragged it into the spatial tear before closing it.


    ''Nasty.'' ke dropped the head but didn''t move out of the way.


    Wind de!


    Earth spikes!


    Ding!


    The space in front of ke froze, the wind de crashed into it, but not leaving a dent, same as the rows of earth spikes that came his way.


    ''Time to get serious.'' With the exponential increase of his mental power, the frozen space began expanding at such a terrifying speed, that before they could react it had boxed them in.


    Out of instinct, the gang members began firing spells at the frozen space, but their attacks were hardly leaving a dent on it.


    "Resistance is futile." ke said as Ebony and Ivory appeared in his hands and a space on the frozen space opened up and he walked in.


    ke dashed forward, and in the blink of an eye he had appeared beside 1 of 4 gang members and beheaded him before he could react.


    The other 2 including fin began throwing out everything they had but ke was so fast that he only dodge them at thest moment, making it look as if the spells were knowingly avoiding him.


    SWISH! SWISH!


    Just as fin was trying to keep track of ke''s position, the head of the 2 other bandits dropped to the floor.


    "Shit!" Not wasting time, Fin conjured an earth dome to protect him, but ke swung ebony at the upper part of the dome, cutting it off and beheading Fin in the process.


    "By now, Castiel should be done with the other side. Meaning we are finally at 69/70." ke said as he opened the door to the boss'' office and it was empty, but he wasn''t worried.


    With heat vision, ke could see he was in another room by the side desk, but there seemed to be no door.


    ''I could just blow it up, but let''s increase his fear." ke smiled as a irvoyant ash light formed a trail of light that pointed to themp on the wooden desk.


    ke walked up to themp and saw that it was protected by a low level array, but he instantly cracked it and the wall slid open.


    BOOM!


    A fire ball came flying out of the door but it crashed into a frozen space.


    "You guys are too predictable." ke said as he walked into the room and saw different power crystals ced at nodes of arge array inscribed on the ground.


    At one corner of the room was a smaller array inscribed on a metal that could fit one person. Straight away ke knew it was a warp array.


    "How much were you paid, I can double it." The Boss said to ke.


    ke first took a look at the boss who had a brown gelled hair and a butt chin, before speaking. "You see, at the moment I am notcking gold coins. By the way I know you want to buy time so when the core restarts you can leave."


    "Everyone has a price, name it." At this point, the boss knew that escaping was no longer an option. So he tried to negotiating and if that was to fail. Thest option was to fight to the death.


    "I need contribution points and fame while having my freedom. Those 2 things are something you can''t offer." ke said as he brought out a mana disruptor and ced it on the wall beside him.


    ''What are you trying to do? Do you want to kill us both?" The ck scorpion gang boss began sweating when he saw the mana disruptor.


    Using a mana disruptor would shut down arrays and power cores that didn''t have proper protection. In this case, using one when a core was restarting would make it unstable and cause an explosion.


    "No, just you." ke sealed the exit by freezing the space around it, before freezing the space around the boss to prevent him from leaving the room.


    "Oh, I forgot to tell you that you had a nice ce." ke who had activated the mana disruptor stepped back into the wall, appearing back at the meeting room. Using the system''s detection range ke waited till thest moment before dispelling space freeze in other to maximize damage.


    BOOM!


    The core exploded sending out massive shockwaves that shook the entire hideout.


    "Surprising that he managed to survive that..." ke said as he walked towards the office.


    Just like every building, the walls of the sewer had been reinforced with arrays while it was being constructed. Also, when the hideout was being constructed they had also reinforced it furthermore.


    This prevented the hideout from copsing from the explosion, but for sure it had destroyed everything in the office and the hidden room.


    "You should have just died and saved yourself the pain." ke shook his head as he walked up to the gang boss who was on the floor and was bleeding from all parts of his body.


    He didn''t waste any more time as he stabbed the helpless gang boss, before retrieving his void daggers and regrouping with the others.

 Chapter 266: Adventurer Zero.

    <h4>Chapter 266: Adventurer Zero.</h4>


    He didn''t waste any more time as he stabbed the helpless gang boss, before retrieving his void daggers and regrouping with the others.


    "What was that quake?" Brian asked when ke arrived at the hideout entrance.


    "Nothing much, I just blew up the core to save me the strength and energy to fight the gang boss." ke said. Before he had made the decision, he had used the system to scan the walls of the hideout in order to prevent it from copsing on them.


    "Any problem at your end?" ke asked as he looked over to Brian.


    "Na¡­" Castiel said with a smile.


    After being given the confirmation that they were done, ke contacted Arnold. "It is done."


    "Great, meet me at the adventurer association to receive your pay." Arnold said before cutting themunication link.


    Once the call was over, the trio exited the sewers and boarded a carriage that took them to the adventurer''s association.


    ¡­


    On the other side of the call.


    "That was quicker than what I and Master had spected. Seems we are underestimating their capabilities." Arnold thought with a smile on his face as he called the ash corps''munication line.


    "The work is done. Men are already at the scene to preserve the integrity of the site." Arnold reported.


    "We are on our way." Themunication link was cut off.


    ¡­


    Close to 30 minutester, ke and his crew arrived at the association building where they met up with Susan who took them to a private room where Arnold had been waiting all this while.


    "Congrattions on the sess of themission, and I hope that our future partnership will continue to be fruitful." Arnold said with a smile as he handed over a dimensional amulet containing 50k gold coins, before leaving the room.


    "The order of chaos adventurer party had been awarded 5k contribution points for the party, and it will be divided equally before being added to your personal contribution points. Also, the ash corps? are done inspecting the hideout, so they just sent over 16100 gold coins for the bounty ced on the heads of the ck scorpion gang members." Susan reported.


    "Bounty?" The 3 asked with a puzzled look on their faces¡­


    "The ash corps ced a bounty on the ck scorpion gang, meaning every member has a default value that keeps on increasing as theymit more offenses." Susan exined.


    The ck scorpion gang wasn''t considered to be close to a threat and so far hadn''t done any major crimes that got the ash corps'' attention. That is why every member had a default bounty of 200 gold coins, while Taft the 3rd inmand had a bounty of 700, Fin 800, and the boss 1200.


    To normalmoners the amount was high, but to adventurers like ke, it wasn''t even enough to be considered change whenparing it to the cost of magical items. This was one of the main reasons why the ck scorpion gang hadn''t been wiped out. They weren''t worth the stress.


    "Do you have any other questions or requests?" Susan asked and once there were none, she left the room to make an update to the billboard.


    "Now we can only wait and see how the most important phase of my n goes." ke said.


    ¡­


    From the view of the entrance, the reception desk was straight ahead and the path to the right led to the hotel part of the building, while the left path led to the adventurer part which housed private rooms for negotiation and nning, the billboard room, adventurer shops and so on.


    The billboard room couldn''t be considered to be a room because of its size andck of doors. Its entrance could fit more than 10 men at the same time and it was half the size of a football field, containing multiple holographic projection boards that disyed missions.


    The holographic boards were divided into sections depending on the type of mission, and above them were multiple screens that only disyed vital information or updates.


    Susan who just returned to her desk made a call to the control unit to update it. The control unit was the core and it was an AI but was nothingpared to Fury. It controlled everything in the building and could only be controlled by the guild master.


    After the call was made to the control unit, all info rted ck Scorpion gang was erased from the billboards and a message appeared on the screens.


    [The newly promoted C rank adventurer part, Order of Chaos adventurer party, whichprises Zero, Hades, and Grock has wiped out all members of the scorpion gang after they had raided their hideout.]


    The announcement didn''t cause any uproar but it caused a lot of murmuring in the billboard room. This was so because there were a lot of opinions on themission and even the adventurer party.


    A few shook their heads because some people handled the stress of finding their hideout and wiping them out only for 16k gold coins from the bounty.


    (AN: Remember it still had to be shared with all the members of the party.)


    No one had ced amission to wipe out the gang, so the only rewards they would receive was that of the bounty, but they had no idea that they had struck a deal with the Winchester family.


    Most of the people in the room were highly impressed that a team of newly promoted C rank team were able to wipe out 70 gang members even though they had the home ground advantage.


    The more they thought about it, the more they realized the task was more difficult than it sounded, but that was when they remembered a familiar name, and that was Zero.


    When it came to new adventurers, Zero had the most aplishments. He killed a Knox when he was at the E rank, survived the battle between demigods in the slums. He killed all the assassins that came to kill him which made the association createmunication amulets for adventurer parties of all levels. Also, it was his party that had discovered a very old research facility.

 Chapter 267: No progress.

    <h4>Chapter 267: No progress.</h4>


    Once the involvement of Zero was confirmed agents of noble families in the room began contacting their various families to inform them of the new development.


    This made a lot of families investigate more into the matter. It didn''t take long for them to find out that the Order of Chaos adventurer party had struck a deal with the Winchester family. This made to begin wondering the level of rtionship between both parties.


    It led to another investigation and they found out about the number ofmissions they hadpleted for the Winchester family. This made the noble families feel ufortable, because from the looks of things it seemed that the Winchester family were about to rope them in and that was bad news.


    If ke and his team reached great heights in the iing years, their ties with the Winchester family would cause the noble families'' power and control to sore above many other noble families.


    This wasn''t good news for them so they had toe up with a way to get on the good side of the rising adventurer party.


    It made them consideredmissioning a gang wipeout just like the Winchester family had done.


    ¡­


    The next week of school wasn''t fruitful for all the courses when it came to progress.


    The mana vision ss was the most unfruitful, Professor Gibson couldn''t see any visible improvement from their previous ss and that included ke.


    As for Forge mastery sses, Professor Tacitus was still nowhere to be seen, but the surprising part was that the school knew about it but hadn''t told them anything concerning it.


    The system came up with a theory that Professor Tacitus wouldn''t being to lecture them until they had awakened mana vision. This was because the integration method wasplex for someone like ke, talk less of normal students.


    In the body enhancement ss, the students were still stuck in the unconscious process of mana absorption by the cells, but unlike Professor Gibson, Zirrack didn''t seem to be bothered about their progress. It was hard to tell if he cared.


    ¡­


    The same thing went on during the next week, but things were quite different for ke when it came to the body enhancement ss.


    After his ss with Zirrack, ke returned to his room a little bit frustrated. This was the first time he had stayed almost 2 weeks without any visible progress.


    "How can I increase the speed of the absorption process?" ke asked as he paced around his room.


    The mana absorption rate of the cells was very small and slow. The problem ke had with it was that the quantity was too small for him to observe the process in his attempt to awaken mana vision.


    [You are frustrated and you thinking too much about it only increases it. You should go outside and clear your head, beforeing back to the issue.] The system advised ke.


    "Yeah, I need a break." ke agreed with the system and headed out for the training ground.


    Apart from the canteen that was packed during meal time, the training ground was the most popted area of the school when sses weren''t in session. It was a ce that wasrge enough to contain both those from the elite ss and the normal ss when they came to spar, train, hangout, and so on.


    ''Didn''t know this area was this lively after sses.'' ke looked around the training ground and saw students engaging in different activities.


    ''Sometimes I wonder why I haven''t activated the night veil.'' ke sighed helplessly when he saw that a lot of eyes and fingers were on him. With his enhanced sense of hearing, he could hear that a lot of the conversations around him were about him, but because he came to clear his head he didn''t bother to listen.


    ke was like a celebrity to many students, they don''t usually see him but whenever he is seen, he gives everyone a thrilling show to watch.


    ke didn''t waste any time, as he went to the sitting area that overlooked arge portion of the humongous training ground. Rank matches were going on at the battlegrounds, but they were mostly those from the normal ss with a few low-ranking elite ss members.


    ''So far I haven''t gotten to see the strength of the normal ss.'' ke said as he decided to watch one of the matches, but he was soon disappointed.


    It wasn''t as if they were bad, as a matter of fact, their closebat skills were okay, mana control and spell casting time were not far from the lower rank of the elite ss. It was just that theycked imagination and were ying it too safe.


    He moved his attention to another battle but they were basically the same thing, boring. ke was getting more frustrated when he saw 10 chances for one to start a chainbo to end the match but ended up backing away.


    [I don''t think watching this is helpful.] The system chuckled when heard all the cursing in ke''s head.


    ke moved over to another side of the training ground where people were sparring. Many were at the sitting area watching them while some were by the sides.


    "Look, it''s ke." Girls in the area alerted each other before they began whispering loudly as they literally watched his every move. This was kind of embarrassing for ke, but it made a few people angry.


    The said people were nobles that hade to the sparring area just to look for those who they were stronger than, then pester and anger them into epting a spar. The aim of their actions was to beat up their unlucky targets in order to look good and get girls.


    They were angry at ke that the girls were no longer paying attention to their fights but to him. The part that got them infuriated was that ke had interfered in one of their matches.

 Chapter 268: Psycho Blake.

    <h4>Chapter 268: Psycho ke.</h4>


    ke was strolling along the sides of the sparring area, but he soon sighted a noble pounding amoner with his fist even though he had admitted defeat.


    The problem was that sparring matches weren''t monitored by the school authority because the students outnumbered the staff and they had their hands full with the rank matches talk more of spars.


    ''I should be minding my own business, I just came out to clear my head.'' ke said to himself as he looked away from the battle and continued moving, but that was when he heard what the noble was saying with his advanced senses.


    "This should take away their attention from that peasant." The noble said as his hand was covered in blood, but he kept on pounding themoner''s face.


    ''Why do people like this even exist?'' ke thought with a frown as he activated lightning reinforcement and appeared at the battleground in midair before giving the noble a roundhouse kick that sent him flying.


    "Are you okay?" ke said as he picked up themoner and supported him with his shoulder, but that was when the noble came rushing towards them.


    ''I just feel like breaking his leg.'' ke let go of themoner for a second and activated lightning reinforcement and giving the noble a kick to the chest sending him flying once again.


    "Sorry for that." Before themoner could fall ke was back to his side. They began walking towards the side of the sparring ground but that was when more nobles began gathering at the area.


    ''It seems most of the nobles are so brain dead that they can''t recognize who they can''t beat.'' ke sighed helplessly as he spoke. "I know you idiots are about to do something stupid, but before you do that let me drop him."


    [Are you doing this to anger them because you didn''t use the right words?] The system face-palmed.


    ke''s insult raised their anger from 5 to 15/10 in an instant. Not only did he take most of the attention or interfered in the spar, but he had also insulted them in front of all the girls they were trying to impress. If there was one thing the nobles cared about, it was their pride.


    "I assure you guys, this wouldn''t end in a good way." ke warned as he saw them looking at each other.


    "Yes, it wouldn''t end well for you." After checking their numbers and making sure that everyone had the same idea, one of the nobles led the charge.


    "Then, don''t me me for what happens next." ke said with a frown on his face when he saw the nobles equipping their weapons.


    [This would be fun to watch.] The system said in an excited tone when he saw the look on ke''s face.


    The thing that angered ke the most was when people attacked him for useless reasons and with an intent to kill or seriously injure him. Since they wanted to be unreasonable, ke decided to show them he was a psycho.


    ''How many am I dealing with?'' ke asked the system as ridiculous amounts of lightning arcs began swarming all over his body.


    [A little bit above 20.] The system reported after it scanned the area for those armed or were charging up spells.


    "Just enough to vent my frustration." ke said with a creepy grin as the lightning arcs began expanding past him and the injuredmoner, before exploding and pushing back those that wereing for them.


    "I will be back." With the speed boost of lightning reinforcement, ke dashed out of the sparring ground with the injuredmoner and dropped him before returning back to his previous position. "Shall we?"


    A noble wrapped in lightning arcs appeared behind him with daggers in his hands, but ke didn''t even need to look to grab his hand without turning.


    The noble was shocked by ke''s reaction speed, but he soon saw himself in mid-air before being mmed into the ground in front of ke, but ke wasn''t done yet.


    "Isn''t itmon sense not to be the first to rush forward?" ke shook his head before twisting the hand of the noble and stomping on his elbow.


    CRACK!


    "AHH!" The noble screamed in pain.


    The sound of cracking bone and screams sent chills down the spine of everyone that heard it, but they didn''t have time to reconsider their decision because ke was no longer at his previous spots.


    Soon they heard the sound of another crack and scream. It was ke, and this time the knee of a noble was in the wrong position but was still standing only because ke wasn''t done with him.


    ''That wouldn''t even be able to catch Tessie.'' ke snorted as he jumped into the air, dodging nt vines that came from below, then giving a roundhouse kick to the noble before heading for the Photomancer.


    "Shit!" The Photomancer began regretting his decision to try a surprise attack when he saw ke look in his direction.


    Knowing how fast ke was, he didn''t waste time covering himself inyers of thorny vines, but before he could form the secondyer of thorny vines a hand covered in lightning cut through the nt dome and grabbed him by the neck.


    BAM! BAM!


    ke began mming his head on the thorny walls of the nt dome, before manipting the lightning arcs on his body to cut a sizeable part of the nt dome before pulling him out through the small space.


    "AHH! Please stoooop!" The noble was screaming in pain as the thorns from the nt domes continuously scraped out his skin, but soon a golden dome appeared and saved him from the agony before teleporting him to the school''s clinic.


    This creeped the hell out of both those watching and many on those on the sparring ground. This made many that were rushing at him pause while those that were farther to start running.


    By now many people both in the afterlife and still in thend of leaving knew it was useless running from away from ke. Even the system was dying fromughter when it saw their useless attempt.

 Chapter 269: Psycho Blake II.

    <h4>Chapter 269: Psycho ke II.</h4>


    By now many people both in the afterlife and still in thend of leaving knew it was useless running from away from ke. Even the system was dying fromughter when it saw their useless attempt.


    "I never said you could leave." ke said as he appeared in front of one of the fleeing nobles and stomped his foot into his knee cap, instantly shattering it and sending him tumbling.


    He appeared in front of another and mmed his fist into his rib cage and causing the golden barrier to stop the bones from piercing into his heart and lungs.


    ''Wow! Didn''t know I had so much strength.'' ke was shocked by how lethal his punch was. He had used the effect of the Raiju breathing technique to make sure that he got more than a broken rib, but didn''t expect such a result.


    [You forgot that the cells at your right hand had been energized during your body enhancement ss.] The system reminded ke.


    The body enhancement process involved 2 out of the 3 steps of using abat technique. Why it was so strong was that ke hadn''t gone through the normal process but had mistakenly used the energized body part.


    ''That only makes things easier.'' ke increased his speed at which he began mowing down on the nobles.


    The spectators had an eerie expression on their faces as they watched and listened to be a one-sided beat down with a bone-cracking and screaming soundtrack.


    Soon the number of the nobles still standing was left to one, but he had managed to get to the injuredmoner.


    "Let me go and he wouldn''t have to suffer more." The noble said in a desperate tone as he pointed his sweaty palm at themoner, showing that he was ready to fire a spell.


    ''Why didn''t you inform me that he was going for themoner?'' ke asked the system.


    [I was enjoying the show and you didn''t ask me to.] The system defended itself. [But I have to confess he is really stupid for doing that.]


    ''Very stupid.'' ke couldn''t help but agree with the system. ''The question is how do I want to deal with the issue?''


    The noble took ke''s silence as him being ready toply, but he had no idea that it was just seconds before his gruesome fate was decided.


    Before dropping off the injuredmoner, ke had left him with a void dagger. He could just warp behind the noble, but if the noble saw him move he could just attack.


    ke currently had 2 options. He could take the carefree approach and dive him through a spatial tear or He could open a spatial tear behind him and control lightning to stun the noble before attacking.


    The first approach wasn''t too bad because ording to the system''s calctions, themoner was at hisst straw and would be saved by the golden dome. That was why ke had been careful to only break only one limb on each noble to make sure they weren''t healed immediately.


    ke was seconds away from making a decision when a lightning bolt struck the noble out of nowhere.


    "That makes things easy." ke took a step back and appeared behind the noble before grabbing him on the head and began shocking him just like he had done to the ck Scorpion gang member at the hideout.


    "No. Doing that would only give you an easy escape." ke said as he grabbed noble''s hand and broke it before moving to the knee.


    After he picked the void dagger and was sure that he was done, ke turned to the direction the lightning came from and saw Cami before walking to her.


    "Thanks for the help." ke said with a smile on his face.


    "You drop one of your daggers with him, so you didn''t need my help." Cami said as she acted nonchntly.


    "True, but I still have to thank you for the thought and effort." ke said.


    Being a little shy that she was being praised by ke, Cami tried to change the topic. "Aren''t you going to take him to the clinic?" She said pointing at the injuredmoner.


    "My goal was to save him by ending the match not to carry him to the clinic or do you want me to break a rib to send him directly to the clinic?" ke asked causing Cami to chuckle.


    ke had decided he had done enough mind-clearing for one day. So he decided to head back to his room, but coincidentally Cami was also on her way to the Castle too so they continued chatting all the way.


    "You did good today and if continue this way, you might win my heart." ke said with a smirk as he unlocked his room before waving at Cami.


    Using heat vision, ke watched as Cami stood there for some time before smiling and leaving.


    ¡­


    "So much for clearing my mind." ke sighed.


    After ke was done freshening up, he went into a crossed-legged position and began circting mana back and forth with his right hand.


    Although he had tried multiple times and had failed, ke heightened his senses to observe the process of mana absorption by the cells, but that was when he noticed something.


    "Is it me or did the rate of absorption increase?" ke was shocked by this and began wondering what would have sped it up.


    "I must have happened during the fight." ke began recounting everything that happened during the fight till the present moment.


    "When I began circting mana around my hand, the ones previously absorbed by the cells werepletely depleted and could be said to be overused. Meaning that the rate of absorption increased only because Ipletely depleted the ones in reserve." ke said in realization.


    [Right on point.] The system which had been quiet all this while decided to speak.


    [Just like Zirrack exined, the process of the cell absorbing mana is an adaption process to prevent mana from harming the pathways. So what you just discovered now is something simr.] The system exined.

 Chapter 270: Awakening Mana vision.

    <h4>Chapter 270: Awakening Mana vision.</h4>


    [It''s just like when you lift weights, the muscles get torn causing pain, butter heals only to get stronger and be able to withstand the previous amount of strain.


    In the case of the energized cells, since you hadpletely drained them, the cells will try to adapt by increasing their capacity which in turn will lead to increasing its absorption rate.] The system exined.


    The system had been carrying out a policy of letting ke discover or realize things by himself. Because if it didn''t do so, ke would be no different from talentless nobles who got whatever they wanted without any work.


    Only when he had realized the most important part, would the system give him an in-depth exnation on the topic in order to keep him ahead of his peers.


    "This exins instructor Zirrack''s nonchnt attitude to our progress. He had literally given us all that is required, all we just need is to try out different approaches and practice more." ke said when he remembered how instructor Zirrack just stood in the same spot throughout the entire ss.


    With the discovery, ke began continuously circting mana around his right arm while heightening his senses to observe the process of absorption.


    It took him over 2 hours topletely energize his depleted arm and by then he waspletely drained for heightening his senses for so long. He took a 30 minutes break to recuperate his mental strength before going to the left arm.


    After 2 more hours, ke was done with the left arm and took another 30 minutes break before heading to the practice room to expend the mana of the energized arms. He used the opportunity to also work on his closebat technique by facing the puppets they fought during one of their sses with instructor Zirrack.


    During his fight with the nobles, ke had noticed that his closebat skills hadn''t improved one bit since the beginning of the first semester. This was because he mostly used Ebony and Ivory and because of how powerful the sword was, all ke needed to do was justnd a hit and he will cut through everything.


    This is was why both his current trips to the practice rooms will be aimed at making both his hand-to-handbat techniques and swordy so deadly to the point that every attack could take a life.


    Learning techniques like these weren''t prohibited by the school, and since the futuremissions they would be taking were getting more dangerous he needed to master them.


    After he had depleted the energy of the cells in his arms ke decided to call it day and take a rest. because the process of getting both arms energized and depleting them took close to 7 hours.


    He was forced to stop that day, but for the rest of the week, ke continuously repeated the process. Immediately he was done with school, ke wouldn''t waste any time and start circting mana around his arms.


    Just like he had expected, the absorption rate and mana capacity were increasing. Also, the time it was taking for him to recover his lost mental energy was decreasing with each cycle.


    By the end of the week, ke was now able to observe close to 40% of the absorption process with his senses and each cycle had been reduced to 5 and a half hours.


    ...


    The next week at Professor Gibson''s ss.


    Unlike the previous weeks where he gave the students normal exercises, Professor Gibson decided to step things up by involving himself in the exercise.


    "Today''s exercise would be for you to get past these 3 lines." Professor Gibson pointed 3 very long lines that ran from one side of the practice room to another and were 20 meters apart from each other.


    "It would be 10 randomly selected students at a time and the aim of the exercise is to get past the 3 lines and get to me behind the 3rd line." Professor Gibson appeared behind the 3rd line.


    "Before most of you make the mistake of thinking this will be an easy exercise, I hate to burst your bubble because I will be your opponent." Professor Gibson''s words shocked a lot of students and made ke frown.


    "The attacks that will be aimed at you will be on par with your strength. This is to even out the difficulty amongst all students, and to make sure no one gives excuses." Professor Gibson exined. "Also, the rules will be the same as the other exercises. No use of elements, items or artifacts, just arcane magic."


    "Any questions before we begin?" Professor Gibson asked.


    The students began asking questions like if they were free to cross at any side of the line, but that was when Luciano raised his hands.


    "Yes, Luciano?"


    "When you said each set wasprised of 10 students. Does it mean we are a team?" Luciano asked.


    "Finally a good question. No, it doesn''t mean you are a team, but that doesn''t mean you can''t be. Each set is free to decide what they want to do, they can decide to work or sabotage each other, but it doesn''t give extra points. All that matters is that you get past this 3rd line." Professor Gibson exined.


    This made ke''s frown deepen as he began thinking about the implications of teaming up or going solo.


    ''Since he has decided to get involved in the exercise, it means it is meant to push us to our limits. Now, teaming up would be nice because it helps us deal with things we weren''t expecting, but that is only on paper.'' ke thought.


    ''Because it is a random selection of 10 people which is double the size of what we get during tests and exams, there would be a lot of characters to deal with. Especially the enemies who would try to sabotage me and the ones who are not good enough.


    I can''t put my trust in people when there are so many uncertainties. So I will be going solo.'' ke made up his mind.

 Chapter 271: Awakening mana vision part II

    <h4>Chapter 271: Awakening mana vision part II</h4>


    "Professor Gibson, Please I would like to know how one get''s eliminated?" ke asked but for some reason it caused many to instinctively gulp.


    With ke having the greatest mana control in the school, ke was seen as the most likely to pass the exercise even if others were to fail, meaning he was asking the question for another reason.


    From ke''s history, he had been known to dislike teams because he saw them as liabilities, but that was those that weren''t his close friends. Also, themotion he had caused the previous week had increased their fear for him, causing them toe to the conclusion that he wanted to eliminate the other 9 students.


    The truth was that they were right. Depending on how his team reacted in the first minutes of the exercise, ke had ns of eliminating them.


    [You know that asking that question gives everyone the wrong impression and that would cause them to attack you.] The system couldn''t help but face-palm.


    ''What do you now want me to do about it?'' ke asked the system which didn''t have a reply. It wasn''t ke''s fault, but because of his reputation.


    "Oh, I wasing back to it. The answer is very simple, once you pass the first line and you are pushed back, you get eliminated. Also, you can quit." Professor Gibson exined.


    ''That is easier than I thought.'' ke thought. Since everyone will be constantly being tested at the same time.


    [It isn''t as easy as you think. For the fact that there are 2 sections, it means that you would face 2 kinds of challenges, and it ismon sense that the 2nd stage will be more difficult than the 1st. So since you would also receive attacks at your level, it is advisable that you eliminate them at the 1st stage.] The system said to ke.


    Once they were no longer any questions, Professor Gibson randomly selected 10 students which included quite high-ranking students like Brian, Esmeralda, and Ansgar. He gave them time to organize themselves and decide if they wanted to act as a team or go solo.


    Brian and Esmeralda had decided to team up, while Ansgar and 2 other nobles had done the same, leaving the other 5 students that decided to go solo.


    Once the time was over, the students stood in front of the first line before they were given the signal to begin the exercise.


    "Begin!" Professor Gibson announced.


    The 10 students began moving forward at moderate speed so as not to be taken by surprise, but that was when different arcane spells began attacking them.


    Just like professor Gibson had said, every attack was equivalent to their strengths meaning they wouldn''t be easy to deal with it.


    They werebing both physical and magical prowess to dodge and block the mana spells they couldn''t react to, but the attacks kept on raining on them to the point that they began finding it difficult to keep moving forward.


    The students began forming mana domes to protect and give them some time to rest, but ke could only shake his head when he saw this.


    "Creating a dome only makes you a sitting duck. Now he can just bombard you with spells without bothering to aim." ke shook his head.


    [It''s not as if they have much of an option. You noticed it right?] The system said.


    "Yes. It makes me ask if we are meant to pass the exercise." ke said. When the students were moving forward, ke had noticed that the attacks were increasing in both strength and ferocity, but when they either sidestepped or moved back to avoid the attack the strength of the attack would remain the same or reduce respectively.


    [I wonder what the second stage is.] The system said as he watch the students were continuously being struck with mana arrows with powerful prative ability.


    It didn''t take much time for the students to realize that standing still was a bad idea, so they began running out of their turtle shells that was except for Brian and Esmeralda.


    They were leading in the race to the 2nd line and were in a mana dome reinforced by both of them, but that meant not only were they taking the damage for 2 people, but they were receiving the most attack because they were the closest to the 2nd line.


    The main reason they couldn''t move forward was that Esmeralda didn''t have much mana or mental energy to keep moving forward. Also, Brian felt it wasn''t right to ditch her now that she was weak.


    "Just like I thought, teaming up is redundant." ke said. Professor Gibson had so much control that the power of the attacks was always urate. So teaming up was practically the same thing, but you now have to put into consideration that your teammate can''t endure as much you can.


    It didn''t take much longer for the students to start fainting due to mana exhaustion or being stuck in abo of arcane spells before being knocked by to the 1st line, meaning they were eliminated.


    Somehow Ansgar had made it to the 19-meter mark where Esmeralda and Brian were. Unlike Brian who decided to stick with Esmeralda, Ansgar had ditched his 2 teammates which was quite unsurprising.


    As he and his teammates were moving forward, Ansgar had been contributing less to things like barriers, causing them to expend more mana while he save his.


    "I don''t me him for being cunning, but I me the idiots that decide to work with someone like him." ke wasn''t surprised when he saw what Ansgar had done.


    Ansgar soon went past the 19th mark and into the 10 meters stretch, but that was weird and explosive things began happening. Ansgar was being attacked, but he had no clue from what direction they came from.


    The worst part was that every attack thatnded on him, continuously pushed him back until he returned to the 19th mark.


    "I quit!" Ansgar said in a weak tone, causing the chain of attacks to stop.

 Chapter 272: Awakening mana vision III

    <h4>Chapter 272: Awakening mana vision III</h4>


    "I quit!" Ansgar said in a weak tone, causing the chain of attacks to stop.


    It didn''t take much time for Brian and Esmeralda to also surrender, but by then every other person was eliminated.


    ''I have to say Ansgar was quite useful. If not I wouldn''t have known what to expect in the second line.'' ke thought as he began formting a n on how to pass the exercise.


    When the exercise was cleared, Professor Gibson went ahead to randomly select another set of 10 students, and surprisingly ke and Luciano were among them. Also, Cami, La, and Kade were in the same set as them, making the set a highly anticipated one.


    ''Let''s see how my n works out.'' ke thought as he was done nning, but that was when Cami walked up to him.


    "Would you like to team up with me?" Cami asked as she looked into ke''s eyes.


    ''Is it because Imended her the other day that she thinks I will ept her request?'' ke mind-chuckled when he heard her request, and was about to reject it, but that was when Luciano walked up to both of them.


    "By now you should know that teaming up is useless, if not he would have teamed up with me. Also, why do you ask such questions when you know he would reject it?" Luciano said with an indifferent expression.


    Cami was angry and getting tired of Luciano being mean to her even though she was trying to turn a new leaf.


    The worst part was that not only could she not beat him because of their rank, but she couldn''t even show displeasure or talk back because he was part of the royal family.


    Ignoring him, Cami turned to ke for his reply but he didn''t waste any time rejecting it leaving her heartbroken.


    "I understand your decision. Good luck in the exercise." Cami forced a smile as she left the 2.


    "You still haven''t told me why you are mean to her." ke said to Luciano.


    "I don''t like her." Luciano furrowed his brows but soon returned to his expressionless face. "Good luck in the exercise."


    "Preparation time is over. Everyone, please take any position on the 1st line." Professor Gibson announced.


    "Begin!"


    Once the start of the exercise was announced, ke didn''t take it slow just like thest set, he dashed forward at full speed as he prepared himself for the first pattern.


    After the1st set of students, ke had watched the rey of the match closely and had noticed that there was a pattern. The 1st 10 meters were mostly single target mana spells like mana des, arrows, and so on. Which increased in quantity as they moved forward.


    The 20-meter mark was abination of single target mana spells from thest 10 meters and AOE spells. The 30-meter mark was thebination of thest 2 and explosive spells to push them away from the 2nd line.


    Unlike the others who were casting spells right from the get-go, ke was dodging them and only punching or kicking them with mana encased hands and feet, but never did he stop.


    With the different passive boosts granted by his 3 elements, and his body being more refined due to being the highest in terms of cultivation, ke was the highest when it came to overall physical abilities followed by Luciano who was so good for an unknown reason.


    ''I wonder how many years it took for Professor Gibson to reach such a level of mana control.'' ke thought as he made his way into the 20-meter mark.


    At that point, the spiked barrier of mana wasing from the front while 4 mana des came from both sides.


    ''Does the mana controle with advancing in realm or by practice, because how is he able to tune all the attacks of 10 students to their power level?'' ke didn''t bait an eye at the wind des beside, as he conjured a mana drill thrice the size of his arm.


    BOOM!


    The drill went through the spiked wall, but ke didn''t stop there. He fired the mana drill at the 5 mana des that were hidden behind the spiked wall.


    BOOM!


    ke didn''t waste time as he encased his body in ayer of mana and jumped right through the explosion and shortened the distance.


    [A part of it is gotten by the advancement in realm, but there is a reason why he is the top Professor when ites to arcane magic.] The system said. [Oh, Luciano isn''t doing badly. He is just a tad bit slower than you.]


    No doubt, ke was leading the race with Luciano behind him (in distance). When the exercise had begun, they had both dashed forward at full speed, leaving the other students and spectators confused.


    It was the same for when they watched ke expend unnecessary mana to break through the spike man wall when he could spend less by blocking the wind des by the sides and moving out of the way.


    The funny part was that their act of wasting mana was actually proving to be the better option because they were leading, while some of the rest were stuck and about to be eliminated.


    ''The most challenging part.'' ke mentally prepared himself as he went past the 20-meter mark into thest 10-meter stretch.


    This time the spells of the previous rounds had more than tripled. All around ke were more than 30 mana des and mana bombs were fired at him from all sides.


    ''Nice try, but I have no ns of running.'' ke said when he sensed the mana shacklesing from underneath him, but he remained unfazed.


    In an instant, a powerful shockwave of mana erupted from ke, followed by another shockwave to counter the attacks hidden behind the first.


    BOOM!


    After the attacks were stopped, ke didn''t waste time to reach the 25th-meter mark, but that was when he began sensing a huge amount of mana.

 Chapter 273: Awakening mana vision IV

    <h4>Chapter 273: Awakening mana vision IV</h4>


    After the attacks were stopped, ke didn''t waste time to reach the 25th-meter mark, but that was when he began sensing a huge amount of mana was gathering in front of him.


    ke''s n was to never stop moving forward, if there was anything blocking his way ke was to pierce through. Because if he didn''t and moved to the side he might get stuck in a chain ofbo he couldn''t free himself from.


    Professor Gibson saw through his n and began gathering a huge amount of mana to form a mana bomb that was 3 feet wide and tall.


    "What the hell! Are we supposed to pass the exercise?" The students watching were shocked by the size of the mana bomb that had appeared, but something else shocked them more.


    They saw arge amount of mana gathering around ke as he continued dashing towards the mana bomb.


    "Even multiple shockwaves of mana can''t counter that! Is he crazy?!"


    ''At this point, I am not sure that the difficulty is still at my power level.'' ke thought as he continued to approach the mana bomb, but he soon shot out a mana chain from his right hand, into the ground meters away.


    [Of course, it isn''t, if not you wouldn''t improve. If he said it would be above their level most would give up and not try their best.] The system said.


    On seeing the chain, Professor Gibson knew what he was nning and made the mana bomb explode before contact.


    "Shit!" ke cursed as he controlled the mana chain to pull him at an insane speed, but even at that, it wasn''t enough.


    ''This would have been easier with my elements.'' Just before the force of the explosion could touch him, ke used part of the charged-up mana to send out a shockwave from his left hand.


    Boom!


    The shockwavebined with the pulling effect of the mana chain was able to pull him away from the explosion range just at thest moment.


    ''Just as expected.'' ke said to himself when hended and saw multiple arcane spellsing towards him, but he was already prepared.


    Using the remaining charged-up energy, ke encased his body in mana as he released a powerful mana st that shot him forward past the 2nd line.


    ''He really is meant to be the rank 1.'' Professor Gibson couldn''t help but admit. ''Let''s see how he does in the 2nd round.''


    Once ke went past the 2nd line, he didn''t waste any time in putting up a mana dome to protect himself. The main problem of the second stage was the inability to see where the attacks wereing from.


    Ding! Ding!


    It didn''t even take up to a second before invisible attacks began raining on the dome, but it only confirmed his suspicion.


    "Just like I thought, the rate of attacks had reduced." When ke had watched the rey of Ansgar''s attempt he had noticed that although the attacks couldn''t be seen or sensed, their speed and number had reduced based on his reactions.


    His pration tactic had proven to be efficient. It looked as if he had spent more mana than the others that took it slow, but the truth is that he had saved 20% more mana.


    When Ansgar had gotten to the 2nd line he only had 20% of his mana left, but ke had 40% of his mana left.


    ke went ahead to heighten his senses to the max, but it only confirmed his suspicion. He could neither see nor sense the attacks.


    ''This is an arcane ss, so he is using invisible arcane spells, but too bad I don''t have mana vision to see them!'' ke began racking his head to find his next course of action because he couldn''t just stay in the dome till his mana was exhausted.


    ''I always knew the system''s detection skill is divine but seems I never realized how heavenly it truly is.'' ke thought.


    During fights or normal situations, ke never had to worry about being taken by surprise due to the system''s ability to detect even those under the veil of darkbringer. But right now he was kind of regretting telling the system not to help him.


    ''Wait a minute¡­ speaking of the system''s detection skill.'' ke began remembering how the system had exined its detection ability.


    ording to the system''s exnation, the environment was just like the still water of a pound and once anything was to enter the range of detection, the water would form a detailed outline of the object. Using its knowledge and the amount of disturbance the object caused, it was able to know the power range and what the object was.


    ''This should work.'' ke closed his eyes to imagine the area around him to be a still body of water, and instead of looking out for the spells, he focused on the environment.


    Whenever Professor Gibson formed a spell, as the mana gathered to form the spell, he would make it invisible. So, what ke did was to guess what the spell was by checking the shape the ripple formed when they shed with those of other spells in the area.


    ''Please work.'' ke began praying as he sent our mana des of his own to the guessed location.


    Ding! Ding!


    Everyone including Professor Gibson was shocked when the mana des had stopped and produced sounds of things crashing into each other.


    "Time to keep going." Once he had tried it out a few more times and had gotten the hang of it, ke made the dome explode outward before dashing forward.


    "Is he running with his eyes closed?" The students were confused when they saw ke running forward with his eyes closed.


    ''It''s not as if I enjoy not seeing, but I have no other choice it is way better for me." ke thought to himself.


    (AN: It''s just like in the movies where the mc gets blind, but after remembering his master''s training he closes his eyes and relies on his senses to beat the boss.)

 Chapter 274: Awakening mana vision (final part)

    <h4>Chapter 274: Awakening mana vision (final part)</h4>


    With his eyes closed, ke continuously dodge and threw out spells, while asionally releasing mana shockwaves when he felt he couldn''t keep track of all the spellsing at him.


    From time to time he would get hit by some arcane spells because the system''s detection technique was quiteplex, but thanks to his body being encased in mana, the damages were greatly reduced and didn''t impair his movement.


    It didn''t take much time for ke to get past the 40-meter mark, but that was when everything was switched up.


    Just like the first 30 meters, the rate at which the invisible attacks wereing was increasing the further he went. The same went for the attacks that were hitting him.


    "Fuck me!" ke cursed as he took hits after hits, causing him to spend more mana to maintain his mana veil and also drastically reducing his speed.


    Even the asional release of mana shockwaves had doubled but during the intervals, he would still receive multiple attacks.


    "How much mana does he even have?!" Everyone including Professor Gibson was shocked that ke''s mana hadn''t been exhausted even though he was constantly releasing shockwaves of mana.


    Right from the start of the second line, they had been waiting for him to faint due to mana exhaustion but he was still going. They had no clue that ke''s mana capacity wasn''t on the same as those in the same realm.


    Under fire, ke managed to make it to the 45-meter mark, but the rate of attacks had once again increased and his speed was almost reduced to 0.


    He had 2 options. The first was to protect himself inyers of mana domes so that he could figure out his next move, but the problem with the n was that his mana would be too little to do anything useful even if he eventually found out what to do.


    The second n wasn''t much of a n. It just involved him using all of his mana and seeing how far he goes or hoping something happens. He would receive a lot of damage from the spells, but it was still better.


    ''Although I don''t believe in luck, I have to keep moving forward because standing still is the same as giving up.'' ke began charging up mana before sting himself forward.


    By the time he got to the 50-meter mark, not only was ke''s cloth ripped in multiple ces but he was also bleeding from multiple cuts that had managed to go through all his defenses.


    ''At this rate, I would be taken to the school clinic before I move 5 more meters. Only sensing them isn''t enough, I need to see the attacks!'' ke thought in frustration as he opened his eyes and gritted his teeth in pain before dashing forward.


    This time, whenever he sensed spells being formed he would sense the patterns at which the mana in the environment was gathering, and by doing so he would have a better guess of what the spell was.


    He continued this process for 2 more meters even though he was receiving more injuries, but that was when something strange began happening.


    Faint blue dots began appearing everywhere he looked. When he looked at the iing spells, ke could see the faint blue dots gathering in different patterns but he still couldn''t see the spells.


    ''I am very close, I can''t give up now!'' ke received renewed vigor when he saw the blue dots. He knew it wasn''t mana vision but he also knew he was just a step away from it.


    With renewed vigor and ''better'' vision on what was attacking him, ke began blocking and dodging more of the spells, making everyone watching wonder if he was a masochist.


    He was covered in injuries and from his drastically reduced speed, there was no way he was reaching the 3rd line. So why hadn''t he surrendered?


    ''I can feel it, he is very close. Just hang in there for a few more moments, you can do it!'' Professor Gibson was wishing ke good luck but didn''t stop to increase the rate at which the spells were bombarding him.


    At this point in time, ke had sessfully made it to the 55-meter mark and because he had heightened his senses for so long, he felt like his head was being shredded by hot metal des.


    The only reason he was still conscious was that the more he moved the clearer the faint blue dots became. It had even gotten to the point where he began seeing a faint outline of the spellsing his way.


    At the 51st meter mark, ke''s muscles were tired, his injuries were taking a heavy toll on him, but slowly and surely he kept on moving while continuously throwing out multiple spells.


    When he got to the 52nd-meter mark, his eyes began glowing blue and so did the environment. ke saw the position of all the spells flying towards him and even those that were forming.


    He had finally awakened mana vision!


    ke could have been ecstatic about awakening mana vision, but a mana bomb that was 6 feet tall wasing towards him.


    "Holy fuck!" ke did waste time to begin stackingyers afteryers of mana domes with the rest of his mana. Before controlling the part in front of him to form a drill.


    The spectators were wondering why he had more than 15 mana domes protecting him, but that was when the loudest explosion of the exercise rang all across the practice room.


    BOOM!


    They weren''t able to see the explosion, but they saw how more than 15 mana domes were destroyed leaving only one that was fatally cracked.


    Before they could react, a shockwave in addition to the multiple attacksing his way eliminated Luciano who was thest man apart from ke who was still standing.


    Because the rest had been eliminated, the shockwave passed the 30-meter distance of the 1st line, but before it could reach the students, a barrier appeared and stopped it.


    Once the fear of the shockwave was removed by the barrier, they looked back at ke but he was no longer at the same spot. He was behind the 3rd line.

 Chapter 275: School clinic.

    <h4>Chapter 275: School clinic.</h4>


    Once the fear of the shockwave was removed by the barrier, they looked back at ke but he was no longer at the same spot. He was behind the 3rd line.


    After he had sessfully blocked therge bomb, ke had used thest bit of mana in his body to propel himself past the 3rd line, but hended on the ground unconscious due to mild mana exhaustion.


    [I knew it was very soon.] The system said in an excited tone as it imagined the progress ke would make after breaking through this bottleneck.


    "Good job." Gibson said with a proud smile as he teleported ke to the school clinic to heal his injuries, before appearing in front of the rest of the students.


    "Congrattions to ke for being the first on passing the exercise and also being the first to awaken mana vision." Professor Gibson announced. "2k points for being the first toplete the exercise, 5k points for being the first to awaken mana vision, 7k points for sessfullypleting the exercise."


    The students were shocked by the announcement. If it was for the points they had gotten used to ke raking in so many points, instead, they were shocked that he had awakened mana vision.


    Everyone knew that ke was going to be the first to awaken mana vision because of his achievements in exercises, but now that he had awakened it they were still shocked because most of them were still far from doing so themselves.


    "No wonder he had created so manyyers of mana barrier. It was because he was able to see it." One of the students said in realization, but that brought about another problem, and that was the difficulty of the exercise.


    The attacks from Professor Gibson on each person were ''equal'' to their strength, meaning it was practically the same difficulty ke faced only that he''s was more explosive.


    This was very discouraging because if Luciano had failed the exercise and ke had gotten so many injuries that he passed out. So who were they to even attempt it?


    "I know what many of you are thinking by just looking at your faces." Professor Gibson said. "As you all have noticed, the exercise isn''t like the ones you all have been facing so far. This is meant to push you beyond your limits. It involves a perfectbination of both prowess in arcane magic and physical capabilities."


    "You might not pass the exercise on the first go, but you don''t have to worry because we will be carrying out this exercise for as long as we need to. So it is better you give it your best and get it over with." After Professor Gibson was done talking he returned back to his previous point behind the 3rd line and began randomly selecting another set of 10 students.


    ¡­


    After 4 hours of being unconscious, ke finally woke up and found himself in the school clinic which was located not too far from the department of light element.


    Having never been to the clinic before and not being used to waking up in foreign ces, ke rushed to get up to his feet, but a blinding migraine forced him toy down back on the bed.


    "You woke up way earlier than expected, but if I was you I wouldn''t think of moving for the next hour." A voice said to ke who was having difficulty seeing.


    "You should have said that earlier." ke groaned as he held his head tight, in hopes the pain would stop.


    "Although I detected you were about to wake, I didn''t see the need to because not everyone rushes out of their clinic bed immediately they wake up." The voice pouted.


    It was then that ke''s migraine had reduced a bit and he realized that he had mistaken the voice for that of the system.


    He looked in the direction the voice wasing from, and although his vision was quite blurry he could make out the shape of a busty woman in an overflowing white coat.


    ''Hold up. Why does that figure look familiar?'' ke said to himself as he focused his vision on the busty woman.


    "Shit! Professor Karina, I had no idea it was you." ke was startled when he saw the HOD (Head of Department) of the light department.


    Karina had a diamond-shaped head and blond hair tied up in a ponytail. She had a warm ivory skin color that gave a certain glow to her smile and wore a round framed eyess that gave her an innocent kind of look.


    With her astonishing beauty and herrge curves, it was hard for one to think she was in her mid-twenties.


    ''She always looks like she is from an anime. Slim but extremely busty, nerdy and have a sweet voice. Too bad her coat is covering her backside, if not we would have confirmed the hypothesis.'' ke thought as he continued staring at Professor Karina.


    [If I was you, I wouldn''t be having such thoughts near a Lumomancer. Under certain conditions they have the ability to read your mind...] The system said to ke.


    ''Holy shit! Are you saying she heard what I said? Why didn''t you inform me earlier, how can a guy not see that and have such thoughts?'' ke was startled by the revtion and began cursing the system.


    "Are you alright?" Professor Karina asked ke when he acting strange.


    ''I can''t even lie because it will make matters worse.'' ke didn''t know how to react.


    [But you don''t have to worry because I passively block mind-reading abilities and artifacts.] The system ignored ke''s ranting andpleted its statement.


    "Yes, I am fine." ke quickly pulled himself together. "I was just wondering, there are many healers in the clinic so why is the HOD being the one to attend to me?" ke asked out of curiosity.


    "First, because I am the head of the department doesn''t mean I don''t help out in the clinic. Second, you are let me say a VIP student in the school now, so it is my job to be the one to tend to your injuries." Professor Karina exined.

 Chapter 276: I wonder what they are made of.

    <h4>Chapter 276: I wonder what they are made of.</h4>


    "First, because I am the head of the department doesn''t mean I don''t help out in the clinic. Second, you are a VIP student in the school now, so it is my job to be the one to tend to your injuries." Professor Karina exined.


    "VIP student?" ke asked with a confused look on his face.


    "To be honest I don''t know how you were put under the VIP student list because your achievements and sacrifice for the school shouldn''t be enough." Professor Karina said in a pondering tone.


    "If I may ask. who are the other students who are part of the VIP students?'' ke asked.


    "Since you are part of the VIP students, I don''t see any harm in letting you know." Professor Karina said in her sweet voice. "The VIP students are just 3 in number. You, Luciano, and Damon."


    ''Damon?'' ke was surprised when he heard thest name.


    [Seems he has way more background than we thought, but at least we know who put you on the VIP list.] The system said. Once they heard that Luciano was on the list of VIP students, they didn''t need an extra second to know that Prince Bryon was behind it.


    After the breaching of the school''s core and the assassination attempt on ke''s life, it was safe to say that only a handful of people could be trusted. So, it was necessary for Bryon to put him under Professor Karina''s care to avoid an assassination attempt when he was weak or injured.


    "What is the time?" ke asked as he carried out the habit of looking around the room in search of a clock.


    "It is dinner time and your meal will soon be brought to you, once you ce your order." Professor Karina said as she pointed at the holographic terminal on his bedside.


    "Don''t worry about that¡­ I will go eat with my friends at the canteen. Thanks a lot for the treatment." ke said as he slowly got up in pain before proceeding to the doors.


    "I feel clean and my clothes are new, did what I think happen?" ke stopped at the door before turning around and asking.


    "You don''t have to worry. We use the light element to clean every corner of your body and to heal your injuries. Also, there are multiple ways to fix your clothing without taking off. So no Mr. ke, I didn''t see you naked." Professor Karina said with a chuckle.


    "Thanks once again for the treatment, Professor Karina." ke performed another bow before leaving the room.


    ''I can finally see why so many boys are happy when they are being sent to the clinic.'' ke said to himself as he remembered the smiles that were on the faces of most guys when they were injured.


    [I hope you are not having ns of doing dangerous things just to go back there?] The system asked when he saw the smile on ke''s face.


    "Why would I?" ke said with a smirk.


    ¡­


    Using the warp array located in the school clinic ke warped to the canteen where he joined up with his friends.


    "How are you guys doing?" ke greeted as he took a seat.


    "We should be asking you that." Castiel said.


    "Just a little headache and a lot of hunger." ke said as he was looking through the menu.


    "So, what happened after I passed out?" ke asked when he was done ordering.


    "Well nothing much, just that Castiel and a few in the top 10 were able to make it past the second line, but no one else passed the exercise." Brian said.


    "Let me guess Damon, Cami, Owen, and La." ke didn''t need to think.


    "How are you so urate?" Brian asked with a raised brow.


    "Because I have seen and gauged all the top 10''s strength. The key to passing the 1st linees down to mostly your physical prowess, and the above I mentioned are skilled when ites to physical capabilities and speed." ke exined.


    By then his food had arrived and he began munching away.


    The group continued chatting and ke found out that he hadn''t missed the forge mastery ss because Professor Tacitus had once again missed ss. That was when the system informed that themoner he had saved some weeks back was being bullied by the same set of guys he beat.


    ''This is why I don''t like helping those being bullied.'' ke said to himself as he began contemting on what to do.


    The thing with stepping in for someone that is getting bullied was that once their savior is gone, the bullying continues. But once the oppressed stands up for himself, he either gets killed or the oppression ends for good.


    ''Who am I kidding, that is a situation when you don''t have families that can be targeted by the nobles.'' ke stood up from his seat.


    "I will be back soon." ke excused himself and began walking towards the direction of the table themoner was at.


    It turned out that themoner was having dinner with his friends and the nobles showed up.


    Not to have extra bullying for what wasn''t their business, his friends ditched him, leaving 5 empty seats for the bullies to seat on.


    Bang!


    While the nobles were still telling him of what ke had done to them and exining what they were going to do to him. A loud bang was heard from the table and when they turned, they saw that one of their friends was knocked out and the table on which his head was on was damaged.


    "Wow! I wonder what these tables are made of." ke said as he threw the unconscious noble out of the chair before seating down.


    On seeing who it was the other nobles instinctively tried to get up and distant themselves, but there seemed to be a force that was holding them down.


    "So, what do we have here?" ke said in a nonchnt tone as he didn''t bother to look at the nobles, but was staring at themoner.

 Chapter 277: I need a favor.

    <h4>Chapter 277: I need a favor.</h4>


    "So, what do we have here?" ke said in a nonchnt tone as he didn''t bother to look at the nobles, but was staring at themoner.


    "You were the one I saved a few weeks ago right?" Themoner nodded with a hint of fear in his expression.


    "Do you have any suggestions on what I should do to them?" ke asked but themoner shook his head.


    "Why are you guys struggling? By now you should know that running isn''t an option and it will take more than double your previous numbers to have a chance of winning. So, keep silent and don''t anger me more."


    This caused the nobles to uncontrobly shiver and close their mouths tightly as they remembered the pain they had gone through for weeks.


    It turned out that the school had punished the nobles for bullying and causing amotion by not healing them properly and also barring them from leaving the school to prevent their family healers from treating their injuries.


    On the other hand, ke wasn''t even called to the principal''s office or even talked to about how he had gruesomely handled the nobles. He wasn''t sure if his actions were wrong or right or maybe it was because he was a VIP student.


    "So what do you say, I should let them go or I should deal with them?" ke asked the question to which he already knew the answer.


    "Please let them go." Themoner said in a timid voice, causing ke to shake his head in disappointment.


    "You guys can go, but be rest assured the next time I see you guys near him or hear any news about this repeating itself, I won''t ask for his opinion I will be breaking 2 things." ke said in a very calm tone that sent chills down their spine.


    Immediately they felt that the force holding them down was out, they ran out of their seats, before they could go far ke called their attention.


    "You forgot this one." ke pointed at the unconscious noble on the floor.


    Once the noble had been carried away by his friends, ke decided to speak to themoner. "One thing you should know is that no matter the act of kindness you show to the wicked, they will always see it as a sign of weakness and it only makes the bullying worse."


    "They might be gone, but you need to learn how to stand up and fight for yourself at a certain point." ke said.


    "I have to thank you for saving, but I can''t do as you say. My family might already be in danger for you stepping in to save me." Themoner said in a sad tone.


    ''Why do things have to beplicated?'' ke thought to himself before asking. "What is your name?"


    "Jim." Themoner answered.


    ke took a quick look at Jim who had brown hair, a warm beige skin tone, and an oval face that had e spots on his cheek region.


    "Since that is the only reason you can''t fight back, I will see what I can do about it." ke stood up and returned to his table where he continued to eat his meal as if nothing happened.


    After they were done with their meal, ke decided to walk with Luciano as they left the canteen.


    "I need a favor from you." ke said to Luciano.


    "Let me guess, it is concerning the student you just saved? You want me to do something to protect his family?" Luciano asked.


    "Yes." ke wasn''t surprised by Luciano''s question.


    From all the students ke had seen in both the 1st and 2nd years, Luciano was the smartest. So, it was natural for him to piece everything that had happened so far ande to an urate conclusion.


    "Why not. These are things Bryon likes hearing." Luciano smiled.


    "Thanks, a lot. I owe you one." ke gave him a nudge to the shoulder, causing him to pause for a few seconds.


    "I am doing it for free, you don''t owe me anything." Luciano shook his head in disagreement.


    "Protecting one''s family is a big deal, I insist." ke said.


    "If you insist then, I need a favor from you. Why did you choose to help him on that day?" Luciano didn''t waste time to use his favor.


    From what he knew, ke turned a blind eye to things like this because they were none of his business and because helpingplicated things.


    "I was frustrated at that time and I saw an opportunity to let out some steam. So, I interfered in the fight but it seems the knuckleheads saw it as me trying to help." ke exined.


    "Then why are you still helping him?" Luciano asked.


    "The first reason is that I made things worse for him, so I feel I am responsible for fixing it." ke continued. "The second reason is that I noticed that I didn''t have any form of connection with the normal ss. So, if I am to help him he would feel indebted to me and be made use of in the future when I have a use for him."


    "The first reason is what I thought happened. As for the second, I think it is a nice idea to have eyes and ears in the normal ss since you have a lot of friends across the top to mid rankings." Luciano nodded in acknowledgment.


    "On a side note, how do you think this season''s beast tide would go?" ke asked to know how he felt about it.


    "One thing I know is that it won''t be easy." Luciano said in a serious tone.


    ¡­


    When ke returned to his room he went straight to business. Awakening mana vision was a breakthrough to his all-round bottleneck.


    Awakening mana vision didn''t grant him only the power to see elements in their default state (mana). It increased his sensory abilities, alongside his mental power, mana control, and mana capacity.


    So far, ke hade across 2 stages of mana vision, this and that of the system he had used to crack arrays at Azkelwart''s base.

 Chapter 278: Preparation for the beast tide.

    <h4>Chapter 278: Preparation for the beast tide.</h4>


    So far, ke hade across 2 stages of mana vision, this and that of the system he had used to crack arrays at Azkelwart''s base.


    Not only would it give him more insight on body enhancement that would quicken the process of reaching conscious mana absorption by the cells, but it would be a game-changer when it came to array chaining for the integration method.


    After checking the 2 options, ke decided to go for circting mana across his body since he needed a lot of mind power for array chaining and he hadn''t recovered fully.


    He sat down in a crossed leg position and began circting mana in 2 of his arms simultaneously.


    "Interesting¡­" ke was surprised by the discoveries he made.


    Not only had the absorption process be faster for even multiple body parts, but he was able to feel that the unconscious process of absorbing was turning into a conscious one.


    ¡­


    At the same time at Prince Bryon''s Castle.


    Tacitus had juste out of Bryon''s office after making a report on the progress of the upgrades being carried out on the cities defenses.


    ''I love this job!'' Professor Tacitus couldn''t help but smile when the door closed behind him.


    ''Not only is the payment double the ones of the previous years, but I don''t get to teach those pests.'' Professor Tacitus thought with a smile stered on his face as he walked to the room given to him.


    The reason he had been away from school for weeks now was that he was called up by Prince Bryon for preparations for the beast tide.


    It was unexpected for Tacitus because preparations don''t usually start so early, but when he had gotten to the pce for briefing alongside other well-known forgemasters, he found out that they didn''t have much time left.


    The beasts beyond the wall were already getting stronger and unitedly aggressive towards anything humans. There have been multiple reports of travelers, merchants, adventurer parties that had been killed by swarms of multiple types of beasts working together like a colony of insects.


    Reports had shown that the iing beast tide was going to be the strongest they had faced in decades if not centuries. The city didn''t need only upgrades to its defenses, but new inventions that will secure their victory over the beasts.


    This was the reason why the school hadn''t told the students about his absence because if they knew, it could lead to panic and a drop in morale of students who were going to be sent to defend the city during the beast tide.


    Most of the pressure and tasks were on the forgemasters, but for someone like Tacitus who was dedicated to the art of forgemastery, the pain and stress were his friends. Because not only was he going to be exchanging knowledge with other forgemasters, but he would get firsthand experience in the construction of magical devices.


    As for the ash corps, adventurer association, and the noble families, they were not sitting down watching things y out.


    A lot of ash corps members had been continuously deployed to the mining sites owned by Calton city which were located outside the walls of the city.


    The mining sites were being attacked by swarms of beasts on a daily basis, but thanks to their strength and defensive arrays at the mining sites, they hadn''t been overrun.


    It wasn''t that the city was so greedy that it didn''t care about the ash corp members or miners, it was that the defensive structures, arrays, and so on required energy to work, and once the beast tide started nothing would be able to leave or enter the city without being destroyed.


    For the sites like that of the thranium crystal vein, they had recently discovered, the mined resources had to be teleported to a teleportation station that was in between the mining site and the city. Then it was teleported into the city.


    Teleportation stations like these were heavily guarded because if they were to be destroyed by beast those in the faraway mining sites would find it extremely difficult to get back to the city.


    The overstretching of the ash corps resources meant that they weren''t too active in the cities, but that was where the noble families came in. Not only were members of different noble families sent to mining sites to also help defend them but they were also called to help in policing the city.


    One might ask why are the noble families using their hard-earned resources and men to help the city? The truth was that they were not doing it for free.


    By participating in the preparation and the defending of the city when the beast tide arrived, the noble families were rewarded with reputation points. The amount rewarded was strictly based on the performance and achievements of their members.


    This made all the noble families beginmissioning things like gang hideout raids to gain extra reputation points.


    On the other hand was the adventurer association. They weren''t involved in policing the city or protecting mining sites like the ash corps and noble families. In fact, they had even stopped eptingmissions that required adventurers from leaving the city.


    They had the job of protecting all the trade routes from the aggressive beasts because the beast tide was to stretch out for weeks and if the city was unable to stock up food and resources it could lead to an internal fight against themoners and nobles which would most likely be hoarding food. If this was to happen the city had no hope of surviving the beast tide.


    Although the task looked easier than that of the ash corps and noble families, it could be said to be on the same level if not higher in terms of difficulty.


    Not only were the major trade routes long, but they passed through different terrains and habitats making it more difficult to defend. This was why every adventurer and adventurer party ced on the trade routes were nothing below B rank.

 Chapter 279 - A Lot Of Commissions, So Little Time.

    <h4>Chapter 279 - A Lot Of Commissions, So Little Time.</h4>


    Although other adventurers were not allowed to takemissions that led to going out of the city walls, it didn''t mean they had no jobs left for them. The entire chain of events had caused a surge in the number of both good and bad activities going on in the city.


    Although the noble families were now involved in policing the city, they couldn''t properly fill the shoes of the ash corps who had been doing it for centuries now.


    It wasn''t that they were bad at their jobs, it was just that during periods of the beast tide, crime rates in the city soared because many saw it as an opportunity to be wealthy in the midst of the chaos.


    This was where normal adventurers came into y. For example, some merchants saw traveling in the major trade routes as too risky because idents happen even though the adventurers were protecting the routes.


    Even at that, they wouldn''t be liable for the deaths and damages to the goods because the area was too dangerous and merchants were traveling at their own risks.


    Because of this, they choose to store their goods in warehouses, but with the increase in crime rates, they would definitely get robbed so they end up hiring adventurer parties to protect the warehouse from gangs.


    These types of missions were called protection missions and it was considered the hardest only second to exploration missions, but the bright side was that they paid highly.


    This was because when protecting stationary objects you have no info on the people that might attack, but the worst part was that the enemy could get info on the party protecting the location and n ordingly.


    Apart from protection missions, adventurers could be hired to investigate matters and submit reports to the ash corps. Then once approved, they could be redeployed to arrest the said party if needed. Also, once the beast tide begins they could apply to protect the city and get paid for their achievements.


    ¡­


    As for ke who hadn''t left the school in weeks, he had no idea of how busy the world outside the walls of the school was.


    It was after Instructor Zirrack''s ss that ke received a call from Susan telling him about themissions they had piled up.


    When the info was sent to hismunication amulet, he gathered Brian and Castiel for them to decide on whichmissions to take.


    "Apart from the protection mission, I don''t see anything wrong with the othermissions. They aren''t too difficult and the pay is good, but the problem is that we don''t have enough time toplete all of them." ke said.


    Out of a list of more than 10missions, the team had selected out 6 that wasn''t too dangerous and were within their power. Among the 6 were 2 gang raid missions, 2 escort missions, and 2 investigation missions.


    The problem here was that some of themissions were already ced almost 2 weeks ago and they had to act quickly before they were given to another party. Also, their ss free days was in 3 days time meaning they couldn''t wait till then.


    "I think we should also eliminate time-consumingmissions too." Castiel suggested.


    "I agree. So let''s take a look at the detail of the gang eliminationmission." ke opened up the info of the hideout provided to them.


    The name of the gang was the bleeding streets gang and they were slightly below the ck scorpion gang in terms of power.


    Their hideout was located underground and its size was a little bit below the size of that of the ck scorpion gang.


    Unlike that of the ck scorpion gang that branched into two corridors, that of the bleeding street gang was just one corridor that stretched down to a hall that was used as a dining hall and meetings. The hall led to the cooking and storage area, hideout''s core, the boss'' office.


    The gang wasn''t rich enough to purchase a warp array, so they created a manual escape route to prevent being cornered in case they were attacked.


    "This doesn''t look difficult. All we have to do is attack from the escape route and the entrance." ke said after analyzing the entire information.


    The number of gang members was below 50 and theyout of the hideout made it easier for them to attack.


    "Yeah. We can''t remove that." Brian said.


    After checking the rest of the missions they had decided to remove the 2 escortmissions if they couldn''t meet up.


    So ke didn''t waste time to call Susan and tell her that they were taking care of the gang mission the next day and stated their price was 65k gold coins.


    On hearing the confirmation, Susan contacted the merchant who had ced themission.


    "Mister Kadri the order of chaos party had epted yourmission and would be taking action tomorrow only for 65k gold coins." Susan reported to the potbelly merchant who was in histe 50''s.


    "60k gold coins! This is daylight robbery, I won''t pay for that." The merchantined.


    "Mister Kadri, You know this is the beast tide season and adventurers are usually very busy at this time. I can assure you that you won''t find any better offer." Susan said.


    ''65k gold is quite costly, but it is worth the reputation points thate with it.'' After taking some time to think about it, the merchant prioritized gaining a noble title over a few thousand gold coins.


    "Alright, I agree to the price. The gold coins would be brought to the association early in the morning and I shall await the good news.'' The Merchant canceled themunication link.


    ¡­


    The next day immediately after sses, ke and the team left the school and went straight to slums. It took only a few minutes for them to get to locate the entrance of the underground hideout.


    The n was for ke to enter from the escape route, while Brian and Castiel and went through the entrance, but that was when he activated the irvoyant lights of a locator to lead them to the escape route and discovered something.


    "Why are there 2 lights?" Brian couldn''t help but ask when the ash light went in 2 directions.


    To be sure, ke pulled up the map provided by the merchant and once again inspected theyout of the hideout.


    One of the ash lights led to the escape route on the map and since the irvoyant ash light had never been wrong so far, it meant there was another escape route no one knew about.


    At this point, ke''s brows were furrowed and he was clearly angry at the merchant for not providing urate information.


    If not for his careful nature this might have led to them failing or causingplications.


    To avoid the unexpected from happening, ke didn''t waste time following the other light to know where it led to.


    Activating mana vision to detect any detection arrays, the second ash light led them to what seemed to be a dead-end in the sewer.


    "Not bad." ke said as mana vision showed that a portion of the wall by the side had mana circting around it.


    "Change of ns guys." ke said to Castiel and Brian. "Castiel you are to attack from the entrance. Brian, you are to go to the other escape route, if you can''t beat them just hold them off for some time."


    "I will be going through the 2nd entrance because if it is this hidden from the map, then it will most likely be a special escape route for the boss." ke exined.


    "We have to be quick about it, so there is no need for us to be silent. Break into the hideout and nt the mana disruptors."


    With the orders given everyone began moving to their different positions. Using the cover of darkbringer, Castiel took Brian to the escape route before returning to the entrance.


    "Here we go!" Castiel took in a deep breath before charging a massive me burst twice the size of a ser ball.


    BOOM!


    With little resistance the concealed door of the hideout was blown to bits, killing the 2 guards that were directly behind it.


    "That''s my cue." Hearing the sound of the explosion, ke used the system''s mana vision and took a closer look at the stone door.

 Chapter 280 - Overkill.

    <h4>Chapter 280 - Overkill.</h4>


    When ke used mana vision to look at the concealed stone door at the side, he studied the flow of mana and found out that it could only be opened from the inside with a pattern, but that was if he nned on opening it normally.


    ke quickly went to work, and in under a minute the stone door slightly trembled before opening inwards. In front of him was a lit corridor that branched to the right.


    After confirming with heat vision that there was no one in the hall, ke activated lightning reinforcement and sped down the corridor.


    ¡­


    At the entrance of the hideout.


    When they were nning on how to raid the hideout, they had seen no need to be quiet about it. The numbers and strength of the bleeding street gang were below that of the ck scorpion gang. So, if they were to attack from different angles it would put the entire hideout in disarray.


    BOOM!


    Immediately Castiel blew the entrance open, the rms went off, alerting the entire hideout of the intruder.


    That was when Castiel nted the mana disruptors, but the rms had already done their job and the gang members were already rushing out of their various rooms, but stealth wasn''t the reason Castiel had set the mana disruptor, it was darkness.


    Zzzzg Zzzzg


    The mana disruptor activated and a shockwave of mana was sent into all the channels of mana before reaching the core and shutting it down. Alongside the rms, lights went off, plunging the corridors into darkness.


    Darkbringer.


    The gang members had seen only one person who seemed to be a kid and was about to pounce on him, but he soon disappeared into thin air and instantly the gang members began dropping on the ground with slit throats.


    "What the fuck is going on?!" The gang members were confused and terrified at the same time.


    The corridor could fit 5 men standing side by side, but even though they kept on firing spells in all directions, they kept on dying.


    "Remember the drill. Retreat!" One of the gang members shouted. One of the gang members was smart enough to realize that if they stayed there they would all end up dying.


    Once the other gang members heard themand, they all started retreating in an orderly fashion as the pyromancers lit the corridor with their mes.


    ''They are more organized than thest gang. This would be fun.'' Castile who was standing upside down could have chosen to go after the pyromancers, but he decided to wait.


    ¡­


    At the other end of the hideout, Talon, the leader of the bleeding street gang was making his way out of the hideout through the secret escape route.


    From the moment the rms went off, he had decided to flee and not fight back. For the fact that someone was able to find out about their hideout and still decided to attack meant they had the power to kill everyone in the hideout.


    As for the escape tunnel behind his desk, no one in the gang knew about it because he was the one that dug it himself.


    "Let''s just hope that most of them manage to escape." Talon thought as he drew a pattern on the wall behind his desk.


    The wall opened up to a dark corridor and he walked in, but before he could take another step forward he saw sparks of white light.


    "Shit!" By seeing the white light, Talon realized that his secret escape tunnel wasn''t a secret anymore, he instantly cast earth eruption. 3yers of earth walls erupted from below, sealing off the corridor.


    He immediately stepped back to shut the main stone doors, but before the door could fully close, ke stabbed Ebony and Ivory in theirbined form into the rock while firing out a meburst from the same hand.


    BOOM!


    Coupled with its extreme sharpness and piercing power, the greatsword went through theyers of earth and broke right through the door which had just closed shut.


    "We always have to make sure." ke wasn''t done yet.


    The moment the greatsword left his hand, ke jumped backward and charged a meburst almost half his size, before throwing it at earth walls and stepping back into a spatial tear.


    BOOM!


    The explosion sent out massive shockwaves that caused the entire hideout to quake.


    [I know you are in a hurry, but that was overkill.] The system said to ke who had arrived back at his original spot.


    "You could say, I was adding to the chaos." ke said as he walked across the rubble to pick up Ebony and Ivory which was stuck in the chest of the gang boss.


    "Yeah, guess that was an overkill." ke said as he pulled out the great sword from the mutted corpse that had chunks of rock in it.


    [Guess he was still shocked by the sword that pierced through his armor, that he didn''t have enough time to prepare any kind of spell.] It didn''t take a second for the system to reconstruct the scene of how the gang boss died.


    "It should be easy from here on." ke said as he covered himself and blended with the environment before leaving the boss'' office.


    ¡­


    At the entrance, Castiel had been watching the gang members slowly retreat toward the dining hall.


    The reason he was hesitant to attack the pyromancers was that the gang members were smart enough to surround the pyromancers who were providing light.


    If he was to attack any of them there was a chance they would sacrifice their gang members just to make sure they get him.


    BOOM!


    It was then that an explosion was heard from the direction of the dining hall, causing the hideout to quake.


    "This is my chance!" Seeing the gang members getting distracted by the explosion, Castiel dived into the midst of the gang members and appeared beside one of the pyromancers.


    "AHH!" The pyromancer screamed in agony as a ck tendril pierced into his chest and through his heart.

 Chapter 281 - Should We Be Messing With Them?

    <h4>Chapter 281 - Should We Be Messing With Them?</h4>


    "What happened? Is the boss okay?" The explosion threw the gang members into more chaos. The explosion seemed to being from the dining hall where they were headed to.


    Was it still right for us to keep retreating to the dining hall?


    The thought of the strongest person they knewing to save them came into their minds, but that was when they remembered he was in the dining hall area.


    Also, he should have already heard the rm ande to meet the intruder, but the fact he wasn''t here meant he had either escaped or his fight with an intruder caused the explosion.


    The gang members were still contemting on their next course of action, but that was when they heard an agonizing scream.


    "AHH!"


    When they turned to the direction of the noise, they saw one of the pyromancer was in mid-air with a ck tendril pierced into his chest and through his heart. Instinctively, those around Castiel and the pyromancer tried to distance themselves, but it was toote.


    9 ck dark ethereal tendrils shot out of Castiel and into the gang members, before lifting them and using them as human shields.


    Castile didn''t waste time lunging at the gang members and using Typhlosion to end their lives.


    The sounds of screams from the human shields echoed throughout the entire corridor as the other gang members were raining spells on them in an attempt to stop Castiel on his rampage.


    It didn''t take long for them to realize that their numbers were only reducing but they hadn''tnded any hit on Castiel.


    "Is this a kid or the devil?!" Some of the gang members who had lost hope stood still waiting for their turn, but that was when a voice was heard from the back.


    "Run for your lives!"


    Like a domino effect, the gang members began running towards the dining hall, but this only made Castiel.


    ¡­


    When ke stepped out of the office he saw the dining hall in chaos. Many wereing in from the corridor and moving into the corridor leading to the escape route, but soon some were seen flying and running out.


    BOOM! BOO!


    The corridor continued to tremble until Brian who was in seismic guard came out. With tyrannical boost active, every step he took made the ground slightly tremble.


    A gang member who just arrived at the dining hall and immediately went to face Brian with a longsword, but Brian caught the sword before breaking it and grabbing the arm of the bandit.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Stomping his feet on the ground, Brian sent a seismic st to his chest, causing it to cave in and instantly killing the gang member.


    ''Thinking about it, thanks to the seismic guard Brian now has a lot of attacking capabilities. I should be giving him only lookout roles in missions.'' ke thought to himself.


    At that time, the gang members who were still alive had all gathered in the dining hall and their number had been reduced to 19. The gang members couldn''t believe that it was teenagers that were causing so much chaos, but they didn''t dare to move even a step closer to them.


    That was when they saw ke who was at the other corner of the room. With the night veil covering his armor and with what seemed to be a in greatsword in his hand, ke looked like the weakest whenpared to the devil with ming daggers and the one that literally made the ground quake as he walked.


    Being in the center of danger and having nowhere to go, their instincts kicked in and most of the gang members began rushing towards ke, but only a few didn''t move. The minds of those that rushed forward were so clouded by fear that they didn''t notice where ke wasing out from.


    ''Looks can truly be deceiving.'' Castiel shook his head when he saw the gang members going for ke.


    ¡­


    After they were done at the hideout it was already evening. So they took a carriage back to the school before making a report on themission.


    "The gang wipe was sessful, but I want to make aint and seekpensation on the iplete info given by the hirer." ke reported. On hearing theint, Susan began taking notes as ke narrated what went on in the hideout.


    After he was done with the report, ke told Susan about their n for the second gang wipe mission, but to their surprise, themission was handed over to another party.


    "What about the investigationmissions?" ke asked.


    "The first one is an open investigation mission to which your team has been invited to. It wasmissioned almost a week ago and the parties involved so far already have a head-start. So I advise you to go with the second one which is a privatemission." Susan said.


    "You don''t have to worry, a head-start doesn''t make any difference." ke said with a smile.


    "Your party will be added to the mission. As for thepensation, you will surely be receiving one." Since she couldn''t force ke to take her advice, Susan could only add their names to adventurer parties involved in the investigation mission.


    Immediately themunication link was cut, the trio began looking into the mission. It turned out that a merchant had hired a B rank adventurer party to protect his warehouse in the mid region of the city, but they were outnumbered and overpowered by an unknown gang.


    2 of the members of the adventurer party were killed in the mission and a lot of goods were carted away by the gang.


    "This is a powerful gang and I don''t think we want to mess with them." Brian was a little bit scared after reading the info.


    It was obvious that the gang was not like the ones they have faced so far.. If they killed 2 B rank adventurers then handling C rank adventurers would be easier.

 Chapter 282 - Getting Complicated.

    <h4>Chapter 282 - Getting Complicated.</h4>


    It was obvious that the gang was not like the ones they have faced so far. If they killed 2 B rank adventurers then handling C rank adventurers would be easier.


    "Brian has a point. Even if we don''t get into danger while investigating this unknown gang, as long as the gang isn''t wiped out there will be a chance that they woulde after us." Castiel pointed out.


    "By now you both should know that the life of an adventurer is a dangerous one. I understand why you guys are afraid, but you have to remember that the school is one of the safest ces in the city and the only thing that takes us out are missions." ke exined.


    It wasn''t as if he didn''t feel that it was too dangerous, but the rewards and reputation frompleting themission outweighed the possible risks.


    The payment alone was 150k gold coins and 15k contribution points.


    That was different from the recognition they would gain when they seeded where older and higher adventurer parties failed.


    "So what''s the n?" After some time of thinking, Brian asked.


    "It''s very simple. We go to the warehouse so we could know what I would be locating." ke said.


    To others, this couldn''t be considered as a n, but with the trump card of the locator skill, they really didn''t need a n.


    ¡­


    The next day after their ss of the week, the trio left the school and went straight to the warehouse located on the north side of the middle region of the city.


    Once they dropped from the carriage, the trio walked into the vicinity of the warehouse which was being guarded by the new policing unit.


    The party disyed their adventurer badges and after they were scanned and confirmed they were among the investigation team, they let them in.


    They went straight to the leader of the policing unit who was a member of the ash corps and asked a few questions on thetest development. The info from themander wasn''t different from the info given to them.


    The only new info they managed to get was the contents of the warehouse. They ranged from crates of magical items like dimensional amulets, barriers, and so on, to physically expensive wines that were to be exported to other cities after the beast tide.


    They soon left themander and soon went into the partially destroyed warehouse to perform more ''investigations''.


    "No wonder the payment was really high." Brian couldn''t help butment when he thought about the cost of dimensional amulets.


    "Thinking about it, don''t you think 70 gang members shouldn''t be enough to overpower 25 members of a B rank adventurer party?" Castiel asked when he thought more about the entire situation.


    "Depends on the power of the gang members and how smart the leader of the operation was." ke said as he continued to look around.


    "That should be enough, let''s get going." ke led the team out of the warehouse and moved into an alleyway.


    Castiel cast night mist to engulf them as ke took out arge detailed map of the entire middle region of the city.


    ''Where is are the crates from the warehouse currently at?'' ke continued to repeat the question in his mind as he focused on the map.


    After a few minutes, the familiar grey light appeared as a dot on an area close to a textile factory on the east side of the middle region.


    Seeing this, the trio didn''t waste time leaving the alley and boarding a carriage to the designated area.


    In 20 minutes they dropped from the carriage and immediately ke began using the hot and cold variation of the locator skill.


    Unlike thest time he had used the skill in the library, ke only needed to look in the direction to know if it was hot or cold.


    It didn''t take long for them to navigate themselves through the street and arrive at a manhole that led to the sewers. They had to circle the area while using the system''s detection skill to look out for both people and arrays.


    "This is way better than that of the slums." Brian said as they entered the sewer and he noticed it didn''t stink as bad as that of the slums, but it didn''t mean they didn''t have to put on their masks.


    "I wonder how that of the central region would be." ke and Castiel turned to him, but he knew behind those masks were raised brows.


    "What?" Brian asked, but ke shook his head and began summoning the grey light.


    "That''s creepy.'' Castiel said to Brian as the grey light appeared.


    "What the fuck?" ke was utterly shocked when he saw the grey split into 4 totally different directions.


    Something simr urred during theirst gang wipe mission, but the second light still led to a location close to the hideout. In this case, the grey lights went in opposite directions.


    "What are we to do now, because I have a bad feeling about this?" With the grey light splitting Brian was quite afraid because things were gettingplicated.


    "We don''t have any info on what gang we are dealing with, neither can we convince the ash corps that their hideout is here with just a hunch." ke exined. "So the only thing we can do is follow where each and every trail of light leads to."


    "Alright, let''s just get this over with." Brian agreed.


    "We will need to be concealed throughout." ke said to Castiel.


    "Alert me when you detect an array." ke said to the system as they began moving under the cloak of darkbringer.


    They followed the trail at the closest trail to them, but before they could go far, the system had already alerted them of detection arrays.


    ''Do you think they are strong enough to detect us?'' ke asked.. For a gang this strong, ke was sure that they had knowledge about the darkness element and maybe how to counter it.

 Chapter 283 - Factory Infiltration.

    <h4>Chapter 283 - Factory Infiltration.</h4>


    ''Do you think they are strong enough to detect us?'' ke asked. For a gang this strong, ke was sure that they had knowledge about the darkness element and maybe how to counter it.


    [You don''t need to worry, the darkness element is the 2nd strongest element for a reason. Even though they know about it, the darkness element can''t be countered so easily.] The system said. [For them to be able to detect you guys a high-level cultivator has to be present or they have to make use of very expensive arrays and devices to detect you.]


    ''I wonder how costly they are.'' Brian was curious, but he forgot that he was in the mind link.


    [From what I know, it is so costly that only the top noble families can purchase for their main buildings. The only thing saving many is the fact that darkbringers are very few.] The system exined.


    ''Since we have nothing to worry about, let''s get this over with.'' ke signaled for the team to continue moving forward.


    After close to 10 minutes, the trio arrived at the end of the light trail, but the problem was that it went into the floor.


    "Is it what I think it is?" ke couldn''t help but ask.


    [It sure is what you think. A hideout 2yers below the ground and some of the crates are directly below us.] The system stated.


    "At least we have figured out where the crates are, lets check the other trails and check if one of them is an entrance." With that, the trio went to the end of the other grey light trails.


    They were all the same thing as the first, this led to ke taking a different approach and that was to locate the entrance.


    He took out the same map from his dimensional pocket and began activating the locator skill. ''Where is the entrance to the hideout below us?''


    With his focus on the map, a grey dot representing their current location appeared before moving a few centimeters and stopping at the textile factory not far from them.


    "That is surprising but makes a lot of sense." ke said in realization.


    "How?" Castiel was confused by ke''s reaction.


    "POV of a gang leader. When your gang has be so sessful the next thought on my mind will be to establish a legal business. So what would be the best legal business that can make a lot of money and also act as a cover for the gang?" ke asked, but went on to answer it. "A factory business."


    "So a way for me to acquire one will be to buy it out rightly or threaten to kill the owner''s family. When I finally be the owner, I will either employ my gang members and teach them how to work or I hire some workers and fill the other positions with gang members to control the flow of info."


    "The factory will be a perfect ce to have our entrance. Also, we couldbel the goods we robbed as materials for production and take them through the entrance down to the hideout.


    In case some workers found out about the entrance to the hideout, they will be eliminated and imed to be sacked. Since no one care much aboutmoners no one will notice and we go ahead to employ one from the long list of job searchers." ke exined.


    "I don''t know how you can think about things like these in such a short period." Brian and Castiel were shocked by ke''s ability to piece things together so quickly.


    "I too don''t know. Once I start everything falls into ce in my head, but first let''s go confirm that this is true." ke said with a sheepish smile on his face.


    [What is your infiltration n?] The system couldn''t help but ask because so far they knew nothing about the gang, except for where they kept the stolen goods. So going that deep into their territory could spell death if they aren''t careful.


    ke took some time to think before answering the question. "This isn''t a gang wipe out, so we have to move in and out silently without leaving any signs of our presence because we don''t want a situation where they know what''sing and move out.


    Our goal is just locating the entrance to the hideout, so having 3 of us infiltrating won''t be a wise decision. So Brian you would have to stay outside with a void dagger so that we would be able to easily escape if anything goes wrong." ke exined the n.


    The n was very simple which made the system worry, but they really didn''t have any info about the textile factoryyout, to even n about.


    ¡­


    Once they were done nning ke and Castiel left Brian in the sewers as they went into stealth mode.


    The factory was a few blocks away, but the system continuously detected surveince devices on the buildings as they kept getting closer.


    "With so many surveince devices watching all the streets that lead to the factory, I wonder how big the hideout will be." With the alertsing from the system, ke realized that he might have been underestimating the size and power level of the gang.


    When they walked into the environment of the textile factory ke realized the factory was bigger than the standard size of that of Earth.


    The textile factory spanned 90 meters in length and 60 meters in width. It was made of red bricks and had 3 long chimneys that purified the carbon emissions before it was released into the environment.


    ''Seems like they are hiring today. This should make things easier.'' ke signaled to Castiel when he saw a line ofmoners seeking employment outside the factory.


    ''Do you think the previous worker is dead?'' Seeing the line Castiel couldn''t help but think about ke''s hypothesis.


    ''It''s only a hypothesis, it could be something else like not paying the worker..'' ke said through the mind link.

 Chapter 284 - Who Needs A Customer When We Have One.

    <h4>Chapter 284 - Who Needs A Customer When We Have One.</h4>


    The long line of the job seekers was located at the backside of the textile factory where materials and spoils were taken into the building.


    The area was crowded making it easy for them to sneak into the building, that was if they wanted to. ke and Castiel didn''t take this option because if there was an area with the most poption of gang members it would start from there to the entrance to the hideout.


    "This way would make the job quicker, but it is way more dangerous. So let''s go through the front door and get info on the building." ke said.


    They didn''t have any info about the factory''syout making it even more dangerous. So ke left it to be thest resort if the 1st n didn''t work out.


    "How sure are you that there would be info on the building''syout?" Hearing the confidence in ke''s tone, Castiel couldn''t help but wonder how he was so sure.


    "When I was little, whenever my dad got a job with factories he used to give me a tour where he exined how things were made." A sad smile appeared on ke''s face as he reminisced about the time his dad gave him a tour of a textile industry.


    "So how does that rte with the question?" Castiel asked in confusion not having any clue about what happened to ke''s dad.


    "Oh, sorry." His question made ke snap out of it and continue his exnation. "So, whenever we enter a factory, directions to all parts of the factory are pasted on the walls to prevent workers and people from getting lost."


    "Although it might not be the same as factories on earth, they should have something simr since they wouldn''t want normal workers to give excuses when they are caught snooping around restricted areas." ke exined.


    They got to the entrance which was a transparent double ss door and at the other side was surprisingly a male receptionist.


    "He definitely is a gang member." It didn''t take a second for them to realize that the receptionist was a gang member.


    The problem now was how to get in without the receptionist spotting the door opening, but first, ke had to make sure of one thing with mana vision.


    ''Just like I thought, there are arrays on the door.'' This meant even if they managed to somehow distract the receptionist, he will know someone entered.


    The array wasn''t the main problem because ke could simply disable them, the major issue was distracting the receptionist. The only abilities that could go through and undetected was that of Castiel, but after that what else?


    He couldn''t use it to drain the champion-level receptionist''s vitality till he passes out, because the vitality of a champion was way above that of normal humans, meaning it wouldn''t go unnoticed because there was no way for him to normally fall asleep without being tired.


    [Unless you decided to announce your presence which isn''t not even an option or someone leaves or enters the building then you wouldn''t gain ess.] The system stated the obvious.


    ''I have a lot of mana potions with me, so we can wait and see if anyone would walk in or out.'' Castiel said.


    ''There is no need for that. Instead of waiting for a customer, why don''t we make one¡­'' ke said as he led Castiel back to the sewers to update Brian on the situation.


    ¡­


    In half an hour, ke and Castiel had returned back to the entrance, but this time they were in a carriage with Brian.


    ''Tell me why I agreed to this again?'' Brian asked as he stepped down from the carriage and began fixing his clothes in order to give ke and Castiel who were invisible, time to get down before closing the door.


    Walking right behind Brian, ke and Castiel watched as he opened the door and stopped to look around the room before walking to the receptionist.


    "Good Day, I would like to seek the Albert factory''s expertise in picking out high-quality fabrics for designs I have in mind. If I feel the fabrics and skills are nice, I n on giving the job to the factory." Brian proposed.


    The male receptionist scanned Brian from head to toe. Seeing his weird dressing style of tight ck cks and tunic, the receptionist knew he wasn''t any normalmoner, but he sure wasn''t a noble.


    Still, his request and proposal weren''t something someone his age could afford. So in order not to waste anyone''s time, he was about to chase him out of the reception, but Brian had already sensed this and took out the royal family crest prince Bryon had given them.


    Seeing the crossed ming swords emblem, the receptionist was scared shitless as he thanked the heavens that he hadn''t acted sooner.


    "Kindly take a seat sir, the manager will soon be with you shortly." The male receptionist gestured for Brian to take a seat, before going to call the manager.


    The royal family crest couldn''t be faked, it couldn''t be stolen because there were always people watching the bearers. Even if one managed to kill the bearer and steal it, not only will they only die, but it would also lead to a bloodline wipeout.


    ''You were right, the crest makes everything easier.'' Brian was impressed by the result, it was actually easier than he thought.


    ''You were right, they do disy directions of the factory.'' Castiel said to ke as their concentration was on theyout of the factory.


    ''It''s still basically the same process they use on earth, so they have simryouts.'' From theyout they saw on the left side of the reception, it was easy for ke to figure out that the production process of the factory was almost the same as that of earth.


    At the top left corner was the back door where supplies and recruitments were carried out, then the storage area which connected to the fluffing and material processing area.

 Chapter 285 - Fashion From Earth.

    <h4>Chapter 285 - Fashion From Earth.</h4>


    At the top left corner was the back door where supplies and recruitments were carried out, then the storage area was connected to the fluffing and material processing area.


    ording to the map, the storage and material processing room were in the same line, while at the beginning of the right side of the building was the cotton spinning and weaving room.


    After the weaving waspleted, the woven fabrics were sent into a part of the center of the factory which housed machines for dyeing, prints, and finishing process of the fabric.


    Once the finishing process waspleted, the now dyed fabrics were conveyed to the hired tailors who were given different designs to produce.


    The tailoring section was so big that it took almost half of the right side of the building and almost all of the bottom side of the building.


    After the fabric has been turned to different products, they were passed back into the center of the building and moved to the left side for quality control. If they passed the quality test, they would be packaged and then sent to the backdoor for distribution.


    After some thinking, ke and Castiel decided to go with the door at the right. The reason was that the left side of the factory had the most number of important departments and they were most likely headed by gang members.


    As for the right side of the building they were upied by mostly hired hands who were being watched over by some gang members hidden as part of the tailors and at strategic points.


    They entered through the right door and into a passage that was enough to fit 2 people at once. When they entered the tailoring area, they saw 10 columns of tailors on sewing machines powered by the factory''s core.


    With pieces of fabrics littered all over the floor, Castiel and ke decided to walk on the ceiling to reach the end of the room that led to the cotton spinning and weaving section of the factory.


    (AN: Remember that the dye and printing section is located at the center of the building and not at the right side.)


    At the end of the room was a double-door-sized entranceway with doors. The system had already scanned it but nothing dangerous was there. Immediately they passed through, their ears were met with the noisesing from wool spinners and weaving machines.


    The room was filled with machines and less number of staff, but from first nce, they both knew that they were gang members.


    ''Seems we made the right decision following here.'' ke said as he noticed that apart from the monitoring arrays there was little to no form of surveince.


    ''If the leader pays them then it is nice that he gave them a life different from what they usually do.'' Castiel was impressed by how many gang members were employed in the factory.


    ''Don''t quickly forget that these people still rob and kill people. So there is no reason to like any of this.'' ke had a stoic expression on his face.


    As long as one terrorized and killed people, ke wouldn''t even bat an eye to kill, if he had an opportunity.


    If people like them didn''t exist, his dad would still be alive. So killing them was only saving another victim.


    Castiel thought ke would crack a joke about it, but he never expected such a reaction from him. It turned the atmosphere silent as no one ''talked until they got past the material processing room.


    ''That quite a lot of guards.'' ke couldn''t help butment as they continued to see guards at


    Luckily for them, the corridor could easily fit 4 people standing side by side, so instead of walking on the ground, they walked on the ceiling.


    When they got to the center of the top part of the factory, ke had to activate the hot and cold variation of the locator spell because a corridor led to the center of the factory.


    Once confirmed that the corridor was the right direction, they went in and finally stopped in front of the storage door which was being protected by 2 champion-level gang members.


    The major problem was that it was locked and opening it was impossible without alerting the guards.


    ''So are we to keep waiting till someone opens it?'' Castiel couldn''t help but ask because staying so long in this long deep in the enemy''s lines was pressurizing.


    ''Yes. We have gotten so far, so there is no going back now. You might have to chug down more mana potions.'' ke said through the mind link.


    ¡­


    Back at the reception, Brian was currently exining some designs to the factory manager. He didn''t need to make anything up, all he needed to do was bring up ideas of fashion designs from Earth.


    "In my 30 years of working in the textile industry, I have never heard of the kind of material you are speaking of.'''' The factory manager said in a pondering tone. "Also, the designs you speak of are unseen. Sir, are you sure the description is urate?"


    "Are you saying your factory is unable to meet up with my expectations?" Brian asked in a cool and indifferent tone.


    "Not at all, sir. The design can certainly be produced to perfection, but the problem is producing or getting our hands on this material you call jeans. If you can give us a sample or give instructions on how to produce it, then you will be receiving the samples of the designs in half a week." The factory manager said in a hurried tone as he was afraid that Brian would leave.


    "Since the material is the only issue, when I get my hands on it then I will send it over." Brian said as he stood up to leave.


    "Thanks for considering working with us, sir?" The manager asked.


    "You don''t need to know my name.." Brian said with an indifferent expression as he began walking towards the door before stopping.

 Chapter 286 - Fear Of The Royal Family.

    <h4>Chapter 286 - Fear Of The Royal Family.</h4>


    "I don''t need to tell you what will happen if you use or tell anyone about what we just spoke about?" Brian said.


    "Of course." The factory manager gulped when he thought of what could happen to him if he was on the bad side of the royal family.


    Not only would could his generation be wiped out, but the same would also happen to anyone that knew of the info.


    Brian left the shop and entered a carriage that left the gang''s area of surveince and dropped him at a location not too far from the sewer.


    ¡­


    Once Brian was gone, the manager called up the gang leader to inform him about the interaction with Brian.


    After he mentioned that Brian was from the royal family, the gang leader who was the true owner of the factory told him to cancel the call and told him to meet him up at the hideout entrance which was located at the storage.


    This was good news because ke and Castiel had been waiting for quite some time.


    ¡­


    [Someone is heading towards here. He is just a normal human so you don''t have to worry.] The system alerted them.


    ''Finally!'' Castiel let out a sigh of relief. He was tired because they had taken almost 3 bottles of mana potion and if he was to take more he experience a side effect.


    ''It is quite surprising that the gang decided to give the managerial position of the factory to a non-gang member. Aren''t they afraid that he might snitch on them?'' Castiel couldn''t help but think about what was going on in the gang boss'' head when he made the decision.


    ''I think it is a genius move.'' ke said, surprising Castiel. ''A managerial position is nowhere the same thing as operating machines or tailoring. Experience is needed and that is what the gang membersck.


    So it will be smart to hire someone that is not only qualified for the position but is also is the least to be suspected for anything since he is a normal human.''


    ''As for him snitching, that can be resolved by threatening his life or that of his family.'' ke exined what he would do if he was in the position of the boss.


    When the man who was in histe 50''s reached the storage door, the guards didn''t stop him. They let him pass once his fingerprint was scanned and the door opened up.


    ''Now!'' ke signaled for Castiel to carry on with the most important part of the mission.


    Once the door opened, Castiel grabbed one of ke''s void daggers with a ck tentacle, while controlling small amounts of night mist to encase the tentacle and the void dagger.


    Immediately the tentacle passed through, it stabbed the void dagger into the wall, and night mist continued to hover around it as the tentacle dissipated. They had already scanned the storage room with heat vision, so no one would be able to sense the dagger even if they could.


    Once the door closed, ke wasted no time in opening a spatial corridor that took them inside the storage room. They were concealed as they appeared on the wall.


    On looking around, ke saw that it was a veryrge storage room painted in white and had rows upon rows of materials ranging from cotton to various chemicals.


    ''It''s most likely that he is heading to hideout entrance so there is no need for me to locate it.'' ke and Castiel began following the factory manager till he go to a wall at the top left corner of the storage room.


    That was when arrays appeared on the wall and it slid open, as a bald man with an eye patch on his right eye.


    "So exin to be in full detail. What did this boy from the royal family want?" The bald man asked in a panicked tone that he tried his best to hide.


    The arrival of a member of the royal family was no good news. It could mean the wiping out of the entire gang if something was to go wrong. Even if it was for business, it still didn''t mean the gold was worth the catastrophe that could ur if one of the staff made a huge mistake.


    "He came in with a few designs and wanted to know if we could produce them, but the problem was that¡­" Before the manager couldplete his exnation, the bald man gestured for him to stop talking.


    "Before you go on with your exnation, did he happen to tell you to keep it a secret?" The bald man said in a worried tone as he was expecting an answer from the factory manager.


    "Yes¡­" immediately the manager confirmed his suspicion, the bald man grabbed him by the neck.


    "Then why tell me, are you out of your mind? Do you want to get all of us killed?" The bald man screamed in unbridled anger as he was squeezing the life out of the factory manager.


    It was then that the bald man felt something was watching, so he turned to the ceiling where ke and Castiel were.


    "Shit!" Out of fear, ke immediately opened a spatial tear that took them out of the factory and into the sewers.


    ''Thank the heavens that I didn''t make that mistake.'' The bald man let out a sigh of relief as he felt the feeling of being monitored was gone.


    He wasn''t afraid that the royal family was going to wipe them out because they were a gang, but because they didn''t follow the rules.


    This was because, if the royal family wanted to wipe out all the gangs, they would do so in a day. The only reason they were still existing was because of political reasons and hidden reasons only known to the royal family.


    Unknown to the bald man, the fear of the strongest force in the empire made him think that there was a possibility that someone else was monitoring them.

 Chapter 287 - Slade.

    <h4>Chapter 287 - de.</h4>


    "That was a close one¡­" ke''s heart was loudly thumping as they appeared back at the sewer.


    "So much for not alerting him." Castiel said as he finally recovered from the adrenaline rush.


    [He might have sensed that someone or something was watching him, but I don''t think he will trace it back to an intruder.] The system stated.


    "How??" The trio couldn''t help but ask the system.


    [Take a look at his face when he turned towards you guys.] The system reyed what went on in the storage room.


    Right from the start of the conversation till the point they warped out of the room, the voice of the bald man had been tensed.


    "If he is that sacred of the royal family, doesn''t that mean the gang will change location?" ke asked with a raised brow.


    [You seem to underestimate the power of the royal family. There is literally nothing happening in the empire that they don''t know of. So trying to run is futile if they are after you.] The system said.


    "If they are that powerful then what is the use of the adventurer association or the ash corps?" ke was confused.


    [You should have heard the saying, familiarity breeds contempt. If the royal family were to solve all problems, the citizens of the empire would begin to take them for granted, and once they decided to stop they would receive a lot of criticisms that can lead to turmoil in the empire.]


    [On the other hand, if they rarely interfered, whenever they did the citizens would continue to see them as Gods that always appear in their time of need. That is why some of the governing bodies magnify the effects of their appearance by creating problems which in this case is poverty and gangs, then bing the solution to them.] The system exined.


    "That is evil, these are human lives that we are talking about." Brianined.


    "To be honest, it isn''t. You are looking at it from the perspective of themoners and not the royal family." ke said. "It is in the nature of humans to be ungrateful bastards, so why should I jeopardize the sess of the empire that I have worked so hard for centuries."


    "Exactly my thoughts. It is even nice of the royal family that they already provide most of the necessities for the people like themoners who give them nothing in return." Castiel''s words supported ke''s ideas.


    "Yes but¡­" Brian wanted to refute their points, but he couldn''t find any lie in their words "You guys are right." Brian admitted.


    The conflict of ideas created a short moment of awkward silence, but soon ke broke it. "We have enough information to report toplete the mission, so let''s go make the report and call it a day."


    They had started the mission in the morning hours, but it was almost evening when they were returned to the sewer. It wasn''t that the mission was hectic, it was just that the first stage which was moving from the school to the crime scene and then the sewers to the factory took a lot of time.


    Also, infiltrating the factory wasn''t a thing of force, it required a lot of waiting for the right time.


    They left the sewers and boarded a carriage that took them to the adventurer association located at the border of the center region and middle region.


    "We would like to turn in information on the investigation mission of the warehouse robbery." ke said Susan who had a lot of paperwork on her desk.


    "Are you saying you solved the case?" Susan couldn''t believe her eyes and had to ask again to confirm.


    "Yes..." ke answered.


    ''Isn''t it yesterday that they epted the mission? So, how were they able to beat the other parties that have been on the case for more than a week now?'' Susan had to confirm the date they had registered for the openmission.


    "Please follow me, so that I can connect you to an ash corps agent." Susa said to the trio.


    They were taken to a private room where Susan open amunication link with an ash corps personnel.


    "The Order of chaos adventurer party wants to turn in information on the investigation mission of the warehouse robbery." Susan said to the ash corps personnel who was dark skin woman.


    ''Wasn''t it yesterday that they epted the mission? So, how were they able to beat the other parties that have been on the case for more than a week now?'' The personnel named Ashely had the exact reaction as Susan when she heard the news.


    "Before you start your report you have to know that it isn''t necessary to exin your method of investigation, all we need are the conclusions of the investigation. You got that?" After seeing the nod from ke, she gestured for them to start.


    "We won''t waste any time. The hideout is located 2yers underground, and the entrance is located at the storage room of the Albert textile factory." ke went straight to the point, but it was very hard for Ashely to believe with so little detail.


    "How did you find this out?" Ashely couldn''t help but ask.


    "We can''t disclose our methods, because as you have seen it is fast and efficient." ke answered.


    "Sorry for that." Ashely was embarrassed because she had just forgotten the rules she just stated some moments ago. "So, can we know the gang we are dealing with?"


    "To be honest, we don''t know the name of the gang because we are rtively new to the city, but I think I have a clue on which gang it is." ke said. "When we infiltrated the factory and went into the storage room, we saw a bald man with an eye patch on his left eye,ing out of the hidden entrance."


    "A bald man with an eye patch¡­ That is de, the leader of the Creed gang!" Ashely said with a hint of astonishment in her tone.

 Chapter 288 - This Cant Be A Coincidence.

    <h4>Chapter 288 - This Can''t Be A Coincidence.</h4>


    When it came to the middle-rank gangs in Calton city, The Creed was considered to be in the top 3. Those below the top 3 didn''t dare meddle with them, while those within the top 3 feared them. It wasn''t only because of their manpower and resources, but it was mostly because of their leader de.


    Whenpared to the other gang leaders, de was no doubt considered to be the strongest and smartest. Not only did he have a lot more artifacts than the other gang leaders, his skills as a geomancer were over the roofs. This made a lot of people in the underworldpare him to adventurer association guild master, Walden, only that he was in the hero realm.


    Rumors had it that de wasn''t a citizen of the Synder empire, he hade from the Kaldron empire and had somehow made it past the Malock desert.


    The only reason the Creed wasn''t at the top was that they were a rtively new gangpared to the other 2, but still, de made it up with his strategic abilities when it came to raids and gang wars.


    "Could you give us a detailed description of the entrance and locations of the underground hideout in the sewers?" At first, Ashely was still skeptical about the info they gave her, but with the sighting of de, she had to take it seriously because his bounty was too high to be ignored.


    "Yes of course." ke stood up from his seat and walked to the nning table, activating it and pulling up a map of the eastern part of the middle region.


    Formission reasons, the ash corps had given the adventurer association the map of the entire city, including that of the sewers. ke began pointing out the 4 different parts of the sewers where the grey light had gone into the ground.


    When the 4 areas had been highlighted, the rest of the sewer was cropped out and that was when they realized how big the hideout was.


    "That is surely the main hideout!" Although the info ke was giving hadn''t been confirmed, Ashely was getting more shocked the more they revealed.


    This was because it had been years since they had a clue of de''s location. Every time they had gathered Intel to raid his suspected location, either he ran away before the ash corps arrived or it turned out to be an entirely fake location.


    "What about the location of the entrance? Are there any security measures we should know of?" Ashely asked as she brought up theyout of the factory on the nning desk.


    ''If we had this before the mission it would have been a thousand times easier.'' ke sighed.


    He zoomed in on the storage room and marked the location of the hidden de walked out from. When he got to the part of the security measures in the factory, the system began telling him of everything he detected on their journey to the storage room.


    ''That''s a lot of arrays for a factory! How did a C-rank adventurer party manage to cross them all? Most importantly, how were they able to detect all the arrays they came across in one day?!'' Ashely couldn''t help but think as ke was exining using the map of the factory.


    She hadn''t read of the power description of their party, if not and she had no clue


    "That should be enough information. The factory and sewers around it will be inspected today before your team will be rewarded." Ashely stated to them after ke was done giving all info they got.


    "I have a question." ke got a nod from Ashely for him to continue. "When we are onmissions, can we request for ayout of a particr building being suspected?"


    "Nope¡­" Ashely shook her head. "The reason the ash corps has theyout of every building in the city is for approval, inspection, and investigation purposes. This can''t be given to the other parties, because it might get into the wrong hands which may lead to a lot of crimes."


    ''Just like I thought.'' ke thanked her and they left the room and headed back to the magic school.


    ¡­


    Once themunication link was cut, Ashely immediately handed the report over to Commander Darius for approval of inspection.


    Since the approval would take some time, Ashely returned to her desk to find out about the adventurer party called Order of chaos.


    "Seems I now know how they were able to bypass all the security arrays." At first sight of checking their profile, Ashely''s attention was drawn by Castiel''s elements.


    "But why is he not the leader?" Ashely couldn''t help but ask because someone with such a rare element was naturally meant to be the leader. So she went to ke''s achievements to see what made him special.


    "His solo career is very impressive especially as a beginner, but their major achievements are together making him nothing special." Ashely said to herself, but that was when she noticed something.


    The one investigating most of their missions was themander of the ash corps himself. From the battle between demigods that urred in the slums to the discovery of Azkelwart''s base, and all their gang wipeouts.


    "What the hell is going on?" Ashely was quite confused. It could be considered a coincidence when it came to the very serious events that happened, but she couldn''t understand why themander would investigate 2 low-level gang wipeouts.


    That was when she received a call from Command Darius, asking her toe to his office.


    "Sir, you called for me." Ashely saluted Darius who had his signature smile on his face.


    "I called to inform you that there is no need for the approval. Since this is an important case, I will be the one going to investigate the info given to us." Darius said with an unchanging expression.


    ''Since we are understaffed at the moment, he really is the best option for the mission. At least this time de wouldn''t be alerted.'' Ashely was praising Darius'' decision, but this was when she remembered the adventurer party that has supplied them with the info.


    ''This can''t be a coincidence.''

 Chapter 289 - The Test

    <h4>Chapter 289 - The Test</h4>


    Due to most of the ash corps being spread to different mines and sites of natural resources, they were currently understaffed when it came to the internal affairs of the city.


    Since the leader of The Creed gang, de, who had a highly wanted man was allegedly involved in the mission, it was automatically categorized as a high-level mission. This meant not anyone can handle it, so Commander Darius decided to handle the mission by himself.


    "See you in a bit." Commander Darius took a step back and disappeared from the room.


    ''This can''t be a coincidence.'' Ashely thought with a puzzled expression. If one hadn''t properly looked into the profile of the trio, they would easily pass it as coincidence because the events that led to the current situation couldn''t be orchestrated.


    ''The reason Darius decided to go was that they were ''understaffed'', but the cause of this was because of the unexpected attacks from the beasts.'' Ashely thought.


    ''Also, it wasn''t as if he knew that the warehouse robbery would take ce or that the trio would ept andplete themission.'' Ashely was in deep thoughts as she returned to her office to wait for Commander Darius to return.


    ''Although it doesn''t sound usible, what if he knew? I mean he is in the Angel realm, he is more powerful than normal people think.'' Ashely thought.


    A gang could be controlled since they were humans, but when it came to the rampant beast attacks, she couldn''t wrap her head on how a human could control beasts. Unless it was a way that people of the current age hadn''t heard of.


    "Except for the royal family, I don''t think there is anyone or family that has lived that long." Ashely said to herself, but when she thought of what she just said, her eyes widened in realization.


    ''It makes a lot of sense if the royal family is added to the picture. They could easily control gangs from behind the scene, and as for the beasts, they might have a way to control them.'' The picture she was trying to paint was almostplete, but itcked a final piece and that was a reason.


    ''Even if they had control over the Creed gang and the beasts, why would they put so many people''s lives in danger, cause economic and security issues for just 3 boys?'' This was the most mind-boggling question.


    It was after she spent more than 10 minutes looking for an answer that she realized that she was using the most powerful and most dangerous power of the empire ofmitting crimes.


    ''Shit! Let''s not try this again.'' There was a hint of fear on her face as she looked around the room to make sure no one was there.


    It was a series of thoughts like these that led many investigators and ash corps to investigate things they weren''t meant to know and led to their early demise.


    ¡­


    The moment Commander Darius disappeared from his office, he appeared at the first location stated in the report, the sewers.


    ''Not bad.'' Darius was impressed by how urate the locator skill was.


    Once he had confirmed the location of the stolen goods, he took a step and appeared in the reception room of the textile factory. In the report, it stated the connection between the textile factory and The Creed gang so he had to confirm it.


    It was already night meaning the factory was already closed. All the real workers were already out of the factory and all the halls and rooms in the factory were filled with patrolling gang members.


    At the reception, the lights were off, but there were gang members in dark on their night shift of watching the entrance.


    Not caring about the gang members who couldn''t see him, Commander Darius brought out the Beholder from his dimensional space.


    "Let''s see what happened here." Darius injected his mana into the artifact causing a ripple that made the surface of the mirror tear in half, revealing a yellow-stained eyeball filled with multiple eerie blood vessels.


    Once the eyelid was fully open, the pupil had a purple aura that sent images of what happened to Darius'' mind. The scene of Brian walking into the reception and ke and Castiel sneaking in.


    When he got to where Brian brought out the royal family crest he squinted his brows, but it soon went back to normal. When there was no other useful info, he canceled the link with the beholder before cing it back into his dimensional ce.


    He took a step and appeared in the storage room and looked in the direction of the hidden door. "Without the space and darkness element, it is very hard toe this far."


    "Although there is a lot of paperwork to return to, I find this more boring. I was hoping that something crazy happened just lie the other times." Darius shook his head in disappointment.


    "Let''s get this over with then." Darius instantly scanned the factory along with the entire hideout in search of de.


    "Found you." Darius took another step and appeared in a very spacious office that had an entire wall that disyed live footage of the streets around the factory.


    "Nice office you got here." Darius said as he looked around the room with an impressed look on his face.


    The sudden announcement caused de to instantly turn around while simultaneously casting spells and activating all his defensive artifacts.


    "I think this should be nice for my office, but I think I prefer the view of the Bulian hills." Darius continued speaking as he didn''t even pay attention to de whose heart-thumping could be heard.


    "By now you should know that trying to fight me is useless." Darius said as he nced in his direction before returning his attention to therge wall disy.


    "Are you here to kill or maybe capture me?" de asked in a hopeless tone when he saw that the one standing in front of him was themander of the ash corps.


    "Surprisingly I am not here for any of them." Darius finally turned to him.


    "Your hideout will be raided by ash corps and adventurers tomorrow, but you are still useful to the royal family." de was shocked by the news and had so many questions to ask, but he didn''t dare speak when an angel was still talking.


    "The catch here is that you need to prove to the royal family that you are worthy of their attention. The test is that you have to survive the raid and do not escape before it starts." Darius said.


    de was dumbfounded by the so-called test. Not as if he didn''t like the head start, but what was now the need for the test if he could make proper preparations to escape beforehand.


    As for what would happen if he tried escaping before the raid. He didn''t need anyone to tell him, because if Darius could locate him, then he would be dead in an instant if he tried escaping.


    "Any questions on that?" Darius gave him a chance to speak.


    "What is the next step after I survive the raid?" de asked the next step as he had already epted his fate


    It wasn''t as if de loved the idea of the gang he had spent years building getting destroyed. It was just that he knew once the royal family had decided his gang was to be erased there was no saving it. It was even a miracle that they had decided he would live.


    "I love your confidence." Darius chuckled before continuing. "A man from the guild of assassins woulde to recruit you. The rest would be exined after that."


    Seeing that de had no questions, Darius was about to leave but that was when he recalled something. "Before you make a big mistake by attacking the party that solved this case, I advise you to forget about them because they are being protected by the royal family."


    With the information passed, Darius took a step and returned to his office, and called for Ashely.


    The moment Darius left, de brought out a bottle of wine and without a ss, he began downing its contents as he tried to understand why he was so unlucky.. Everything he managed to build always got destroyed whenever things were going well.

 Chapter 290 - Story Of Slade.

    <h4>Chapter 290 - Story Of de.</h4>


    The moment Darius left, de brought out a bottle of wine and without a ss cup, he began downing its contents as he tried to understand why he was so unlucky.


    It all started back when he was still in the Kaldron Empire. He was the leader of the B rank adventurer party, The Creed. They were famous at the time and they were well known for their sess rate in exploring the vast number of dungeons located at the outskirts of the Malock desert.


    They were on the rise in both fame and rank, but everything came to an end when a noble family had hired them for a mission in a deeper part of the Malock desert.


    It was a coboration between the adventurer party the noble family. The noble family was to support with their manpower, while the creed adventurer party was to bring a lesser amount of manpower and expertise in exploring dungeons.


    Everything was going well until they finally reached the end of the dungeon and found the artifact they had been tracking.


    The problem was that it was being protected by a king-rank desert hedgehog. With its humanoid form, sand maniption and the thick quills that acted as tools for great defense and devastating offense, thebined power of both teams couldn''t beat it in a fight.


    It was a stalemate between both forces and if any of the parties wanted to win they would surely incur a lot of damages, so they decided to retreat.


    Because of the defensive capabilities of de and his adventurer party, they were to hold off the beast as the members of the noble family retreated. Things were going well until an attack from the leader of the noble familynded on one of the members of his members.


    As seasoned adventurers that had been through a lot of missions, they had expected a scenario like this, but the problem was that they were being attacked from both sides.


    Seeing that the adventurer party was now in a tough position, the King rank desert hedgehog went all out on them increasing the pressure.


    The leader of the noble family capitalized on the desert hedgehog attacking them to steal the artifact. Once they had gotten hold of the artifact, the noble family began pulling back.


    At that time, members of the Creed adventurer party had sustained a lot of damage making it impossible for them to survive the wrath of the desert hedgehog. So it was best for them to leave the location before the desert hedgehog changed its target to them.


    That was when the adventurer party agreed to sacrifice themselves to make sure the noble family escaped.


    They disregarded the attacks of the king-level desert hedgehog and began sealing the area to make sure the noble family didn''t escape.


    This increased the speed at which the desert hedgehog was taking them down, but it also meant it wouldn''t take long before it began attacking the noble family.


    When it was finally time for the badly injured de to die, the desert hedgehog noticed that its precious artifact was missing, causing it to instantly switch to the current possessor.


    By then the entire area had been sealed, and if they wanted to escape they would certainly die. This forced them to stand and fight.


    The battle rage on, but unfortunately for them, the adventurer party had mostly been on the defense meaning they had dealt close to no damage to the desert hedgehog.


    The members of the noble family had used everything in their arsenal as they fought for their lives. They had managed to fatally injure the desert hedgehog, but in the end, they all ended up dead.


    That was when de took hold of the opportunity and used his most powerful artifact to end the life of the desert hedgehog.


    With the help of the nt element, de was able to recover in a day. He plundered the bodies and he buried his deadrades before returning to the city.


    He reported everything that happened to the adventurer association causing them to invite representatives of the noble family.


    On seeing that the de had survived and their members hadn''t reported back to them, the noble family acted as if they knew nothing about what happened began using de of killing both his team and their family member and making up a story to cover his tracks.


    Luckily, it wasn''t hard for the judges to see past this. So they dered de not guilty, but they didn''t have enough evidence to show that the family was part of it, so they let them go too. de wasn''t happy with this decision, but there was nothing he could do against such a big family.


    That wasn''t the end of the story. With the number of noble family members he had killed and the impact, the allegations leveled against them had affected their reputation as a noble family, there was naturally no way they would let de go without getting the proper punishment.


    They began sending assassins to end his life, but de always came out alive, so they changed their approach. They killed some of their family members and framed de formitting the crime.


    They presented to the court shocking falsified evidence against de. Since it was most likely that he had a grudge against the family and decided to take it out on the members, coupled with the fact that he was amoner, de was sentenced to life imprisonment.


    He stayed in jail for almost a decade, until a masked man came to his cell and freed him. Without holding a conversation he was given a dimensional amulet that contained everything he needed before he was warped into the Malock desert.


    Not needing to be told, he didn''t return to the Kaldron Empire instead he journeyed to the east and arrived at the Synder Empire where he began building the current Creed gang.


    CRASH!


    de crushed the now empty ss of wine in frustration as he stood up and took in a deep breath.


    "There is no point of thinking about the past when I can not change it. I have to make sure that I still have a future." de said to himself as he left the room to begin making preparations for the guests arriving the next day.


    ...


    When Commander Darius returned to his office he called for Ashely.


    "Yes, Commander." Ashely saluted as she entered the office.


    "I am done with the investigation. Everything in the report is urate down to thest detail, so you can close themission and report everything to the hirer." Darius said to Ashely who was about to leave the office.


    "Before you go, call up some of the technical corps, I have some new ideas for my walls." Darius said with a smile that left Ashely confused, but she just followedmands.


    After she was done updating the hirers on what had happened so far, she requested amunication link with the Order of chaos adventurer party.


    "Mr. Zero, the report you have given to us has been confirmed meaning your team will be given the price reward of 150k from the hirer and 100k from the ash corps for providing information of de''s whereabouts." Ashely reported.


    "The raid of the gang hideout has been scheduled for tomorrow. The hirer has invited you to join the raid, do you ept his request?" Ashely asked.


    "No, thank you." ke didn''t waste time declining the invitation. Although they would receive a lot of fame and gold coins from participating in the raid, ke knew his limit.


    The battle that was going to ur wasn''t for people on his level, so it was better he took part in a less dangerousmission.


    Once themunication link was cut, ke contacted Susan and applied for the second investigation and capturemission they had received.


    The investigation mission was a simple one. It involved tracking a thief who had robbed a merchant''s house.


    The only problem with the mission was that they had no idea of the robber''s power level meaning they had to be very careful when they would try to capture him.


    ...


    Just as Ashely was about to call it a day and hand over the shift to another ash corp, she received an application message from the adventurer association concerning the Order of chaos adventurer party.


    "They are epting another investigationmission. Let''s see who well they perform.." Ashely said as she confirmed the application before leaving for home.

 Chapter 291 - Encounter With Kadri.

    <h4>Chapter 291 - Encounter With Kadri.</h4>


    The next day, the trio left for the outskirts of the center region to meet up with the merchant in his mansion.


    When they arrived at the location, they alighted from the carriage and walked past the automatic once it recognized they had an appointment with the merchant.


    ''I guess this is the difference between a merchant and a noble family.'' ke thought as he looked around the environment.


    They walked through a hedged path that was wide enough to fit only a single carriage and it led to an open area in front of the building.


    Compared to the manor of the Winchester family it was more than 4 times smaller in size and it wasn''t as beautiful and elegant.


    "Wee adventurers, I am Kadri." A potbelly brown-haired man in a white robe with golden hem walked out of the mansion.


    "Nice to meet you in person Mr. Kadri." ke greeted as they walked forward to meet the merchant.


    ''Exactly like how I pictured someone who would give iplete information.'' ke was disgusted by Kadri but maintained a smile on his face.


    "Now let''s get down to business. The main information has been given to you by the adventurer association, so what would you like to know?" Kadri asked as he began leading them into the mansion.


    "What was stolen by the intruder and at what location of the mansion was he sighted?" ke asked.


    "I deal in magical items ranging from personal magical items to home defensive magical items. Some of my goods kept in the storage room were carted away by the intruder." Kadri took them to the mansions storage room.


    "Also, one of my cursed artifacts which I store in one of the safest rooms in the mansion was also robbed." This made the trio look at each other.


    This was a very confusing case. How was a merchant who dealt in offensive and defensive arrays for homes get robbed? Not only did the robber cart away with some of his goods, but he had the audacity to go to the most protected area of the house and steal a cursed artifact.


    ''If his devices don''t work for, then what the fuck is he selling to the public?'' ke managed to keep a straight face as he continued asking questions.


    "At what part of the mansion was he spotted, and is there anything you could tell us about this intruder, especially his power level and elements?" ke asked.


    "When he was at the safe room, he happened to trigger the rm and that was when I and some of the guards went to confront him. All parts of his body were covered in ck so we couldn''t take note of any distinct features." Kadri exined.


    ''At least something seems to be working right.'' Brian said through the mind link, causing ke and Castiel to try holding back theirughter.


    "He possessed the Earth and water element and from judging how he was able to flee from both I and my guards, I say he is at the peak of the champion realm." Kadri continued.


    "Finally, do you have any idea of who might be responsible?" ke asked.


    "It is surely Richard!" Kadri clenched his fist in anger, but he still turned to see the staring nkly at him.


    "Richard is a merchant that also deals in magical items like me. He received his Noble title some time ago, but we still have almost the same amount of sales even though I haven''t received mine.


    Now that I am about to get mine, he is surely afraid that I will surpass him and put him out of business." Kadri finally exined who he was talking about and ended up adding more than they asked for.


    "Thank you for the information. We will get back to you by the end of today with the intruder." ke said before leading the trio out of the mansion and into an empty alley.


    Just like the previous day, he brought out a detailed map of Calton city and used the locator skill.


    "This is new¡­" When ke cast the locator skill, the ash light appeared on the map, but this time it was moving from the middle region of the city towards the slums.


    "If it is what I am thinking, then the intruder is going to sell the artifact." ke stated his spection.


    "Should we capture him before he sells it or after?" Brian asked. If they were to stop the intruder then that meant they would have to fight the intruder alongside the buyer.


    "If we would be able to save the artifact then we can request for more, but we have to put the strength of the intruder and buyer into consideration before making any moves." Once they were clear on what to do, they boarded a carriage and began going in the same direction the grey light.


    After close to 20 minutes of monitoring the grey light, it finally stopped deep in the slums.


    At that time they were still making their way into the slums, so once they had gotten to a certain distance from the location they alighted from the carriage and went incognito.


    The slums was home to many gangs and evil groups, so they had to be very careful not to attract unwanted attention.


    "Seems we made it in time." The grey light had stopped at an abandoned warehouse, so once they made their way in they took an aerial as they waited for the spected buyer.


    After close to 30 minutes of waiting, two men in masks walked into the abandoned warehouse and stopped at a safe distance away from the intruder.


    "Let''s see what you have for us." One of the masked men said.


    Without making a sound, the intruder who had every part of his body covered in ck brought out 7 crates of magical items and an artifact.


    The artifact was a wooden-shaped heart with stains of blood on its surface. At first nce, it didn''t seem to be much, but the cursed energy radiating from it wasn''t a joke.


    "Power level?" ke asked the system.


    [The fat merchant was correct. The intruder is at the peak of the champion realm, while the other are champions not too far from the peak.] The system reported.


    ''Any idea of what that artifact does?'' ke wasn''t too worried about the buyers or the sellers. He was more worried about the cursed artifact because he didn''t want a situation where the cursed artifact would foil their ns at thest moment.


    [All I can say is that it is dangerous. So try to end it before he would even be able to use it.] The system advised.


    ''So are we attacking ?'' Castiel asked in a tensed tone because he wasn''t too sure about it.


    If this was a normal mission where they were allowed to kill everyone, things would have been easier. The problem here was that the power level between both sides was equal, and even at that, they were still required to capture the intruder increasing the difficulty of the mission.


    After pondering for a while ke spoke. "We will be attacking. The mission requires us to capture the intruder alive, but it didn''t say anything about the other guys. I will deal with the other 2 as quick as possible, while you guys bind the intruder."


    ke was a reap and kill fighter, meaning he wasn''t the best option for capturing people. On the other hand, Castiel and Brian were born for the role.


    Once everyone knew their roles, they went to the ground and began approaching the 3 masked men, but that was when the wooden hearth began slightly beating.


    "What is going?" one of the masked men asked in an apprehensive tone when they saw the bloodstains on the wooden heart began glowing.


    "I just stole it so I don''t know its powers." The intruder said in a confused tone.


    ''This was exactly my fears!'' ke cursed his luck as he decided to end things fast before they got out of control.


    Using the opportunity of the wooden heart distracting the masked men, ke activated night veil and rushed out of the range of darkbringer.


    "It''s a trap!" Immediately ke left the range of darkbringer, the masked men were able to pick up a hint of his presence even though he was cloaked by night veil.


    Swish! Swish!

 Chapter 292 - The League Of Assassins.

    <h4>Chapter 292 - The League Of Assassins.</h4>


    "It''s a trap!" Immediately ke left the range of darkbringer, the masked men were able to pick up a hint of his presence even though he was cloaked by night veil.


    Swish! Swish!


    Void daggers came flying at the 2 masked men, but it didn''t take any effort for them to with their Mana encased hands.


    Gotcha!


    Although the void daggers had been deflected to the side, ke had already picked up the signal of their previous position.


    Void shift!


    2 spatial corridors opened beside the masked men, and Ebony and Ivory came thrusting out. The spatial attack was unexpected, leaving them no other option than to block, but that was their greatest mistake.


    Both swords pierced through multipleyers of Earth walls and barriers before going right through their skulls.


    THUD!


    Their masks hid the utter shock that was written on all of their faces as they dropped to the floor and ceased breathing.


    On the other side, immediately ke had revealed himself, the intruder had ced all the crates in his dimensional amulet and was about to do the same for the artifact, but that was when the ground turned soft and 10 ethereal ck tendrilstched onto him.


    The attacks took him by surprise, but he quicklyposed himself and hardened the ground dealing with the quicksand. Before he could get free from dark siphon, multiple earth spikes and water tentacles erupted from the floor aiming for non-lethal areas on the lower part of his body.


    ''There are 3? How didn''t I get to sense them until thest minute?!'' On detecting the 3rd person the urgency to flee tripled. He


    Having the same element as Brian and being higher even though they were in the same realm, the intruder tried to forcefully break out of the water and earth binds, but that was when he noticed that something was draining his Mana and vitality.


    ''The ck tendrils!'' Fear was written all over the face of the intruder as he realized what was going.


    "Haa!" The intruder gathered twice the amount of Mana and willpower to break out of the water chains and earth spikes.


    "Just stand still." Immediately he was free, Castiel controlled the ck ethereal tendrils to turn solid and pierce into his body.


    Ahhh!


    The intruder screamed in agonizing pain as another set of water chains and earth spikes erupted from below, binding and piercing deep into his bones.


    With the 10 ethereal ck tendrils constantly draining his vitality and the pain that came with every movement. It was clear as daylight that there was no way he would recover from it, but that was when the wooden heart in his hand began beating so loudly that even though the trio covered their ears, they were still bleeding.


    ''What the fuck is going on?!'' Castiel screamed in the mind link.


    It was hard to keep focus, but when they looked up they saw red veinsing from the wooden heart and entering the intruder''s hand.


    "What is going on?!" ke who was on the floor just like the others asked the system.


    [Apart from the deafening noise, the artifact seems to be drawing his blood and transferring cursed energy into his body, thereby granting him physical strength and magical resistance.] The system reported.


    "This means it wouldn''t¡­ take long before he breaks free from¡­ the ck tendrils." ke groan as he struggled to get on his feet.


    Zzzg! Zzzg!


    Lighting arcs began squirming all around ke''s body as he dashed forward with Ebony and Ivory in his hands.


    Ahhh!


    When ke got within a certain range, an agonizing scream came from the intruder as every part of his right hand was covered in red glowing veins. The blood is being drained by the artifact had doubled and so did the screeching noise from the wooden heart.


    "No, you don''t!" ke stretched forth his hand and the space around the wooden heart froze, forming an airtight box that prevented sound from escaping.


    Ahhhh!


    At that moment the brown pupils of the intruder changed to dark purple and his voice changed to the screeching noise of the artifact.


    "Shut up!" With bleeding ears, ke fired a meburst thatunched him forward.


    THUD!


    The right arm of the intruder which was still in possession of the wooden heart fell on the ground, causing the screeching to stop.


    "That useless merchant has to pay a lot!" ke cursed the merchant and his business.


    [You are forgetting something.] The system pointed him to the bleeding arm of the intruder who was writhing in pain but they couldn''t hear him due to their damaged ears.


    "This should stop the bleeding." A ball of fire appeared on ke''s hand and went straight to the bleeding arm.


    ''I am actually d that I can''t hear anything at this point.'' Brian said when he saw the agonizing expression on the face of the intruder but couldn''t hear a sound.


    "I don''t feel safe getting close to that thing¡­" ke pointed a the wooden heart. "So I would call Susan to get in touch with the ash corps."


    Once the intruder fell unconscious due to pain,ck of blood, and little Mana left in his body thanks to Castiel, ke called up Susan on his adventurermunication amulet.


    "I won''t be able to hear whatever you are saying." ke pointed to his bleeding ears. "The intruder has been captured with the stolen artifact and goods still intact. Also, we ran into someplications that gave us no other option than to kill those that came to buy the stolen goods."


    Once ke was done with the report, Susan immediately connected to Ashely who was shocked when she heard they hadpletedmission.


    "Alright¡­ 2 teams will be sent to handle the scene and take in the intruder." Ashely said in a flustered tone as she cut themunication link and deployed 2 units to the slums.


    "Is it that they are just too good or they have a secret?" Ashely couldn''t help but ask. ke''s team has gone to Kadri''s residence to ask some questions, but it wasn''t even noon yet, but they had already tracked down the intruder and even captured him!


    "Anyways, I hope they are involved in more investigation missions because they are still a lot of unsolved cases." Ashely said.


    The presence of magic was theoretically meant to reduce the crime rate and increase investigation efficiency, but it was actually the opposite. Coupled with poverty, the gift of magic increased the crime rate to triple what it was meant to be.


    In less than an hour, the 2 teams of ash corps arrived at the abandoned warehouse. The 1st unit was in charge of healing ke''s team and the intruder to make sure he didn''t die.


    As for the second team, they handled the corpse of the buyers and contained the wooden heart along with the decapitated arm.


    ¡­


    At the moment 2 units had been deployed, Ashely got a report that de was fatally injured, but had managed to escape from the hideout.


    The Creed gang''s hideout was attacked by 4 B rank and 1 A-rank adventurer party. None of the parties had nothing less than 20 members.


    Also, the leader of the A rank party who was also in charge of the operation was a Demigod. So it was unbelievable that de had managed to escape.


    "When did he advance to the Demigod realm?" Ashely couldn''t help but ask because that was the only way he could have survived.


    ¡­


    In the sewer system of the central region, dey on the ground with multiple injuries and the right side of his chest blown out.


    While the hideout was being attacked, he wasn''t only attacked by the A rank adventurer, Typhoon (La''s dad). He also had to fight against 2 other peak hero adventurers.


    If not for his pool of artifacts and him having recently advanced, it wouldn''t have even been a battle.


    "I have to say you achieved a lot since thest time we met." A voice said.


    "I didn''t get to thank you for saving me thest time, and you are here to do it again." de said to the man in all ck and a smiling ck mask.


    "That is fate for you." The masked man squatted and poured a rejuvenation potion into his mouth, causing all his injuries to heal at a rate visible to the eye.


    "Wee to the League of assassins."

 Chapter 293 - Moments Away From The Beast Tide.

    <h4>Chapter 293 - Moments Away From The Beast Tide.</h4>


    After their eardrums had been healed by ash corps healers, the trio returned to the school to rest while waiting for the conclusions of the ash corps'' investigation.


    "That was one hell of a mission. Never knew that the cursed artifact would be that dangerous." ke said as he dropped on his bed.


    Apart from the escort mission where they got tangled in the matters of Demigods and that of the Azkelwart''s base, this was the most dangerous. If ke hadn''t mustered enough willpower to dash towards the intruder, it wouldn''t have taken long for them to have passed out and from there, anything could happen.


    [That was only the tip of the iceberg. How cursed artifacts like that worked was that gave continued to exchange blood and Mana for power until the human turned to some kind of monster which wouldter die.] The system exined. [In this case, the intruder was already showing signs of dying before the transformation meaning the artifact is not something someone in the champion realm can handle.]


    "Then what is an artifact of such strength doing in the hands of a merchant who isn''t even at the peak of the champion realm?" Castiel couldn''t help but ask.


    "Maybe that was why he stored it in a different room instead of keeping it on his person?" Brian pointed out.


    "That makes a lot of sense, but how did he get his hands on it?" ke said in a pondering tone.


    "This isn''t giving us any extra gold coins so I don''t think we should be wasting mental power on it. Besides I am too hungry to be thinking." Castiel said.


    "Me too, let''s go grab something to eat." Brian stood up and began heading out with Castiel.


    "Hey! You guys aren''t going to ask me if I was hungry?!" ke shouted as he got on his feet.


    [You are always hungry, so what is the need of asking when they know.] The system chuckled.


    ¡­


    After they were done eating and had returned to ke''s room, they received a call from Susan.


    "The Ash corps had concluded with their part of the investigation. The intruder confessed that a hooded man had hired him and the payment was that he would keep anything he was able to steal.


    He said that the hooded man had given him recordings and tools needed to break through all the security devices in the house." Susan reported.


    "As for the hooded man, the ash corps had invited Merchant Richard who Mr. Kadri suspected. After using an artifact to extract information from him, they found out that he was the hooded man." This caused the trio to look at each other in surprise. They had thought that it was just that Kadri had suspected Richard because they were rivals, but they never thought it would be true.


    ''Why do I have a suspicion that this Richard knew about the cursed artifact and had taught the intruder how to steal it so that the reputation of Kadri would be dragged to the mud and the artifact would end up killing the intruder?'' ke said to the system.


    [If that is true then everything would have gone fine if not for you guys. If the intruder had sessfully sold the artifact then I don''t think that the ash corps would have gone to the extent of using an artifact to extract information, because it wouldn''t have been a big deal.] The system stated.


    "Also, the cursed artifact had been confiscated by the ash corps, the reason being that it was too dangerous for Kadri to control and it had put the lives of citizens and adventurers in danger." When Susan was done she moved over to the payment section.


    "The agreed payment for the mission was 40k gold coins, but with the involvement of such a dangerous artifact the association has requested the hirer topensate your party with 15k gold coins." Susan reported.


    Unlike thest time when she informed Kadri about the payment andpensation for the inurate info he had given to ke''s team, Kadri had argued about it, but this time he had given it without a singleint.


    She had no idea that he was very happy even though his cursed artifact was confiscated. Not only had ke''s party brought back all the stolen crates of magical devices, but they had also led to removing his rival from the picture.


    Also, he was very impressed with how efficient ke''s team was. They had apprehended the intruder in a few hours, so there was no reason for him not to pay extra.


    "Lastly, moremissions are being sent to your party, would you like me to inform the hirers that your party wouldn''t be avable for the moment?" Knowing their identity as students, Susan was trying to help them arrange their schedules.


    "Yes, please. Thanks for the help." ke thanked her before cutting themunication link.


    Unknown to the trio, some minutes after the call the warehouse investigation mission was updated.


    The Order of Chaos adventurer party had discovered the hideout of the Creed gang leading to the raid that left de fatally injured and on the run.


    This garnered them a lot of attention. For a C rank party to be able to seed where higher ranks failed was outstanding, but they also attracted bad attention.


    The Creed gang wasn''t just any gang. For something like this to happen to them meant it could also happen to their rivals. This made every gang and evil group to put the Order of Chaos adventurer party under their watch list.


    ¡­


    In 2 weeks a lot of things had changed in and out of the school.


    Outside the walls of the school. The ash corps alongside miners and adventurers who were protecting the major trade routes had returned to the city. A few beasts had begun attacking the city, but they weren''t even seen as a threat.


    At this point, ash corps were being sent to various positions on the walls of the city alongside adventurers who were hired by the city.


    Also, 2 walls the same size as the city wall rose from the ground. The first covered the entire central region, while the second epassed the entire middle region which included the school a the west side of the city and the slums on the East side of the city.


    This created arge space outeryer of the city where magical artilleries and ash corps were stationed.


    In the walls of the school.


    The progress of students in all courses had increased by a whole lot. More than 60% of the students in the elite ss had awakened Mana vision, making them just enough for Professor Gibson to begin teaching them Mana fusion.


    In the forgemastery sses, Professor was Tacitus was finally back to the school. He had exined to the students why the reason he was away for so long.


    sses on integration methods had continued but even though ke had been practicing a lot and was ahead of the ss he was still at the array chaining phase.


    As for the body enhancement sses, after weeks of constantly expending and absorbing Mana stored by his cells, ke was the first in the entire ss to master how to consciously enhance his cells.


    The only problem was that he could only do so twice a day, before having to circte Mana around body parts to unconsciously absorb the Mana.


    ¡­


    Currently, the entire 1st year were all seated in the hall as they waited to know what Principal Lovren had called for the meeting. It wasn''t as if they didn''t know that it was concerning the tension caused by the beast tide, it was just that many didn''t want to ept the obvious.


    Fear and tension were clearly written all over the faces of the students as they awaited the confirmation, but they couldn''t be med.


    After experiencing death after death during tests and exams it was very natural for them to shiver since they were to be sent to the walls to protect the city.


    "What do you think we will be tasked to do on the wall?" Castiel asked.


    When it came to students who had already epted reality, ke''s group was the top in the entire 1st year.. Unlike the rest, they were already thinking about the possibilities of what could happen on the wall, and how to solve them.

 Chapter 294 - Nothing Is Right About The Exam.

    <h4>Chapter 294 - Nothing Is Right About The Exam.</h4>


    "Good day students, by now you all know about the state of things outside the walls of the school." Principal Lovren Immediately began delivering his speech the moment he appeared in the hall.


    "The beast tide has arrived way sooner than we all expected, and because of this we wouldn''t be able toplete our curriculum, because you all would be sent out to the walls." There was a lot of murmuring in the hall, but it didn''t take time for the murmuring to die down.


    Normally an announcement like this would throw the entire hall into chaos, but the reason they were rtively quiet was that they had been informed right from the beginning of the semester.


    "The exam aims to give you all real-life experiences on how to work in arge group with specific goals and to have a firsthand experience of how dangerous the magical world is.


    Of course, none of you will be ced at the frontline instead, most of you will be ced in positions that require team coordination." Principal Lovren exined.


    The elite ss was way stronger than the normal ss so they were to be positioned at the city wall, while the normal ss would be positioned at the inner wall. Whenpared, the elite ss were to face the brunt of the beasts head-on, while the job of the elite ss was very peaceful.


    Their main task was to be thest line of defense, but it has been decades since the city walls have been breached by the beasts. So, until then, the students in the normal ss would be assigned tasks ranging from aiding those at the outer walls by supplying resources ormunity service tasks like distributing food to those in need.


    "At this point, I wish I was in the normal ss." Brian shook his head as he let out a helpless sigh.


    "You know, You could ask someone in the lower ss to challenge you, then you lose on purpose." Castiel suggested.


    "I highly doubt anyone in the normal ss would even agree to challenge you. Their skills and what they are being thought is very low whenpared to that of the elite ss, so epting the challenge would be as good as giving themselves a death sentence." ke said.


    ke was 100% correct. The normal ss made up 80% of the 1st year poption, that was why it looked like almost everyone wasn''t happy with the school''s choice of exam. Now that they had been informed that they would be stationed at the inner wall, the hall had be less noisy.


    "Everyone especially the elite ss would be awarded points by the number and strength of beasts you kill, but that doesn''t mean you should put your life at risk because everyone would be too busy to save you." Principal Lovren looked at some students of the elite ss who were notorious for acting stupid before continuing his speech. "Also, the city has decided to make things fair by paying you in exchange points for every beast you kill, just like they pay noble families and adventurers. The exchange points would be added to the one gained so far and the highest would determine the top positions for the semester."


    "There are only 2 ways to fail are by either dying or being dismissed by the captain in charge. So do everything to survive and obeymands." Principal Lovren stated with a stoic expression.


    As for the normal ss, they were would gain exchange points the same way as the elite ss, but since they would most likely note in contact with any beasts most of their points were toe from themunity services etc.


    "Our task on the city wall isn''t as dangerous as I thought." Brian said, but that was when he turned to ke and saw him frowning. "What''s wrong?"


    "Everything¡­" ke continued pondering for a few seconds before exining. "I can''t see anything right with this exam, Principal Lovren said the ash corps wouldn''t be able to monitor us every time meaning there are very high chances that I students would try to sabotage each other so they could get disqualified."


    "Also, introducing the exchange point system tripled the chances of it happening, because someone is to end up dead then they would be entirely removed from the rank list." ke brought their attention to the reality that they weren''t only fighting with beasts, but also humans.


    "Thinking of it, If they wanted us to have an experience of defending the beast tide, then there is no reason for them to make itpetitive." Castiel pointed out.


    "What if they want to force us to learn healthypetition." Everyone turned to Brian with raised brows causing him to think about what he said.


    Everyone knew it was an impossibility. Most noble students in the same and different families were in a nastypetition with each, and are ready to do anything to win, talk less of when they see amoner doing better than them. They wouldn''t even think twice to eliminate him when they got the chance.


    "You guys have to be extra careful because most of these nobles wouldn''t be alone on the wall, members of their families would also be present." Luciano warned them.


    "Since there are no questions, I would be handing over to Instructor Zirrack who would assign you all too different parts of the city wall." With that said, Principal Lovren warped out of the hall and Instructor Zirrack came forward.


    "From the start of the semester, you have gone through different team exercises with your most trusted friends, meaning it would be counter intuitive to shuffle you all into different teams. So the school has decided to keep the teams the same way.." Instructor Zirrack''s words gave the students a certain level of assurance because the decision would highly increase their level of survivabilitypared to if they were grouped with foes and random students.

 Chapter 295 - Not Surprised.

    <h4>Chapter 295 - Not Surprised.</h4>


    "3 teams would be sent to each gate, except for the southern gate which would have 4 teams." With that said, Instructor Zirrack began calling out the teams and the area they would be sent to.


    "Please not the south gate¡­"


    "Maybe if I start praying now, my team will not be sent southern part of the inner wall..."


    These were the prayers that could be heard from both students from the normal and elite sses.


    ording to statistics of over centuries, out of the 4 gates of Calton city, the southern gate received a higher concentration of beast attacks making both the city and school assign more people there.


    If the southern wall was to be breached, the next ce the horde of beasts would be going for was the inner wall where the normal ss team was. This was why many of them had their fingers crossed as they were almost done with the Elite ss.


    As to why there was a greater poption of beasts at the southern side of the city, no one knew the answer.


    The confusing part was that the northern side of the city which had kilometers of forests that led to hilly and mountain forests, had fewer beasts whenpared to the forest at the southern part of the city which were just nds, but with greater distance.


    "Southern gate. Team ke, Team Owen¡­" Instructor Zirrack announced their team and that of d, alongside 2 other teams.


    "Why am I not surprised?" ke said while helplessly shaking his head.


    From the moment he didn''t hear his team being assigned to the north, ke could swear on his 2 kidneys that he was going to the south gate. To top off his bad luck, they grouped them with d''s team alongside another team that consisted of mostly Nystrom family members.


    "Not a bad decision from the school, they are assigning the strongest teams to the most attacked gates." Luciano said, ignoring ke who was cursing his luck. "We were sent to the most attacked gate while Damon''s team were also sent to the 2nd most attacked gate which is the east."


    It would have been safer if they would all be sent to the western gate which was to be protected by mostly the school which had a lot of demigods and even angels. The crazy part was that the school was knowingly sending the strongest teams to the most attacked gates even though they would not affect the protection of the city.


    [The school''s n isn''t to give you guys just any form of experience, they are aiming for the extreme experience.] The system said.


    ''It is meant to be a gradual process, not moving from step 1 to 10 right away.'' This wasn''t the first time the school made such a decision so ke wasn''t too bothered about it, his main focus was on how things may turn out.


    [You are right, that is only one way to go about growth, but this method actually yields greater results. Those that manage to survive this process would progress geometrically in terms of experience and power whenpared to those that follow your method.] The system pointed out.


    ''But at what cost?''


    [The cost of the lives of those who were unable to adapt quickly, and harming the emotional quotient of the students that survived.] The system answered.


    ''So they are basically trying to convert us to stone-cold soldiers?'' ke asked with his brow raised because from the tone of the system it seemed to be in support of the school''s methods.


    [This might sound wrong to you because you are from a peaceful, but as someone who has decided to walk on the path of magic, emotions are more of a liability. You woulde across multiple situations where having some kind of emotions would only lead you to an early grave.] The system didn''t say any other thing, it let its words sink into ke.


    "You will be transported to your different posts early tomorrow, so make all necessary preparations before then." Once Zirrack was done, he warped out of the hall, leaving the stage for Professor Gibson.


    "I personally think you all are ready for this. Just remember that all you have been taught was meant for this exercise, so do everything in your power to stay alive. Good luck and see you all when the beast tide is over." Professor Gibson warped out of the hall, marking the end of the announcement.


    "So what now?" Brian asked as everybody looked over to ke for their next course of action.


    "Apart from purchasing everything we will need, there is nothing else we need to do." ke said.


    "See you guyster, I have a lot of preparations to make." Tessie said as she left the hall to begin crafting potions.


    "I will be going to the library." ke stoop and left the hall.


    "So that leaves the 3 of us." Brian said, but at that moment Luciano stood up. "I will be going to ready my weapons."


    "Weapon?" Both Brain and Castiel were stunned when they heard this.


    Luciano was among very few students that didn''t make use of weapons, it wasn''t because he couldn''t his hands one, but because he had no use for it. With the vast number of martial arts andbat techniques taught to him by the royal family, coupled with the immense raw power of the golden mes, could trash almost anyone with a weapon.


    "When did he start using a weapon?" Brian asked, but Luciano was no longer there to answer their question.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t know how to use a weapon, it was just that throughout their stay in school there hadn''t been an exercise, test, or exam that made Luciano consider using a weapon. A matter of fact was that, right from when he was 3 years, he was already being taught how to use weapons.


    Currently, he could beat anyone in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year in weaponbat, it was that he felt morefortable fighting with his elements without weapons.

 Chapter 296 - Beast Tide Research.

    <h4>Chapter 296 - Beast Tide Research.</h4>


    Just arriving at the library, ke didn''t waste to activate the locator skill. "Concise exnation of what happens during the beast tide."


    He followed the cold and hot senses of the locator skill and came to the history section of the 3rd floor and picked up a ck leather cover book and proceeded to take a seat.


    After 10 minutes of reading, ke had to pause because the information he had taken in so far was too shocking.


    "Are you saying the beast tide is no different from how humans siege cities?" ke still couldn''t believe what he was reading.


    [It is what it is.] The system said.


    From all the stories he had heard of the beast tide, ke had always visualized it as hordes of beasts rushing towards the city walls in a frenzied manner and trying to break through, but the info from the book said otherwise.


    It exined how armies of beasts led by knight, king, and emperor rank beasts marched to the city walls and engaged with ranged beasts going for the cannons and magic towers, thereby reducing the fire on the close quarter beasts that were scaling the walls.


    "From what I am seeing, as long as we are on the wall there is no safe area." ke began realizing how much shit they were into by reading the types of beasts that attacked the walls.


    The most troublesome type of beasts were the aerial ones and those that had awakened elements. The worst was abination of both. The elemental beasts had the power and surprisingly the intelligence to conjure structures that helped them in scaling the walls, removing most of the advantage the humans had.


    After checking how the beasts were ranked based on their danger to the walls, ke realized something.


    "If high-ranking beasts go on a frenzy during the beast tide, why are the normal beasts that haven''t be magical beasts not affected?" ke couldn''t help but wonder.


    If the thing causing the beast tide affected the mind, then the normal beasts were meant to be the ones in a frenzy since they had less mental fortitude than the magical beasts, but the reverse was the case.


    [From what you just read, it isn''t appropriate to say they are in a frenzy during the beast tide, because the ns and mode of execution of the attacks on the city isn''t something frenzied beasts are capable of.


    What I think is that something is mind-controlling the beasts, I remembering in contact with mind control effects like these but the memory isn''t clear. For the fact that it could affect even emperor-level beasts, it shows that the cause of the beast tide is on a very high level.] The system said.


    "Is it possible for an artifact to be so powerful that it could affect the entire world?" ke asked with a pondering look on his face.


    [Yes, legendary and mythical artifacts have the power to do so.] The system answered.


    "So what if the cause of the beast tide in all of the empires is being caused by a legendary or Mythical artifact?" ke asked.


    The beast tide wasn''t only affecting the Synder Empire, in fact, it was even worse in the Tigeria and Kaldron Empire.


    In terms of how dangerous the beats tide was, the Synder Empire came inst, while the Kaldron came in 2nd and Tigeria Empire in first.


    The beast attacks on the Kaldron Empire were very dangerous because of the sandy and mountainous region that housed very deadly beasts, coupled with the fact that they were very close to the Malock desert.


    As for the Tigeria Empire, the reason the beast attacks in the region were the most dangerous was because of the presence of thergest ocean, Tribirus. On every nt, the ocean always housed thergest number of lifeforms, and on a like infinite realm, ocean Tribirus was in no way close to being safe.


    For one to be able to transverse the vast body of the gigantic blue beast, they had to be nothing below the peak level of the demigod realm, but even at that, they had very low chances of survival unless they were from the water or wind pathways.


    During the beast tide season, even as a peak demigod, traveling the Tribirus ocean was more dangerous than polish roulette. On the open ocean, the beast would attack anything on sight, while those close to the continent would begin entering the ind water channels and attacking the cities.


    (AN: Polish roulette is the inverse of Russian roulette.)


    Apart from the almost unending sea creatures attacking their cities, the Tigeria Empire still had to protect themselves fromnd beasts, making them the most affected by the beast tide.


    [Hmmm¡­ You have a point there.] ke''s question made a lot of sense because it answered the question of why the beast tide was periodical. If the cause was an artifact, then it having to recharge the energy it used to turn the beast against the humans would exin why the beast tide came at a particr time of the year.


    [That would have most likely been the answer, in fact, it might even be the conclusion all the Empires havee to, but I know how artifacts of these levels work. The chances of I being false are very high.] The system stated. [Mythical or legendary artifacts possess a consciousness of their own, they would never expend energy on such arge scale when it wouldn''t benefit them.]


    "What if they have been trapped in a ce for millenniums and since they are sentient beings, the loneliness is driving them insane. So as they try to call out to someone, it is causing the beast tide on all of the world." Having read a lot of webnovels, ke had seen a lot of scenarios like this and thought something simr could be happening here.


    [¡­] The system was stunned by ke''s mode of thinking. [The consciousness of an artifact isn''t the same asplex as that of humans, but there are chances that this might be the case here..] The system said in a pondering tone.

 Chapter 297 - Debriefing With Major Reeves.

    <h4>Chapter 297 - Debriefing With Major Reeves.</h4>


    The next day after breakfast, all teams assembled at the hall where they were to be teleported to their different station on the city walls.


    Once they took their positions on the warp array, the rings of light at the bottom rose with a veil of light, and when it went down ke''s team had been warped to the southern wall of the city.


    When the bright light had dimmed, ke and his team found themselves in a warp array tform on the southern wall.


    "Good day students."


    The students turned to see a man in his early forties who had a heart-shaped face with perfectly trimmed sideburns and a pointed nose. On his body was a half-ck cloak with red seams at both halves forming the ash corps'' insignia at the center when closed and under the cloak were multiple medals pinned unto a ck suit vest.


    "I am Colonel Darius and it''s a pleasure meeting you all." Darius said with a gentle smile on his face.


    Standing beside him was a muscr white-haired man with a porcin skin tone and a mean-cold expression on his face.


    Looking at the 2 who were the same height, one would straight away think that the white-haired man was superior in rank because of the frightening aura he exuded, but the ash seams on his uniform that formed the corps'' insignia gave away his rank.


    During their history ss, they had been taught about the 5 uniforms of the ash corps and rankings. The lowest rank was the in ck cloak and uniforms with the empire''s insignia, the 4th was the ash seams that formed the insignia at the center of the cloak, 3rd was the white seams, 4th was the red seams and the highest was the golden seams Bryon wore the day he saved them.


    ''Although his face is quite scary, he still doesn''te close to Instructor Zirrack?'' ke thought when he saw the mean expression of the white-haired man.


    (AN: I decided to use the normal military ranking to make reading easier to understand.)


    Darius began talking when he saw that everyone hadposed themselves. "There are 2 reasons you have been called into action earlier than expected; the first is that the beast tide came earlier and the second is that we need you all to get ustomed to how we operate before the main event starts."


    "To prevent confusion that will cost lives, you will be taught everything you need to know to survive and defend the walls of this city. You will be supervised by Major Reeves who will be taking over from me. " After saying all he needed to, Darius warped away and the white-haired Major Reeves took his position.


    "No one has any idea of when the beasts wouldunch a full-scale attack on the city, so we would use the limited amount of time we have to teach you a few things." Major Reeves said as he began walking back and forth.


    "We would be looking at 6 things; the 1st lesson would be teaching you the most efficient way to kill beasts from the top.


    2nd lesson is to learn how to prevent beasts from breaking the barrier, wall or making their way onto the top of the wall.


    3rd lesson is focused on teaching you damage control and how to remain calm in a situation where beasts manage toe to the top.


    4th lesson is learning how to operate the weapons on the wall if something happens to the operator and you happen to be close by.


    5th lesson is how to go down the wall to kill a group or a particr beast, amidst the chaos.


    The final lesson is teaching you how to save a member who is outside the wall or how to retrieve the corpse of fallenrades or beasts."


    ''I would have loved toin about why the school didn''t teach us this beforehand, but unfortunately, there is no way for them to simte an environment as perfect as this without it being the beast tide season.'' ke was not happy that they did not know of such important information, but there was no one to me.


    "You shall be taken to your dimensional tents, immediately after lunch every team is meant to report to this spot for the 1st lesson." Major Reeves dismissed the students and an ash cop took them to their living area.


    ''I was expecting one of the spoiled brat nobles to make a disrespectfulment, but unfortunately, I couldn''t get a scapegoat.'' Throughout his talk, Major Reeves had been paying attention to the expression andments made by the students, especially the nobles. To his utmost surprise, their facial expressions were unchanging and no one had made a single sound.


    It made him begin wondering if the school had be a military camp, but he had no idea that they had an instructor who was scarier than anyone in the ash corps.


    ¡­


    ''I never realized that the wall was this huge.'' After the debriefing from Major Reeves, the students had gotten the chance to enjoy the splendor of thendscape and the magnificence of the city wall.


    The length of the southern wall stretched for more than 100 km, while the width was enough for 10 people to stand side by side. The height of the city wall was 100 meters tall and made use of lifts ced at intervals to transport people to the top and back.


    When they finally got to the ground, they boarded veryrge stagecoaches powered by mana to get to the living area in a few minutes.


    When they alighted, the students saw nothing but 4 dimensional tents already set up in an open area. That was when most of the nobles beganining about the tents.


    The dimensional tents were quite ordinary, inside each was 2 sections meant to separate both genders, but to also keep them together as a team.


    The problem here was that they weren''t as luxurious as the ones they were used to.. A major example was the bunk beds instead of double beds.

 Chapter 298 - Lesson 1.

    <h4>Chapter 298 - Lesson 1.</h4>


    Unfortunately for the nobles, theirints fell on deaf ears because the ash cop left without even assigning the tents to the 4 teams. Some had thought of setting up their tents, but it remained a thought because it would be a sign of disrespect to the ash corps.


    While they were stillining, ke and his team walked into the farthest tent. It was the safest because it would give them more time to prepare in case something happened and it would prevent anyone from giving excuses when snooping around the tent.


    Most of the nobles wanted toin, but with the presence of ke and Luciano, they were forced to keep their mouths shut.


    Once they had settled in the tents, the team began chatting about the effects of the beast tide on the empire to pass time.


    When it was noon, food was delivered to each team by ash corps in dimensional amulets. The team opened them to find a sizeable portion of rice with beef stew for each of them.


    "I actually taught it would be way worse." ke said as he didn''t was time to dig into the food.


    "Why do you say so?" Luciano asked with an intrigued expression.


    "Because I have always thought of the military life to be a hard one, and that includes the quality of their food." ke answered with his little knowledge of the military back on Earth, but he waspletely wrong to think the military of both worlds was simr.


    This made Luciano look at him with a raised brow for a second before returning to normal. "This might be because you guys didn''t grow up in the empire, but everybody knows that the military receives the same quality of food as the school or any public rted agencies."


    The military on Earth didn''t bother to train or hire chefs because of their limited budget and because they saw the chefs as liabilities in certain situations. As for the Synder Empire, they had more than enough resources and they didn''t need to move around with the chefs because the foods could be teleported to them as long as they weren''t too far from the city or they could be stored in veryrge dimensional amulets, keeping them hot and fresh till needed.


    "If so, then being an ash corps isn''t as bad as I thought..." ke said as he continued munching on the food, but he soon paused to ask. "Can you ask for more?"


    "I knew you would ask that. No, you can''t." Luciano chuckled.


    "I take back my words then..." ke said as he brought a te of ramen from his dimensional space, but no one was surprised. They could swear that ke had more than 2 weeks'' worth of food in his dimensional amulet.


    ___


    After lunch, all the teams reported to the walls where Major Reeves was seen staring into the horizon with his hands folded behind him.


    Without uttering a word, the teams took their positions and waited for Major Reeves to turn, but soon another group of students was making their way onto the wall, it was the second-year students.


    ''The fuck are they doing here?! The school didn''t say anything about them defending the city walls with us.'' Brian said through the mind link.


    ''We should have expected it since the test was with them.'' Castiel said.


    ''This only makes things worse.'' ke''s eyes were locked on the rank 1 of the 2nd year, Serhan.


    They were sent to the southern wall because they were the top team of the 1st year students. So it was natural for the top team of the 2nd year students which was led by Serhan to be deployed there.


    "Now that everyone is present, I want toy down a simple rule." Major Reeves said as he finally turned to look at the students. "In school, you maybe be seniors and juniors, but here you are all equals. This means I am the only one that can order people and I shouldn''t hear of any cases of bullying, because the bully would be dismissed straight away."


    Major Reeves'' words were directed at the 2nd year students, who seemed to be frightened by his mean expression.


    "Now to the main reason you were called here. You will be taught the 1st and 2nd lesson, and after an example by a sergeant then it would be your turn." At this point, Major Reeves had an evil smile on his face as he continued. "Every team will be graded on how good their execution is, and at the end of the lessons, the team with the highest number of points would be rewarded. Also, the grading of both years would be separate to make things fair."


    ''Here I thought that things couldn''t get worse, but he decided to disapprove my ims.'' ke thought as he continuously rained down curses on Major Reeves. He had beenining that the school was promoting unhealthypetition, but Major had made the situation even worse.


    ''To be honest, I don''t feel anything has changed. Although this might make them even more stupid, it doesn''t Increase their strength which we are already prepared for.'' Castiel replied.


    ''I would have loved to agree to what you just said, but we are prepared for everything except for the 2nd year students. If the said reward is deemed to be good enough, there is a possibility that they could help their family members in the 1st year to eliminatepetition.'' ke pointed out.


    "Since all that has been settled let''s get into lesson 1. The 1st lesson is learning the most efficient way to kill beasts from the top of the wall. It is basically using the appropriate tool for a particr job."


    "In wars like this that involverge numbers, strong AOE-type attacks are a must have, but there are situations that need deadly single target attacks." Major Reeves exined.


    "For example, if an elite or Knight rank morg was to be left alone it would deal a tremendous amount of damage to either the wall or barrier, so their deaths would be prioritized over other beasts.


    Because of their rock-hard hide, casting an explosive spell that would be able to harm it would be a tremendous waste of mana, so you would be looking at spells focused on pration. This would save both mana and time."


    ''This ismon sense knowledge, but it is very important for some numbskulls on this wall.'' Although it was something anyone withmon sense would know, with the things ke had seen the nobles do, he doubted ifmon sense was trulymon.


    A simr thought was on Major Reeves'' mind. He had been through more than 30 beast tides and on multiple asions, he had seen students, adventurers, and even noble family members make such mistakes because they wanted to get as many points as possible.


    They would end up using a lot of mana and if something unexpected happened, like when the beasts managed to break through the barrier and make their way onto the wall, they would end up dying because theycked mana.


    "In the case of explosive spells, there would be a situation where the beasts would be in sensitive areas of the wall where the towers and cannons can''t reach, that is where theye in. For example, if we are up against insect-type beasts, explosive spells withrge areas of effect are the best." Major Reeves exined.


    "Since we are done with that, it is time to move over to the execution phase. Sergeant,e up and show the kids how it''s done." Major Reeves called up the closest ash cop to give a demonstration.


    Currently, the city''s barriers were under attack by a few low-level beasts. They had been attacking the barrier since morning, but the reason why the ash corps hadn''t dealt with them was that they weren''t strong enough to leave a scratch on the barrier and they were what the students were to practice with.


    Without hesitation, the sergeant took position and lightning arcs began curling around his body, before firing out a single arc of lightning that branched into 5 lightning bolts.


    CRACK!


    The lightning bolts pierced into the hard shells of the elite rank armadillos mindlessly attack the barrier, killing them instantly.


    "Thank you sergeant for the wonderful demonstration. Now, every team should take a position at the edge of the walls.." Major Reeves ordered.

 Chapter 299 - Elemental Cannon Battle Array.

    <h4>Chapter 299 - Elemental Cannon Battle Array.</h4>


    Each team had been randomly assigned to different positions which had quite a lot of space between each team. Below each of these positions were different kinds of beasts, meaning the difficulty each team would face was solely dependent on their luck.


    ''This would be a problem.''


    When they got into position at the edge of the walls, the students noticed something. The distance between the top of the wall and the bottom was very huge.


    Due to this huge distance, if the students were to attack, the beasts would have enough time to sense the attack and move out of the way.


    If they wanted their attacks to connect and deal damage to the beasts, it meant that they needed to put in more mana to their spells, but this also meant that they would run out of mana more quickly.


    ''No wonder he was continuously mentioning efficiency and saving mana.'' ke thought as he began assessing the situation.


    Right below ke''s team was 10 Jacklers. The hyena-type beasts were known for their speed and biting power, meaning the attack from ke''s team was meant to be fast and also pack a punch.


    "Get ready!" Major Reeves'' voice echoed all around the wall, as the students began readying their spells.


    At that moment, ke had already conveyed his n to his team, so when Major Reeves had given the signal to attack, arrays began forming above his team.


    Elemental Cannon: zing Arrow!


    Once the array wasplete, the blue lines of mana that formed the array wereplete, they changed to orange and moved in front of the team.


    A ball of mes began forming at the center, and once it wasplete, ke stretched forth his hand and the fireball wasunched at the jacklers.


    BOOM!


    When the ball of fire was a few meters away, the jacklers raised their heads to see the attacking, but before they could react ke clenched his fist and the fireball turned to 10 arrows with mes at the bottom boosting their speed.


    ''Perfect!'' Apart from Luciano who had an indifferent expression, a smile could be seen on everyone''s face, they were happy with the result of their tier 2 elemental cannon battle array.


    Both normal and battle arrays were grouped under 6 tiers. Tier 1 battle arrays like barriers being the basic, while the legendary tier 6 battle arrays that could destroy empires were the highest.


    The elemental cannon they had used was a very special battle array even among tier 2. It possessed insane explosive power and allowed the user to manipte the projectile even when it had been fired.


    Once all the beasts below the walls had been killed, Major Reeves who just deactivated mana vision spoke up.


    "I just spoke about efficiency, but no one except this group understood what I was saying." Major Reeve''s said, pointing at ke''s team. "You might have made the right decision on which spell to use, but was it the most efficient way to kill the beasts, no."


    "Not only did you not work as a team, but you ended up spending more mana because you attacked individually. As for them, they worked as a team, use the most effective method, and ended up saving a lot of mana." Major Reeves said in a disappointed expression.


    ''What the hell were they thinking? The team''s execution was to be graded, so wasn''t it obvious that team attacks were required?'' ke couldn''t help but shake his head.


    "Enough talk, let''s get into grading. For the first-year students, Team ke gets 10/10 points while the rest get 2/10." Without caring about the looks on their faces, Major Reeves moved over to the 2nd year students.


    "I had expected you all to perform better than the 1st years since you are a year ahead, but seems like you all just bigger disappointments." Disgust was written all over Major Reeves'' face. "Team Serhan gets 5/10 for their team corporation, as for the rest they get 1/10 points."


    "Why are we being scored lower than the first-year students when we did the same thing if not better?" A noble from Serhan''s teamined.


    Major Reeves was about to walk away, but on hearing theint he turned to the direction the voice came from.


    "I don''t remember giving you permission to speak." Major Reeves began walking up to the noble with a bone-chilling stare locked on him. With every step the Major took, the more the noble found it hard to breathe.


    They were slow steps, but by the time had already gotten to the noble, he was already on his knees and his face had turned purple due tock of oxygen.


    "Aren''t you ashamed of those words you uttered¡­ oh I forgot, you are a noble." The noble couldn''t handle it anymore and passed out.


    "Does anyone have any other thing to say?" Receiving nothing but silence, Major Reeves returned to his original position.


    ''He just keeps confirming my suspicions that he is rted to Instructor Zirrack.'' ke mind-giggled.


    "Make sure to have some rest because you will need it for your night shift. Dismissed!" Major Reeve''s words left the students in utter confusion, but no one dared to ask, so they left for their tents.


    ____


    "Worstes to worst, we would have to patrol the walls. So I suggest we all get some sleep before then." ke to his team.


    Unlike ke''s team who were currently resting in their dimensional tents, the other teams were nowhere close to resting.


    The 1st and 2nd-year teams had 2 things inmon; the 1st was that they were all jealous and angry with ke''s team. That of the 2nd year students were far greater, not only had ke''s team outperformed them but they had also been disgraced by Major Reeves.


    The 2nd reason was that they all needed to learn more battle arrays, especially the one ke''s team had used. Although they had all been taught about battle arrays, most of the teams had disregarded them because they didn''t think it would matter that much, especially if they were all strong.


    The problem now was that even if they could leave the camp and return to the school to get books on battle arrays, did they have enough time to learn and be adept at using them.


    ___


    Behind the inner wall.


    Once the normal ss had been deployed to the wall they were ordered to report back at the wall by noon, but unlike the elite ss that began training, they were deployed to watch how the ash corps delivered relief materials to the people in need.


    Although it looked easy and wasn''t close to being half as dangerous as that of the elite ss, the task was a difficult one for the normal ss. They weren''t as strong as the elite ss and didn''t have as much experience and exposure as them, making the task of fighting gangs a hard one.


    The reason they had been sent out immediately was that the next day the positions would reverse. They would be the ones delivering the relief materials while a member of the ash corps supervised them.


    As they moved through the city, the students began noticing the changes caused by the beast tide season. The once-bustling streets of Calton city had turned into a ghost town. They could hardly see anyone on the streets, even all the stores and industry were closed.


    The major cause of this was the beats tide, but the effects of the gangs couldn''t be overlooked.


    For example, some industries had shut down because of ack of materials to continue production, but even those that still had more than enough materials in stock had to shut down because of getting harassed and robbed by gangs.


    This was the major cause of unemployment and the need for relief materials especially in the slums since almost 90% percent of them were wage workers.


    Although the situation seemed to be very bad in the eyes of the general popce, only a few people in the city knew that the top gangs didn''t act during this period because if they did, the city wouldn''t survive the beast tide.


    This meant that the ones causing all the problems were the mid and low-level ranked gangs.


    ____


    Back to the southern wall.


    ke''s team had just finished their dinner and had boarded the stagecoach making their way to the wall for their night shift.

 Chapter 300 - Night Shift.

    <h4>Chapter 300 - Night Shift.</h4>


    Once they go to the wall, they saw Major Reeves staring into the horizon with his hands at his back.


    ''Does he get into position when we are on our way or does he stand that way for hours?'' Brian couldn''t help but ask in the mind link.


    ''Very important question.'' ke said as all the teams got into position.


    "Your night shift will be divided into 2 sections. The 1st is taking you all on a tour of every section of the walls, and the 2nd will be you guys patrolling the walls." Major Reeves announced.


    This made everyone turn to each other with confused expressions on their faces, but no one said anything so, major Reeves proceeded with the tour. Since they were at the center of the southern wall, they walked for a few minutes before they got to a very long andrge staircase that led all the way to the bottom of the wall.


    Although they were multiple elevators that transported people up and down the wall, there were still stairs in case they were destroyed or weren''t functioning well.


    Without saying a word to the students, Major Reeves began walking down the stairs until he reached what could be considered half the height of the wall.


    ''Why do new things keep appearing out of nowhere?'' ke asked when he saw arge automatic double sliding door.


    ke had gone through the southern gate multiple times but had never seen the doors, the elevators, or even the stagecoach.


    [They had always been there, but they were being concealed by arrays from the view of the public. That is until the beast tide.] The system stated.


    The double doors slid open and once the students got in, they saw a room filled with different magic devices, but the ones that stood out were the mana cannons facing the wall.


    ke had read a lot about them and knew almost everything about them, that is except for the process of making them.


    The mana cannons had simr designs torge-caliber cannons back on Earth and were pitch ck, but with futuristic looks and functions.


    As the name implies, the mana cannons were powered by mana crystals or directly pumping mana into them. They were designed to be able to switch between various types of attacks ranging from explosive to highly prative single attacks and they also had an automatic targeting system.


    When it came to raw power, they had the destructive force of a peak Hero realm spell and the best part of it was that the element of the attack was dependent on the type of mana put into the cannon.


    ''They look more aggressive seeing them in person.'' ke had a mesmerizing expression written all over his face.


    [It was really smart of them to choose to pump mana from the core to cannons, rather than carrying mana crystals all around.] The system was impressed.


    This method of powering the cannons was the best because they could instantly and simultaneously change the elements of the attacks to whatever was needed at the moment.


    "This is one of the 3 cannon chambers. Every inch of the wall can be controlled to open up or close at any given, thereby giving the cannons space to attack the beasts and also protect them from getting destroyed." Major Reeves exined to the team before leading to the other 2 floors below, before returning to the top of the wall.


    After seeing the 3 cannon chambers, ke began doubting if he really knew how serious the beast tide was. He knew about the power of each of the mana cannons, but in each cannon chamber, the number of magic cannons stretched across the length of the wall of the entire southern wall.


    If they had soo much artillery and were still pressured by the beast tide, it meant that it was more serious than what the book had described.


    "Any questions rted to the tour?" Major Reeves asked.


    Even if they had a question, no one wanted to ask especially after what he had done in the afternoon, but that was except for ke.


    "Yes?" The Major granted ke permission to speak.


    "You showed us 3 cannon chambers, but the length of the city wall is enough for a 4th room. So I was wondering if you could tell us what room is above the 1st cannon chamber we entered." ke asked.


    "Very good observation. The room above the 1st cannon room is the room for Mini magic towers, but that would be for another day." Major Reeves said. "Now for the second part of your night shift¡­"


    Each team was to be assigned to patrol a certain distance of the wall with an ash corp. Their jobs were to notify the ash corps when they spotted beasts, and after that, they were to keep observing the beasts to eliminate all chances of being surprised.


    They didn''t get them any points, and the students weren''t happy about it, but it wasn''t as if they couldin about it, talk more of doing something about it.


    After exining the task to all the teams, Major Reeves went back to his original position and stared into the forest even though it was pitch ck.


    As for the students, ash cops had taken them to their different positions on the walls.


    The assigned area wasn''t toorge, but it wasrge enough to prevent them from gathering together in one spot. So, some teams decided to patrol the area in 2''s to enable them to chat.


    As for ke''s team, they spaced themselves out, eliminating the need for them to move around but this prevented them from chatting or so the ash cop thought.


    The trio were currently in a full-blown argument in the mind link on the best assassin hero in lords of legends.. As for Luciano and Tessie, they had no one to chat with, but that was because they both had a lot on their minds and didn''t feel like chatting with anyone.

 Chapter 301 - Lesson 2

    <h4>Chapter 301 - Lesson 2</h4>


    Close to an hour into their night shift, the system interrupted the trio''s argument and informed them about the beasts approaching the city''s barriers.


    Seeing this, Castiel and ke shot fireballs into the air, alerting everyone on the wall. The ash cop who was supervising their team looked over the wall to see the beasts but saw nothing.


    He was about to caution them on sending a false rm, but that was when Major Reeves arrived at their position.


    "It was a fals¡­" The Sergeant was forced to swallow his words when he heard the Majorplementing ke''s team.


    "Nice work¡­" Major said with an impressed expression on his face. "Your job now will be to take down only the saber-tooth Moose."


    ''Saber-tooth moose? The hell is going on?'' The Sergeant switched from the major and the students to the area in front of the barrier, but still couldn''t see anything.


    An elite rank saber-tooth moose was a 2m tall walking tank covered in brown fur. They possessed razor-sharp teeth that could easily pierce through the thick hide of a knox, and armor-busting horns that were 6ft in length.


    Although they were elite rank beasts, they were categorized amongst the beasts that were meant to be immediately put down, because of the damage they could deal to the barrier.


    It was when the team had gathered, that the sergeant finally saw frenzied beasts running out of the forest.


    ''How were they able to sense so far out?'' The sergeant was stunned by the team''s sensory skill. At that time, ke''s team had alreadye together and an array began forming above them.


    In a matter of seconds, the array waspleted, the light blue color of mana had changed to a bright cyan color and moved in front of the team. Stretching forth his hand, ke released the charged spell.


    Elemental Cannon: Thunderbolt.


    Zzzzg!


    Like a caged berserk beast that had its cage opened after a long while, a sudden burst of a powerful streak of purple lightning left the center of the array.


    Not caring about the other beasts, the thunderbolt went straight for the sabertooth moose.


    Errrh!


    The thunderbolt was so fast that when it saw the iing attack it was already toote to react. So the saber-tooth moose bellowed as it braced for impact using its horns.


    BOOM!


    A loud explosion was heard, and once the dust has settled they saw chunks of the sabertooth moose all over the ce.


    "We need to get that battle array." Right from when the battle array appeared, the other teams had witnessed what had just happened, and they were utterly stunned by the power of the battle array.


    Everyone knew how strong the body of the sabertooth moose was, talk more of the head and horns which were multiple times stronger than steel. Still, the sheer power of the thunderbolt had blown through everything like a hot knife through butter.


    "Seems I overestimated its defense." ke said as the team deactivated the battle array.


    "Although you had used more mana than required, you used lesspared to if you had used solo attacks." Major Reeves said. "Extra 1 point for continuously impressing me. Nice job."


    At that moment, 2 fireballs had been shot into the sky. So Major Reeves left to determine if they were any threats.


    "Did you say you got the array from the library?" Tessie couldn''t help but ask as a stunned look was stered on her face.


    Although this wasn''t their 1st nor 20th time using the array, they had never tested the upper limit of its power. That was why she was shocked by the results.


    As for the question, she couldn''t believe that something this powerful was sitting in the library. This was because tier 2 battle arrays this strong were on sale for high prices.


    "Yup¡­" ke confirmed.


    Apart from their encounter with the sabertooth moose, no other team came in contact with any threatening. Making the rest of their night shift a peaceful one.


    ____


    Once it was dawn, the teams were dismissed to have breakfast and get some rest before they reported to the wall by noon.


    After they woke up and had lunch, the 8 teams returned to the wall, where once again Major Reeves was staring into the forest.


    "You might be wondering why you weren''t asked to kill the beast during your night shift, well it is because they would be needed for the 2nd lesson." Major Reeves said with an evil grin.


    "On the premise that beasts were to get through the barrier, you are meant to learn how to control your attacks in order to avoid your attacks harming your teammates or destroying equipment." He exined.


    "You will need 2 skills toplete this exercise. The 1st is closebat skills, while the 2nd is being able to remain calm even in the sight of death.?From the reports I have gotten about your exercises, It is safe to assume that you all have these skills." Major Reeves said.


    "The execution is a simple one. The barrier would be lowered and an earth ramp would be made for the beasts to get onto the wall. Your task would be to defend yourselves, so remember to do it as efficiently as possible." Major Reeves stomped his feet on the ground 4 earth ramps that could fit 2 beasts at a time, erupted from below.


    "Now get into position." The moment the Major said those words, the part of the barrier leading up to the ramps opened, and on seeing this, the beast began rushing onto the ramps.


    Like thest exercise, the number of beasts each team got was dependent on their luck. Unfortunately for ke''s team because they had the highest number of beast.


    ''Couldn''t he wait for us to get into position?'' ke cursed as the team ran to their positon.


    When they got into formation, a barrier appeared behind and at the sides of the team, preventing the beasts from moving to other parts of the wall and also preventing the teams from running.

 Chapter 302 - Slowing Down The Tempo.

    <h4>Chapter 302 - Slowing Down The Tempo.</h4>


    Immediately the barriers had appeared, that was when the first beast had arrived at the top.


    It was a jackler and it had wasted no time in jumping at the closest, ke, with the momentum on its way up.


    [There are 15 elite beasts, 2 chief rank, and 5 normal beasts.] The system reported.


    ''Why do I have a feeling that he had knowingly assigned us to the area with the highest beasts.'' keined as he shot out a meburst, sending the jackler flying back into the other beasts and buying them some time.


    "We need a barrier..." ke said to his team as he brought out Ebony and Ivory from his dimensional space.


    Without the need for more words, a battle array began forming above Castiel, and soon, Brian and Tessie joined in to create a tier 2 mana barrier battle array.


    By that time the beasts had already recovered and were already at the top. The elite rank Jackler once again pounced towards the group, while a sde had attacked from below.


    sh! Swish!


    Before the jackler who hadn''t learned its lesson could touch the barrier, a wind de had cut of its head in mid-air, while ke had stabbed into the skull of the reptile.


    Unlike the tier 1 mana barrier that only blocked attacks, the tier 2 mana barrier acted like the city barrier and let attacks from inside pass through. Acting like a bunker for the group.


    Just after dealing with the first 2 beasts, 2 jackler had appeared while 2 wargs pounced through the air.


    ''They never learn¡­ Well, I can''tin.'' ke thought when he saw the wargs moving through the air and striking the top barrier. All ke had to do was thrust his sword upward and the warg which was unable to move while in the air fell into the sword.


    Luciano had easily dealt with the warging his way, but that was when they noticed the 2 elite wargs had gone for those at the back.


    [Don''t get distracted, more are stilling.] The system reminded ke, and they sensed the presence of 6 beasts behind them.


    ''How is that even possible?'' ke turned back to the earth ramp and saw that 4 beasts were on the ramp while 2 sdes were sticking by the sides of the ramp. Without giving them time to think, the beasts jumped off the earth ramp and made way for others by surrounding the team and attacking the barrier.


    "The fuck is going on?!" Brian cursed when he saw more beasts surrounding them. It was just a few seconds ago that Tessie, Brian, and Castiel had dealt with the 2 elite jacklers, but on blinking they began seeing more beasts surrounding them.


    "We need to destroy that ramp!" ke said to the rest of the team.


    It wasn''t that they couldn''t kill the beasts, as a matter of fact only ke or Luciano could do it. It was just the continuous attacks from beasts and theck of space that made them afraid of hitting each other, taking away a lot of their options.


    "Leave the bridge to me. Luciano said to the team as a golden ming spear began forming 2 meters above the barrier.


    In a few seconds, the spell wasplete, and with the tip aimed at the bridge, Luciano fired the spell.


    BOOM!


    Oning in contact with the earth ramp, the me spear exploded killing 3 beasts and destroying arge portion of the ramp and stopping the beasts in their tracks.


    "Expand the barrier." Seeing that the beasts were no longering, ke switched his target to the ones attacking the mana barrier.


    Sending in more mana into the barrier, it began expanding pushing the beast against the barrier set up by the ash corps, until they were stuck in ce. But that was when they sensed that the beast was back on the move.


    ''Are you shitting me?!'' Turning back to the ramp, the team saw that it had been repaired. There was only one person that could do this and ke wanted to rain down curses on him, but he didn''t dare try it, rather he left them in his mind.


    Luckily for the team, even though Major Reeves had fixed the bridge it had bought them some time.


    The beasts that were stuck in between both barriers, could only watch as the team killed them all, before repositioning to face the beasts making their way to the top.


    The good thing about blowing the earth ramp was that it had slowed down the tempo of the attacks. Major Reeves had knowingly begun the exercise before they were in position to increase the pressure of the exercise.


    Now that they weren''t feeling rushed, the team easily killed the remaining 7 beasts that had made their way to the top.


    Zzzzg!


    After killing thest beast with a lightning bolt that pierced into its skull, ke blew smokeing from his finger and turned to Major Reeves.


    "A splendid execution, now let''s watch how the rest are doing." Major Reeves said. When they looked over to the other team, they saw they weren''t in the best of positions.


    ''How is it even possible for them to fail so miserably?'' ke couldn''t help but think when he saw 2 second-year teams being overrun by beasts. It was only when they were deemed to be in serious danger that the ash corps intervened and save them.


    As for the other teams, they weren''t as bad as the teams needed to be saved, but their members had sustained some injuries.


    After close to 10 minutes of mentally facepalming and shaking his head, ke watched as thest team had defeated all their beasts. The city''s barriers had been closed and the earth ramps had sunken into the ground marking the end of the exercise.


    Since no student was fatally injured, they all took their positions at the center of the wall, this time Major Reeves'' mean expression wasn''t on his face, instead, it was an angry one.

 Chapter 303 - Sent Back To School?

    <h4>Chapter 303 - Sent Back To School?</h4>


    "I would have loved to mention how disappointed I am in most of you, especially the 2nd year teams, but the look on your faces already shows you are aware that you are a disappointment." Major Reeves said with a deadpan expression.


    "It would be very wrong of me to call you all disappointments without exining where you went wrong. So let''s do some analysis." Major Reeves said as he began pacing up and down.


    "As a team, you should know the strengths and weaknesses of each of your members and try toplement them. So in a situation where a horde of beasts is charging towards your team, you should do everything in your power to prevent them from reaching your mages or supports.


    "Even though beasts below the king rank weren''t as smart as humans, they still had their instincts to guard their actions. In a situation where they were up against a team of humans, it was very natural for them to go after the mages who were bad at close-quarterbat.


    This would cause those at the frontline to turn their attention to the backline, creating an opening that would cause the team to be overrun by beasts.


    This was exactly what the beasts had done, and since the teams couldn''t distance themselves because of the barriers their ns had worked to a certain degree.


    "This could be prevented using formations and most importantly battle arrays." Major Reeves never thought he would be teaching something so obvious to the students.


    "From what I have seen, the 1st year students seem to have a little bit of knowledge about these 2 things, causing them to outperform you lot."


    The reason why the ash corps were able to defend the city even though they were outnumbered more than 30 to 1 was because of their formations and battle arrays.


    Formations and defensive battle arrays made it very hard to pick off any member from the group, while offensive battle arrays amplified their attacks using the least amount of mana.


    During the exercise, what confused Major Reeves was that it was more natural for the 1st year teams to make use of formations and battle arrays more than the 2nd year teams, instead of it being the other way.


    He felt that the only reason the 1st year reams found it hard was because they hadn''t had enough experience to develop a team synergy.


    Major Reeves had no idea that this was the product of the school reforming ke''s set. Although there had been some deaths, from a logical standpoint it has been sessful so far. This was because, from the test that involved both years, it was clear that ke''s set wasn''t too far off from the 2nd year students especially when it came to strength, experience, and knowledge.


    After mentioning the bad parts, Major Reeves proceeded to grade them. "For the team that keeps impressing, that would be a 10/10." He pointed to ke''s team. "Not only did they protect the mage by cing her in the middle of the formation, but they controlled the tempo of the battle and made perfect use of both battle arrays and their environment."


    "As for the other teams that passed the exercise, 6/10. I would have given you all a 5 because although you were fighting for lives, you weren''t doing it effectively." Major Reeves said.


    "The reason you got the extra point was that you all made the right decision of trying to destroy the ramp. When the main event starts you will constantly need to destroy them because they would always be repaired by the beasts." He exined as he turned to the 2 teams that had failed the exercise.


    "The 6 lessons shouldn''t only be seen as lessons, they are more of tests to check if you are ready for what is toe. So failing means you are not ready for the beast tide, and since we don''t have the time to repeat exercises, you will be sent back to the school." Major Reeves said, shocking everyone.


    They had thought he would have shouted or cursed them for being useless, but no one had expected the 2 teams to be sent back to the school


    [Although he might sound unreasonable he made the right decision. The lesson would ensure the safety of the entire team if beasts were to make it to the top. So if they were unable toplete it, they would be nothing but a burden to everyone if they were brought into battle." The system exined.


    ''I feel sorry for them, the exam is 50% of this semester''s result, meaning they would only have 50%v to determine if they would pass or fail.'' Brian said through the mind link.


    ''Not that I care.'' Castiel said bluntly.


    ''I don''t feel shit for any of them. The more teams that get sent back, the lesser the chances of something going wrong.'' ke said.


    The 2 teams that had failed the exercise were escorted out of the wall by ash corps and Major Reeves turned to the rest of the teams.


    "There would be 6 lessons in total, meaning 60 points. By the end of the lessons you are meant to have at least 30 points, if not you will be sent back to the magic school." Major Reeves stopped at the center and said. "See you all at the night shift. Dismissed."


    The students were about to leave, but that was when Serhan raised his hand to ask a question.


    Reeves was surprised but he gestured for him to continue.


    "After listening to your analysis on our performance, I realized that we needed battle arrays. So I wanted to ask if we can go back to the school to get some battle arrays to practice?" Serhan asked.


    The top of the wall was as quiet as a graveyard, as the teams held their breath waiting for an answer, while Major Reeves stared at them with an unchanging expression.


    This went on for a few second before Reeves finally spoke.. "As long it improves your performance you are free to go, but make sure you appear here for your night shift, if not you should remain there."

 Chapter 304 - Adventurer Association Auction.

    <h4>Chapter 304 - Adventurer Association Auction.</h4>


    ''It''s d to know that although he looks mean all the time, he isn''t unreasonable.'' ke said through the mind link.


    ''Yeah, I was shocked that he even epted the request.'' Brian was astonished.


    ''The request is for everyone, so aren''t you afraid that the other teams would start performing better?'' Castiel asked.


    ''Not at all.'' ke said in an unbothered tone. ''They might manage to learn new battle arrays that would improve their performance, but they can never find the elemental cannon battle array, and neither will their synergy be as good as ours.''


    ''You forgot to mention that with our tight schedule they would have very little time to practice. Meaning they would have to sacrifice some hours of sleep, which would affect their performance in the long run.'' Brian added.


    With the training over, ke''s team returned to their tents to rest before the night shift, while the other teams headed over to the school to search for battle arrays.


    ¡­


    Just a few minutes after the exercise was concluded, the daily reports of every team sent to the walls were being delivered to Principal Lovren by Professor Gibson.


    "Just like yesterday, the 2nd years had performed worse than the 1st years." Principal Lovren only nodded to the report as if he expected such results.


    "Also, every wall has eliminated a 2nd-year team, except for the southern wall that eliminated 2 teams." Gibson reported finally causing a change of expression from Lovren.


    "That is odd." Principal Lovren said as he began stroking his white beard and pondering.


    The reform which only the 1st year students were undergoing was abination of 1st year and part of 2nd year knowledge.


    Also, unlike the teachings of 2nd year students that were focused on 80% individual strength and 20 teamwork, that of the 1st year was 60% individual strength and 40% team strength. This was why Principal Lovren wasn''t surprised about them performing badly.


    What confused him was that the strongest teams were being sent to the southern gate, meaning even if teams were meant to be eliminated because of ipetence, then the southern gate was meant to have the least number out of the other gates.


    "Yes it is quite odd, but it still makes sense. The so-called ''strong teams'' of the 2nd year all rely on individual strength to get through problems, so when rules that limit individual strength are ced, they crumble." Professor Gibson exined.


    During the exercise, Major Reeves had set up barriers to limit the space the teams could use. This prevented the 2nd years from using fusion magic, thus making the exercise equal for both years.


    "I wonder what the prince would do with the data we have gathered so far." Principal Lovren said in a pondering tone.


    "The data is totally in favor of the reformation. Do you think the prince would merge both years?" Professor Gibson asked.


    After seconds of pondering, principal Lovren answered. "Most likely, if the 2nd year students were to step down by a level they wouldn''t lose muchpared to the other levels, and although it will give them an advantage over the 1st years, it would make their juniors work harder."


    Although the reformation was still in its experimental phase, even when the experiments would bepleted and it would be implemented, the 3rd to final year students wouldn''t be affected. This meant they would be ''subpar'' to their sessors, but the school had already concluded that it wouldn''t be possible to step everyone down to the 2nd or 1st year.


    "So how is ke''s team doing?" Principal Lovren asked, changing the topic.


    "So far, they are still the ones with the highest points among all the teams." Professor Gibson answered.


    "Alright keep me updated on important info. I have to meet up with the prince." Lovren said as he warped out of the room.


    ¡­


    Around the time the teams had begun their exercises, there was a special event going in the central region of the city.


    This was an event held annually, a week before the beast tide. It was the adventurer association auction and it was being held in the adventurer association building.


    It wasn''t open to the public, but to a selected few invited by the adventurer association. Those in attendance were top families, top figures, adventurers, and adventurer parties.


    The reason the auction got people of such caliber and power excited during this time of the year was that the items were of the best quality. Very rare items ranging from weapons, herbs to even rare artworks could be found in this auction.


    The auctions held by the adventurer association were known to be the best all around the world. The rarity of the items found in the auctions was dependent on the level of the city, meaning you would most likely find rarer items at capitals than in normal cities.


    As for the reason how the association could get their hands on so many artifacts and items in order to be considered the best auctions were quite simple.


    Unlike the 3 empires that upied certain parts of the world map, the adventurer association was deeply rooted in the 3 empires, meaning they had more reach than the empires that were unable to act outside their jurisdiction.


    Also, the adventurer association employed the citizens of the 3 empires, and since adventures carried out 70% of the worlds exploration, the association would get info about the artifact or in cases where the adventurers decided to sell the found artifact, their hands on the artifacts before the 3 empires.


    They now decide to hold the auction close to the time of the beast tide, when families and adventurers would require stronger weapons to make sure they came out on top in the battle of reputation point from killing beasts. Thus increasing the price of the artifacts and making a whole lot of gains.


    The attendees knew about this, but they couldn''t do anything about it because if they decide not to take part in the auction, theirpetition would only get an upper hand in thepetition.. Besides, it wasn''t as if they wouldn''t do the same if they were in the associations'' position.

 Chapter 305 - Adventurer Association Auction (part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 305 - Adventurer Association Auction (part 2)</h4>


    The rarity of any item sold was only increasing as the auction went on.


    The early stages of the auction had rtivelymon items that could be purchased in bulk, ranging from crates of herbs to armors. There was nopetition during this phase, but it didn''t mean the items weren''t being sold.


    Forgers and alchemists were purchasing hundreds of these items to replenish their stocks, while noble families purchased a lot of armors and weapons for theirmon members.


    As the auction progressed, the rarity of the items had increased and the numbers of each item were below 5. The rate of bidding had slightly increased, but it was mostly between adventurers and adventurer parties.


    As a top-tier auction, it didn''t take long before epic tier items beganing up for sale, and this was when the true bidding war had started because the noble families had decided to get involved.


    The 1st epic tier item was a bow made with the body and beast crystal of a king rank Ent. The name of the weapon was Dawnbreaker and it was a recurve bow that had its center made of ck wood. The edge of the upper and lower limb were des with multiple arrays inscribed on them.


    Dawnbreaker had 2 forms; the first was the bow form for long-range attacks, while the second form was a staff with des at both ends.


    When in its bow form, Dawnbreaker had no strings or arrows. It was once the user injected mana into the bow that a mana string would appear, and when he pulled at it a mana arrow would form.


    As for the 2nd form, the upper and lower limb of the bow would fold towards the center before elongating to a 6 feet long staff.


    The starting price was at 300k gold coins, but in a few minutes, the prize had gone up to 500k gold coins. This continued for a few minutes before the bidding had stopped for 1 million gold coins.


    After hitting the gavel 3 times, chief appraiser Langford announced the new owner who was from the Ulrik family.


    "The quality of the bow is superb and was quite tempting, but because just like me, majority of those here are not archers causing it to be sold for a measly 1mil." A noble from the Karius family shook his head in disappointment, but his attention soon returned to the stage because the next Item was being brought in.


    The auction went on for a few more hours, and gold coins that would put a lot of citizens out of poverty for the rest of their lives were spent on weapons, artifacts, armors, herbs, and even artworks. The auction was finally drawing to a close, as the final item was brought onto the stage.


    The final item was a mid epic tier artifact and it was the handle of a whip with arrays inscribed on it. It was named the Master seal and it was a beast tamer artifact.


    The Master seal was appraised as a mid epic tier artifact because of its 6 strong abilities.


    The 1st was amplifying beast tamer spells to double its power.


    2nd was granting the user the ability tomunicate with beasts as long as it was in their possession.


    3rd was the ability to form an energy whip that drains the vitality of a beast with every hit.


    4th was the ability to form energy chains that would wrap the beast and drain its vitality.


    The 5th ability was a passive AOE spell that suppressed every beast below the knight rank causing them to be docile.


    The final ability granted the user the power to form contracts with beasts. It could be by convincing the beast or forcefully taking control of it.


    For Knight rank beasts it was a sure catch but for King rank beasts and above, there were 2 things involved. The level of the user should be at least the same as the beast, and the chances of it working would increase the weaker the beast bes.


    The exnation of the item''s abilities was tempting to even none beast tamers, but soon Langford began mentioning the drawbacks.


    The 1st drawback was that once the artifact was being used, the user would hear the thoughts of all the beasts within the area.


    The 2nd drawback was that the Master seal needed to be charged with beast crystals before use. If it wasn''t charged before use, it would use both the users'' mana and soul energy to work.


    Soul energy recharges just like mana but at a very slow pace. The more one''s soul energy reduces, the less mana capacity, physical strength, mental strength, and spell power one would have.


    (AN: It isn''t the same for soul me users. Soul mes only permanently burn the lifespan of the user, but don''t affect any other aspect of the user.)


    The final drawback of the master seal was that after the artifact has been used, the user would begin exhibiting the characteristics of thest beast he had contracted for 24 hrs. For example, if the user hadst contracted a Jackler, they could beginughing like a hyena for the next 24hrs.


    The drawbacks quickly chased away many that had eyes on the artifact, but there was still one person that didn''t budge even after they were exined. His name was Oliver Nystrom and he was the top beast tamer of the Nystrom family.


    The reason he had attended the Auction was that the association had informed him during his invitation that the item would be present. He had gathered a lot of funds for this auction because beast tamer equipment was very rare and expensive.


    The reason for this was because, unlike other subsses which anyone could learn, the beast tamer subss was selective thus making them quite rare, talk more of rare items for a rare subss.


    Apart from beast taming being a hard magical course, it needed one''s soul to be attuned to nature.

 Chapter 306 - Adventurer Association Auction (part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 306 - Adventurer Association Auction (part 3)</h4>


    Everyone was born with a certain level of connection with nature, and it had to be at a certain level before they would be able to qualify for beast taming sses.


    Researchers haven''t found a reason for this or how to increase one''s connection to nature, but they had discovered how to measure the level of connection. After a lot of research was carried out on multiple people, they had noticed that those who had awakened the light or nt element always had a high connection with nature.


    With this limitation and the fact that most people preferred a direct approach to power, there weren''t many beast tamers.


    In the case of the Nystrom Demigod, he had awakened both the nt and light element, making his connection to nature the highest in the city, thus easily making him the best beast tamer in Calton city.


    Oliver Nystrom was a brown-haired man who stood at 5''6. If not for the fact that dwarves were extinct, his brown bushy eyebrow and goatee would make many mistake him for a dwarf.


    To make matters worse, his quick rise to fame, coupled with his elements that didn''t need him to move duringbat and his tamed beasts that did almost all the work for him, caused him to develop a potbelly. At this point, if not that he wasn''t a forger he would have been tagged thest dwarf alive.


    "If I get my hands on the Master seal, my power will double and I would be able to surpass those cocky brats in the main family." Oliver Nystrom thought as his eyes were glued on the whip handle on the stage.


    Apart from the other abilities of the artifact, the amplification of beast tamer spells alone would significantly boost his demigod powers.


    "Bidding starts for 2 million gold coins!" Chief appraiser Langford announced, and without wasting time Oliver made a bid.


    "3 million gold coins!" Oliver bided.


    He knew a lot of beast tamers present in the auction had their eyes on the Master Seal, so he wanted to quickly eliminate all the small fries and know who was his real opponents.


    "3.5 million gold coins!" A beast tamer from the Winchester family ced a bid.


    "4.5 million gold coins!" Oliver Nystrom raised the price by another million, causing many to turn to his location.


    "5 million gold coins!" This time it wasn''t from the Winchester family but the Ulrik family.


    "6 million gold coins!" Oliver bided with an unchanging expression.


    "6.5 million gold coins!" The beast tamer raised the price by half a million, as he gritted his teeth on the inside, but remained calm on the outside.


    ''A bidding war isn''t a direct approach, 60% is the amount of gold coins one has, 10% was luck while the remaining was psychological.'' The Ulrik beast tamer thought to himself as he was hoping Oliver would fall for his bluff.


    "I am getting tired of this. 8 million gold coins!" Oliver bided with a bored expression written all over his face.


    At this point, everyone in the auction turned to Oliver with shocked expressions. He had been making increments of 1 million gold coins, and they had thought it would reduce as time went on, but it only seemed to be increasing.


    The auction hall had turned silent, and even the beast tamer from the Ulrik family was left astonished. He hadn''t expected it at all, he had thought that Oliver was putting up the fa?ade of being unbothered because he was nearing his limit, but it seemed he didn''t even see him aspetition.


    Having only 8 million gold coins, the beast tamer from the Ulrik family couldn''t raise the price, causing him to watch as Langford began the count down.


    "Going once!"


    "Going twice!"


    "9 million gold coins!" A voice that was surely not that of Oliver Nystrom ced a bid. This caused everyone to turn to the source of the voice.


    "That bastard!" On seeing the person that ced the bid, the calm and unchanging expression of Oliver quickly changed to a bitter one. It was none other than his ''rival'', Xavier, the genius of the Karius family.


    Xavier was the eldest son of the Karius family leader of Calton city and the blood brother of both Serhan and Cami. He had brown eyes, but unlike those of his siblings, hiscked emotion. He had a slick jet ck hair and a muscr physique that made him irresistible to thedies.


    ''He isn''t even a beast tamer, so what is he using the Master seal for?'' Oliver Nystrom was cursing Xavier in all thenguages he knew. "10 million gold coins!"


    "10 million gold coins? Is the artifact even worth it?" this was the question on the minds of all those in the auction hall. From a starting price of 2 million gold coins, it had skyrocketed to 10 million, they were talking about millions of gold coins here!


    "11 million gold coins!" Xavier Karius ced a bid while looking in Oliver''s direction with an indifferent expression, but Oliver had seen it as a taunt because of the so-called ''rivalry'' between them.


    Looking at the 2, Xavier was still in histe-twenties, while Oliver who was in his early 30''s but looked like he was in his early 40''s instead. So one will ask, what sort of rivalry could be between the 2 because they were both in 2pletely different fields?


    The truth of the matter was that the rivalry was in Oliver''s head. He was jealous of Xavier because he had a perfect body, a lot of charisma and most importantly he had taken over his ce as the talk of the city.


    As the best beast tamer in the city, Oliver Nystrom had once been the talk of the town, but it didn''tst long because Xavier''s poprity had over shadowed that of his by being the youngest noble to be a demigod in the entire Calton city.

 Chapter 307 - 4th Lesson?!!

    <h4>Chapter 307 - 4th Lesson?!!</h4>


    Coincidentally, Oliver and Xavier hade across each other on multiple asions and Xavier had been winning most of the time. With every loss it caused Oliver to think that the pressure to prove himself was only increasing.


    As for Xavier, he had no idea that he was in apetition with anyone. The reason he was cing a bid on the Master seal was that the Karius family could be considered the weakest of the 3 when it came to beast taming.


    So not only was he going to make his family stronger with the item, but he was going to stop any other family from going too far ahead.


    "13 million gold coins!" Oliver gritted his teeth as he ced a bid. He had increased the price by 2 million gold coins in hopes that the fear tactic would work.


    "14 million gold coins!" Xavier not caring about the price ced a counter bid.


    ''Fuck him!'' Oliver cursed as he ced his final bid. "15 million gold coins!"


    At this point, most of the attendees of the auction were wondering if their ears were fooling them. Unless present it was hard to believe that an item with a starting price of 2 million gold coins had gone up to 15 million gold coins.


    To many people, it looked like an unreasonable bidding war, but to the top 3 families, it was a battle for control of power. If Oliver Nystrom got his hands on it, the influence of the Nystrom family in Calton city would skyrocket, starting from the beast tide.


    With its amplification and all of its abilities being super effective against beasts, Oliver would rake in a lot of reputation points for the Nystrom family.


    "15 million going once!"


    "15 million going twice!"


    "16 million gold coins!" Xavier bided, shattering Oliver''s heart into a thousand pieces.


    ''What if I borrowed from the family? There is no need, I can''tpete with the Karius family.'' Oliver thought.


    When it came to resources, the Karius family was at the top, followed by the Ulrik family, and finally the youngest out of the top 3 families, the Nystrom family.


    So even if he nned on seeking assistance Xavier could do the same but even better. Besides Xavier was the direct descendant of the family leader meaning he could easily receive more funds.


    "16 million going once!"


    "16 million going twice!"


    "Gone!" Chief appraiser Langford hammered the gavel on the sound block, announcing the new owner of the Master seal.


    With the final item sold, Guild master Walden came onto the stage and gave a speech that marked the end of the auction.


    Unlike what many had expected, Oliver Nystrom quietly stood up from his seat and left the adventurer association building like nothing had happened. Many saw it as a sign of maturity, but they had no idea that he had other ns for artifact now in Xavier''s possession.


    "The item might have been sold for 16 million gold coins, but I will use half of that to get it back." Oliver had a sinister smile on his face as his carriage was driving out of the association and returning to the Nystrom estate located in the southern part of the central region.


    From what he knew, Xavier was nowhere close to being a beast tamer, meaning the Master seal would be given to someone else in the family. If that happened and the person was to bind with the artifact, the only way he could steal it was by killing the person.


    He didn''t want to get his hands dirty or make the case a serious one. So he nned on stealing it while it was in Xavier''s possession. Rather he would pay someone to steal it.


    Xavier was a demigod from the Karius family, meaning he had destructive powers and not many people could face him head-on. So Oliver needed someone good at infiltration and escaping, and he happened to know a very infamous one that was so good that he hadn''t been caught once.


    "Since that is settled, the next question would be how to use the artifact without others knowing." Oliver began thinking about multiple scenarios that he could possibly find himself in but finally came up with 2 answers as his luxurious carriage drove into the gates of his mansion.


    "When I am with others, I can use the passive ability that amplifies beast tamer spells, thereby not drawing attention to myself." This option meant he would always be on guard and wouldn''t have any peace of mind, but from the looks of things, it seemed that he didn''t.


    "The second option would be to sell the artifact in the ck market if the heat gets too much." Oliver didn''t like the idea one bit, but he would only use it as ast resort. Besides, it could be considered a win if nobody got their hands on the artifact.


    ¡­


    Back at the southern wall.


    ke''s team was just done with dinner and were moving to the wall for their night shift.


    ''Seems we are the first¡­'' ke thought as the 5 of them got into position behind Major Reeves who was still looking beyond the wall.


    It was after some minutester that the other teams had arrived at the wall, and it was then that Major Reeves had finally turned to look at the teams.


    "You were just a few minutes from beingte. Hope you got all the arrays you need because you will be needing it " Major Reeves said to the teams that had gone back to the magic school to acquire more battle arrays.


    They had nodded to Major Reeves''s question, but the disappointment on their faces was clear as day to ke. Just like he had predicted, they had gone in search of the elemental cannon battle array but had failed.


    They had no idea that the particr battle array was located on the 3rd floor, which they had no ess to you.


    "If you had noticed, we hadpleted both the 2 and 3 lessons, meaning we would be going to treat the 4th lesson right now.." Major Reeves announced.

 Chapter 308 - Mana Cannon Lesson.

    <h4>Chapter 308 - Mana Cannon Lesson.</h4>


    "If you had noticed, we hadpleted both the 2 and 3 lessons, meaning we would be going to treat the 4th lesson right now." Major Reeves announced.


    At first, the students were confused and were wondering if they had lost the ability to count properly, but they soon began thinking back to the exercise.


    ording to Major Reeves, the 2nd lesson was meant to teach them how to prevent beasts from making their way onto the top of the wall, while the 3rd lesson was focused on teaching them damage control and how to remain calm in situations where beasts managed toe to the top.


    Thinking back on what they had done earlier that day, they realized that they had done both of the lessons at once, but the question was why?


    "You all have the same question on your minds, but before I answer that I want you all to go to the edge of the wall and take a look for yourselves." Major Reeves said to the teams.


    ke and his team moved to the edge, and they were surprised to find out that in such a short space of time, the number of beasts at the bottom of the wall had even surpassed the number they had just killed.


    Once they were done, the students returned to their positions and Major Reeves continued speaking. "As you all can see, we don''t have much time left before the main event begins. Meaning we have to speed up training or you guys wouldn''t be allowed to stay close to the wall by that time."


    ''Isn''t that what we all want? If there are no exams then we all will be passed.'' Brian said through the mind link.


    ''Although we will be missing out on a lot of points, I would prefer canceling it to taking so much risk.'' ke replied.


    After seeing the amount of artillery on the wall, ke could only imagine the ''main event'' to be an endless sea of beasts attacking the wall. There was a very high chance that mishaps could happen and that could lead to a lot of deaths.


    "The 4th lesson would be learning how to use some of the magical devices on the wall. There are only 2 devices you are authorized to use, the magic cannon and the mini magic towers, but only when necessary." Major Reeves said. "Luckily both have simr mechanics and function meaning you just need to learn one to know both."


    With that said, Major Reeves led the teams straight to the mana cannon floor, where he began exining how to use them.


    To activate the mana cannon, all one needed to do was pour mana into the blue crystal located at the right side of the cannon.


    Once ke had poured in mana, the inscriptions on the body lit up with the light blue color of mana. 3 holographic disys appeared, the 1 at the left was a single target attack while the other 2 were AOE attacks.


    The single-target attack was a beam of mana the size of the cannon''s muzzle shot out in a straight line.


    On the other hand, the first of the AOE spell was a chargedrge ball of mana that would explode at the user''s will.


    The 2nd AOE skill was another charged ball of mana but when fired into the air, it would break apart and rain down mana spears on the target. The number and power of each spear could be controlled by the user, the more spears they were the less power, and vice versa.


    "The blue crystal creates a connection between the user and the mana cannon, making controlling its powers simr to controlling your spells." Major Reeves began exining how to use the cannon.


    "For the execution, it would be an exercise where everyone would be graded individually, but all the points will bebined at the end." Major Reeves stated. "As for the grading system. The exercise will be graded over 2 points, 0 points if you don''t fire the mana cannon at all, 1 point for firing, and 2 for excellent control."


    With the rules exined, all the students took their positions on different mana cannons, and that was when Major Reeves spoke. "If anyone tries to sabotage another person they will be sent back to the school immediately."


    ''Just like Instructor Zirrack, although he looks mean he keeps making a good impression.'' ke couldn''t help but nod when he heard Major Reeves.


    His main worry was that the other teams especially the second years would try to sabotage their team now that they were separated, but it seems he doesn''t have to worry anymore.


    "Activate the walls." They had no idea who Major Reeves was talking to because they were the only ones in the room, but that was when the wall lit up with a blue hue.


    Right before their eyes, the wall began moving apart creating a space for the muzzle of the mana cannon which simultaneously began moving forward.


    ''Damn!'' ke was astonished by the series of event that were going on, but from the looks of it, it wasn''t over yet.


    Once the muzzle had reached the edge of the wall, the walls turned invisible giving them a clear view of everything and the blue light of the mana cannon increased in intensity as it created a connection with ke.


    ''Holy fuck this is way better than what I read in the books!'' ke was blown out of this world when he began seeing holographic names and rank over the heads of every beast below them.


    "The walls and mana cannons are both connected to each other. The walls has many functions, but the main one is sending info from the core to the mana cannon which rys it to the user. While the cannon conveys instructions from the user to the wall.


    That is why you can zoom in at your own will and even see the basic or full info of all the beasts below."

 Chapter 309 - Lesson 5

    <h4>Chapter 309 - Lesson 5</h4>


    Hearing what Major Reeves had said, ke zoomed in on an Elite rank Knox. Holographic images began appearing on its head, hind, and heart, disying its weakness.


    ''The cannons are connected to the city''s database of beasts, making it easier for the users to decide how and where to attack.'' ke was astonished by this discovery.


    "Your task is to kill all the beasts within your specified location. Begin!" Major Reeves announced the beginning of the exercise.


    "Let''s see what we have here¡­" ke wasn''t in a rush to fire the mana cannon, he first began analyzing the battlefield.


    If there was something that he understood from all the exercises they had so far, it was the need to be efficient. Even though the mana cannon had ''unlimited'' energy it didn''t mean they were meant to waste it.


    After using the information from the wall to identify all of the 43 beasts below, ke activated the 2nd AOE skill of the mana cannon, Meteor shower.


    This caused the mana cannon to adjust the muzzle to a 45-degree angle before it began vibrating. In a matter of seconds, arge floating ball of mana began forming a few inches away from the muzzle. With his vision connected to the cannon, ke could see a loading bar beside the ball of mana, and when it got to 100%, ke fired the meteor shower into the air.


    Just like his spells, ke still felt a connection with the meteor shower, and once it had reached the specified altitude for its target ke put on his serious face because this was where the real work began.


    Putting the location of the beasts below into consideration, ke controlled the mana ball to explode causing mana spears of different sizes to fall at blinding speeds.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Multiple explosions rang out and once the dust had cleared up no beasts were standing in his assigned location.


    ''That felt¡­ good.'' On seeing the power and effectiveness of the cannon, for a second thoughts of how to get his hands on one were popping up in his head, but they didn''tst long either.


    A few minutes after he was done, everyone hadpleted their executions, and it was time for Major Reeves to grade them.


    Just like Professor Gibson had analyzed, the second years performed better individually. The exercise aimed at testing their mana control, and by being a year ahead of the 1st year student''s theirs''s was better by default.


    Almost all the entire 2nd-year students made a perfect 2 points, while the worst of them made 1 point, bringing the overall score of 3 of the teams to 10 and thest to 8.


    As for the 1st years, their overall point was quite average, but unlike the 2nd year teams none of them had gotten a perfect 10 points and that included ke''s team.


    " I am so sorry for letting the team down." Tessie apologized with her face down as she felt disappointed in herself. She had managed to fire the mana cannon, but she hadn''t killed all of them with a single shot, therefore making her execution inefficient.


    "You don''t have to be hard on yourself, it is just and points, and besides you aren''t familiar with the mechanism of the mana cannon like us." ke said as he raised her head and smiled at her, causing her face to redden.


    As for other 1st year teams they had done worse than ke''s team. Owen''s team had gotten 8 points in total, while the other 2 teams had a total of 7 and 6 points.


    "It is d to see that you guys are at least good at something." Major Reeves turned to the 2nd year teams. He didn''t have much to say because everyone''s performance was not bad at all, but he had alsoe to the same conclusion as Professor Gibson.


    After the exercise, they all returned to their posts on the wall for their night shift. It didn''t take long for more beasts to return to the city barrier, but luckily for ke''s team, no dangerous beast came to their section of the wall.


    ¡­


    The next day afterunch, the teams returned to the wall for the 5th lesson.


    When they got to the top of the wall, they saw Major Reeves in his usual position, but beside him were 5 ash corps who had ck and ash X-shaped strap on their torso region.


    ''The fuck is going on?'' Everyone was confused but could only wait for Major Reeves to exin.


    "Today we would be looking at the 5th lesson, which is going down the wall to kill a particr beast or a group of beasts." Major Reeves announced.


    "This is a work done by the special ops unit standing beside me." Major Reeves said pointing at the ash cops. "During the main event, multiple asions where troublesome beasts appear they are to be sent to kill them. So you don''t have to worry that you will be sent out, this is to prepare you all for the worst case scenario."


    ''Worst case scenario?! He is indirectly trying to say that there is a possibility that we would be sent out!'' Brian was screaming through the mind link when he analyzed what Major Reeves had said.


    ''Don''t you thinking you are overthinking? If something was to go wrong and all the special ops team were to die, do you think it would be better sending kids over normal ash corps?'' Castiel said making Brian rethink.


    ''Isn''t what they are doing almost the same thing as suicide?'' ke couldn''t help but ask, because he couldn''t imagine how they could move through a horde of beasts ande back alive.


    [The ash corps should have found a way to reduce the mortality rate of the special ops units, but even if they haven''t, each of them are ready to sacrifice themselves for the city.] The system exined.


    "Now watch the demonstration closely, because you all would be next.." Major Reeves said.

 Chapter 310 - Taking Down The Octopus Elephant.

    <h4>Chapter 310 - Taking Down The Octopus Elephant.</h4>


    On Major Reeves''smand, the special ops team jumped off the wall leaving the students shocked as they ran to the edge of the wall.


    When the special ops had gone halfway down the wall, mana cable shot out of the wall and attached to the ck straps that were now glowing blue. Their descent was immediately halted and the special oops team were looking at the Sabertooth moose which was their target.


    That was when a blue ripple spread from the strap and went down their feet propelling them at an incredible speed towards the sabertooth moose. When they were halfway, the orbs on 2 of the special ops began glowing causing them to stop and begin floating.


    The students were wondering why they had stopped, but that was when arge earth pir erupted from below. Theynded on it and instantly an orange dome prevented the beasts from getting close to the pir.


    The other 3 special ops continued moving towards the sabertooth which was now charging at them. When they were a few meters away from the charging tank, the blue orb at the center of the strap released a wave of Mana that propelled them upwards.


    "The special ops unit is always made of the attacking force which isposed of 3 people and defenders which is 2 people." Major Reeves began exining as they saw the special ops reposition themselves mid-air with fire and wind elements.


    "The attacking force isprised of fire or wind users with prative elements. Coupled with the elements and the propelling effects of the straps, they are able to quickly get rid of the target with the utmost efficiency while staying safe." Major Reeves said.


    At this point, the Sabertooth moose had turned and was about to continue its charge on the 3 special ops, but that was when an earth pir erupted from below knocking it a few inches into the air.


    BOOM!


    Before the sabertooth moose could react a meburst crashed into its face, causing it to be blinded for a moment.


    Swish! Swish!


    Two wind des cut through its legs, and when it finally touched the ground, a streak of lightning went through its neck, ending its life.


    "Apart from acting as a support and distraction for the attacking force, the defenders act as a refueling station." Major Reeves said causing everyone to look at him with a confused look on their faces.


    When the pir had appeared, mana cables had been sent from underground through the pir, all the way to the top. For situations where the operation took longer than expected, it was basically suicide for the attacking force tond on the ground swarmed by beasts, so they were to retreat to the pir to recharge the blue orb on the straps.


    ''Wow, that is even more dangerous than I had imagined!'' ke shivered when he imagined himself on the pir being surrounded by a sea of beasts.


    With Sabertooth moose dead, the attacking force regrouped with the defenders before they flew back to the wall and returned to their position beside Major Reeves.


    "The execution would be divided into 2 phases, and each phase would be 5 points. The 1st phase would be to kill an assigned target just like the special ops, while the 2nd stage is to wipe out all the beasts using the same method." Major Reeves stated.


    ''Things are getting crazy at an exponential rate.'' ke couldn''t help butment when he heard their task.


    The reason he thought so was that this was a difficult exercise and it was the first one that had 2 phases. Apart from that, they had no experience with the floating straps making the exercise twice more difficult.


    "You would be given the floating straps and 30 minutes to get ustomed to them and to make preparations." Major Reeves said as ash corps began handing out the ck floating straps to the teams.


    ''30 minutes? Do they want to get us killed?!'' Brian shouted in the mind link.


    [No need toin, the strongest are those who are able to adapt to whatever is thrown at them.] The system said.


    Ignoring the system''s words, ke and his team moved over to a different side of the wall where they began practicing with the floating straps.


    "Interesting¡­ The orb at the center is able to transfer pulses of Mana to all parts of the user''s body, but it is strongest at the location of the orb." ke said as hey face down in mid-air. "That is why the attacking force is made of those with elements that could propel them."


    ke tried redirecting the pulses to his feet, but he noticed that the speed and power weren''t as powerful due to the increased weight. The straps were created to be on the waist because that was the location of a human''s center of mass, meaning less weight to carry, therefore less energy consumed.


    "So the pro tip is to float with the straps while using your elements to swiftly change direction." ke exined to his team. "As for how they were able to get out so far, my guess is that the Mana cables had supercharged the orbs granting them more than enough energy tounch towards the target."


    "Now that has been dealt with, how do we n on passing this exercise?" Brian asked looking at ke.


    "It''s quite simple, I, Luciano, and Castiel would be the attacking force while you and Tessie would be protecting the pir." ke said. Their team was literally made for situations like this, not only did they have outstanding firepower, thebination of nt, earth, and water elements was synonymous with unbreakable defense.


    After the 30 minutes had psed, the teams returned to their positions where they were assigned targets amongst the multitude of beasts below the wall.


    ke''s team had been assigned to take down an elite rank Octopus elephant.. This normally would be a problem, but with them avoiding to stay out of the reach of other beasts below while still fighting the octopus elephant was surely tasking.

 Chapter 311 - This Would Be Troublesome.

    <h4>Chapter 311 - This Would Be Troublesome.</h4>


    The octopus elephant was the same height as a mammoth, standing at 9 feet tall. Its thick skin was almost as hard as the sabertooth moose''s skull, while it''s very own skull was twice as thick making it impregnable to normal weapons.


    Its distinct feature was its 8 trunks that were individually bigger than the arms of a full-grown man out together. Above the trunks were its 2 tusks which when stretched out, were 2.4 meters in length.


    Every step it took caused a low vibration but it made ke wonder what would happen when it began charging.


    ''Why are we the ones that get to the most amount of beasts or the strongest during our exercises.'' Brianined through the mind link.


    [Because you guys are the best team so far, it is natural to receive a higher difficulty than that of others. Besides, I don''t see why you all are whining, it isn''t as if the octopus elephant is in the Knight rank.] The system said, causing the trio to rain down cursed in the head.


    The octopus elephant was among the few special Knight rank beasts that not only unlocked an ability unique to their species but also awakened the earth element. With both the power to deal massive damage to the city barrier and the ability to create ramps for the beasts to reach the top of the wall, they were categorized as a kill on sight type beast.


    "He had been saving the octopus elephant for us." ke helplessly shook his head as he began wondering if the stress and trials that he faces for being the best were worth it.


    "Take your positions!" On hearing themand from Major Reeves, the teams moved to the edge of the wall.


    "Begin!" Once themand was given, all teams simultaneously jumped off the top of the wall and began free falling.


    "Now!" ke shouted to his team as they got halfway down the wall. Using the floating orb, their descent was halted and Mana cables emerged from the wall and plugged into the back of the straps.


    ''Just like I guessed.'' ke thought when the Mana cable kept on feeding the floating orb with Mana till it began spreading to his feet. After a few seconds, the Mana cables automatically disconnected and once ke gave the signal the team released the excess Mana through their feet, causing them tounch forward at an incredible speed.


    Once they were at a good distance away from the octopus elephant, Brian and Tessie stopped in their tracks.


    Earth eruption!


    An earth tform rose from below to a height of 11 feet, but as it rose some of the beasts below began making their way to the top.


    Unlike the special ops, ke''s team didn''t have any arrays to protect themselves from the beasts. Meaning Brian and Tessie had to focus more on defending than supporting them in fighting the octopus elephant.


    Knowing that it would be more difficult to deal with the beasts if they reached the top, Tessie acted.


    Vine constrict!


    cing her hands on the tform, green nt vines began sprouting from the top to the bottom.


    At first, the beasts running upwards the pir of earth sensed danger when they saw the sprouting vines, but they weren''t harmed or constricted by them so they kept on climbing upwards.


    When a sizeable amount had gotten on the pir, Tessie released a pulse of mana that spread through the nts, the inactive nts began constricting every living thing that it came in contact with.


    Blood Drain!


    The beasts which had let down their guards were taken by surprise. The sudden constriction of their limbs caused many to crash, leaving them in very bad positions where they were incapable of moving.


    With a lot of beasts bound on their bellies and backs, red thick thorns began appearing on the vines, piercing into the beasts and draining their blood. The drained blood was strengthening the vines, causing them to increase in size and strength.


    ''Seems I was wrong in thinking she was the weak link in the team.'' Major Reeves thought when he saw the nasty chain reaction that Tessie had created.


    Because of the beasts stuck to the pir, those below that tried to climb up were slowed down making it easier for the nt vines to restrain them.


    ''It''s nice that I don''t have to worry about them.'' Seeing that Brian and Tessie could handle themselves ke changed his focus to the octopus elephant ahead of them.


    [I have always been wondering why the octopus elephant just stood still, but it seems my hunch was correct. Reeves had used his presence to stop the beasts from moving. That is until now.]


    At the moment of the system''s exnation, the octopus elephant trumpeted with its 8 trunks, forcing the trio to cover their ears, but that was when a ferocious gust of wind sent them flying backward.


    "This would be troublesome..." ke said to his Castiel and Luciano when he regained hisposure using mebursts. They were quite some distance away from the octopus elephant, but the power of the trunks had still affected them.


    BAM! BAM!


    Just as they were pushed back, the octopus elephant began charging towards at a speed not proportional to its weight. In a matter of seconds the octopus elephant had covered most of the distance.


    Normally it wasn''t something they couldn''t handle, but because they were airborne and new to it at that, their options were limited. Being in the center, ke''s only option of dogging the charge of the tank was going up.


    Using both mebursts and more mana from the floating orb, ke was able to dodge the charge, but immediately the octopus elephant turned around and trumpeted.


    "Shit!" Still recovering from dodging the strap, ke felt a ferocious gust of winde his way, but there was nothing he could do about it.


    BAM!


    ke was sent flying at an uncontroble speed towards the ground!

 Chapter 312 - Its All Over.

    <h4>Chapter 312 - Its All Over.</h4>


    "ke!" The entire team screamed when they saw ke hurling towards the ground.


    [No matter what you do, try not to hit the floor because it is as good as failing the exercise.] The system warned ke.


    ''As if I would want to hit the ground in the first ce.'' keined.


    He wasn''t just falling, ke was tumbling making it impossible to use either the floating orb or the fire element to bnce himself. This was because if all of his body didn''t move to oppose gravity at the same time, he would break a lot of bones.


    Luckily for ke, spinning at such speed would cause vertigo for many people, but because of one of the passive skills of the space element that always made him aware of space, he was immune to the sensation of losing bnce or direction.


    "This is going to hurt." After thinking of every possible option, there was only one that was feasible.


    Knowing the path he was falling to, ke equipped the rampant armor before constructing multiple mana barriers to break his fall.


    BAM! BAM!


    Being enveloped by the barrier of the Rampant armor, ke continuously smashed into the mana barrier. Even at that every time he crashed into a mana barrier, ke felt like he was smashed by a car crusher as all the air in his body escaped through his mouth.


    BAM!


    After breaking through multiple mana barriers, ke''s descent finally came to a stop at thest mana barrier which was 7 feet above the ground. Luckily for him, all the beasts were concentrated at the city wall.


    "Fuck me!" ke groaned as he stood up. "That piece of shit has to pay for this!" ke cursed the octopus elephant.


    [Why are youining as if you broke all your bones, the armor shock absorber took most of the damage?] The system snorted at ke''s weakness.


    ''Says the voice in my head.'' ke rolled his eyes. ''I need a status update.''


    [Rampant Armor barrier: 60% Recharging with host''s mana¡­


    Floating orb: 30%]


    "The floating orb might buy you some time, but surely your end is near!" ke said to the octopus elephant as he flew to the earth pir to recharge.


    ¡­


    When ke was blown away by the octopus elephant, Castiel and Luciano knew there was no way of catching him. So they decided to use the opportunity to attack the beast, but that wasn''t going too great for them.


    The darkness and wind element were basically useless against the octopus elephant. No matter how many wind spells Luciano fired at it, the wind elementcked enough power to damage its hide.


    As for the darkness element, Castiel couldn''t get close without being harmed. But even at that, Castiel doubted that his darkness spells would affect the octopus''s monstrous vitality.


    "We can''t continue doing this, we will eventually run out of mana." Castiel said to Luciano as he threw out a me spear that ended up blown away by one of the octopus''s trunks.


    "You don''t need to worry, this will be dealt with once he is back." Luciano said as a mini-explosion of gold mes pushed him out of the way of an air st.


    "Are you okay?" Tessie asked with a worried look on her face as kended on the pir.


    "You don''t have to worry, I was not hurt." ke answered.


    [Has my memory gone bad? Weren''t you the oneining a few minutes ago?] The system asked with a raised brow.


    "¡­" ke ignored the system and proceeded to the center of the pir where 5 mana cables were. Immediately the mana cable didn''t waste time connecting to the back of the strap.


    In a few minutes, the floating orb was charged to the brim, and without wasting time ke used the excess energy tounch towards the octopus elephant.


    ¡­


    By this time most of the teams had taken out their targets and were now watching how the best team so far would perform.


    "Is he crazy?!" Most of the students couldn''t help but ask when they saw ke zing towards the octopus elephant even though there wasn''t much distance between them.


    In a matter of seconds, ke was 7 meters away from the octopus elephant but still had no ns of stopping. That was when the beast aimed 2 of its trunk at him and shot out 2 jet streams of air.


    ''Time to show this primitive creature the wonders of physics.'' ke conjured a pointed cone his size in front of him to break through the wind.


    Although there was still a little resistance, ke continued with his linear motion as he continued to approach the octopus elephant, but that was when the beast decided to punish the human''s overconfidence by aiming 6 of its trunks at him.


    "What is he thinking?!"


    "Is he trying to get himself killed?!"


    Both the students and the spectating ash cops screamed when they saw that ke still had no ns of stopping. As for Major Reeves his expression hadn''t changed, he just kept on watching.


    "Just a little bit more¡­" ke was unfazed by the action of the octopus elephant as he continued moving towards it.


    "Now!" The moment the trunks contracted and shot out air, ke used mini mebursts to turn his belly to the left before using arge meburst and half of the floating orb''s energy to push himself just a little bit off the range of effect.


    With so much air leaving its lungs through its trunks, it was impossible for the octopus elephant to instantly cancel the air st, therefore leaving itself open for a few seconds.


    "Gotcha!" The octopus elephant could only watch as ke threw a dagger at it, but when it got close it turned out that it was off target, passing above its head.


    "Did he just waste an opportunity to end this? So much for the rank one." A second year student snorted when the dagger missed.


    "Why are they returning to the pir?" The students were confused when they saw Luciano and Brian returning to the pirs.


    "Because it is all over...." Owen Ulrik said, confusing everyone including Major Reeves.

 Chapter 313 - Shameful Realization.

    <h4>Chapter 313 - Shameful Realization.</h4>


    At first, the students were confused by Owen''s suddenment. The first year students were the first to understand, but Major Reeves and the second year students were still oblivious to what it meant. They quickly turned back to the battlefield where they now saw ke falling.


    "Did his floating orb run out of energy?" A second year student couldn''t help but ask because ke had just recharged a few minutes ago.


    That was when a spatial tear opened below ke. He fell into it and came out above the octopus elephant with Ebony and Ivory in his hand.


    "Let''s end this!" ke released an electromaic field that attracted the void daggers back to him before using mebursts tounch himself towards the octopus elephant at full speed. The 9 feet tall tank couldn''t sense ke when he disappeared, but when it got track of him it was already toote.


    Immediately Ebony and Ivory came in contact with the octopus elephant, it went through its skull and brain without obstruction, but ke wasn''t done yet.


    Pulling the greatsword out of the head, ke used the floating to generate more power as he kicked down on the octopus elephant before jumping back into the air with his sword aimed at the beast''s neck.


    Swish!


    THUD!


    The students were stunned when they saw the head of the octopus elephant fall straight to the ground.


    "What grade is his sword?" A student couldn''t help but ask.


    This question has been on every 1st-year students'' mind. It was nowmon knowledge to everyone in their set that they shouldn''t try to block ke''s attack, this was because a lot of students had gotten destroyed by ke.


    "Is it epic tier?" Another student asked.


    "That''s impossible! It''s most likely that it is a peak high-quality sword with an ability that increases its sharpness."


    The argument wasn''t wrong because dreaming of ke getting an epic or legendary tier weapon was impossible, talk more of getting his hands on one.


    "Even at that, the octopus elephant''s head shouldn''t be decapitated that easily. That should be a very special sword." Serhan pointed out. The other students nodded to Serhan''s deduction, but it was only Major Reeves that knew they were very wrong. He had closely watched what happened, and he didn''t sense the sword activating any ability.


    With more than 20 years of experience in the ash corps and having epic tier weapons in his possession, Major Reeves knew the limits of both epic tier weapons and high-quality tier weapons. It was an easy feat for the former, but not for thetter.


    It was only peak high-quality tier weapons that could do that, but even at that, they had to use the weapon''s abilities, if not all to match such feat.


    ''How did someone so young get his hand on an epic tier weapon? Are they now somon that anyone can pick them up on the road?'' On the inside, Major Reeves was fuming because he went through hell and back to get the ones in his possession, but a 1st year student already had one.


    Unknown to Major Reeves, he was very wrong. If he knew that ke was using a legendary tier weapon he would have died on the spot because of jealousy.


    ¡­


    Once he was done with the octopus elephant, ke returned to the pir before flying back to the wall with his team.


    With ke''s team being thest to kill their target, the 1st phase of the exercise was over. It was time for the analysis before moving to the 2nd phase.


    "Before talking about the team with the best performance. Let''s talk about you guys." With thisment, it was clear that ke''s team had once againe out on top, but it raised a lot of questions.


    How were they the best performing team when they were thest toplete the exercise?


    "I was expecting at least a member of a team to fall to the ground, especially the 1st years. Because of this, you all will be graded 4/5." Major Reeves moved over to the


    "As for the 2nd year teams, I was thinking of sending all of you back to the school if the 1st years outperformed you, but once again you all showed that you aren''t too useless." Major Reeves said to the 2nd year students.


    The targets assigned to the 2nd years were no different from those of the 1st year students. The only difference was that all the 2nd year teams had used fusion magic to quickly end the battle, while the 1st year teams had to battle it out.


    "I would have given you all a 3/5 because you all used fusion magic, but because the main goal was killing your target it would be a 4/5." Major Reeves could from their micro-expressions that a lot of them weren''t happy with the grading.


    "Everyone here knows that on a 1v1 situation everyone here can kill their targets so we decided to switch things up. The main aim of the exercise is to test your ability to quickly adapt to situations thrown at you." Major Reeves said. "On multiple asions, the 1st years have proven that they can quickly adapt to different situations, but you all fail to impress me."


    "Even though you guys are ahead in both experience and power, you didn''t try to adapt to the situation, instead you chose the easy way out.


    I won''t reduce your points because you stillpleted the task, but since you missed the lesson don''t expect to be graded higher than those that didn''t miss it."


    Even if they were allowed to talk, the Major''s words left the second year teams tongue-tied because it made them realize how shameful their performance has been.


    As the seniors, they were meant to easily dominate all the exercises, but apart from the magic cannon lesson they mostly lost to the 1st year teams and drew the rest.

 Chapter 314 - This Should Be An Interesting One...

    <h4>Chapter 314 - This Should Be An Interesting One...</h4>


    "As for the team that has kept on impressing me, they will receive a 5/5 grading." Major Reeves said turning to ke''s team.


    "For the fact they were given a target twice as difficult as the rest, even if they were to fail they would have gotten nothing below 3 points. Compared to other teams, their defense was impable and the offensive team wasn''tcking either.


    "Although they saw that their main attacking power was temporarily gone, they kept the octopus elephant busy to prevent it from going after the defense. As for the main attack¡­" Major Reeves said pointing at ke. "That level of ingenuity was outstanding, and the execution was superb. Well-deserved 5 points."


    After the analysis, the teams moved over to the 2nd phase of the exercise which involved killing all beasts in their assigned area.


    "What is the n?" Castiel asked when the team hurdled up.


    "Apart from setting up a pir and getting more proficient at maneuvering with these things, there is really no n." ke said. "Besides Tessie had already taken care of most of the beasts for us."


    Once again the students were instructed to move to their positions on the wall, before signaling the start of the second phase of the exercise.


    ¡­


    A few hourster the reports of all the teams were being reported to Lovren by Professor Gibson.


    "The position hasn''t changed much since thest report. The 2nd year teams are actually stepping up, but it is already toote." Professor Gibson said. "They are down to theirst lesson and apart from the northern gate, the other 1st year teams are led by arge margin."


    "So why are the results differ in the northern gate?" Principal Lovren asked as he adjusted his monocle.


    "The teams at the northern gate areprised of mostly those below the 20th rank and they are up against the rank 10''s team." Professor Gibson replied.


    "Well, that makes a lot of sense." Principal Lovren nodded when he remembered Sach was assigned to the northern gate.


    After the team test and his meeting with Rayzer, Sach had gone through a major change. Not only was he no longer bootlicking, but he had begun aggressively opposing. He had been given the 13th rank to get into the team test and to assassinate ke, but after that, he didn''t give back the rank to the rightful owner.


    This caused the original owner of the rank to challenge him for the rank. Since he was no longer bootlicking, Sach stopped hiding his true strength and easily defeated the challenger, further cementing his position. He went ahead to keep challenging those above him until he finally challenged defeated the rank 10.


    His actions prompted chain reactions that made nobles not want to have anything to do with him. This forced him to make form a team ofmoners, but their overall strength wasn''t as strong as those of the nobles.


    "What of the normal sses, how are they fairing?" Principal Lovren asked.


    "So far all the resources have been distributed to their designated locations, and there have been no reported deaths, only a few who had been injured." Professor Gibson answered.


    "Any mental breakdowns when they killed or saw dead gang members?" Lovren asked with his face devoid of emotions.


    "Very few students were not affected at all, the majority were slightly affected, while close to a dozen had serious mental breakdowns."


    "Let me guess, all the least affected students weremoners, while the most affected were all nobles?" Principal Lovren asked.


    "You guessed correctly."


    Unlike the elite ss that wasprised of both specialmoners and nobles who had a lot of experience from both in and out of school, the normal ss was totally inexperienced.


    They had just recently gotten over the fear of being petrified when they faced beasts, but the school didn''t n on giving them any breaks because they were now killing humans.


    "It isn''t much of an issue. When they get to the point where they have to choose between recovering or failing, the body would surely be forced to recover." Principal Lovren stood up and adjusted his monocle as he looked out the window.


    ¡­


    At one of the mansions in the Nystrom estate, Oliver Nystrom was in his safest rooms in the mansion with a one-time usemunication orb that appeared in his bedroom.


    "This means they can kill basically anyone below the angel realm." Oliver could vividly remember how shocked he was when came out of the shower and saw a parcel with the dark-purple stamp of the league of assassins on his bed.


    He was partially correct. The league of assassins was just like the adventurer association, but unlike them the least rank of their members was A rank. Every single member was badass in their different fields, some were good at stealing from demigods, nning and killing even Angels.


    Not just anyone could contract an assassin from the league, talk more of joining. They only went for extremely difficult missions and even those people would consider as impossible.


    As the best beast tamer in the city, Oliver had been seen as worth their time. So when he had requested to contract an assassin through one of his contacts they had sent him a way ofmunicating with them.


    He had mentioned it was a robbery, so the league had sent him the best A rank thief.


    "I am Xander of the league of assassins, what do you want me to steal?" A holographic figure appeared but it was scrambled.


    ''The voice sounds like that of a kid. Is the most wanted thief in the empire a kid?'' Oliver thought before replying to the assassin.


    "A beast tamer artifact named Master seal. It was recently sold in the adventurer association auction and it was purchased by Xavier Karius." Oliver exined.


    "Hmm¡­ This should be an interesting one, don''t you think?" The scrambled figure said in an excited tone, that left Oliver confused on what to say.

 Chapter 315 - Final Lesson.

    <h4>Chapter 315 - Final Lesson.</h4>


    "Hmm¡­ This should be an interesting mission, don''t you think?" The scrambled figure said in an excited tone, that left Oliver confused on what to say.


    "Is there any extra information that might be necessary?" Xander asked, but Oliver shook his head.


    "I hope you are aware that if things were to go far beyond the info given, the assassin can''t be med for the failure of the mission, and the payment wouldn''t be refunded." Assassin Xander exined to the beast tamer, who nodded in response.


    Once all the rules had been exined and relevant info had been shared, they moved over to the final part which was the payment.


    "17 million gold coins." Xavier said.


    ''Not bad at all.'' Oliver confessed. The Master seal was sold for 16 million, meaning it was only a million more which was a very nice deal. If he had decided to borrow from other members of the Nystrom family, he was certain the bidding war would have reached 20 million gold coins.


    "Deal!" With him epting the terms, the meeting was over and themunication orb began disintegrating, eliminating all traces of the conversation ever happening.


    "Finally! It''s been a while since I had fun." A white-haired boy who looked like he had recently turned 20, said with a psychotic smile.


    Apart from his sliver pupils that added a pristine glow to his charming face, there was nothing spectacr about the boy''s physique, but every member of the league of assassins respected him because of his skills.


    Xavier wasn''t famous for stealing, rather he was known more for his ability to escape even the most difficult situations.


    What brought him to the limelight was when he had managed to escape from a demigod while he was in the Hero realm and it was after this that the league of assassins had recruited him.


    He had never been caught even as a hero and now that he was a demigod all attempts to capture him were proving to be more useless.


    "Time to go prep." Xavier began skipping as he left the darkroom.


    ¡­


    The next day at the southern wall, all the teams had assembled for what was the final lesson.


    ''It amazes me how 5 days felt like 2 weeks¡­'' Brian sighed.


    ''Not amazed¡­'' ke retorted.


    ''After we are done with thest lesson, what next?'' Castiel asked causing them to think.


    ''Maybe we would just be on guard duty on the wall¡­" ke answered.


    "Let''s get these lessons over with. Today we will be looking at rescuing a teammate that is being swarmed by beasts." Major Reeves announced as he finally turned to the teams.


    "You are to select a teammate that would be ced beyond the wall where they would be protected by a rock dome. When the signal to start the exercise has begun, the rock domes will be lowered. Your task is to weave through the beasts and save your teammate before they are overwhelmed." Major Reeves exined.


    "Note, the selected teammate can fight back, but they are not allowed to leave the marked range even if they can fly. The only time they are permitted to do so is when the team has arrived and the floating orb has been equipped."


    With so many rules, the students couldn''t help but look at each other. It seemed that the final lesson wasn''t going to be as easy as they thought.


    Before the students were about to begin nning on how to tackle the exercise, Major Reeves spoke up. "Before you guys select a teammate, I suggest you take a look at this." His words prompted the students to take steps forward to look beyond the wall.


    "Are my eyes ying tricks on me?" The students were star-struck when they saw hundreds of beasts beyond the wall.


    "Is that where they are nning on putting one of us?" The students couldn''t help but ask. When Major Reeves was talking about the task it sounded quite difficult, but now that they were thinking back at it, it became bone-chilling.


    "Why did I just have a feeling that the lessons couldn''t just end in a normal way." ke let out a sigh of helplessness.


    "Don''t jinx it. The task might be difficult but where is the fun if it is too easy." Luciano said with an excited smile.


    ''If I may ask, did they swap personalities?'' Brian was confused when Luciano who has always been the quiet one was excited all of a sudden.


    "I think the important question we should be talking about is who is going beyond the wall?" Castiel asked.


    "Tessie is the best, so I suggest she goes out." Everyone turned to Luciano with raised brows.


    "I disagree with that. I for one have the highest defense in the team, and if we could go for something special, Castiel can stay invisible till wee to save him." Brian pointed out.


    With the number of beasts beyond the wall, people like ke and Luciano were ruled out of the equation. Although they possessed very explosive set of abilities, therge number of beasts would eventually wear them out. Meaning this was a task only those with high defensive abilities could handle.


    The only reason Castiel was put into consideration was because of the darkness element that couldpletely cloak him.


    "This would have been a cheat code, but you are forgetting something. When the rock dome is taken down and you cloak yourself, you might find it hard to escape the encirclement and if you do, how do you prevent the beasts froming in contact with you?" ke pointed out the only w in the n.


    Even if Castiel was to go invisible, therge number of beasts would prevent him from maneuvering without touching them, meaning he will still be discovered.


    "We can''t take such a risk when we have better options.." The others nodded to ke''s decision of not picking Castiel, leaving their options down to Brian and Tessie.

 Chapter 316 - Should Have Seen That Coming.

    <h4>Chapter 316 - Should Have Seen That Coming.</h4>


    "As for you Brian, the defensive capabilities of the earth element is the best among other elements, but the problem is that it is stationary. You will just be a seating duck as the beasts slowly break through your defenses." ke pointed out.


    The rules of the exercise were that the selected teammate couldn''t move out of a specified range, meaning that Brian would have no other choice than to form a turtle shell he could hide in.


    "The goal of the exercise isn''t for me to kill the beasts. All I have to do is survive long enough for you guys to arrive band save me." Brian said.


    "Yes, but with the amount of beasts beyond the wall, your defenses wouldn''t be able to withstand the attacks me. The earth element can be countered by brute strength and we all know that most beasts have that in abundance." ke exined.


    He made them imagine a scenario when multipleyers of earth domes had been erected by Brian, but a sabertooth moose was to ram into it. There would be no way that his defenses could withstand the raw power of the charging tank, and the earth element currently had no way to prevent such a scenario.


    "If so, how will the nt element perform any better?" Castiel asked.


    "Unlike the earth, the nt element is very annoying and can''t just be countered with only brute strength. To free oneself from the binds of the nts technique is needed, and unintelligent beastsck that." ke pointed out. "Besides, the nt element has arger range of effect than the earth element."


    After thinking about what ke said and seeing he was right, Brian couldn''t help but ask Luciano who had been silent. "Is that why you suggested she did it?"


    Luciano nodded before turning to Tessie. "I won''t ask if you can handle it because I know your capabilities. The main question is, are you ready?"


    Tessie pondered for a few seconds before taking in a deep breath and answering with a determined expression. "I am."


    Once all the teams were done selecting a teammate, they were escorted to their assigned locations outside the wall by the special ops team using the floating orb.


    Once they got to theynded on the spot, Major Reeves raised his hands and a mana shockwave moved all the beasts away, leaving a 4 meter wide space where the selected teammates were directed tond.


    The moment they touched the floor the beasts began jumping at them, but they continuously rammed into a mana barrier ced all around the area.


    The moment the special ops team left the area for the wall, rock domes erupted from below and the mana barriers were taken down.


    "Just like I thought, the distance between the wall and Tessie is great, meaning she would have to defend herself for a while." ke said as they watched as the beasts swarmed towards the rock dome and began attacking it.


    The dome was created by Major Reeves who was in the demigod realm, so no one was worried about it getting destroyed by the beasts.


    "Listen up! The floating orbs given to you are not meant to be used unless your final teammate has equipped theirs." Major Reeves said confusing every single person.


    ''What the fuck is he saying?!'' This was the one question that was in everyone''s mind but no one could voice out there thoughts especially now that they were less than half an hour frompleting all the lessons.


    The new rule disrupted the ns of some of the teams, meaning they would have make some adjustments, but the main problem was that their teammates beyond the wall had no clue of what was going on.


    "Yes?" Everyone was still thinking about their next course of action, but that was when they saw the leader of team that had lost one of their members raising his hands.


    "You didn''t mention this during the exercise briefing. So why now?" The 2nd year team leader asked with restrained anger.


    "Firstly, I never said you would use them in the first ce, so why the surprise." Major Reeves smirk making the students realize that they had been yed. "Secondly, it makes the exercise more realistic. If a member of the ash corps were to be trapped beyond the wall, the special ops would be sent to save him/her, but the ash cop beyond the wall would have no idea of how he would be saved."


    ''That makes a lot of sense¡­ How was I not able to anticipate this?'' ke thought. ''He did say we had to weave through the beasts, and if we had the floating orbs wouldn''t it have been too easy for a final exercise?'' ke thought.


    Hearing no fault in what Major Reeves said, the 2nd year team leader had a dejected look on his face as he turned to his team to draft a n.


    Unlike other teams that only needed to adjust a few things, his team had a lot to change because charging through tens of beasts with only 3 people would be very difficult.


    "If care is not taken their teammate wouldn''t be the only person that needs saving." Luciano said almost causing the trio to burst out inughter.


    The teams were given a few more minutes to adjust their ns before they had taken their positions at the edge of the wall.


    "Go!" Once Major Reeves gave the signal the teams jumped off the wall, all the way to the ground. Except for Luciano, everyone else in the team readied their weapons as they were about to leave the protection of the city''s barrier.


    At that moment the rock domes exploded outward, sting away beasts on and around it, thus giving the students in them some breathing space.


    "What took them so long¡­" Tessie said as she looked around to assess the battlefield before opening her palm and dropping a green thorny seed to the floor.


    Mother Seed!

 Chapter 317 - Just A Little Bit More.

    <h4>Chapter 317 - Just A Little Bit More.</h4>


    After assessing the situation of the battlefield, Tessie opened her palm and a green thorny seed fell to the ground.


    Mother seed!


    Once the thorny seed got in contact with the ground, it came to life and began burrowing into the ground. At this time some of the beasts had recovered and were about to continue their pounce at the human, but that was when the ground began rumbling.


    Their instincts were screaming at them that danger was around the corner, but the berserk effect of the beast tide was seemed to be stronger.


    They soon continued their charge at Tessie, but once they got into range, red thorny nt vines twice as thick as usual, erupted from below and began rapping and constricting some of the beasts.


    Some of them had managed to dodge the initial attack, but as they kept on running forward more nt vines erupted from below, eventually capturing all of them.


    At the same time, the ground below Tessie began quaking, and in a matter of seconds, a tree that was 3 meters in height rose from below.


    "What happened? Where are they?" With the raised height, Tessie looked towards the wall to check how far the team was away from her but she didn''t see any sign of them or any team.


    "There is nothing they can''t handle meaning there was most likely a change of ns. Besides if something went wrong, then they would have taken us out of here." From her train of thoughts, she concluded that there was a general change of n since she couldn''t see members of other teams too. So the only thing she could do was continue defending till they arrived.


    Turning back to the problems around her, Tessie noticed that some of the beasts that had been bound by the blood drain vines had managed to escape and had continued moving forward.


    She wasn''t worried about them because within the area of the Mother seed''s effect, everywhere underground was covered by the roots which could continuously produce more vines as long as she didn''t run out of mana.


    What she was worried about were the agile beasts that were using the backs of the constricted beasts to get closer to her.


    Just like she had expected, the beasts that had managed to escape didn''t move far before getting captured again by the thorny vines. The problem was that the piggybacking beasts were getting closer.


    "Just a little bit more time for the blood-draining vines to charge up the mother seed." With the nt vines currently being upied by the beasts below, Tessie had no choice but to get her hands dirty.


    Water wheel!


    The humidity of the area around her began increasing to the point water droplets became visible as they continuously came together to form a water wheel behind Tessie.


    The water wheel was one of the spells of a submerger (the champion realm of the water element). It doubled the power of water spells and increased spell casting speed by helping them skip the process of conjuring water.


    Just like the fire element, for a submerger to cast a water spell they had to conjure the water before shaping it for whatever spell they had in mind.


    The water wheel was a spell that continuously gathered water from the surroundings meaning all the submerger had to do was continuously cast spells.


    "You''ve got this Tessie¡­ Show ke that he hasn''t been wasting his time in training you." Tessie tried to motivate herself as she saw that a group of piggybacking wargs were not too far from the mother tree.


    The alpha warg which was the closest pounced on Tessie, but she had already seen this move a thousand times to know how to counter it.


    She fired off a mana bomb at the alpha warg and before it was sent flying away, she tied a water whip to its neck while connecting the other end to the neck of another warg.


    The force sent the other warg flying alongside its alpha unto the ground where they were bound by blood drain vines.


    "I need to speed up the charging process¡­" Tessie made the water wheel behind her to begin rotating when she saw that more beasts had begun piggybacking and were making their way towards her.


    When some of the beasts got into Tessie''s range, multiple water spells were continuously fired at the iing beasts.


    Some of the beasts that weren''t affected much or had managed to dodge the attacks had managed to reach her, but that was when multiple water whips with sharp edges came out of the water wheel.


    Tessie''s goal was to speed up the charging process of the mother tree meaning her attacks were meant to be aimed at drawing more blood for the beasts. That was her attacks and those of the water wheel were more of prative and tear damage.


    This was because every drop of blood that came in contact with vines or the trees was absorbed by the mother tree which in turn strengthened the vines and charged it up for the next phase.


    "Can''t they take a break?!" Tessie cursed as she beheaded a sde with a water de. She had killed over 20 beasts with thebination of the water wheel, mana bombs, and nt vines, but they just keeping.


    "Just a little bit more¡­" With her connection to the mother Tree, Tessie knew that she just had tost a little bit more.


    ¡­


    At the moment they touched the ground, the trio and Luciano didn''t waste time in sprinting Tessie''s direction.


    With his body shrouded in lightning arcs and Ebony and Ivory in his hands, ke was cutting down every beast that came his way like awnmower cutting des of grass.


    By his side were Castiel and Luciano, their job was to prevent the beasts from nking them. They made us of mostly explosive spells to cover more area and give them some breathing space. As for Brian, his job was to prevent beasts from catching up to them by changing the terrain or using either the earth or water element to block them off.


    Their charge through the army of beasts was a very painstaking approach, but they didn''t have any other better choice.

 Chapter 318 - Power Of A Blood Harvester.

    <h4>Chapter 318 - Power Of A Blood Harvester.</h4>


    The reason both Luciano and ke had suggested that Tessie was the one to be saved was that they knew the capabilities of a blood harvester, especially against beasts.


    Apart from the boost in nt control that came with advancing to a higher realm, a blood harvester unlocked 3 abilities that worked hand in hand.


    The first was the blood drain. It granted the blood harvester ability to conjure thorny nts/vines that used the drained blood to strengthen themselves, thus saving the user quite a lot of mana.


    The second ability was a passive one that granted conjured nts more energy during the daytime. Meaning a blood harvester was more dangerous during this time.


    Thest was the Mother seed and it allowed the user to conjure a seed that would give birth to a thorny tree.


    The tree acted as a central processing unit that controlled the actions of every single nt vine under its control. This ability of the mother tree is very vital because it is impossible for a blood harvester to control every single nt vine of the Mother Tree on their own. All it needed was to know the will of the user and constant supply of a lot of mana, but that was till it upgraded to the second phase.


    "Finally, it is fully charged." Creating a water wall in front of her, Tessie drank a mana potion before cing her hands on the mother tree.


    The absorbed blood that had been stored in the other Tree''s trunks began moving to all parts of the tree through the Vascr tissues, causing everything to grow.


    The roots began increasing in both size and length, thus increasing the range of the mother Tree''s effect. The nt vines that sprouted from the roots didn''t only increase in size and strength, but the effectiveness of their blood-draining abilities was tripled.


    As for the Mother Tree itself, it had grown from 4 meters tall to 6 meters in height and the thorns on its body had tripled in size. Its connection with the vines and roots had increased making it even more difficult for the beasts to dodge them talk more of escaping its binds.


    Tessie wasn''t done yet, pping her palms together a wave of mana was sent through all the parts of Mother Tree, activating the active skill of the second phase.


    Rain of thorns!


    The thorns all over the Mother Tree beganing out like rockets that were about to beunched. Even at the top of the Mother Tree which was in wood, thorns began appearing at every square inch except for the spot Tessier stood on.


    Raising her hands, all the thorns began independently aiming towards different directions.


    "Go!"


    Once themand was given, hundreds of thorns 20 inches in length shot into the air, creating a literal rain of thorns on the beasts.


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    All the beasts within the area of the thorn rain were impaled multiple times by the thorns. More than 90% of the beasts were killed leaving only a few that were fatally injured.


    Due to the effects of the beast tide, those that were still able to move were still rushing towards Tessie even though they had multiple thorns still stuck in their bodies, but they were easily caught by the nt vines.


    "There are still more?" Tessie was panting as she sat down on the Mother tree. She was had expended all her mana, but she wasn''t worried even though more beasts were charging towards her from all sides.


    This was because once the Mother Tree had been upgraded to its 2nd phase it became self-sufficient. It didn''t need the user''s mana to continue functioning, rather it began running on the blood drained by the improved blood drain vines. So with the piles of beast corpses and the number of beasts charging towards them, Tessie wasn''t worried about the Mother Tree running out of blood.


    Another reason why she wasn''t worried was that she could see sparks of lightning and golden mes some distance away.


    ¡­


    At the beginning of their charge through the army of beasts, they had found it very easy to move forward, but as they got closer their speed had reduced quite a lot.


    This was because when a Tessie was sent outside the wall the attention of all the beasts had turned to her, therefore reducing the concentration of the beasts at the wall and increasing it as they got closer to her.


    ''Situation report.'' ke asked the system.


    [Apart from the number of beasts, there is no beast to worry about.


    As for Tessie, she is doing incredibly well¡­] As the system was giving a report, the sunny sky in front of them dimmed.


    "Yup, she is doing very well." ke couldn''t help but admit when he saw the rain of thorns falling.


    "Are you sure she still needs us to save her?" Brian chuckled.


    "Don''t like to ruin the mood, but this is an opportunity for us to push forward." Luciano reminded the team.


    With the rain of thorns killing a lot of beasts, most of them outside the range of effect would surely charge at Tessie, meaning they would have lesser beasts to deal with.


    ¡­


    On the wall, Major Reeves was watching the performance of every team and behind him was the 2nd year team that had one of their members sent back to the school.


    They had lost not only because their selected teammate wasn''t able to defend himself against the beasts, but the rescuing team was also overwhelmed because they werecking in numbers.


    "I never had hope for your teampleting the exercise, but it seems some teams would be joining us to enjoy the view." Major Reeves said with a smirk as he raised his hands and Mana shockwave killed all the beasts around 2 defenders that had been overwhelmed.. Immediately 2 special ops units were deployed to bring the 2 teams back to the wall.

 Chapter 319 - Knight Rank Praying Mantises!

    <h4>Chapter 319 - Knight Rank Praying Mantises!</h4>


    The 2 teams that had just been saved were both 1st-year teams. Unlike the first teams to be eliminated, the only problem they had was that they couldn''t defend long enough for their teams to rescue them.


    Both teams had selected geomancers, and they had taken the turtle shell approach and the beasts had ended up breaking through their defenses leaving thempletely surrounded.


    At the moment the teams and the special ops had returned to the wall, the attention of the spectators had returned to ke''s team. That was when they saw hundreds of thorns rising into the air.


    ''Guess I was far from being right to consider her as the weakest.'' From what he was seeing he was totally wrong about his evaluation of her.


    Her performance could be considered nothing short of perfection because as long as no beast above the Elite rank appeared, they would be unable to breach her defense.


    ''Perfect defense¡­ For now at least.'' Major Reeves thought with a smirk.


    ¡­


    The most of the beasts focusing on attacking Tessie, the concentration of those fighting ke''s team had reduced making it easier for them to move forward.


    In less than 5 minutes the team had made it to the edge of the Mother Tree''s range, but they had to stop because they were afraid of getting attacked by the nt vines.


    [The Mother Tree spell of a blood harvester acts based on the will of the user and not on intellectual basis. So to be on the safe side it is better to draw her attention.] The system said.


    Following the system''s advice, ke shot a fireball into the air to alert Tessier of their arrival. On seeing her waving for them toe, the team began moving on both the nts and corpse till they finally got on top of the Mother Tree.


    "2 teams¡­ Make that 3 teams have been eliminated and it seems we are the first to get to the defender." ke said after assessing the situation of all the teams outside the wall.


    "Seems they had selected their strongest member as the defender." Castiel couldn''t help butment when they saw the attacking force of the 2nd year getting saved by Major Reeves.


    "Something is wrong here¡­" Luciano said causing everybody to frantically turn to him.


    "More beasts areing from the woods, but they are no longer mindlessly diving into the range of the Mother Tree." Luciano said with squinted eyes.


    "Yup something is definitely up." ke said as he saw the beasts continuously gathering but remaining at the outskirt of the Mother Tree''s range.


    Unlike the rest that was still trying to figure out what was going on, ke''s gut feeling was telling him that it was better they didn''t find out. "No wasting time, put on your floating straps."


    ke''s words brought back their attention to their main goal. After taking a few seconds to wear the floating straps, the team immediately took off but that was when the screech of insects resounded all the battlefield.


    "What the fuck!" As ke cursed when he saw 3 Knight rank armored praying mantises flying out of the woods and were heading for them at terrifying speeds.


    "We won''t make it to the wall. Brain I need you to make 3 earth pirs." ke instructed. Luckily for them they hadn''t gotten past the Mother Tree''s area of effect meaning they didn''t have to worry about the beasts attacking them, at least for now.


    The primary method of movement of the armored praying mantis was with is 4 wings. This was because they were twice as fast their speed onnd when they took flight, meaning ke''s team would be at a disadvantage if they were to battle in the air.


    "Any ns?" Brian felt pressured because to this were Knight rank beastsing their way.


    Not only did armored praying mantises have a very strong exoskeleton that made the damage they took from non-prative spells of their level negligible, but they were known for their speed and they had the perfect weapon to abuse it, their forelegs.


    The raptorial limbs of the armored praying mantises weren''t only spiked, they possessed razor-sharp des used for decapitating prey.


    "You guys can''t match up to their speed so focus on defending yourselves and Tessie." Luciano said.


    "Are you sure you will be okay?" Brian couldn''t help but ask because the attacks of the armored praying mantises were lethal and ke was the only one who could match their speed.


    "You don''t have to worry about me." Luciano said with a chuckle as a ck staff handle with inscriptions appeared in his hand.


    The handle extended into a golden staff with glowing golden des at its edges. With how shiny the golden staff was, even a retard would know that it was an epic tier weapon.


    ''This is very strange. Do you think the armored praying mantises are the one''s stopping the beasts from attacking or something higher in rank?'' Unlike the rest that were captivated by Luciano''s sword, ke was intrigued by how the once frenzied army of beasts had be dormant.


    ''Or is it the doing of the thing behind the beast tide? Either way, it means a sentient being should behind it.'' ke thought.


    It was pointless for the beasts to keep on attacking because they would die for nothing. So such amand could only be given by something smart.


    [I think you are forgetting the task at hand.] The system warned ke as the 3 armored were only seconds away from them.


    "Remember to y safe, we will be back when we are done with ours." ke said as he jumped off alongside Luciano to different earth pir while shooting out bolts of lightning at the knight rank insects.


    It took little to no effort for the armored praying mantises, but on seeing the humans split up smiled at the foolishness of humans and thanked them for making their hunting easier.

 Chapter 320 - Killing A Knight Rank Insect.

    <h4>Chapter 320 - Killing A Knight Rank Insect.</h4>


    "That was easier than I thought." ke was surprised that he drew the attention of the praying mantis with little to no effort.


    [Do you have a n to kill this thing?] The system said after analyzing the Knight rank insect that was making its way to ke.


    Before ke could answer the system, the praying mantis had reached him and begun circling him.


    [Try not to get hit by its de.] The system advised.


    ''Even if its hands were made of cotton why will I want to get hit?'' ke asked with a raised brow, but that was when he realized what the system meant.


    With the speed boost gotten from lightning reinforcement, ke was able to continuously keep track of the knight rank praying mantis, but all of sudden the speed of the Knight rank praying mantis increased as it appeared behind ke and stabbed at his spinal cord.


    ''I guess seeing isn''t the same as reacting.'' Even though the speed of the praying mantis had surprisingly increased, ke was still able to keep track of it.


    He knew the moment it had appeared behind him, but he wasn''t fast enough to react to it. Luckily he hadn''t underestimated the lethality of the praying mantis'' speed and had made preparations.


    Using the void daggers in his possession as a beacon through the void, ke opened a spatial tear behind him causing the raptorial leg of the praying mantis to pass through ande out of the exit behind it.


    Having thrust its forelimb at the human, the praying mantis was anticipating screams and feel of the innards of the human but nothing happened. Instead, its instincts were screaming that it should get out of the way.


    The Knight rank praying mantis quickly moved to the left dodging its own attack, before pulling out its right forelimb from the spatial corridor before ke could decapitate its forelimb by closing it.


    Still unsure of what had just transpired, the praying mantis was focused on the spot where the spatial tear opened, but that was when it sensed that ke had repositioned behind it.


    ''I could have sworn that it would have stabbed himself.'' ke thought as he got behind the Knight rank insects ready to give it a taste of its own medicine, but that was when the body of the praying mantis turned with the head still in the same position.


    ''The fuck!'' ke was creeped out by this, causing him to instinctively stop in his tracks and jump back. At the same time that was when he saw the praying mantis sh the spot at an astonishing speed.


    ''Back on Earth, I didn''t hate insects that much even though they creeped the hell out of me, but those here are forcing me down the part of an insect exterminator.'' ke thought as he watched the head of the praying mantis return to its normal position.


    SKRRRR!


    The Knight rank praying mantis let out a screech as it spread its wings before flying back into the air and circling ke again.


    [You can''t let things keep going on like this.] The system said to ke as it saw the praying mantis was going to repeat the same attack.


    ke''s weakness was his inability tond an attack on the praying mantis because of its speed and air superiority. This caused him to be a sitting duck that its only chance of harming it was through counterattacks.


    The main problem was that if the praying mantis was to keep getting close, there were chances that he wouldn''t be lucky enough to defend himself talk more of counter-attacking.


    ''You don''t have to tell me twice.'' ke said as he continued monitoring the knight rank insect as it continuously moved around him looking for an opening.


    BOOM!


    Once again, out of nowhere the praying mantis burst out at an astonishing speed as it appeared behind ke and stabbed him.


    ''You are too predictable.'' ke thought as he opened a spatial tear behind him. The forelimb went through the spatial tear and appeared behind the praying mantis, but its head was already looking in that direction.


    Now that it had fully understood what was going on, the knight rank praying mantis dodged the attack but that was when it felt an electric wave in form of a very thin dome passing it.


    Sensing danger from the electric wave, the knight rank insect wanted to retreat to a safe distance but that was when ke made the spatial corridor copse.


    With its ultra-senses and incredible speed, the praying mantis had managed to pull out its forelimb just in time, but it noticed that the electric wave had condensed to an electric.


    Instead of trying to tear its way through the and mana barrier the human had tried to conceal behind the lightning, the praying mantis shed its razor-sharp de aiming to decapitate ke''s head.


    "You just walked... stepped... entered... You are trapped!" ke screamed as he turned to the attack with bright blue glowing eyes as his thoughts and words became rampant.


    Once the de of the praying mantis came in contact with Ebony and Ivory it was split in 2 causing the praying mantis to screech in pain, but ke wasn''t done yet.


    As Ebony and Ivory cut through the forelimb, a spatial tear opened on its path causing the de to swing through, appearing at the right side of the praying mantis.


    Having nowhere else to go, the knight-rank insect raised its right forelimb to protect its head, but Ebony and Ivory sliced right through everything in its way.


    "That was stressful¡­" ke said as he turn off mind boost and looked over to Tessie''s direction to see that they were under a rock dome shrouded by ck mist.


    "Guess they are doing okay¡­" Since they weren''t in any serious danger, ke decided to turn his attention to the person who might need it the most, but what he saw was shocking.

 Chapter 321 - Didnt See That Coming.

    <h4>Chapter 321 - Didn''t See That Coming.</h4>


    When ke turned to Luciano''s battle, he saw him matching up to the speed of the Praying mantis.


    ''Are my eyes ying tricks on me?'' ke couldn''t help but ask. With Luciano disying such speed, ke felt more threatened than usual.


    [Something is definitely up here.] The system said.


    ''Is it his weapon?'' ke said referring to the golden sword that was now a chain with sickles at the end.


    [Epic weapons do boost the user''s stats, but not to this extent.] The system pointed out.


    ''They boost user''s stats?'' ke asked with a confused look on his face as he looked at Ebony and Ivory in his hands.


    The system ignored the question and began looking through ke''s memory of what happened minutes ago. [Although I can only see through your eyes, it doesn''t mean I can''t make out what happened with my mana senses.]


    The moment Luciano attracted the attention of one of the armored praying mantis, the system saw golden energy move from the swords to every part of his body. The energy began energizing all the cells in his body, increasing both his strength and speed.


    [The swords seems to grant the user a kind of berserk state that boosts both his physical and magical capabilities.] The system muttered.


    "Isn''t he too calm for someone in a berserk state?" ke couldn''t help but ask.


    [My thoughts too. Either the adverse effects of the berserk mode isn''t strong or he can enter rage mode.] The system exined.


    ''I think we both know the answer.'' ke said causing the system to nod.


    The chances of the adverse effect of the epic tier weapon not being strong were quite low, while thetter looked more usible. This was because it made more sense for the direct descendant of the fire emperor to negate the effects of the berserk state.


    With the boost from the berserk state, Luciano was able to block some attacks and easily make explosions strong enough to create some distance whenever he was in a bad position.


    This way the cycle continued and both parties weren''t able to harm each other for some time, but the table slowly began turning in Luciano''s favor.


    [Is it what I think it is?] The system said when it noticed something during the fight.


    Every time Luciano''s sword got struck, it would create an energy ripple that would increase the flow of energy that powered the berserk mode.


    It had turned from Lucianopensating his inability to block attacks with explosions to having a close-quarterbat with the knight rank armored praying mantis.


    "I don''t think I need to help him." ke said when he saw wounds all over the armor of the insect. The armored praying mantis had no idea of how the speed of the human was getting faster, but its instincts were telling it to move away from the human.


    Trusting its instincts, the praying mantis spread its wings and returned to the air where it had an environmental advantage.


    "You think you can run?" Luciano said with a smirk on his face as he saw the knight rank insect running. He began spinning the golden chains of the sickles causing them to light up and releasing arge spinning vortex of mes 10 meters wide.


    Firestorm vortex!


    Seeing the ocean of mesing its way, the armored praying mantis tried its best to fly out of the spell''s range, unfortunately, it wasn''t fast enough to cover 10 meters in a second.


    The spinning waves of mes continuously spun the praying mantis in the vortex, burning its wings to ashes and hitting up its hard armor to the point where its innards began heating up at an incredible speed.


    "I am bored already." The smirk on Luciano''s face had changed to an indifferent expression as he canceled the firestorm vortex spell causing the armored praying mantis that was now wingless to free fall.


    With no wings or elements to fly, the armored praying mantis could only watch as it was going to crash on the ground, or so it thought.


    "It''s not yet over!" Luciano threw out the right sickle wrapping the knight rank insect before drawing to himself.


    At this point, the armored praying mantis had neither the energy nor the wings to resist the pull. It could only watch as the sickle in Luciano''s left hand changed to a sword and stabbed through its armor.


    "I have heard that praying mantis meat is delectable. Too bad I am not in the mood." Luciano said as the sword began lighting up, releasing golden mes that burst out through every hole in its body.


    "Time to end this exercise." Luciano burst out in mes as he shot towards the armored praying mantis attacking Tessie''s group.


    He shot out a giant meburst that the knight rank insect easily dodge, but before it got out of range, Luciano made it explode sending the armored praying mantis flying.


    "Oh... I am meant to be fighting." Using both the floating orb and fire element, ke shot through the air and went after the armored praying mantis.


    By the time ke was within range, the pissed Knight rank insect had already recovered and wasing at ke, but that was when a giant golden meburst hade from the side.


    Having been tricked once, the armored praying mantis quickly changed its path of flight, but ke had already predicted this and had gone to intercept it.


    Sensing the human behind it, the armored praying mantis bent, dodging the greatsword aimed at its head, before spinning and striking at the right side of the human that was left open due to the sword sh.


    ''I knew this would happen, but it was worth the try.'' ke had predicted his attack failing, so he had prepared a void shift.


    The left forelimb of the praying mantis went through the spatial tear but had stopped all of a sudden. That was when its right forelimb was in a stabbing motion aimed for his heart.


    ''Holy fuck!'' Shock was written all over ke''s face as he saw the de inching closer.

 Chapter 322 - What Is Pulling The Strings?

    <h4>Chapter 322 - What Is Pulling The Strings?</h4>


    Mind boost!


    ''How did it know this trick? Are they connected by a hive mind or did he watch my battle with his creepy neck?''


    ''Void shift or explosion¡­ or let Tyrant armor take the damage. Can it handle the damage? Of course, it can.'' Immediately he activated mind boost, ke''s thoughts went rampant and although it seemed like he was having a long monologue, not even a second had gone by.


    ''The armor should take the damage, it rarely does anything¡­ Or I could justbine two ns.'' ke finally made a decision and immediately released a wave of both fire and mana explosion from his body.


    BOOM!


    The double explosion had managed to push back the Knight rank insect a few meters away, freeing him from such precarious position, but the tenacious armored praying mantis recovered quicker than he had expected and lunged back at him.


    ''I swear, I will make sure I have a buffet with your kind after this!'' ke cursed the armored praying mantis as it abused its aerial advantage to once again bridge the gap before he could do anything.


    ''I guess it is back to the drawing board¡­ what if¡­'' At that moment, ke and the armored praying mantis sensed Luciano''s sickleing their way.


    The head of the armored praying mantis turned to look at the iing attack and immediately, its body spun out of the way leaving ke to deal with it but that marked the beginning of its end.


    Just as ke was about to get hit, a spatial tear opened, causing the sickle to pass through and appear behind the armored praying mantis.


    By the opening of a spatial tear, the armored praying mantis which was still spinning knew what wasing. It immediately spread its wings to regain its ability to fly before moving out of the way.


    ''Knight rank beasts are really smart, but not smart enough.'' ke said with an evil smirk on his face as he cast another void shift in the path of the golden sickle causing it to once again behind the armored praying mantis.


    "Even I would have fallen for that." Brian who had taken down the earth dome knew that he would be as shocked as the armored praying mantis if it were in the same position.


    With the hive mind connecting 3 of the knight rank armored praying mantis, thest standing knight rank insect knew how each and every one of itsrades had died. This was how it knew how to counter void shift and that ke would be easier to deal with in aerialbatpared to the other human.


    What it hadn''t expected was for ke to be able to consecutively cast multiple void shifts at the same time and to use it in such a way.


    Failing to react on time, the golden metal cable that connected the sickle to the sword coiled round the body and wings of the knight rank insect before the tip of the sickle dug through the armor and into its skin.


    Ignoring the pain, the armored praying mantis tried to free itself, but before it could make any progress, Luciano tugged on the rope forcefully pulling it into the spatial tear.


    ''I must have a hand in its death!'' ke swore on his unborn children as he closed the spatial before all of the insect''s body passed. With space mending itself, it was impossible for something to be in both the void and normal realm at the same time.


    This caused one of the insect''s legs to get amputated, but ke wasn''t done yet. With every spatial tear it got through, the armored praying mantis continued losing body parts.


    By the time it had gotten to Luciano, it was missing 2 and a half legs with part of 2 of its wings. At this point, it was only alive due to the high vitality of a knight rank beast.


    ke had gone from wanting to injure it to almost doing the entire job. Now all Luciano had to do was put the knight rank insect out of its misery.


    [The hive mind allows them to learn what every one of them sees, but because they have no mind of their own, they are unable to improve on what they have learned.] The system stated as ke made a silent note of what it had said.


    ''I have a lot of questions for you.'' ke said to the system.


    [First, you should get out of here. you don''t know how the beasts would react after the death of the armored praying mantises. Besides, it isn''t like I am running away from your mind.] The system said.


    Looking around and seeing that the remaining beasts were still standing outside the Mother Tree''s range, ke gave out the order for his team to return to the wall.


    ''Are they still following the orders the armored praying mantises gave them?'' ke was confused when he saw that the beasts were not making effort to stop them from returning to the wall.


    [This just confirms the theory that something else apart from the praying mantises was controlling the beasts.] The system stated.


    If themanders of the beasts were to be killed, there was no doubt that they would return to their frenzied nature, meaning what gave them themand was still alive.


    ''So is it a high-ranking beast or something rted to the beast tide being sentient?'' ke asked.


    [For what and how the beasts are being controlled, I am not sure but I think it is abination of both.] The words of the system left ke confused.


    [For the armored praying mantises to have been connected by a hive mind, it means the queen which established the connection must be close by.


    If I am correct, it further reinforces the theory that a high-ranking beast can control weaker ones, but that raises a question. How is it possible for high-ranking beasts to control beasts of totally different species?]

 Chapter 323 - Elimination.

    <h4>Chapter 323 - Elimination.</h4>


    ording to the descriptions of the beast hordes that attacked the city during the beast tide, they attacked in neat order, just like humans would do.


    He had imagined the leaders of each type of beasts would lead their species into battle, but from what he had just seen from the dormant beasts, his imagination was wrong. High-ranking beasts could control weaker ones of any species.


    [How is it possible for high-ranking beasts to control beasts of totally different species?]


    "Obviously the beast tide." ke answered.


    [Doesn''t it feel strange that beasts gain such a useful power during the beast tide?] The system asked.


    ''Yeah¡­ If I was in the position of the thing behind the beast tide, I would want to unit all beasts under onemand.'' ke said.


    [This shows that the thing behind the beast tide is sentient to a certain level. Why I said it is abination of both is because, apart from the beast tide controlling the beasts to attack cities, they are still able to act and make decisions that would take would take when they were still normal.] The system exined.


    During the 5 days of monitoring the beasts, the system had noticed that the beasts had only gotten bolder apart from that, nothing else. Wargs and alphas still cared about each other and attacked in sync, solitary insects like the armored praying mantis still preferred fighting solo.


    "Nice job you guys." At this point, ke''s team had returned to the wall and Major Reeves congratted them forpleting the final exercise.


    ''Huh?'' ke turned to his right only to see Serhan''s team being escorted back to the wall by the special ops.


    "You guys only had one job, defend till I return!" Serhan screamed at his teammates.


    "Ahm!" Major Reeves cleared his throat, reminding the barking Serhan of his presence.


    "Have any idea of what happened?" ke whispered to Luciano because he had missed out on how Serhan''s team had been eliminated due to his conversation with the system.


    "They got attacked by 3 knight rank armored praying mantis. Serhan had managed to kill one with a fusion spell and was facing the 2nd one all alone, but one of his team members facing thest one was saved by Major Reeves." Luciano narrated with an indifferent expression.


    "Are the second-year teams that useless?" ke asked with a raised brow.


    "To some extent, yes. The reason they lost was that Serhan was the only one that had a fusion spell fast enough to not be dodged by the insects. As for the rest, they were as good as sitting ducks." Luciano exined.


    "I think they would still have loss..." ke said.


    "I agree, because of the hive mind the fusion spell won''t work again." Luciano read ke''s mind.


    "Listen up¡­" Major Reeves called the attention of the students.


    "The goal of the exercise was to ess your performance if your team was in a position where they had to save a member." Major Reeves said. "In a real situation, the stranded member would have no idea of how he/she would be saved and in the case of the rescue team, a lot of things could go wrong. The stranded teammate is meant to defend as long as possible, and the rescue team should be able to make adjustments to their ns on the fly."


    "For all those thinking I wanted to make them lose by releasing the armored praying mantises, you are correct. I wanted to release them to go after both the defenders and rescue team, but lucky enough I had a change of heart and decided the right time was when the rescue team and the defenders met."


    "At this point, I am regretting that decision. You guys should have been eliminated earlier so that we could focus more on the 3 teams that were worth watching." Major Reeves snorted at the teams that had failed toplete the exercise.


    "Moving over to the only team that had passed the exercise." Major Reeves turned to ke''s group. "As I had done in the previous exercises, I had given them a more difficult task. Not only was the beast concentration on their side greater than the other 1st year teams, but 3 knight rank armored praying mantises were released on them instead of 2 just like the other 1st year teams."


    This caused everyone in ke''s team to turn and look at each other in surprise. This was because when they looked at the other battlefields it was only 2nd-year teams they saw and they were all facing 3 knight rank armored praying mantises.


    ke knew that some part of the exercise wouldn''t be the same as other teams, but he hadn''t expected it to be both beast concentration and the number of armored praying mantises.


    "Their defense was absolute perfection and the attacking team was unstoppable. That is why they would be receiving a perfect score of 10 points." Major Reeves said as he began grading every team.


    The teams that had failed to save their stranded teammate have graded 0 points, while those that had gotten to their teammate but were eliminated by the armored praying mantises were graded 5 points.


    As for Serhan''s team that had killed one of the knight rank insects, they were grades 7 points, putting them in second position.


    "Just like I promised on the first day you guys arrived, I would reward the team with the highest points. As for the teams that weren''t able to get up to 30 points you all will be sent back to the school." Major Reeves stated causing ash corps to escort 3 teams back to the school. 2 teams were from 2nd year, while thest one was a 1st-year team.


    ''That moron would surely get a beating of his life.'' Brian couldn''t help butment in the mind link when he saw the face of the 4 man team filled with anger.


    ''I think they should have quitted a long time ago because it was as clear as day that they would be eliminated.'' Castiel said.


    When one of their team members had been sent back to the school by Major Reeves, the exercises given to them were still those of a 5 man team.. So everyone had seen their eliminationing.

 Chapter 324 - A Fun Day.

    <h4>Chapter 324 - A Fun Day.</h4>


    "As for the team with the most points and outstanding performances all through the exercise, I have decided to award them with the points of every beast they had killed." Major Reeves said shocking the other teams.


    The school had informed the students that they would gain points from the beasts they killed when the beast tide began. Meaning that since this was training in preparation for the main event they wouldn''t be getting any points no matter how many beasts they killed.


    So what Major Reeves'' statement meant was that ke''s team would be getting outrageous exchange points from every exercise they had done. Which included the first exercise where they used the elemental cannon, the 4th exercise where they used the mana cannons, and the final exercise that involved both killing their way through an army of beasts and Tessie killing tens of beasts in the process of defending herself.


    The exchange points assigned by the royal family on each tier of beasts were as follows: Magic beasts 250 points, chief tier 500 points, elite 1000 points, knight rank 5000 points, and king tier 50k.


    ''I am beginning to love Major Reeves, no homo.'' Brian said in an excited tone.


    ''Nice!'' Castiel couldn''t help but smile on hearing the good news.


    More points didn''t only mean they would be able to purchase more things in the exchange store, but it also meant they would be ranked higher at the end of the semester thus receiving more cultivation resources from the school.


    "The total point of all your team throughout the exercise amounts to 122k points. When shared, it is 24k to each member of the team." Major Reeves announced causing the other teams to re at ke''s team with envy and jealousy in their eyes.


    ''This just made entering the top 3 way easier.'' Brian said with a smirk, but ke was there to burst his bubble.


    ''We might have gotten a huge point gap with the teams here, but you have to remember that the other teams at the other parts of the city wall would get a simr boost in points.'' ke continued. ''It means there is no difference between us and the realpetition, so try not to lose focus.''


    "Now, you might be asking what else are you going to be doing with your time. The answer is very simple, you will begin to patrol the wall every day and use the skills taught to you to deal with the beasts before the main event." Major Reeves said.


    "It would be from now on that every beast you kill will award you with points. Dismissed!" With those words said the students immediately returned to their tents to get a well-deserved rest after a tasking day and exercise.


    ¡­


    That evening at the outskirts of the central region was a brown-haired man who seemed to be in his early 30''s alighting from a carriage. The man was dressed in brown cotton pants and a grey cotton shirt under a ck coat.


    This dressing style was verymon amongmoners, but what was a bit odd was that amoner had used a carriage, but it wasn''t too much of a strange sight because he could be the servant of a noble that had been sent on an errand.


    Ignoring the stares that came his way, the brown-haired man ruffled his hair before entering the pub that was close by.


    It was evening when people were to be back from work, but surprisingly it was almost empty.


    This was because of the effects of the beast tide on the city''s economy. Not only was it not safe for citizens to be out of their houses, but their sources of ie were currently shut down, meaning they had little to no money to spend on things like alcohol.


    The brown-haired didn''t seem to care about this or the emptiness of the pub as he went straight to the bar and ced an order.


    "4 pints." The brown-haired man said to the potbelly bartender who had a full brown beard.


    "That would be 8 bronze coins." The brown-haired man paid and 4rge pints of foamy bears were ced in front of him.


    The brown-haired man didn''t waste time to begin gulping down the first pint before moving over to the second.


    "Looks like you had a stressful day." The bartender said to the brown-haired man that was continuously gulping the beer without taking a break.


    This caused the brown-haired man to look at the bartender with his left eye, but it soon returned to his ss as he kept on drinking until it was empty.


    ''Guess he isn''t in the mood for small talks¡­'' The bartender thought as he watched the man pick up the 3rd ss.


    ''Although he is quite far from beating john''s record of 8 pints in a go, I think we might have a new record.'' The bartender thought as he intently watched the brown-haired man pick up the 4th ss and continue to down its content.


    Thump!


    The brown-haired man dropped the ss and turned to the bartender with a crazed smile on his face. "This is going to be a fun day."


    He had no clue why, but the psychotic smile and words of the brown-haired man caused the bartender to involuntarily shiver.


    ''I guess I was wrong. 4 sses and he has lost his mind.'' The bartender watched as the brown-haired man stood up and began moving towards the entrance of the pub.


    ''Are my eyes ying tricks on me?'' The potbelly bartender had expected the now drunk man to stagger as he walked out of the pub, but to his surprise, he walked out just as he had walked in.


    One of the customers who was at the window side watched as the brown-haired man stood at the entrance for a while before adjusting his cloak and vanishing.


    This caused him to look at the half-full ss of beer in his hand with a shocked look, before dropping it and leaving the pub.

 Chapter 325 - Artifact Heist.

    <h4>Chapter 325 - Artifact Heist.</h4>


    A few minutester when it waspletely dark, the brown haired man appeared in front of the door of one of the many mansions in the Karius estate.


    This was that of Xavier Karius and just like the other mansions in the Karius estate, that was painted with a kind of magical white thermochromic paint. During the daytime it was white and when it got to the evening time when the temperature was cooler it change from white to sky blue and deep sky blue at the coolest hour of the day.


    ''Interesting¡­'' Squeezing his left hand, one of the 3 rings which had an emerald lit up disabling all the rms on the door, before opening it and stepping in. This was one of his trusty artifacts and one of its powers was sensing and disarming arrays.


    The moment he shut the door, the skin along with the hair and clothes began slowly burning off, revealing a 20 year old with ruffled white hair, a charming face, and a psychotic smile that sent chills down the spines of whoever saw them.


    ''Let''s see where the target is at¡­'' Xander activated the blood-red gem ring on his index finger causing his vision to change to that of a heat vision camera. Everything on the ground floor was blue, so he looked up to the 1st floor and saw the outline of a human glowing red.


    The power of the red ring allowed him to locate anything he had in mind as long as they were within a certain distance.


    ''There it is¡­'' Once he confirmed the position of the target, Xander took his time as he began walking up therge stairs that could fit 3 people at the same time. When he got to the 1st floor he met Xavier Karius who was staring at him.


    From the looks of things, it seemed Xavier knew he wasing and had been waiting for him.


    "You must be Xavier Karius." Xander continued with an intrigued expression on his face. "I wonder long you have been standing there."


    "Let me guess you were sent by that swine from the Nystrom family to steal the Master seal?" Xavier asked but all he received was silence from the white-haired boy whose attention wasn''t even on him.


    "I don''t know who you are, but don''t you think you are being too cocky to think you can steal from a member of the Karius family in the Karius estate which houses multiple demigods?" Xavier had analyzed the man in front of him multiple times to make sure he was in the Nascent demigod realm. So he had no idea what was giving him so much confidence toe to steal from him and even be upfront about it.


    Once again there was an odd silence, but it seemed like Xander finally snapped out from his reverie.


    "I can see right through your ns. You n on boring me to death." Xander said as he yawned.


    The first part caused Xavier''s heart rate to increase for a split second, but on hearing the second part it returned to normal.


    "Since this would be no fun, I guess I have to end this quickly." Xander said with a disappointed look on his face.


    "I would love to see you try." Xavier said with a smirk on his face, but it was soon wiped off and reced with a confused expression when the emerald gem ring on Xander''s left hand lit up causing every item in his dimensional amulet to drop to the ground, including the master seal.


    The Master seal was meant to be a gift for the Karius family''s chief beast tamer and it was meant to be presented to him the next day which would make it less than 48 hours after purchase. This meant that there was currently no imprint on it, meaning that Xander didn''t need to kill him to steal it.


    Just when Xavier was trying to figure out what just happened, Xander shot out a beam of lighting at the Master seal, attracting it towards him but Xavier wasn''t going to just stand and watch.


    He shot his beam of lightning at the master seal, causing it to stop in its track and float in between the 2 without moving forward or back.


    "Not bad¡­" Xander said with a smirk as the beam of lighting went past the master seal and into the lightning beam of Xavier causing a small explosion of lightning arcs that Xavier easily blocked.


    ''How??'' Xavier was shocked when he saw Xander waving the master seal with a smirk stered on his face.


    He wasn''t shocked because the master seal was in Xander''s hand. He was shocked because he, the lightning prot¨¦g¨¦ of Calton city had lost to a stranger in a battle of lightning control.


    ''How was he able to do that?'' Xavier couldn''t help but ask himself when he recounted what just happened a few seconds ago.


    It turned out that Xander had so much control over his lightning beam that it went into that of Xavier before changing to a like charge that repelled each other causing Xavier''s lightning beam to burst into arcs of lightning.


    "I guess it''s time to leave then." Xander shook his head in disappointment as he activated his dimensional amulet to store the Master seal, but it wasn''t working.


    "As I said before, don''t you think you are too cocky to confront a mage in his house." Xavier said after he had activated the arrays and rms of his house.


    Xavier hadn''t engaged Xander because he was even more apprehensive of the white-haired boy after their little encounter. His guts were screaming that he was very dangerous.


    "I see you have activated the arrays and rms¡­ Tsk tsk, too predictable." Xander once again shook his head in disappointment.


    "Seems I will be holding this then." Xavier said as he turned to leave.


    ''He knew about the rm? Something is wrong here.''

 Chapter 326

    Chapter 326: Artifact heist (part II)


    ¡®He knew about the rm? Something is wrong here.¡¯ Xavier had a dead serious expression on his face as he saw Xander walking away.


    The reason the Karius family was wasting so much time in giving out the Master seal was that it was a setup to capture anyone that came to steal it. It wasn¡¯t a hidden trap, but even though many knew it was a trap it was just too good for some people to resist.


    This was why from the moment Xavier had purchased the Master seal, he wasn¡¯t allowed to leave the Karius estate. Meaning anyone that still nned on stealing it could be captured with ease.


    This was because every house in the Karius estate had an rm array connected to every other house. So if they were an intruder they would be surrounded in no time, but till now nothing had happened.


    ¡®Did he disable it?¡¯ Xavier couldn¡¯t help asking himself.


    Considering that everyone on standby none was below the demigod realm and it would only take them a few seconds to arrive. Xavier could only conclude that the white-haired boy had somehow disabled the rm.


    Xavier had guessed right, the moment Xander had walked up to his door and had inspected it, he had disabled both the defense and rm arrays.


    .....


    Zzzzg Zzzzg


    The crackling lightning began echoing all around the corridor as lightning arcs danced all around Xavier¡¯s body, causing Xander turn for a moment before continuing his slow walk to the stairs.


    BOOM!


    A lightning bolt twice as thick as an arm was released from Xavier¡¯s arm, but instead of going for Xander, it went straight for the roof. It easily tore through it but before the lightning bolt could escape into the night sky, it crashed into a blue barrier above the mansion.


    ¡°What the fuck a lightning rod barrier?!¡± Xavier was utterly shocked by what happened.


    ¡°I see you figured it out.¡± Xander chuckled at Xavier¡¯s unsessful attempt to call for help without even turning back.


    In anger, Xavier shot out a lightning bolt at Xander, but the white-haired boy quickly turned back and redirected the lightning back to him, causing Xavier to further doubt if he was going to win if they were to fight.


    ¡®Why is he walking so slow, it is clear that he doesn¡¯t want to kill me, but doesn¡¯t he want to escape? Is he nning something else?¡¯ Xavier¡¯s mind was in disarray but he didn¡¯t fail to notice how unconcerned Xander was acting.


    A behavior like this could only trante to one thing, Xander was nning something, and if care was not taken he would fall for it.


    ¡®Shit!¡¯ Xavier couldn¡¯t help but curse because he was currently between a rock and a hard ce.


    With the level of skills and power he had disyed, coupled with his unconcerned nature, Xander was surely stronger but he couldn¡¯t just watch him walk out of his house without a fight.


    ¡®I can¡¯t just watch him get away like that, how will I exin it to father. I have to do something!¡¯ Making up his mind on what to do, Xavier¡¯s eyes began surging with electricity as the night sky directly above the house began rumbling.


    Thunderbolt Call!


    This was a spell that summoned ferocious thunderbolts from above. It could be targeted at an opponent or at oneself before being redirected. So since there was already a hole in


    For a split second, the rumbling of lightning above stopped beforeing down like a thunderbolt 3 times more powerful than his previous attack.


    The lightning crashed down towards the hole above Xavier but once it came in contact with the blue barrier its power was halved before striking down at Xavier.


    Knowing this would happen Xavier had made preparations.


    Lightning step-up!


    Just when the lightning was about to hit him, a light blue halo appeared directly above him, doubling the power.


    BOOM!


    The amplified thunderbolt crashed into Xavier, and immediately it was redirected to Xavier who had almost gotten to the stairs.


    ¡°Chromastone Eruption.¡± With a smirk on his face, Xander stood still as a wall of emerald crystals erupted from below separating both sides of the corridor.


    Ding!


    The redirected thunderbolt crashed into the Emerald crystal wall, cracking its surface but that was when it lit up, repairing itself and increasing in thickness.


    This was the demigod level of earth maniption. It involved the production and maniption of the Emerald crystal, chromastone.


    Chromastone was a special crystal that possessed an absurd defensive property and absorbed the energy of attacks shot at it to both repair and expand. Meaning if one didn¡¯t have the power to destroy it in one attack, it was advisable for them to go around.


    The disadvantage of the chromastone crystal was that conjuring and maniption were mana intensive.


    ¡®This can¡¯t get any worse.¡¯ Xavier cursed his bad luck. Apart from the earth element being the weakness of the lightning element, Xander was surprisingly stronger than him when it came to lightning considering that the lightning element was the pride of the Karius family.


    Hydro cannons.


    Xavier shot out 10 powerful jets of water that tore through the walls and into the rooms by the side, beforeing out through the walls at the other side of the corridor.


    ¡°Hmmm.¡± Xander snorted as he used lightning reinforcement on his feet to easily dodge the hydro cannons, causing them to crash into walls and each other.


    Laminar Flow!


    On activating the spell, Xavier turn into water and entered one of Jetstream, and appeared at the other side of the chromastone wall which would have beenpletely flooded if not that it was open.


    Laminar Flow!


    Water clones!


    Xavier turned into a puddle of water that fell into the ankle level water. When he rose out of the water, there were now 5 of him in the corridor surrounding Xander.


    ¡°Apart from that rank 1 in the magic school, you are the city¡¯s prodigy. You can do better than this.¡± Xander said while yawning.


    ¡°I am not yet done!¡± All the Xavier¡¯s in the corridor screamed asrge amounts of steam began rising from the water below.

 Chapter 327

    Chapter 327: Artifact heist (Part III)


    Mist Mirage!


    The misting from below quickly filled up the entire corridor, reducing Xander¡¯s vision to zero, but everything immediately returned to normal. The only difference was that Xavier¡¯s clones had doubled in number.


    ¡°Nice trick there, but things like this don¡¯t work on me.¡± Xander still retained an unbothered expression on his face as the blood gem ring on his left hand began glowing.


    The blood gem ring granted him the ability to locate his target as long as they were within a certain range. That rule also extended to even when he was in an illusion.


    His vision changed to that of a heat vision camera, and everything including all of Xavier¡¯s 10 clones in the corridor was blue, meaning none of them were the original.


    ¡®So predictable.¡¯ Xander shook his head in disappointment as he quickly scanned the entire corridor.


    ¡°There you are...¡± Xander said, looking at a particr spot in the ankle level water in the corridor.


    .....


    Zzzg Zzzg


    Stomping his feet, Xander released a shockwave of electricity that was carried by the water to all the clones and the particr spot that was red in his heat vision.


    The small but powerful burst of electricity was too quick for the water clones to dodge it, causing them to evaporate, leaving only the illusions still standing.


    Seeing the attacking at him, Xavier quickly changed form to a lightning bolt and shot out of the water, but Xander who had predicted such a move had also turned into a bolt of lightning and appeared at his destination.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    Immediately Xavier turned back to his human form, Xander who appeared in front of him using the strength of a demigod geomancer and the speed granted by lightning reinforcement to unleash a barrage of devastating blows that sent crashing into the wall of chromastone.


    ¡°I am not close to the best demigod realm fighters in the league, but the so-called prodigy of Calton city is trash, disappointing.¡± Xander spat as his expression had changed to that of anger because Xavier was nowhere close to meeting his expectations.


    ¡®Shit! He is from the league of assassins, no wonder he is so powerful.¡¯ Xavier thought as he tried to recover from the attack. ¡®I am definitely screwed if they didn¡¯t get my signal.¡¯


    Seismic Burst!


    Xander stomped his right foot on the ground, causing a series of shockwaves to m into Xavier who was trying to regain his footing.


    10 bursts of powerful shockwaves continuously crashed into Xavier giving him no space to counter, but even at that Xander wasn¡¯t done.


    Absorbing the shockwaves produced by the seismic st to greatly enhance his body for a short time, Xander lunged at Xavier with 10 times the speed and power of a truck, as he delivered a devastating right hand to his torso.


    Crack!


    The sound of both Xavier¡¯s ribs and the wall of chromastone echoed all around the quaking mansion, as he puked out a mouthful of blood.


    ¡°I have to confess, your house is very impressive to be able to withstand so many spells.¡± Xander said as he looked around. ¡°Tell me, is the quality the same for all the mansions in the Karius estate?¡±


    Xander turned to Xavier for an answer, but the Calton city prodigy was finding it hard to breathe because of his damaged rib cage and copsed lungs, talking more of answering such a question.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Out of nowhere, the mansion was being bombarded by multiple demigod lightning spells. If not for the lightning rod barrier that was weakening the attacks, the mansion which had already taken so much damage from the one-sided beat down would have copsed already.


    ¡°I guess your backup is already here.¡± Xander said with an excited expression on his face, but that of Xavier was utter shock.


    ¡°You think I didn¡¯t notice the glow of neuron boost in your eyes when you cast thunder call. Even with a boost with the increased thought process granted by neurons you were still too predictable.¡± Xavier said as he used the blood gem to locate those that were attacking the building.


    3 people were flying above the mansion, 2 were raining down spells on it and they were in the demigod realm. Thest was in the peak demigod realm and was currently disabling all the arrays and traps Xander had set on the building.


    ¡°I would have loved to kill you for disappointing me, but I am not getting paid for that.¡± Xavier activated the 3rd ring which was what looked like a diamond crystal, but its surface alongside the shank was filled with runes.


    ¡°I guess it is time to leave.¡± A spatial tear opened behind, but on turning to leave, Xavier finally spoke.


    ¡°You had the chance to escape long ago, but it is toote now.¡± Xavier had mustard all the strength in his body to say those words.


    At that moment, the spatial tear behind him had copsed and so did all the arrays and traps he had set in and outside the house.


    ¡°Things just got interesting, time to show you all why I am the best in the league of assassins in terms of escaping.¡± Xander said with an excited but psychotic smile as he grabbed onto Xavier and held him in a hostage position.


    BOOM!


    A thunderbolt crashed through the roof and the peak demigod appeared in front of the stairs.


    The man who looked like he was in his early 40s had ck hair braided in a cornrow style with crisp lighting fades. He wore a white and light blue overflowing robe and had charming brown eyes that added to his serene aura.


    This was the Leader of the Karius family of Calton city and the father of Xavier.


    Although he look like a cool-headed man, every cultivator in the city knew he was one of the worst people to stay close to when he was angered, talking more of being the one that angered him.


    ¡°Xander the best escape artist of the league of assassins and the bastard child of the Karius and Ulrik family, nice meeting you again.¡± Z said with a calm smile not worried that his son was being held hostage.

 Chapter 328

    Chapter 328: The story of Xander of the league of assassins.


    Only very few people knew of the early stages of Xander¡¯s life, and fewer knew about theplete story of his life.


    Xander was the product of an affair with 2 married members of both the Karius and Ulrik families. When he was delivered none of the families wanted to ept the infant, not only was his birth disgraceful, but they were both rival families.


    His parents had 2 options; raising him and getting kicked out of their respective families, or they found a way to dispose of him.


    They could bear the shame and punishments that would surelye to them, but they couldn¡¯t abandon all the perks that came from being members of 2 of the top 3 families in the empire, so they easily chose the second option.


    Since the only legal way to get rid of a child was when it was still in the womb, his parents had decided to abandon him at an orphanage. Usually, this was the start of a good story, but things slowly got worse.


    Orphanages on infinite realm weren¡¯t functioning and were worse than those on earth. Unlike those on Earth where people of different sses and races could adopt any child they liked, those on infinite realm had no customers from the upper bracket because no noble would want the child of amoner, talk less of abandoned ones.


    This meant their only customers were from mid-range families because the lower bracket could hardly fend for themselves. The only problem with the mid-ss was that very few of them were infertile and even at that, it didn¡¯t mean they all wanted extra mouths to feed.


    .....


    Luckily, the orphanage had taken Xander in and had nurtured him for some years but unfortunately for him, when he clocked 7 years the orphanage head who was secretly a child trafficker in the underworld had sold him off alongside other kids into child very.


    ve stones were imnted into every child ve, allowing the traffickers to be able to track them even if they decided to run.


    The children didn¡¯t know of this and many of them had tried escaping on multiple asions, but ended up being caught and seriously punished. They were continuously punished to the point that they stopped trying to escape.


    The kids were sent into different kinds of childbor, but Xander was terrible at anything that required strength and endurance. This got him continuously punished to the point where the trafficker decided it was better to utilize him in another way than to end up killing him.


    Xander was moved to begging on the streets, and because of his charming face, he had made quite a sizable amount of money for his trafficker.


    Deciding to capitalize on his cuteness, the trafficker began teaching him techniques required to steal, and it turned out that Xander had a talent for stealing. In a short period of time, Xander had gone from masterminding stealing with his fellow child ves to being a professional at pickpocketing.


    After a few years, the child ves had increased considerably in size, giving them a new avenue to increase their hauls.


    Having proven himself to be more than capable to be their leader due to his ns and strategy that rarely failed, Xander led the now teen ves in raiding shops and cornering people in alleyways, and robbing them.


    This continued till one faithful night when the group had tracked and cornered a dark-skinned middle-ss man who didn¡¯t have any other distinctive features. It turned out that the man was a very strong mage, and he ended up killing everyone in the group except for Xander.


    Being only a helpless teen, Xander was scared the shit out of his soul as he watched the other teen ves get gruesomely murdered one by one He couldn¡¯t escape because the man had sealed all possible exits with mana barriers, so all he could do was stand and watch until it finally got to his turn.


    ¡°A particr group of people sees fate as unfair, while another group says otherwise. I believe fate doesn¡¯t give a shit about what we think, that is why we shouldin less and get ready to take hold of any opportunity that presents itself.¡± These were the words the dark-skinned man said before shooting a concentrated mana beam the width of a pen at Xander¡¯s heart.


    The thin beam of mana pierced through Xander¡¯s shivering body but stopped after it had destroyed the ve stone that had been put into his body.


    ¡°I have been watching you from the moment you were traded into the underworld, and I have decided to give you a chance to change your fate since you have been preparing for it.¡± The dark-skinned man said as he disabled the mana barriers.


    ¡°Although I have taken care of those monitoring your group, you can¡¯t stay here forever because they should be on their way here.¡±


    With the ve stone being connected to their hearts, it was able to read the location and life status of the ve. So since they were dead, the vers that were close by monitoring the group would surely receive notifications, but they were also dead.


    This meant that those at the main hideout would be the ones to act, but it would take some time before they arrived.


    Seeing that the dark-skinned man no longer had ns of killing him and that the barriers had been lifted, the still shivering Xander took to his heels out of instinct while continuously turning back to see that the man wasn¡¯t chasing him.


    It was after a few minutes of running, Xander had run out of breath and had stopped running. It was then that he began recounting the event that had happened a few minutes ago.


    Now that he was rtively calm, Xander thought of the things the man had said. He was a free man now, but he still had to make sure it stayed that way.

 Chapter 329

    Chapter 329: The story of Xander of the league of assassins (part II).


    Knowing the trafficker¡¯s range of operation, Xander moved to a farther part of the city, because he knew there would be a bounty on him and if he was caught death would be a better option than the level of punishment he would receive from the traffickers.


    After a week of moving to a new location, Xander had returned to his hideout in the sewers after a sessful solo operation to see a dimensional amulet.


    Xander¡¯s first thought was that his new location had been found out and he needed to move, but on a second thought, he wondered why the intruder would drop something as valuable as a dimensional amulet. He checked out the dimensional amulet and found out that it contained a pile of beast cores, basic cultivation, and martial arts books.


    The idea of selling them for a fortune came to him, but after using his knowledge of reading that had been taught to him at the orphanage, Xander read the contents of the books and found out that they exined steps to bing a mage.


    If it were most ves they would have sold everything to bring themselves out of poverty, but Xander was smarter than his peers and was able to think farther into the future.


    He was smart enough to identify this as an opportunity to drastically change his fate, and with that, there was no doubt who the person responsible for the gifts was.


    On days when he would have good hauls, Xander would return earlier to read and absorb energy from the beast cores.


    .....


    With the strengths that came with absorbing energy from beast cores and practicing martial arts, Xander¡¯s daily hauls were increasing at an outstanding rate. He had upgraded from barely surviving to eat enough to even support his cultivation.


    With his surprisingly very high magical talent, it took Xander a month to break through to the warrior realm, unlocking the Lightning element of the Karius family and the earth element of the Ulrik family.


    Although this opened up more opportunities to obtain more resources (Steal things of higher worth), he was out of magical resources and still wasn¡¯t strong enough to steal them because not just anymoner or beginner mage could get their hands on things like beast cores and higher-level magical books. So stealing from them was another way ofmitting suicide.


    This made Xander take a different approach. With his new powers, he began carrying out calcted high-risk high-reward robberies then saved most of the spoils for a long period of time to purchasing magic weapons for hunting magical beasts.


    He used the beast cores he got from hunting for cultivating and sold the beast corpse in the ck market for gold coins, which he used to buy more magical books and upgrade his magical equipment.


    His cultivation progress had reduced by a whole lot since he was using whatever he got, but on the bright side, it helped him extensively train his elemental mastery and physical capabilities.


    This went on for almost a year until he returned to his hideout in the sewers one night and found a higher grader of dimensional amulet.


    It contained a cursed artifact in the form of a ck earring that allowed him to change appearance but gave him random personalities. He also got higher grades of a lot more beast cores and magical books on elemental control, a book on star fusion, and most importantly a book that taught the Raiju breathing technique.


    At this point, it was clear that the dark-skinned man was grooming him from the shadows and was rewarding his progress with more resources.


    The question Xander couldn¡¯t answer was why?


    This rtionship continued for years as Xander had grown drastically in strength and so did his infamy.


    Not only was his ns and backup ns impable, but he was more than talented in lightning mastery. He was so naturally attuned to lightning that his haze hair color and eyes hadpletely changed to white.


    By the time he had gotten to the peak of the Hero realm, Xander had amassed a lot of artifacts and it was at that point that he had decided tomence the 1st stage of his revenge.


    He first tortured and killed the orphanage head that had sold him into very before going for the child traffickers.


    There were a lot of child traffickers, but his goal was going after the particr trafficker that bought him. Xander tracked down the organization and the identity o the kingpin whose name was Jamul. He killed every member of the organization and tortured the kingpin for days before finally killing him.


    After the 1st stage of his revenge was concluded, Xander had gone on what is currently known as his greatest heist and had managed to survive.


    The news spread all across the empire and had caused a lot of high ups to look into his background, and shockingly they found out that he was the child that the Karius and Ulrik family had rejected.


    This made both families regret their decision of rejecting such a genius, but it was way toote for them because even if they managed to recruit him he still had to pay off his long streak of crimes.


    On the other hand, Xander¡¯stest feet had attracted way too much heat on him, causing him to constantly be on the run because of the bounty on his head but that was when he was approached by the dark-skinned man that had given him a chance to change his fate.


    ¡°I am really d that you had what it took to change your fate.¡± The dark-skinned man said as his skin and cloth began burning, till it revealed a man dressed in all ck and wearing a ck smiling mask.


    ¡°I am here to offer you the final step in changing your fate. The league of assassins invites you to join her ranks. Do you ept?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Xander said not surprised by the change in appearance.


    ¡°Wee to the league of assassins.¡± The masked said as spatial tear opened and he gestured for him to enter.

 Chapter 330

    Chapter 330: All within expectations.


    Once Xander was recruited, the heat on him had reduced t top adventurers trying to capture him because of the enormous bounty on his head and the Ash corps who also ced the bounty on his head.


    This was because they were afraid of the power of the league of assassins.


    It wasn¡¯t only because their members were way stronger than those on their level, but the league of assassins was at the pinnacle of the underworld meaning they controlled everything even though they rarely did.


    So if anyone thought that they were strong enough to go against the league of assassins they should be prepared for the consequences that followed.


    By bing a member of the league, Xander was constantly receiving high-tier missions that not only increased his wealth but also refined further refined his skills and power.


    Once he got to the peak of the hero realm, Xander decided tomence the final stage of his revenge, and that was killing his parents and all their legitimate children.


    His parents were untalented mages who had been stuck at mid level of the hero realm for decades because they were too focused on parties and events.


    .....


    This made Xander¡¯s work easier. When his father had gone out to party, Xander had infiltrated his mansion and ughtered every single soul including his wife before waiting for him to return before he easily subdued and took him to a hideout.


    He did the same to his mother, killing her husband then taking both of them back to the headquarters of the league of assassins where he continuously tortured them for years, before killing them off when he advanced to the demigod realm.


    During this period of advancement, Xander hadn¡¯t taken any mission because he was training to master his new powers.


    It was immediately he came out of training that Oliver Nystrom¡¯s mission came in, and that led to the current situation.


    ¡°I never expected you to be the one toe for the master seal because I didn¡¯t think you would ept such a low mission. ¡± Z said with a smirk.


    ¡°I agree that it is a low-tier mission for someone of my level, but I didn¡¯t ept it because of the money. If not I wouldn¡¯t have charged a million gold coin above the artifacts market value.¡¯ Xander said.


    ¡°I agreed to the mission because it involved messing with the Karius family. So why should I reject an opportunity to improve my portfolio by stealing and escaping from a peak demigod of one of the top 3 families in the empire?¡± Xander burst intoughter wiping off the smirk on Z¡¯s face.


    ¡®Not only was his n on stealing the artifact perfect, but he had also predicted my involvement, and from the looks of it he has a n.¡¯ Xander¡¯s ability to make impable ns and predict the future weren¡¯t to be underestimated especially with the life of his eldest son on the line.


    One of Z¡¯s fear was that Xander had brought along another member of the league. If that was so, he might find it hard to escape talk more of saving Xavier.


    With this series of thoughts, the peak demigod of the Karius family decided to take a different approach.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with, hand me my son and I won¡¯t kill you.¡± Z said in a stern tone.


    ¡°Trying to sound tough huh?¡± Xander chuckled as he continued speaking. ¡°You should remember that his puny miserable life is in my hands. I can kill him and still escape or maybe kill you too.¡±


    Xander¡¯s statement confused Z for a second, but he quickly discarded them because it was impossible for a nascent demigod to beat a peak demigod.


    Crack!


    AHH!


    The sound of Xavier¡¯s arm breaking and his scream following afterward echoed all around the corridor.


    Unfortunately for Xavier, the vitality of a demigod was monstrous meaning he was still wide awake feeling the pains of every injury that had been inflicted on him.


    ¡°I wanted to know, is every house in the estate as reinforced as this?¡± Xander asked with genuine interest.


    ¡°I am beginning to lose my patience, tell me are you epting my offer?¡± Z said in an annoyed toned.


    Xander ignored him as he began checking out his ck-painted fingernails before answering. ¡°It¡¯s almost time, so why not?¡± Xander said with a smirk.


    ¡®Time for what? This must be another bluff.¡¯ Z disregarded Xander¡¯s statement and focused on the exchange that was about to take ce.


    ¡°30 29 28 27 25... sorry I miscounted.¡± Xander apologized with a sinister smile that showed that he enjoyed what he was doing.


    When he finally got to 0, Xander simultaneously kicked Xavier over to Z while activating the clear gem ring.


    ¡°See ya!¡± Xander gave Z a salute as a spatial tear opened behind him and he jumped backward to prevent any surprises.


    ¡®I said you could leave, but not with the Master seal.¡¯ Z thought.


    Immediately Xavier had been kicked over, Z cast a high-tier water barrier to protect him while making a divine pronouncement.


    ¡°God says all held items shoulde to him!¡±


    Immediately the divine pronouncement was made, a mystical force pulled the master seal out of Xander¡¯s left hand causing it to fly towards Z.


    Divine pronouncements were only useful when fighting those lower in realm. Since the gap between each of the 5 levels of the demigod realm was enormous, it was more than enough to get the job done, but this was all within his predictions.


    Snap!


    BOOM! BOOM!


    With the snapping of his fingers, 2rge explosions rang at 2 different parts of the Karius estate forcing Z to lose concentration for a second, but that was more than enough for Xander.


    The clear gem ring on Xander¡¯s finer lit up, opening a spatial tear at the Master seal¡¯s flight path causing both him and the artifact to disappear.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Z cursed when as he and Xavier were the only ones left in the room.

 Chapter 331

    Chapter 331: Death sentence.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Z cursed when as he and Xavier were the only ones left in the room.


    Carrying the fatally injured Xavier and flying out of the mansion, Z went high up in the sky to check where the explosions had affected.


    It had been 2 duplexes of regr members that had been targeted, but luckily all the houses in the area were magically reinforced although notpared to those of high-ranking members.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why he was asking if all the buildings in the estate were reinforced.¡± After confirming that Xander was no longer in the estate and that there was no more danger, Z immediately rushed his son back to the main Karius mansion to get healed.


    ...


    Inside a sewer close to the outskirt of the Karius estate, Xander whose eyes were wide openy on the path of running sewage and was covered by a silver and blue halo.


    The blue halo was mana that protected him from the sewage getting on his body, while the silver halo was one of the effects of the clear gem ring.


    .....


    The clear gem ring was an epic tier cursed artifact. It granted the user the ability to open spatial tears to random locations and to conceal the presence of anything that passed through the spatial corridor.


    Also, the cursed artifact granted the user the spatial awareness of everything that passed through the spatial corridor. Meaning Xander would know the exact location of the Master seal even though it was warped to a random location.


    The drawback was that the more the user activated the cursed artifact in a day the more bad things happened to them. The first use had no drawbacks, but the second use knocked out the user.


    It was at the 3rd use that the cursed artifact would actively try to kill the user by warping him to a dangerous location. For example, if Xander was to use it again, there was a high chance that he would be warped into the main Karius mansion where the peak demigod Z was present.


    As for the 4th use, it was a sure thing that the user would die, because the cursed artifact would warp them into the void and when the wearer was dead, it would return to the same spot in the real world.


    The reason why Xander wasn¡¯t knocked out was that he was a demigod and the adverse effects were slightly mitigated, but it still left him incapable of moving or casting spells.


    The effects took less than half an hour to wear off, but for now, Xander could onlyy in sewage as the pungent smell assaulted his nostrils.


    ...


    The moment the twin explosions had gone off, the closest of the adventurers patrolling the central region began moving to the Karius estate.


    The first to get there was the A rank adventurer Typhoon who was the leader of the central region patrol team.


    They were informed that it was the doing of Xander, but he didn¡¯t want to be the one to handle such a serious case. So instead of spreading the word to every adventurer in the central region, he told only those in the Karius estate to conduct a light search for Xander.


    Many of the adventurers knew that it was a futile attempt to search for Xander. Not only were none of them demigods, but the little time it had taken for them to respond was more than enough for a member of the league of assassins to escape.


    ¡®Because we are defending these scumbags of nobles they put a B rank adventurer like me in such a filthy ce, and they expect me to runing when they are in trouble?¡¯ Pascal sneered as he was walking through the tunnels of the sewer.


    Pascal stood 5¡ä 5¡å inches tall, and had a stout physique and a frown as his default expression. He almost always had something toin about and his hate for the nobles was greater than averagemoner.


    He was patrolling the sewers outside the Karius estate when he heard the explosions, but he didn¡¯t bother to go check it out, meaning he had no clue of who was attacking or what happened.


    As he was waiting for everything to calm down beforeing out, Pascal decided to take a piss.


    ¡°Yeahhh...¡± He was fully immersed in the satisfaction that came with emptying a full dder when the corner of his eyes saw something that was covered in a silver halo being carried around by sewage.


    He immediately tucked his little john back into his leather pants and turned to the object and began using his senses to scan it, but he couldn¡¯t even sense it.


    This further increased curiosity as he used mana maniption to scoop it out of the sewage.


    ¡°By the All-father¡¯s beards!¡± Pascal eximed when he saw the Master seal.


    Almost every adventurer had heard of the bidding war that urred between Oliver Nystrom and Xavier Karius because of the artifact.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to tell me I dreaming right?¡± Pascal pinched himself, but sure enough, he was wide awake.


    ¡°How did this get here?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter now. The most important question is what should I do with it?¡±


    ¡°Return it to the Karius family?¡± There was a pause, but Pascal soon burst intoughter. ¡°Even if I had gone mad, I wouldn¡¯t do such a thing.¡±


    ¡°Since it was stolen, the Karius family would surely inform the ash corps and an investigation would surely be carried out. I have to take it to where the investigation wouldn¡¯t get to, the wall.¡± Pascal said to himself.


    His n was after the beast tide was over, the intensity of the search for the master seal would have reduced and the city would be too focused on returning the city to normal. He would use the opportunity to sell the artifact at the ck market for a huge sum.


    He immediately went for the nearest manhole to leave the sewers because he was going to the association building to get signed up to be posted at the wall.


    Unknown to him, he just signed his death sentence.

 Chapter 332

    Chapter 332: Make him pay.


    Not knowing how screwed he was, Pascal took a carriage straight for the adventurer association building to register to be posted at one of the walls.


    On entering the building, Pascal proceeded to the recruitment section where he informed the female Ash cop who was in charge of the recruitment.


    She had wavy hazel hair and an oval head with brown oval framed sses on. Even though she was missing a smile and her eyes were dull due to the stress of working from morning to thiste in the night, Pascal still considered her to be pretty.


    ¡°After filling the form please kindly wait as we process that of those that came before you.¡± The female ash cop said as he handed Pascal the form and gestured for him to take a seat.


    Unknown to him, Xander who had recovered from the effects of the clear gem ring, and the masked man were floating high up in the sky, looking down on the adventurer association building.


    ¡°Let me guess, instead of getting out of there immediately you got the Master seal, you decided to have some fun?¡± The masked man who was dressed in all ck including his cloak said without turning to Xander.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Xander said with a wry smile as he fiddled with his hair.


    .....


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you have a n for a situation like this?¡± The masked man asked.


    ¡°I did. The explosions were meant to cause every adventurer in the area including those in the sewers to respond and move to the surface.


    In the case of an anomaly like this. Since he would be alone, it would be an easy kill and if he was to try to return the artifact to the Karius family I would have intercepted him and done the same.¡± Xander answered.


    Xander had made his ns based on the fact that no one in their right senses would not only steal from the league of assassins but would also steal an artifact from one of the top 3 families of the empire.


    He had no idea that Pascal was metaphorically and literally living under a rock when the explosion had happened. So he had no idea that the artifact had a connection with the league of assassins, s it was already toote for him.


    As for why they hadn¡¯t made their way into the high-rise building, it was very dangerous and the league of assassins had rules they abided by.


    Entering the association building tomit a crime was no different from hanging oneself from a ceiling fan and somehow being able to turn on the switch to the max speed.


    Not only were the arrays in the building strong enough to easily capture an Angel but with the help of both the hidden and unhidden adventurers, taking down an archangel wouldn¡¯t be out of reach.


    As for the rules, the league of assassins wasn¡¯t meant to conduct an assassination or mission in or within ces like the adventurer association or the walls, especially during the beast tide.


    The reason for the former was because of an agreement between both of the superpowers, while thetter was also an agreement with the league and the empire, to prevent losing an entire city. So all they could do was just wait.


    ...


    Back in the adventurer association building, Pascal was done filling the form and it was finally his turn to be attended to.


    Once he submitted the form and it was checked by the female ash cop, she used one of the stamps on her desk on the form and handed it back to Pascal.


    ¡®Fuck me...¡¯ Pascal shook his head as he cursed his bad luck when he saw the southern wall stamp on his form.


    Not being the 20th time she saw a scene like this, the female ash cop instructed Pascal to wait for some time before they would all be teleported to the southern wall.


    ...


    Back outside...


    It had been almost half an hour since the target had entered the adventurer association building, but Xander soon felt a pull at his consciousness.


    It was the Master seal, and it had moved all the way to the southern wall.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Xander cursed before informing the masked man.


    It didn¡¯t need a genius to decipher what just happened. The target had moved to the southern wall where they were unable to operate. It was as if he was daring them toe and get him if they could.


    ¡°Any advice on what I should do?¡± Xander asked.


    ¡°I am not meant to take part in your mission, that is why I didn¡¯t stop him before he got here, but I have 2 pieces of advice for you. Make sure you follow the rules and make him suffer for stealing and challenging the league of assassins.¡± The Masked man said before warping out.


    ¡°Now I have to keep an eye on him till the beast tided is over.¡± Xander face-palmed when he thought of how hisck of seriousness put him under so much stress.


    ¡°On the bright side, I will get to watch the performance of the city¡¯s 2nd prodigy, but before that, I have to make a report to the client.¡± Xander said before contacting an agent of the league to send Oliver Nystrom a one-usemunication orb.


    He exined the situation to him, and although almost no one dared to get angry at a member of the league, Oliver Nystrom seemed quite happy about the oue.


    He had been told by Xander that there was a chance of something going wrong so he had prepared his heart for such an oue.


    As for the reason for his happiness. As long as the Karius family had their hands on the Master seal it was still a win situation because with or without it, he still remained the best in beast taming.


    Also, there was soon going to be an investigation on the matter. So not being in possession of the artifact was an added advantage.

 Chapter 333

    Chapter 333: Investigation.


    Just like everyone had expected, the ash corps had immediately begun an investigation on the stolen artifact that same night to prevent people from disposing of evidence.


    All suspects were brought in for interrogation, while all those in the area including adventurers were questioned on their whereabouts to make sure none of them worked for Xander.


    ¡°Can we get this over with, I have better things to do with my time.¡± Oliver Nystrom said with a nonchnt tone as he looked at the one-way mirror in the interrogation room.


    He had been sitting in the interrogation room for close to 10 minutes without anyoneing to meet him, but he knew they were people on the other side of the mirror watching him the whole time.


    That was when the door clicked open and a man in his early forties who had a heart-shaped face with perfectly trimmed sideburns and a pointed nose walked into the room.


    On his body was a half-ck cloak with red seams at both halves forming the ash corps¡¯ insignia at the center when closed and under the cloak were multiple medals that showed feats were pinned unto a ck suit vest.


    It was Colonel Darius.


    .....


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the case to be so serious to get the colonel involved.¡± Oliver was surprised when Darius entered the room. Not as if he was worried, he was just surprised that Darius was involved in the case.


    ¡°Not only was an artifact stolen but there was an act of terrorism that urred in the central region. So naturally, I am meant to get involved.¡± Colonel Darius said with a gentle smile as he took a seat opposite Oliver.


    ¡®I am the prime suspect, so it makes sense that he is the one to interrogate me.¡¯ Oliver thought.


    ¡°So tell me. What do you know about the theft of the Master seal artifact and the explosions that urred in the Karius estate?¡± Colonel Darius asked.


    For some in the demigod level, Oliver already knew the ash corps method of interrogation. They would listen to your heartbeat while using artifacts to force you to tell the truth.


    Keeping his heartbeat steady was child¡¯s y, but the main problem was being forced to say the truth by the artifact. So all he could do now was trust that the league of assassins would keep up with their own side of the bargain and protect him.


    ¡°That league of assassin member Xander stole the artifact and that 2 explosions went off at the houses of 2 regr members of the Karius family.¡± Oliver repeated exactly what the ash corps member that brought him for interrogation said.


    ¡°Where were you during the time of the theft and explosions?¡±


    ¡°In my mansion where I was arrested.¡± Oliver answered.


    ¡°Do you have any connection with Xander or any of the attacks that took ce today?¡± Darius asked while checking for any microexpression or any slight change in his heart rate.


    ¡°No.¡± Oliver continued to give simple answers.


    After 5 minutes of questioning, Colonel Darius asked the final question as he activated the truth artifact.


    ¡°Are all the testimonies you have given true?¡±


    For a moment Oliver felt something pull at his consciousness, but immediately it appeared he returned to normal before answering.


    ¡°Yes...¡± Oliver answered.


    With that being done, Colonel Darius left the interrogation room where Z the head of the Karius family, Calton city branch, and his personal assistant Ashely were waiting for him.


    ¡°No change in heart rate, nor was there any form or sign of interference with the artifact, so he has nothing to do with the crime.¡± Colonel Darius said to Z who was nowhere happy with the oue of the interrogation.


    He was furious but didn¡¯t dare to show any of that in front of Darius because not only was weaker in terms of cultivation, but the rank of a Colonel was only below that of Prince Bryon who was themander in chief of the armed forces of the entire eastern part of the empire.


    All he could do now was stare at Oliver who was also looking at the one-way mirror with a smirk on his face. This made Z boil with fury, but after a few minutes of continuously hearing the sound of grinding teeth, Colonel Darius decided to speak up.


    ¡°Hopefully we would find evidence in his house.¡± Darius said causing the grinding to stop.


    ...


    Back at Oliver¡¯s mansion.


    Immediately he was brought in for investigation, Oliver Nystrom¡¯s house was immediately searched for anything that could incriminate him.


    Apart from going through all inches of the mansion the ash corps cursed artifact, Beholder, to check if he had any kind of shading deal with anyone.


    They found nothing and worse, they didn¡¯t find any form of interference with the artifact.


    Interferences were used to prevent divination artifacts like the Beholder from seeing a particr event and this could only be done by those on the same level as the artifact.


    A demigod could interfere with a demigod-level divination artifact, but that was if someone lower in realm was using the artifact. If the user was on the same level as the user and artifact they could easily see through the interference.


    As for a situation when the interferer was in a higher realm than that of the user and artifact, the inference would seed.


    Depending on the level difference, it woulde in form of a distorted static vision or aplete alteration of the interferers will which cannot be traced.


    This was exactly what the league of assassins had used in both the lie detector artifact and the beholder, making it impossible to trace anything back to Oliver.


    After the search was over, the ash corps had to free Oliver, but that didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t keeping an eye on him.


    ...


    The next day.


    All the teams had been sent to their different positions on the wall, just in time to watch the volunteers and adventurers undergo their own training.

 Chapter 334

    Chapter 334: This won¡¯t be easy.


    The students hadpleted their training and were now officially taking part in the beast tide as defenders of the wall for now. Meaning every beast they killed would now act as the 60% of their overall points.


    When the teams reported to their different positions on the wall, they noticed 3 things. The first was that the number of beasts outside the wall had doubled, easily surpassing 700.


    The second was that every team had a member of the ash corps assigned to them as a supervisor to help them out when needed and to make sure nothing went wrong, especially with each team. They couldn¡¯t afford the students to be stupid at such a time like this.


    Thest thing they noticed were the volunteers and adventurers who were about to begin their training and from the looks of it, they were heading outside the wall.


    ¡°I have always wondered what the position of the adventurers would be since not everyone can stay on the wall.¡± ke said receiving nods from his team.


    The city walls had 2 barriers protecting them. The first was the orange city barrier that covered the entire city and prevented aerial attacks. It was powerful but just had only one function.


    The second shield was a purple barrier from the city wall itself. It came in form of a purple wall that stretched far above the top of the wall, protecting the defenders. Although attacks below the king beast rank wouldn¡¯t put a dent on its surface, the barriers were necessary for preventing an emperor rank beast from destroying the wall.


    .....


    Also, it had the ability to umte and reflect damage taken by both the barrier and wall. The more damage it took, the greater the damage reflected.


    When the adventurers, noble family members, and volunteers made their way out of the wall¡¯s barrier and began positioning themselves in different groups.


    Those with high defensive capabilities like geomancers and also those good at closebat were positioned directly in front of the city¡¯s orange barrier, and behind them were beast tamers and photomancers.


    The second to thest set of people were array experts that had the support role, while thest group was up on the sides of the wall. They were ranged fighters that had the job of bombarding the beasts with destructive spells.


    They were positioned in a way that was self-reliant, and their overall goal was to reduce the damage dealt to the city barrier from the beasts at the forefront, while the cannons and those at the top attacked from the mid to the back.


    ¡°You will get your chance to get points in the afternoon, so just watch and learn from their training.¡± Major Reeves said to the teams.


    Once all the groups were ready, the city barrier was taken down and the beasts began frantically rushing at the humans.


    The geomancers terraformed the ground in front of them to quicksand, slowing down and trapping some of the beasts, giving the Photomancers time to act.


    Blood vines!


    Hundreds of thorny nt vines erupted from the ground restraining the unfortunate beasts that had been captured and using them as blood banks to strengthen themselves.


    BOOM BOOM!


    Soon spells began raining down from those hanging on the wall and killing multiple beasts at the same time, greatly reducing pressure at the frontline. Using the opportunity of the momentum of the swarming beasts being reduced, the close quarterbatants engaged the beasts.


    ¡°Their teamwork is so seamless that those in charge of arrays and beast tamers have nothing to do.¡± Castiel said.


    ¡°They make it look like they are fighting 80 beasts instead of 800.¡± Brian couldn¡¯t help butment making it look too easy.


    ¡°When you have years of experience of fighting with people, you wouldn¡¯t even need to think for seamless teamwork like this.¡± Luciano said.


    In less than 10 minutes, all 800 beasts had been killed and the city barrier at the southern wall was back up. The adventurers, noble family members, and volunteers had returned to the city, concluding their training for the day.


    Ash corps were charged with bringing the beast corpse back into the city causing the view outside the wall had be very peaceful and free from beasts, giving the students no reason to constantly keep patrolling.


    ...


    By mid-noon, the number of beasts that had kept on making their way to the city barrier was a little bit below 200.


    ¡°Before the main event will begin, the afternoon would be your chance to get points. Note, while outside farming for points, the job of the ash cops assigned to each team isn¡¯t to save you from the beasts, but from yourselves.¡±


    ¡°They would protect you from the stupid ones, but it doesn¡¯t mean you wouldn¡¯t be punished for being stupid.¡± Major Reeves said while looking at the 2nd year teams. ¡°Good luck in farming points, and try not to die.¡±


    His short speech confused a lot of people while making the rest frown.


    ¡°We are going outside the wall just like the adventurers?¡± Brian asked with a confused expression.


    ¡°I think you should be more worried about thest part.¡± Castiel said with a frown on his face.


    The only job of the assigned ash cop members was to prevent them from scheming against each other, meaning if one of them was in danger they wouldn¡¯t help them. That was the major problem, but not all of it.


    It was a free-all, meaningwless acts like kill stealing would be used especially against them to reduce therge margin they had over other teams.


    Apart from kill stealing, there was a chance that they would somehow redirect the beasts to them getting them overran and possibly killed in the process.


    ¡°This won¡¯t be easy.¡± At this point, ke was wishing he was allowed to kill anyone that may prove to be dangerous to them.


    ¡°Proceed to the elevator.¡± Major Reeves said to the teams that were stillining.

 Chapter 335

    Chapter 335: Are we meant to be scared?


    All Serhan needed was a single look at the other second years for them to know his evil intentions.


    ¡°Time for them to pay.¡± Serhan had an evil grin on his face as the teams were moving to the elevator.


    Once they got to the ground, they made their way out of the wall¡¯s purple barrier.


    When ke¡¯s team took their position behind the orange barrier, Serhan, and another second-year team were positioned at their sides.


    ¡®The fact that they are not a breath away means they are definitely nning something that isn¡¯t kill stealing.¡¯ ke said in the mind link.


    With the school¡¯s badges on them, unless it was a battle array, the person thatnded thest hit on a beast would be awarded the point, no matter how many people that had previously damaged the beast. This was what ke was most worried about, but seems they were nning something else.


    All the teams began preparing both their spells and arrays before part of the city barrier was brought down for the beasts to attack.


    .....


    HUMMM!


    The city barrier let out a low hum as arge part of it disappeared letting beasts pour in, but instantly, spells began raining on them.


    Although the spells of the students were not as strong as those of the adventurers and volunteers they still dealt a lot of damage, but it didn¡¯t stop the beasts from slowly filling up the space behind the barrier.


    ¡®They are not attacking??¡¯ Serhan was confused when he saw ke¡¯s team just standing even though the beasts were making their way toward them.


    ¡®We can¡¯t wait forever, If they get too close the n won¡¯t work out, it has to be now.¡¯ ke¡¯s team¡¯s inaction could hardly be considered a minor problem. So everything was to continue as nned regardless of what happened.


    ¡°NOW!¡± Once they were sure that the beasts had gotten their attention, Serhan gave out the signal, and the ground beneath both second-year teams copsed, causing them to enter a tunnel they had made the moment they arrived.


    ¡°Just as expected.¡± ke said with a grin as they saw the hole they fell into close up.


    By both teams leaving the vision of the beasts, the pressure on ke¡¯s team would greatly increase since all the beasts would focus on them. This meant they would be facing 3 times the number of beasts.


    Unknown to the second-year teams, the moment their geomancers began creating a tunnel below them, the system had informed ke allowing him to make preparations.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it, are we meant to be afraid by you guys hiding.¡± keughed as he gave the signal to activate the elemental cannon battle array.


    Luciano stood at the center of the runes that formed the elemental mana cannon array that was being powered by the entire team.


    Elemental Cannon: Fire Storm!


    Arge ball of golden mes conjured at the center of the array above them was released into the sky, and secondster came crashing down on the beasts that were making their way to them.


    BOOM!


    Once the golden ball of me made contact with the beasts, an explosion of golden mes rocked the ground as all the beasts within its range were instantly turned to charred corpses.


    The st wave killed every beast within a 5-meter radius that was below the elite rank, While fatally injuring those out in the elite rank.


    ¡°Brian and Tessie, you guys are up.¡± Immediately ke signaled for them to act they detached from the elemental cannon array leaving Luciano, Castiel, and ke to power it.


    Luciano continued using explosive fire spells to kill the beasts while pushing them back and buying them some time, while Brian Terraformed arge portion of the ground around them to quicksand to slow and trap beasts that managed toe close.


    As for Tessie, she dropped the Mother seed and once the thorny seed got in contact with the ground, it came to life and began burrowing into the ground.


    At this point, Luciano stopped firing the elemental cannon battle array and let the beasts cover the gap between them.


    Seeing that the attacks from the humans had reduced, the beasts couldn¡¯t be happier at the stupidity of the humans. They increased their speed to the max as they charged forward, but ke could only smile.


    They blindly charged into the quicksand which easily trapped all the beasts below elite rank, while the elite rank beasts struggle to make it to the other side, but that was when red thorny nt vines twice as thick as usual, erupted from below and began rapping and constricting them.


    ¡°Brian disable the quicksand.¡± ke instructed Brian as he took over the battle array.


    The aim of everything was to gain as many points as possible, so slowing down or trapping the beasts would be pointless if they weren¡¯t the ones tond thest hit.


    Once the ground had returned to normal, the beasts continued their charge at the team but that was when the Mother Tree erupted from beneath the team, raising them 4 meters above the ground.


    Elemental Cannon: Lighting fork!


    The array moved to the front of the team before firing out a long bolt of lightning that branched into multiple arcs that struck tens of beasts, killing them instantly.


    The single attack had killed more than 10 beasts at once, but it didn¡¯t stop the remaining from encircling them as they tried to get close to the mother tree.


    ...


    ¡°Fuck that stupid array of there¡¯s!¡± Serhan couldn¡¯t help but rain curses at ke¡¯s team as he watched through the mirror spell that they set above their cave.


    Not only was his n to get ke¡¯s team overran failing, but they were farming points meant for the 3 teams, and if they let this continue their teams would get no points.


    ¡°It is obvious that your n has failed, so why are we still wasting time here?¡± Dustin Ulrik the rank 2 of the 2nd year said with an annoyed look on his face.

 Chapter 336

    Chapter 336: 2 can y that game.


    Not only was ke¡¯s team not getting overrun by beasts, but their speed of farming points was outrageous.


    It was clear as day that his n was a total flop, and although it was hard for him to ept being defeated again by ke, he had no other option than to leave the hole with his team causing the other second-year team to follow suit.


    Seeing the appearance of more humans, some of the beasts decided to go for them since they were easier targets than ke¡¯s team.


    The 2nd year teams immediately took their battle positions and began going all out from the start. They began unleashing their fusion spells at the beastsing toward them.


    sma st!


    Serhan shot a pink sma ray which was abination of lightning and fire that heat the air to extreme temperatures that create sma energy.


    Everything that was unlucky toe in contact with the pink sma ray was immediately melted, but its only downside was that it was quite slow, making it not so useful in a 1 v 1 fight or against speed type beasts that easily dodged the attack.


    .....


    To prevent them from being overrun by beasts, Dustin Ulrik used fusion magic to change arge area around them to semiva which he could control to erupt.


    It sessfully slowed down the rate at which they were being jumped by the beasts, enabling them to easily kill those that made it across theva pool.


    ¡°2 can y the game of scheming.¡± ke said when he saw the 2nd year teams leaving their hiding holes. Although he had rendered their scheme useless, he didn¡¯t n on letting them go scot-free.


    ¡°You three should take over the elemental cannon. Preventing the beasts from reaching the top is the top priority, but if possible try and steal as many points from them.¡± ke continued as he let Castiel take over. ¡°As for us, we are going to make them pay for trying to mess with us.¡±


    ke and Luciano brought out their weapons and went down the Mother Tree. Luciano went for Serhan¡¯s team, while ke went for the other 2nd year team.


    With lightning reinforcement activated and Ebony and Ivory in his hands, ke rushed to the path of the beasts going for the other team. He was one-shooting beasts that were about to be hit by spells and killing those that were on theirst leg.


    To add insult to injury, spells from the elemental cannon would asionally fire spells that would kill beasts.


    The 2nd year team increased their casting speed and mana output to increase spell power in an attempt to one-shot the beasts, but even at that, the points they were getting were not worth the efforts they were putting in.


    This caused the leader of the 2nd year team to angrily turn to their supervisor who was floating above them. ¡°Isn¡¯t this illegal?!¡± He screamed, but the ash cop only shook his head.


    The rule was that no one was allowed to attack each other or block their attacks and spells. Sonding thest hit and moving the beasts out of the range of a spell with an explosion was legal.


    The team leader had no other option than to bide his anger and continue firing spells at the beasts, but that was when ke arrived beside them.


    ¡°Are you guys even trying to get points?¡± ke said with a disappointed expression as he continued taunting them. ¡°You all need more power and determination behind your spells if you want to reach the worst 1st-year team.¡±


    ke¡¯s words royally pissed off the entire 2nd-year team, causing them to re at him with fireballs in their eyes.


    ¡°Unlike you guys that are not getting any points, I have points to steal. Got to go.¡± ke said with a smirk as he was about to leave, but the team leader was fed up with him.


    ¡°I have had enough!¡± The team leader simultaneously conjured water chains to hold him down as he shot out multiple water bullets.


    ke didn¡¯t even need to dodge as the supervisor had blocked all the attacks and stood between both parties.


    ¡°Your team should immediately return to the wall. Any word said or spell fired at this point would attract more punishment.¡± The supervisor said.


    The team leader could only stare at ke with unbridled rage as he imagined all the things he could have done to him if not for the supervisor.


    ¡°d to know I will always be on your mind.¡± ke said as the entire team was returning to the wall.


    [It is good to see that you are using that big mouth of yours for something useful.] The system said.


    ¡°Is that meant to be apliment?¡± ke asked with a raised brow, but the system ignored him.


    ...


    On the other side of the battlefield.


    Luciano had activated the berserk state of his weapon, gaining a both in physical prowess making him as fast as ke.


    He began doing the same thing without the taunting, but even at that Serhan¡¯s team was pissed about it.


    They had wasted so much time because of a stupid n, now their points were being stolen. At this point, it was more than clear to say that they were behind everyone.


    It was after a few minutes of trying to scrap some points that they noticed the other team was returning to the gate and behind them was their supervisor. It took only a few seconds for ke toe over to their side, causing them to understand what went on.


    ¡°Seriously? You guys still want to try?¡± keughed as he joined Luciano in kill stealing.


    With ke¡¯s involvement, they made sure no beast neared Serhan¡¯s team, reducing their points to almost zero.


    Luckily for Serhan¡¯s team, the torture didn¡¯tst for long because all the beasts were dead, meaning it was time for them to return to the wall.

 Chapter 337

    Chapter 337: Power of War array masters.


    The death of thest beast marked the end of point farming for the day.


    When the teams returned to the wall, they saw Major Reeves staring into the horizon, and behind him was the angry team that had been sent back into the city.


    ¡°I am quite surprised that it was only one team that vited the rules.¡± Major Reeves said as he turned to the teams. ¡°Seems I shouldn¡¯t be looking down on you guys so much.¡±


    ¡°As for the only team that was stupid enough to disobey orders. All points gained today will not only be null but they would be doubled then deducted from their future points.¡± Major Reeves¡¯ announcement changed the angry expressions of the 2nd year team to dread.


    With them going all out on the beasts with fusion magic, they had managed to farm up to a little bit below 5k points. So their points weren¡¯t at 0 but in the negative. Officially making them the lowest team in both years.


    None of them, including the team leader that put them in this situation, dared to protest Major Reeves¡¯ decision because it would surely not end well. The team leader could only switch his re at ke who had a big grin on his face and Serhan who had brought up the n that put his team in a bad position.


    With no other announcement, Major Reeves returned to his previous position and the teams began dispersing to their positions on the wall. Some had frowns on their faces, while some had the brightest smiles on their faces.


    .....


    ¡°That was too easy.¡± ke said with a grin on his face when his team crossed paths with Serhan¡¯s team. This caused Serhan to stop and tightly clench his fist as he tried to contain his anger, but ke didn¡¯t seem to care as he continued moving forward.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you are overdoing it?¡± Brian asked when they were out of hearing range.


    ¡°Not close at all.¡± ke chuckled before continuing. ¡°They had tried to get me killed once, and I am pretty sure if they had the chance they would do it again. That is why you don¡¯t pity your enemies because they wouldn¡¯t give you a second chance.¡±


    ¡°I was asking because their reactions showed there would surely cause more problems.¡± Brian said.


    ¡°Let theme then, we will just keep rubbing it on their faces that we are better than them in everything.¡± ke¡¯s words oozed with confidence that hyped everyone including their supervisor.


    ...


    During the next morning at the training of the volunteers. The number of beasts had increased but only by a little above hundred.


    Unlikest time when some of the groups like the War array masters and the beats tamers weren¡¯t given chance to perform train. This time they had decided to drop the support role and disy a spectacle.


    Once the city barrier was lowered, arrays began appearing above each team of 5 War array masters.


    In less than a second, arge translucent hexagonal crystal formed at the center of the array and began firing elemental spells of all the 5 members that cast the array. It needed 5 people to cast and continuously power it, but once operational, it needed only one person to control.


    The operator had ess to the elements of everyone linked to the array and it gave everyone connected a bird¡¯s eye view of the battlefield, and also enable the other 4 to free cast their arrays.


    This was the Hex crystal array, and although its mana consumption was quite high, it was still regarded as the best war array for the hero realm.


    If the attacks of those positioned on the wall were seen as a rocketuncher, then the non-stop bombardment of the hex crystal battle array was akin to a helicopter machine gun that fired rockets instead of bullets.


    The students watched how each of the hex crystal arrays simultaneously shot out 6 spells, drowning the beast in a sea of attacks.


    ¡°Arrays are Overpowered!¡± Brian was astonished by how the War array masters were literally soloing the entire army of beasts. They didn¡¯t even allow the beasts to reach the defenders and those at the wall had long ago stopped firing spells because they saw there was no need for them to waste mana.


    ¡°In wars, War array masters are one of the most important people, but when ites to one versus one situation they are not as powerful.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°Exactly. Their strength lies in groups and against arge number of unintelligent beasts it is very hard to defeat them, but I am not a fan of just staying one ce the entire battle.¡± ke said.


    Almost every specialization makes use of arrays for a different purpose. For example, forgemasters used to give objects magical properties, beasts tamers made use of it to form contracts with beasts, while alchemy used it to synthesize and add magical properties to potions.


    As for War array masters, they were those that studied array for the sole purpose ofbat. Their mastery and skill with battle arrays were on a whole new level as they simultaneously took the role of attackers, defenders, and supports on the battlefield.


    It didn¡¯t take time for the war array masters to clear the entire battlefield and round up their training for the day, leaving ash corps members to bring in the corpse of the beasts.


    ¡®Giving made up currency like reputation points for the nobles and exchange points for the rest, in exchange for the beast corpses and their services in protecting the city. I wonder how much they are gaining from it.¡¯ ke thought as he saw hundreds of beast corpses being carted into the city.


    [Not to disturb Mr. entrepreneur, but I think you should be more focused on the next wave.] The system said to ke.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 338

    Chapter 338: The main event (part 1)


    [The number of beasts at the volunteers¡¯ training had increased. So it is expected that the same will happen during your turn.] The system said.


    [Also, you have those two to worry about, cause I could swear on my main consciousness that they are nning something.] The system referred to Serhan and his cohorts.


    ¡®Our formation and abilities have greatly limited their options. At this point, the best they can do is to copy our actions yesterday and try to kill steal.¡¯ ke said.


    [Do you have a countermeasure for that?] The system asked, but ke only replied with a smirk.


    ...


    By noon, the area outside the city barrier was upied by close to 400 beasts, but the problem was that more were still arriving.


    ¡°This is the same number the volunteers had faced in their first training.¡± Brian said in a worried tone, but ke and Luciano were worried about something different.


    .....


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry, more beasts means more points for us.¡± Castiel stated, receiving nods from ke and Luciano that just snapped out of their reverie.


    ¡°Note that you are not being forced to farm points. So if you feel your team won¡¯t be safe because of the number of beasts or whatsoever. You are more than free to stay back and watch the rest.¡± Major Reeves announced to the students when he saw the worry on their faces as more beasts arrived at the city barrier.


    Just as he had expected, no team nned on backing down on such an opportunity. So he sent them alongside their supervisors to the elevators.


    ¡®If it was someone else that had said that, people would have considered, but Major Reeves¡¯ discouragement is more like a motivator.¡¯ Brian said through the mind link.


    ¡®It is funny how Major Reeves changed from trying to kill us to discouraging us from trying to get killed.¡¯ Castiel mind-chuckled as he retained a stoic expression on the outside.


    ¡®Hold up, wait a minute.¡¯ ke paused as he tried to piece things together.


    There was one thing he had gotten to know about psychos like Instructor Zirrack and Major Reeves. They were incapable of showing mercy out of the blues. Their cold hearts were incapable of even flinching even when they gave the most ruthless punishments to students.


    So why would they change all of a sudden?


    ¡®Or is he using reverse psychology on a deeper level?¡¯ ke pondered.


    Although, it was hard to not mistake Instructor Zirrack and Major Reeves as brothers. ke had noticed that Major Reeves wasn¡¯t as straightforward and hotheaded as instructor Zirrack. Instead, he had sacrificed some of his straightforwardness for being sly.


    [He sounds as if he is discouraging you guys, but we both know that was the opposite.] The system couldn¡¯t help but pause and face-palm when he remembered how easily everyone fell for it.


    [As for the deeper level of reverse psychology. You should keep in mind that he knows not all of you are dumb. So it would either mean something is up or he is trying to toil with your minds, or it could be both.]


    ¡®At this point, the only thing I can do is just wait and watch how the thing goes.¡¯ ke said after failing to predict the most usible oue because there were too many uncertain factors.


    When ke¡¯s team took their position behind the barrier, 2 teams they were very familiar with decided to stay beside them.


    [I haven¡¯t really understood their stupidity yet. How many points your team gets isn¡¯t rted to theirs. So why not focus on beating other teams in your ss?] The system facepalmed.


    Normally it wouldn¡¯t give a shit about people being stupid. It was greatly disappointed that 2nd year¡¯s rank one would continue with such stupidity.


    Once every team had taken their positions, part of the orange city barrier was lowered and beasts began pouring in.


    Not nning on giving ke¡¯s team any chance at all. Both teams rushed in front of ke¡¯s team and began intercepting the beasts, allowing none to pass through.


    ¡®I didn¡¯t even need to think to predict them.¡¯ ke chuckled as he was unbothered by their action.


    ¡°Tessie prepare Mother Tree. Brian, we need quicksand at the outskirts of Mother Tree¡¯s range.¡± ke gave out others, before gesturing for Luciano to active the elemental cannon battle array.


    ¡°Are you nning on shooting them?¡± Castiel couldn¡¯t help but ask with a raised brow, as he nheless joined to support the array.


    ¡°Yes of course...¡± ke said as he joined to support the array.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that disqualify us?¡± Castiel began wondering if ke had gone crazy and couldn¡¯t hear himself.


    ¡°Not at all...¡± ke said with a smile as the white runes floating in front of them turned golden.


    Elemental cannon: me burst!


    Arge ball of golden mes conjured at the center of the array was shot in the direction of the 2 teams in front of them.


    ¡°I would have really loved to make them suffer more, but seems they decided to make the job easier.¡± The 2nd year team leader said as he saw therge ball of golden me hurling toward them.


    ¡®That was too easy... Wait a minute.¡¯ For a moment Serhan had thought they had aplished their mission, but that was when he remembered something.


    He didn¡¯t know about ke, but one thing was sure, Luciano couldn¡¯t be this stupid.


    ¡®What is going on, why are they not moving?¡¯ Serhan couldn¡¯t help but ask when he saw the supervisors weren¡¯t moving to save them.


    ¡°Get out of the way!¡± Serhan screamed at the top of his lungs as he concentrated the effects of lightning reinforcement to his feet and dashed out of the way.


    On hearing Serhan¡¯s words, the students began scrambling to get out of the way, but unfortunately, not everyone was fast enough or had reacted on time.


    BOOM!


    The explosion from therge ball of golden mes caught 2 of the other 2nd year team, while a member of Serhan¡¯s team was caught by the shockwave.


    When part of the smoke had settled, the 2nd year students caught in the explosion were seen unconscious on the ground. They had suffered severe burns from the scorching me, internal bleeding, and multiple bone fractures from the explosions.


    As for Serhan¡¯s teammate, he had managed to use body enhancement at thest moment to reduce the damage to a few broken bones, but one thing for sure was that he wasn¡¯t in a condition to continue fighting.


    ¡®Holy fuck!¡¯ Castiel, Brian, and Tessie were shocked by the damage, but when they turned to the supervisors they were even more shocked because they still had indifferent expressions on their faces and weren¡¯t moving.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 339

    Chapter 339: The main event (part II: Addicts of misfortune.)


    With the severe injuries, the 2nd year students had sustained from elemental cannon. It was certain that they would have died if they had done nothing.


    The problem questions that were on everyone¡¯s mind were why didn¡¯t the supervisors act and why hadn¡¯t ke¡¯s team been disqualified?


    ¡°The rule states that we can¡¯t attack anyone, but we didn¡¯t. They were just in our way.¡± ke chuckled, not giving a shit if the 2nd year students were dead or not.


    Before the city barrier was taken down, the students had been asked to position themselves, but none of them were allowed to stay in front of another. This was to prevent a situation where they fire spells at each. So whoever decided to leave their selected position acted at their own risk.


    That was why when ke had gone over to their side to kill steal, he didn¡¯t just stand in the way of spells. With his speed, he dodged them and still killed lots of beasts. So it wasn¡¯t his fault that they were dumb and not as fast as him.


    The minds of the 2nd-year students were filled with confusion as they didn¡¯t get any reaction from the supervisors, but it immediately cleared up when they saw Luciano charging up another elemental cannon meburst.


    ¡°We need to get them out of there!¡± Serhan screamed. The elemental cannon battle array wasn¡¯t the only problem. The explosion had killed a lot of beasts close to the area, but it wouldn¡¯t take time for them to catch up to the injured 2nd-year students.


    .....


    ¡°I am surprised that they care about each other.¡± Castiel said as they watched the 2nd year students scramble to save their teammates.


    ¡°What is more surprising is that Major Reeves or the supervisors really have no n of saving anyone injured or about to die.¡± ke looked back at Major Reeves who was at the top of the wall still staring into the horizon.


    ¡®What is the status of the beasts?¡¯ ke asked the system.


    [The good news is that more beasts have stoppeding. The bad news is that they are above 600.] The system reported.


    ¡®That is quite a lot of beasts. We really have to up our game if we don¡¯t want to return to the wall.¡¯ ke thought.


    At that moment, the ground quaked and the Mother Tree sprouted, raising the team 4 meters above the ground.


    Luciano once again fired the elemental cannon, but this time the second-year teams were already carrying their injured members back to the wall.


    BOOM!


    The me burst exploded, instantly killing every beast within a 5-meter radius, but a secondter beasts had already swarmed past that point not caring about their fallen kinsmen.


    With the absence of the other teams by their sides, the beasts used the free space as an opportunity to encircle, ke¡¯s team. But nheless, Luciano continued firing out more spells.


    ¡®A little bit of time alone wouldn¡¯t have been bad, anyways their presence wouldn¡¯t change anything.¡¯ ke thought when the system informed him that the 2nd year teams were returning to the battlefield.


    ¡°Seems they are addicted to misfortune.¡± Luciano said as the 2nd year teams had gotten to the outskirts of the quicksand.


    With each team missing at least a member and the number of beasts doubling. The only option for them was to team up, and this wasn¡¯t a problem at all because they all had one goal in mind. To make ke¡¯s team pay.


    The number of beasts behind ke¡¯s team wasn¡¯t as much as those at the other sides. So it was very easy for them to get very close to the team as they began mowing down beasts.


    ¡°What should we do?¡± Luciano asked.


    ¡°With them grouping up in one spot and their numbers reducing. They are taking 1/3 of the beasts, and since they are not in our space then we shouldn¡¯t worry about them. Besides, we should be more worried about the beasts.¡± ke said.


    At this point, they were beastsing from all angles. The 2nd years were only taking the small portion of the beasts behind them, leaving the other areas free for the beasts.


    ¡°We need to speed up the Mother Tree¡¯s evolution because at this rate the beasts would easily get to us.¡± Tessie informed the group.


    The number of beasts was so much to the point that the number of beasts caught by the quicksand created clear paths for the others with their bodies. They lost little to no energy because of this, thus improving their chances of not getting caught by the Mother Tree.


    ¡°Brian I need you to mess around with the ground and try to draw as much blood as possible.¡± ke instructed Brian as he took over the elemental cannon array.


    Up until now, Luciano had been firing AOE fire spells at the beats outside the range of the Mother Tree. Now that a lot of beasts had made their into the Mother Tree¡¯s range they needed precise attacks in order not to harm the nt vines.


    Elemental cannon: Lightning fork!


    The runes of the array changed from golden to lightning blue, as it fired a long bolt of lightning that branched into multiple.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    In an instant, the lightning fork tore through the bodies of more than 10 beasts, making it easier and quicker for the Mother Tree to absorb blood from the beast corpses.


    ke didn¡¯t stop there. He continued to fire Lightning for all around them as Brian continuously conjuredrge earth spikes and barriers that not only killed beasts but distracted them long enough to be constricted by nt vines.


    Theirbined efforts greatly slowed down the advancement of the beast, giving the Mother Tree the upper hand. Thus reducing the pressure on them.


    [They are moving into the Mother Tree¡¯s range.] The system reported to ke, who quickly handed over the control of the battle array to Luciano.


    ¡°Castiel and Tessie, get ready to wee them.¡± ke said with an evil grin.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 340

    Chapter 340: The main event (part III)


    At first, when the 2nd year teams that were now led by Serhan arrived behind the Mother Tree. The concentration of beasts wasn¡¯t much, but as time went on it began increasing.


    This was because it was hard for the beasts to reach the humans within the range of the Mother Tree. So, the next best option was getting those that were outside its range.


    The pressure on thebined 2nd-year teams had more than tripled. They were beginning to find it hard to prevent the beasts from overrunning them even with all their fusion spells.


    Seeing that getting overrun was inevitable, Serhan decided to go ahead with his initial n. He instructed the group to slowly move into the range of the Mother Tree.


    Using mana maniption to create hard surfaces. The group easily got past the quicksand and move into an area covered with thorny nt vines.


    Serhan nned to use the Mother Tree to slow down the beasts, while him and his teamnded thest hit on anything that had been constricted, but ke could onlyugh.


    ¡°Castiel I need you to cast Night mist all around the trunk of the Mother Tree.¡±


    .....


    ¡°Luciano, after he is done, I need you to stop firing for some time.¡± It took them only seconds to understand how ¡®evil¡¯ ke¡¯s n was, causing them to thank the heavens that they were not on Serhan¡¯s team.


    ¡°Night mist has been cast.¡± One of the team members reported to Serhan as he saw a ck mist slowly covering the trunk of the Mother Tree.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about it. It can¡¯t get this far and they can¡¯t get a sneak attack as long as beasts are not directly in front of us.¡± After making sure that it was only Castiel that was missing from the top, Serhan continued. ¡°So as long as we maintain our distance and kill any beats before they get to them. It would be a big waste of mana.¡±


    Just like the elemental cannon spell that severely injured their team member. Night mist was not targeted at them, it was just in ce to weaken and slow down beasts. So if they were to get into range, they would be the ones to me.


    The 2nd year group continued sessfully killing beasts entrapped by the thorny vines of the Mother tree, but the sound of the elemental cannon array being fired suddenly ceased.


    This caused them to immediately turn to the top confused, but they saw an evil grin stered on ke¡¯s face. They immediately turned back to the beasts and they noticed that the quicksand was gone.


    The beasts had immediately begun pouring into the Mother Tree¡¯s range and maneuvering or muscling their way through the thorny vines of the Mother tree.


    ¡°They are trying to box us into the Night mist!¡± Serhan exined what seemed to be the obvious, causing the 2nd year group to begin casting spells with great urgency.


    ¡®If you are to fuck your enemies up, make sure to do it real good.¡¯ ke said through the mind link, causing Brian and Castiel to give him a suspicious look.


    ¡®I guess that didn¡¯te out well.¡¯ ke quickly gave Tessie the signal to upgrade the Mother Tree in hopes that they would forget what he just said.


    The absorbed blood that had been stored in the tree trunks began moving to all the parts of the Mother Tree through the vascr tissues, causing everything to grow. The roots began increasing in both size and length, thus increasing the range of the Mother Tree¡¯s effect.


    As for the Mother Tree itself, it had grown from 4 meters tall to 6 meters in height, giving those on top the perfect view to watch their enemies suffer.


    ¡°Tessie, onest thing. Make the Mother Tree attack everything in sight.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t this eliminate all their chances of escaping the beasts?¡± Tessie couldn¡¯t help but ask, but the expressions on their faces were saying ¡®wasn¡¯t that the n all along?¡¯


    ¡°They would most likely die.¡± Tessie said to the group, but their expressions didn¡¯t change. She somewhat agreed with ke¡¯s words of not having mercy on the enemies, but a greater part of her was against killing them.


    ¡®I feel bad making her do this, but we have to make use of any opportunity to eliminate them for good.¡¯ ke said in the mind link.


    One thing for sure was that people like Serhan would continuouslye after them. So they needed to be permanently eliminated to prevent getting caught by surprise.


    [Not to disturb your guilty trip, but there is very bad news.] The system reported.


    ¡®Lay it on me.¡¯


    [A lot of beasts are arriving at the city barrier!] The system announced.


    ¡®How many are we looking at?¡¯ ke asked with a frown on his face.


    [More than 300 beasts have entered my range of detection, and more are still entering.] The system reported, causing ke¡¯s frown to change to dread.


    ke immediately looked up to see a sea of beasts charging out of the forest and quickly getting closer to the city. He had been so focused on Serhan¡¯s team, and Tessie¡¯s feelings, that he hadn¡¯t looked out.


    ¡°Forget about what I just said, we need to get out of here.¡± ke said in a panicked voice, confusing the others and causing them to search for the cause.


    When they looked up, they saw a sea of beasts that stretched wider than they could see. Both on the ground and up in the sky, they were heading towards the open part of the city barrier.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± The four of them cursed in unison, but that was when they began falling.


    Being the first to discover the iing threat, ke was the first to react. He activated Mind boost, before throwing out a void dagger as high and far as he could. Then he opened a spatial tear below them, causing everyone to fall through and appear in mid-air.


    He quickly released an electromaic to retrieve the dagger before throwing it out again and repeating the same thing.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 341

    Chapter 341: Upsetting the bnce.


    ¡°Finally, the main event!¡± Major Reeves said in what seemed to be an excited tone as he saw thousands of beasts pouring out of the forest.


    He knew of their presence long ago, but he had been waiting for them to finally attack the city. That was why he had ¡®warned¡¯ them before they went out of the city.


    It was when they saw the sea of beasts was not too far from the open part of the city barrier that he now looked at the battlefield.


    ¡°Why am I not surprised?¡± Major Reeves said when he saw that only ke¡¯s team were the only ones returning to the wall.


    He began scanning the battlefield for the students. That was when his sight fell on Serhan¡¯s team. Just like other teams, they were surrounded by beasts, but their case was worse because they had almost entered the range of night mist.


    ¡°At this rate, he would turn out to be worse than me.¡± Major Reeves couldn¡¯t help but feel proud of ke when he saw Serhan¡¯s team in deep shit.


    ¡°Alright, listen up!¡± Major Reeves used mana maniption to project his voice all around the battlefield.


    .....


    ¡°I gave you all a chance to save yourselves but you, but you refused. So I am not obligated to save any of you.¡± Major Reeves said, causing the students to curse their bad luck, but he continued speaking.


    ¡°But since I am merciful, I have decided to save you all, but at a cost.¡± At this point Major Reeves had an evil grin on his face as he continued. ¡°5 thousand points will be ducted from anybody that is saved. If you agree to the condition and want to be saved then shoot a spell into the air.¡±


    The students had long been surrounded by beasts, and now the second wave of beasts that contained aerial beasts and hundreds of knight rank beasts had gotten past the opening in the city barrier.


    It was only a matter of seconds till the second wave got to them, giving them no time to even curse Major Reeves


    With their lives being worth more than 5k exchange points, the students Immediately began firing spells into the air.


    ¡®Easy as predicted.¡¯ Major Reeves gave out the signal and the supervisors who had been floating near the team all this while began acting.


    ¡°Sound the rm, the beast tide is finally here!¡± Major Reeves said.


    A secondter, sirens began sounding all over Calton city.


    The south wall began trembling as parts of the wall began opening, making space for the mana cannons.


    At the foot of the southern wall, the ground began opening as hundreds of Ash corps alongside adventurers and volunteers matched out of the underground tunnel before grouping up in teams of fives and waiting for the next order.


    Over at the top of the wall, the ground began opening as the mini magic towers were elevated to the top.


    The magic towers were metal towers that were 5 meters tall and 1 meter wide. At the foot was a blue handprint that connected the user to the mini-tower, while at the top was a thick metal cone that housed arge blue orb pulsating with raw mana.


    [Their response time is beyond impressive.] The system said as the group finally arrived at the top of the wall.


    The empty wall had been, filled up by 5-man teams of ash corps in less than 3 minutes.


    ¡®With each group taking an interception, I wonder what our new positions will be?¡¯ Brain asked as the group moved behind Major Reeves, as they waited for their next orders.


    It was after all the students had been saved and returned to the wall, that Major Reeves turned to them and said. ¡°Enjoy the show while you can, because things will only get difficult from here on.¡±


    Major Reeves gave the signal, and the opened part of the city barrier was closed. This stopped more beasts from entering or escaping, leaving more than 1500 beasts in between the wall and city barrier.


    Knowing that there was no way for them, the beasts were given the order tounch an attack and deal as much damage as possible to the humans, but that was when the mini-towers began giving out a low hum as the glow of therge blue orbs began intensifying.


    Raising his right hand and moving it forward, the mini-tower operators began unleashing rapid-fire concentrated energy beams at all flying beasts. Everything beast that was unlucky to get hit, exploded on contact causing a mini rain of blood and beast parts.


    As for the team of adventurers and ash corps, there was no need for them to act. Once the city barrier was closed and the beasts had begun swarming towards them, multiple explosions rang out from the walls. Soon the sky was lit up byrge blue mana balls, as mana spears began raining down on the beasts.


    ¡®If 5 mana cannons can deal so much damage. Then why is the beast tide a problem?¡¯ Brian couldn¡¯t help but ask through the mind link. To weapons of mass destruction like the mana cannon and mini-towers, numbers didn¡¯t matter because they would be mowed down in seconds.


    [Numbers don¡¯t matter because the beasts can¡¯t get to the weapons, but once the beasts pull out their big guns it would be a different story.] The system didn¡¯t want anyone of them to undermine the strength of the beasts.


    ¡®Guys check out the beasts outside the city barrier.¡¯ Castiel said through the mind link.


    ¡®What the fuck?!¡¯ ke and Brian mind-screamed in unison when they moved their attention to the city barrier and thousands of beasts in different formations led by king and Knight rank beasts.


    The only and major advantage humans had over beasts was intellectual reasoning. It had prevented the human race from bing extinct and had created a type of bnce between both races, but the beast tide was here to upset that bnce.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 342

    Chapter 342: Arrival of beast artillery unit.


    The sight of thousands of ferocious beasts growling was bound to put fear into the hearts of many, but for some reason, a sea of beasts that were quiet and grouped in formations was way scarier.


    The tension in the air was at an all-time high, as both armies at the sides of the city barrier stood waiting for the next order.


    ¡°You have 1 hour to rest and regain your mana, before reporting back to the wall.¡± Major Reeves quickly dismissed the students and returned his gaze to the army of beasts outside the wall.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t only me that is nervous?¡± Brian asked.


    ¡°Definitely not. Even the soldiers who have witnessed many beast tides are still nervous, So it is normal for you to be¡± Luciano said in order to loosen the nerves of the team which were being affected by the tension in the air.


    ¡°Someone seems to be perfectly alright.¡± Castiel pointed at ke who seemed perfectly normal.


    ¡°If I said I am not nervous, that would be a lie. It¡¯s just that, I don¡¯t see the need to worry about things that are not in my control. So it¡¯s best to not worry and leave things to fate.¡± ke said.


    .....


    The truth was that the students were insignificant in this battle. Their firepower and arrays were nowherepared to that of the volunteers talk more of ash corps. Their safety was 90% in the hands of the barriers, magical weapons, and everyone else defending the city.


    As for the remaining 10%, a fraction of it was dependent on their skills, while the rest was totally on luck.


    ...


    After their 1hr break, the students returned to the wall and each team was assigned to positions in between 2 ash corps teams. With the wall being huge in both length and width, they had no problem with space.


    The students were tasked with patrol but unlike those of previous days. They were meant to stay at their assigned spot and look out for anything strange.


    2 hours into the patrol Castiel spoke.


    ¡°I have a question.¡± Castiel said, drawing the attention of the ash corps beside them. ¡°If all the beasts are working as one, it means predators don¡¯t eat prey. So how can they survive so long and still be full of strength without eating anything?¡±


    This question made everyone ponder about it, but that was when Major Reeves came along.


    ¡°We suspect that the cause of the beast tide that is powering them is also sustaining them.¡± Major Reeves exined, how they had captured multiple beasts in the past to experiment on them. Apart from the beasts dying due to severe acute malnutrition after the beast tide, they had found nothing else.


    ¡°The beasts get powered by the beast tide?¡± ke was stunned by this discovery and couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Yes. You might not have noticed because you are facing weak beasts, but as you go up in rank it bes more noticeable.¡± Major Reeves replied.


    [It exins how you were unable to match the knight rank praying mantis in speed.] The system said.


    ¡®I thought a knight rank beast was meant to be that fast.¡¯ ke said.


    [Not a tier 1 knight rank beasts, at best you were meant to be at the same speed as it.]


    The beast ranks were a way ofparing the power level of beasts to that of humans, but beast tiers were a way humans used topare beasts amongst themselves.


    Beast tiers were determined by the bloodline of beasts. The greater the amount of their ancestor¡¯s genes that they possessed the stronger they would be.


    Tier 1 beasts like sdes had a very little amount of dragon genes because they were the lowest-ranked reptiles.


    An example of tier 2 beasts was Rugors. They had arge amount of Karkadann gene in their blood granting them the ability to manipte the earth to a certain degree at the knight rank. Meaning they would awaken the 2nd element by the king rank.


    As for tier 3 beasts, they were the beast¡¯s ancestors and their direct descendants.


    (AN: In case you are wondering why sdes have chances of evolving into dragons. Evolution causes an increase in purity of bloodline (increase in ancestor gene) and the level of increase mainly depends on luck and other factors that would be mentioned in the future.)


    ¡®I didn¡¯t notice the increase in power because I still killed them in one slice.¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡°If that is all the questions, then I will be leaving.¡± Major Reeves said as he continued moving to make sure everyone was in their position.


    ¡®Although bored, I wouldn¡¯t want to get lively.¡¯ Brian said, but almost instantly sound earthquakes wereing from the beasts.


    The earthquakes continued for a few minutes before multiple intersections in the ground burst open as water geysers shot through, each carrying 20 elite rank aardvarks.


    In a few seconds, the water geysers were gone leaving behind multiple 20-meter-long pools of water.


    ¡®What is going on?¡¯ Everyone was confused about why beasts would dig out suchrge pools of water. Their questions were soon answered, when Armored hippos began rising to the surface of the water.


    ¡®Holy shit!¡¯ ke eximed.


    [From the looks on their face, this is new.] The system referred to the stunned expressions of the ash corp teams beside them.


    Everyone knew how dangerous armored hippos were. They were tier 2 elite rank beasts, that not only had immense physical strength and defense, but they possessed the ability to shoot water bombs that made them good artillery units.


    With them being in the middle of the beast army, they would be difficult to get to.


    (AN: The armored hippos¡¯ ability to shoot water bombs is because they are tier 2 beasts, but note that it is just an innate skill and not water maniption from awakening the water element.)


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 343

    Chapter 343: Distribution of powerhouses.


    The arrival of the armored hippos further increased the tension and raised a question in the minds of every student.


    Why hadn¡¯t they started bombarding the beasts outside the wall? The more time they wasted, the more time the beasts had to set up their ns.


    [The first thing you should put into consideration, is that the beasts aren¡¯t that dumb to setup up things like these if they didn¡¯t have ways to counter attacks that would disrupt them.


    Secondly, there is a chance that the ash corps are not ready for an all-out war, especially without knowing much of the beast ns and having limited resources.] The system exined.


    It would be unwise for the ash corps to fullymit to a battle with the beasts when they hadn¡¯t seen a substantial amount of their cards. Besides, the beasts were the aggressors, so the humans did not need to attack them unless they were attacked.


    ¡®That exins why it took them so long to show themselves¡¯ ke said in the mind link when he thought of how deep and far into the forest all the tunnels would have gone to connect both the armored hippos and suchrge amounts of water.


    While all those on the wall were still talking about the armored hippos, the forest began extending towards the city.


    .....


    ¡°Are my eyes failing me or is the forest moving to us?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask because hundreds of trees were sprouting from the ground in seconds.


    Soon, the sea of beasts was slowly getting concealed by therge leaves of the trees, until the sprouting trees stopped inches away from the city barrier.


    At that moment, sounds of tree-climbing animals, insects birds echoed throughout the wall as a new batch of magical beasts made their way out of the forest.


    ¡®Isn¡¯t this the perfect time to start firing at them?¡¯ Castiel couldn¡¯t help but ask when he was unable to differentiate between the original boundary of the forest.


    [Not at all. The city should have an array of some sort that sees through the forest.] The system said.


    ¡®Then that means it is a dumb setup?¡¯ Brian asked.


    [Not really. The creation of the extended forest is more like a resting ce for some special beasts like the birds since they can¡¯t fly forever. Also, it puts the beasts in their natural habitat, thus increasing their fighting capabilities and opening up more opportunities.


    Still, it isn¡¯t enough for them to start attacking.]


    ¡®Don¡¯t you guys think we should be more worried about what was able to sprout so many trees?¡¯ ke asked making the other ponder over it.


    ¡®Are we looking at an emperor beasts?¡¯ Castiel couldn¡¯t of how the situation could get worse.


    [Most likely a nt-type emperor beast, but there is a chance that multiple king-rank nt-type beasts might be responsible for this.]


    ...


    At the city military chief pce.


    After the preparations for the surprisingly early beast tide were done, Prince Bryon had left for the capital, and had left Colonel Darius in charge of the military activities of the city.


    Currently, in the war room colonel Darius and his assistant Ashley were going through a status report of every wall.


    ¡°The beasts having taken a simr approach of digging tunnels and extending the boundary of the forest at the southern, eastern, and western wall.¡± Ashely reported, causing colonel Darius to frown before asking.


    ¡°All at the same time?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but the simultaneous extension of the forests at the 3 walls, eliminates most of the chances of facing a nt-type emperor beast.¡±


    ¡°Although having to deal with a nt-type emperor beast is a pain in the butt. It is nowherepared to having to face a united army of beasts.¡± Colonel Darius said in a serious tone, shocking Ashely.


    ¡®I can¡¯t even remember thest time he was serious, talk more of this serious?¡¯ Ashely couldn¡¯t understand what was going on but she knew it was very serious.


    ¡°Since you are rtively new you won¡¯t understand, let me give you a little exnation.¡± Darius said when he saw the confused look on Ashley¡¯s face.


    ¡°You see, during the beast tides, all beasts are seen as united but that isn¡¯t totally true.¡± Colonel Darius continued as he began pacing around the room. ¡°For example, during thest beast tide, although every beast had attacked at the same time if you study it, you would notice that the beasts at each gate had taken different approaches at attacking the city.¡±


    Ashely was thinking why he would say they were united when the beasts at the northern wall hadn¡¯t taken the same approach.


    That was when she remembered that the north consisted of mountainous regions and not forests. So they would be close to no nt-type beast in that region.


    (AN: For those that are confused, Bulian hills is located northeast of Calton city, not direct north.)


    ¡°Now, you might be wondering how is this dangerous? What you need to know is that, throughout the history of this city defending against the beast tide, only in a handful of them were all beasts truly united, and in all of them asions Calton city had suffered great losses.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the exnation. I now understand.¡± Ashley said with a bow.


    ¡°Report on the Northern gate?¡± Colonel Darius asked.


    ¡°Nothing had changed from thest report, sir.¡± Ashley said causing Darius to deeply ponder because it was highly unlikely that nothing serious would be happening in the north when the other 3 sides had shown to be united. It was most likely that something was happening, but they had no clue of it.


    ¡°Time for the distribution of the powerhouses.¡± Colonel Darius said, as the 4 by 4 meters crystal table lit up showing Calton city and every avable powerhouse.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 344

    Chapter 344: Distribution of powerhouses (part 2)


    So far, only members of the ash corps as well as volunteers and adventurers had been deployed to different parts of the wall. That was why in the southern wall Major Reeves was the only notable person the students had seen so far.


    This was because the city wanted to carry out a tactical distribution of Calton city¡¯s powerhouses to ces they were needed the most.


    To be considered a powerhouse one wasn¡¯t only meant to be strong, but they also had to be exceptional in certain fields. That was why some demigods weren¡¯t even considered powerhouses or that important.


    ¡°Let¡¯s move over to the western gate. We already have Lovren and Zirrack, alongside the professors of the magic school. So that is more than enough.¡± Ashley couldn¡¯t help but nod in agreement.


    For one to be a professor in the magic school, not only were they meant to be demigods, but they had to be outstanding in a particr field of magic.


    So although the number of ash corps that had been distributed to the western wall was the lowestpared to other walls, they were nowhere under-armed for the uing battle.


    ¡°Randomly distribute the demigods to the other 3 gates while prioritizing the southern and eastern gates. I also want you to put these 2 at the southern gate.¡± Colonel Darius said, causing Ashley to ask if he was sure about his decision.


    .....


    ¡°Of course I am sure. The southern gate requires as many talents as possible.¡± Darius said with a smile that made Ashley wonder if he just wanted a fight to start at the southern wall by putting Oliver Nystrom and Xavier Karius in the same ce. That was when she remembered who was at the wall, one and only, Major Reeves.


    Oliver and Xavier weren¡¯t treated like other demigods. Oliver was the best beast tamer in Calton city, so he was going to be the most helpful in periods like this. As for Xavier, he was the city¡¯s prot¨¦g¨¦ and was also the first son of one of the top 3 families in the city. So a lot was expected from him.


    ¡°For now, send Reeves and Typhoon¡¯s party over to the eastern wall, but depending on the turn of events we might also send guild master Walden.¡± Colonel Darius pushed the images of the angel and A-rank adventurer party to the eastern wall.


    (AN: The Reeves here was the demigod from the royal family that was on their side, during their first escortmission. The other Reeves is a major in the ash corps.)


    ¡°Z¡¯s lightning prative ability will be needed against armored beasts in the mountain.¡± Darius moved the Karius family leader¡¯s image to the northern gate. ¡°Also, we will be sending Richard and his brother Hagan.¡±


    (AN: For those that have forgotten. Hagan is d¡¯s uncle, the brother to the leader of the Nystrom family in Calton city, Richard Nystrom.)


    ¡®I just don¡¯t feel right about the northern gate, but we can only watch and react.¡¯ Darius felt that the 2 peak demigods from the Nystrom and Karius family weren¡¯t enough, but it wasn¡¯t wise to deploy more powerhouses to the north based on a hunch.


    Compared to the other gates, the northern gate posed the least threat to the city, followed by the west. This wasn¡¯t because theycked numbers, but because they had fewer emperor beasts.


    During the beast tides, the southern gate was always attacked by the highest number of emperor beasts. Even during the easiest beast tides, the southern gate had always been attacked by nothing less than 2 emperor beasts.


    ¡°As for the southern wall, we already have Major Reeves, A-rank Sunshield adventurer party, Brock Ulrik (Leader of Calton city¡¯s branch of the Ulrik family), and finally me.¡± Darius said as he pushed his image to the southern wall.


    ¡°What of him sir?¡± Ashley pointed at professor Hoffenheim¡¯s image that was still in the academy unlike those of other professors.


    ¡°We could say, he is one of the many surprises we have for the beasts.¡± Darius said with his signature smile as he thought of Hoffenheim.


    ...


    At the western wall.


    Principal Lovren and the Kingyer Zirrack stood at the center of the wall staring into the forests filled with beasts, while professor Gibson and Major Briggs who was the same rank as Major Reeves stood slightly behind them.


    Major Briggs was 5¡¯7 inches (1.7 meters) tall. Even though he was covered by the ck and ash half cloak, his bulky build could still be noticed. On his head was literally no hair, making every student deployed to the western wall wonder if he was rted to instructor Zirrack even though he had a lighter skin tone and was always in a friendly mood.


    This wasn¡¯t only because of the huge gap in power between both groups, but because of their achievements.


    Even though Zirrack had always been a solo adventurer that had never wanted to be held down by the rules of groups, he had helped the city on countless asions.


    With his numerous achievements, he would have been Darius¡¯ second inmand if he was part of the ash cops. Now that alone was just his contribution to the ash corps, talk more of his achievements with the adventurer association.


    As for principal Lovren, all that was needed to say was that he was the previous colonel of Calton city.


    ¡°What is the situation of the students?¡± Principal Lovren gestured for Professor Gibson to give his report.


    ¡°So far the southern wall had been the only ones to have eliminated some teams. It turns out that major Reeves had increased the passing mark or rather changed the requirements for the students at the southern wall.¡± Professor Gibson reported.


    The students were only meant to pass 3 exercises which were: how to defend themselves on the wall, how and when to use the most efficient attacks, and how to operate the magical war weapons.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 345

    Chapter 345: Appearance of the enemy.


    The students were only meant to pass 3 exercises with a minimum of 5 points in each exercise. Meaning they needed a minimum of 15 points to not get sent back to the magic school, but he had doubled the pass mark.


    ¡°That makes a lot of sense.¡± Principal Lovren said and Zirrack nodded in agreement.


    This action caused Professor Gibson and Major Briggs to look at each other in surprise. Zirrack¡¯s inaction was well expected, but not that of Principal Lovren. He was meant toin that Major Reeves had taken away the eliminated teams¡¯ opportunity to pass.


    ¡°Why are both of you surprised?¡± Principal Lovren said to the Major and Professor without turning. ¡°This beast tide isn¡¯t just like other ones and to make matters worse, they were at the southern wall meaning their lives were more endangered.¡±


    The pass mark for the exercises on the walls was set by the royal family, but if things were left in the hands of Principal Lovren. He would have raised the pass mark from 15 to 40 points.


    ¡°So which would you want students dying because something unexpected happened and no one including themselves could do anything to save their lives or should they be sent back to the school to prevent something like this from happening?¡± Principal Lovren asked but they all knew what their answers were.


    Normally they would have refuted this im with the notion that the students needed to take some risks. The problem here was that this was no ordinary beast tide. There were too many signs that this would b


    .....


    0e a special one and the probability of things going wrong were increasing by the second.


    ¡°Is that all he did?¡± Knowing Major Reeves, Principal Lovren already knew what the answer was. He was just gesturing for Professor Gibson to continue with his report.


    ¡°He had sent the teams out even though he knew that the main event had begun. Then he ended up charging them 5k exchange points to save them.¡± Professor Gibson said.


    ¡°He learned well from you.¡± Principal Lovren chuckled.


    The reason every student at the southern wall suspected Major Reeves to be rted to Instructor Zirrack was that their actions and inactions were too simr.


    They had no idea that back when Major Reeves was still an adventurer, he had been Zirrack¡¯s disciple. He had taught him how to fight and the secrets of the earth element, but even during and after the training Zirrack had never agreed to go on amission with him.


    Knowing that Zirrack was and always be a lone wolf, Reeves epted a recruitment offer from the ash corps. With his numerous achievements as a top-tier B-rank adventurer, he was instantly promoted to themander rank, marking the start of his military career.


    ...


    The next day at the southern gate, all the powerhouses alongside their family members had reported to their assigned positions.


    The leader of the Ulrik family, Brock, and his family demigods were the first to arrive at the southern gate. Followed by the best beast tamer in the city, Oliver Nystrom alongside demigods from the Nystrom.


    Brock and Oliver were the highest-ranking member of the Ulrik family and a crucial part of defending against the beast tide respectively. So as the other members of their respective families joined those outside the wall, their position was on the wall.


    At the moment Major Reeves wasn¡¯t on the wall, so Brock had decided to go and meet him at the underground section of the wall. This left only Oliver alone, but not for too long.


    After barely 30 minutes of the Nystrom family¡¯s arrival, the Karius family which was being led by Xavier Karius had arrived.


    ¡°Look we have here.¡± Oliver Nystrom who had been waiting close to the stairs for almost half an hour said as Xavier Karius climbed up the stairs.


    The first son of the Karius family leader who was in histe twenties stood 6¡¯2 feet (1.87 meters) tall. He had chocte brown eyes and shoulder-length slick jet ck hair that was tied up into a ponytail.


    His muscr physique was covered by the Karius family¡¯s signature white and light blue embroidered overflowing robe that seemed to emphasize his indifferent expression.


    ¡°I heard that your family¡¯s ipetent defense systems caused the theft of the master seal and you sustained serious injuries.¡± Oliver Nystrom said in a condescending tone as a smirk was stered on his face.


    ¡°Well, I have expected nothing more from such a shameless family. That is why it didn¡¯t even take a heartbeat for your ipetent family to use me.¡± Oliver had a disappointed look on his face, but deep down was an evil grin as he saw Xavier¡¯s indifferent expression slowly changing to anger.


    ¡°That would be enough. We have important things to be doing.¡± Major Reeves and Ulrik family leader Brock appeared just in time to stop Oliver from firing shots rted to Serhan¡¯s poor performance and Xavier from doing something stupid.


    Although Oliver¡¯s words sounded like insults to the Karius family they were nothing but facts. There was no nicer way to put it other than calling it ipetence, because the attack had happened right at the heart of the Karius estate, and Xander was still not caught.


    As for calling them shameless, that was what it seemed to be because the ash corps hadn¡¯t found any incriminating evidence against Oliver.


    Knowing that going against Major Reeves¡¯s order would make Oliver the victor in this short encounter, Xavier decided to grit his teeth and follow the others to the center of the wall where they saw Colonel Darius.


    Colonel Darius stood 6.1 feet (1.85 meters) tall and was in a half-ck cloak with red seams at both halves forming the ash corps¡¯ insignia at the center. He looked like he was in his early forties and had a heart-shaped face with perfectly trimmed sideburns and a pointed nose.


    ¡°You guys came just in time.¡± Colonel Darius said to the group.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 346

    Chapter 346: Appearance of the enemy (part II)


    Just as the group arrived at the center of the wall. The ground at the middle of the beast formation began quaking for almost a minute before 20 elite rank aardvarks andrge amounts of water burst out of the ground falling trees around the area.


    Unlike the previous holes that were only 20 meters wide, this was more than double the size and there was surely nothing good about it.


    The humans were still wondering what the need for a bigger hole was for, but that was when a veryrge figure began emerging from below.


    ¡°What the fuck!¡± ke and his team eximed in unison as they saw a 3 headed armored hippo rise from the water.


    This was a Hippodon, the emperor rank of an armored hippo. It stood at a staggering height of 40 meters and was 18 meters wide. They possessed 3 heads that were capable of individual thinking and were able to split from the main body to form 2 other hippodons.


    The charcoal-colored armor of the hippodon covered every inch of its body except for its holes, making it immune to all weapons and spells below the epic tier and peak demigod realm respectively.


    Hippodons were masters of the water and earth elements, making them walking mountains but with firepower greater than that of an angel.


    .....


    ¡°How do humans even fight something like that?¡± The students shuddered at the sight of something so huge and powerful enough to snuff out their puny lives with just a nce.


    [If you are afraid of that thing, then you should be more afraid of Colonel Darius.] The system said as they watched the Hippodon¡¯s bodypletely leave the water.


    Colonel Darius¡¯ unimpressive physique coupled with the smile that was always on his face would make people that had no clue of who he was, mistake him for a recruit. It was only those that had seen him in action would know why he has been the city¡¯s colonel for decades now.


    ¡®That¡¯s some Jesus shit going on there.¡¯ Brian said through the mind link when he saw the massive Hippodon standing on the surface of the pool with its hind legs.


    ¡°ROOOAAAAARRRR!!!!!¡±


    The Emperor beast bellowed with rage, as its powerful roar shook the earth itself, killing all beasts and uprooting all the trees nearby, and causing those far but within sight to lean outwards.


    AHH!


    The students screamed as the roar of the beast struck their ears like a wall of pain. They instinctively clutch their ears in pain as they wanted it to stop. Most of the students had dropped to the floor as they tried to coil into themselves in an attempt to mitigate the onught of sound.


    Then suddenly it stopped, there was finally dead silence.


    It took some time before ke could regain his bnce, but he felt his ears were wet.


    ¡°Fuck me! I didn¡¯t know it would be that powerful.¡± Still being assaulted by a massive migraine, ke looked at his hands and there was blood.


    The distance between the emperor beast and the wall was too huge, so none of the students had expected it to get that far.


    ¡®What the fuck is the city barrier for if it can¡¯t protect us from sound waves!¡¯ Brian cursed through the mind link.


    [The city barrier is the reason that your head hadn¡¯t exploded. That wasn¡¯t any normal roar, the hippodon had used water particles in the air to make it travel father without losing intensity.] The system exined shocking the trio.


    Sound can¡¯t travel in a vacuum, it needs a medium like air to be propagated. The distance the sound waves would travel was dependent on the medium of propagation. The denser the medium was, the more frequent and farther the sound waves would travel.


    So since water is 830 times denser than air, the soundwaves were amplified. The sh between the amplified soundwaves and the city barrier had greatly reduced its intensity, but the vibrations produced were enough to hurt the unprepared students.


    (AN: Hope the science doesn¡¯t bore you guys. Just trying to make sure everyone is carried along.)


    What shocked the trio was the Hippodon¡¯s ability to control the water element to such a degree andrge scale without even the system noticing in time to warn them. Elemental maniptions at such a level were hard for even demigods, but the emperor beast had done it so easily that it took less energy than breathing.


    They had no clue that such an amplification would have killed thousands of beasts, but the hippodon had made sure to have controlled the part of the amplification.


    ¡®They knew about this?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask when he looked at the team of ash corps. They hadn¡¯t moved from their position and from the looks of it, they were unharmed.


    When all of the group were finally up, that was when they saw that their worries were not yet over.


    A giant burning object wasunched out of the original forest. It reached its highest point and began descending. It was raging towards the city.


    The burning object that left a thick ck trail of smoke continued raging towards the city, but when it was the same distance away from the city as the hippodon, it came to a sudden halt in midair.


    BOOM!


    The sudden stop in motion created an explosion that covered the area in thick ck smoke. After a few seconds, an emperor rank fire smander Wyvern stepped out of the thick ck smoke and scanned the soon-to-be battlefield.


    ¡®Is it walking on air?¡¯ Brian couldn¡¯t help but ask when he saw the fire smander walk on thin air as if it was a hard construct.


    ¡®Seriously, is that your greatest concern right now?!¡¯ ke and Castiel asked with raised brows.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 347

    Chapter 347: A betterbination.


    The fire smander wyvern had a body length of 25ft and a wingspan of 30ft. Its entire body except for its wings was covered by yellow and ck scales, and although its scales couldn¡¯t be damaged by spells and weapons below the epic tier and peak demigod realm respectively, they were poisonous to the touch.


    The tier 1 emperor beast possessed a 5-inch long pair of underside horns, vertical pupil surrounded by thick yellow sclera that could make a nascent demigod¡¯s bone shiver. Its nostrils were like chimneys that spilled out thick ck poisonous gas with each exhtion.


    It was a master of fire and air elements and had the innate ability to continuously generate poison in the form of both gas and liquid.


    It was so poisonous that even its aura was also poisonous, eliminating it as ever being a possible pet (ie if it could be made one). It had stopped midair to prevent killing all the trees and beasts nearby.


    ¡®Why haven¡¯t they started firing at them?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask. The scene reminded him of how power rangers¡¯ viins would watch them assemble their megazoids without doing anything.


    [War weapons are basically useless against emperor-level beasts, meaning only cultivators on their level are able to take them down.] The system exined but quickly continued before they could interrupt him.


    [Before you ask why they haven¡¯t begun attacking, it is quite simple. If they are to go out to fight, it opens them up for a surprise attack, and creates chances for them to get boxed in from all sides.]


    .....


    ¡®So they have to make sure the beasts have fullymitted to the battle before they could do anything.¡¯ ke said in realization.


    [Exactly, they are the defenders. So unless they are attacked it is not wise for them to move.] The system said.


    ¡®Speaking of attacking.¡¯ Castiel pointed to therge water wings that had appeared at the back of the hippodon.


    Therge wings began pping slowly, raising the hippodon that easily weighed more than a mountain into the air, but it didn¡¯t stop there.


    When the tier 2 emperor beast had reached the same height as the fire smander wyvern, a solid water construct appeared below it. Once it was standing on the water tform, therge wings made of water began disintegrating.


    The hippodon simultaneously opened its 3 mouths, causing all the water molecules in the area to begin gathering at its mouths.


    ¡®Holy fuck! Is that... that what I think it is?¡¯ ke was star-struck as the hippodon was charging the emperor level of the armored hippo¡¯s signature move, Hydro bombs!


    What looked like a full minute of gathering water in the eyes of the humans, were actually seconds it took to form 3 hydro bombs, each half the size of the hippodon.


    ¡®What can be a better time to act?!¡¯ The hearts of the students were filled with dread as the hippodonunched the hydro bombs at different parts of the city¡¯s barrier.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    On collision with the city barrier, both the ground and wall shook violently but many had braced for impact saving them from losing their bnce.


    ¡®Fuck...¡¯ The faces of the students were full of shock when had opened their eyes and saw 3 massive holes in the lower part of the city barrier, but that wasn¡¯t the worst part.


    Looking outside the city barrier, the fire smander wyvern couldn¡¯t be seen. In its ce was a gigantic darkish-orange fireball double its size.


    ¡®The fireball is bigger than itself?!¡¯ ke¡¯s mind was blown by the scene.


    [Casting the 3 hydro bombs had drained in the atmosphere to the point that a spark of fire would set the air aze. This made it easier for the fire smander wyvern to generate so much mes within seconds.] The system exined, but ke currently had no use for the information because there was a bigger problem at hand.


    (AN: Are fire and water a good or badbination? Let me know what you guys think in thements ??


    The hydro bombs had opened clear paths in the city barrier for the gigantic poisonous fireball to get into the city.


    At this point, ke was finding it difficult to decide what to do. The inactions of the powerhouses were making him slowly lose faith in them. Now that an attack was aimed at those on the wall, he was stuck between the strong urge to ditch the wall or trust them for what might be the veryst time.


    ...


    At the center of the wall, Colonel Darius had easily seen the trick both emperor beasts had pulled off, but he saw it asme.


    Seeing the gigantic fireball was about to be fired, Colonel Darius let out a helpless sigh before speaking. ¡°Seems they really want to fight.¡±


    Immediately thest word was uttered, Colonel Darius had disappeared from his spot and had appeared midair in front of the city barrier.


    At that moment, the emperor rank wyvern had shot out the gigantic poisonous fireball, and in less than a second it had covered the enormous distance.


    ¡°Time to show them a betterbination.¡±


    Fusion magic: Extinguisher!


    Colonel Darius calmly snapped his finger causing the attack to fade into thin air like nothing ever happened.


    ¡®How is that even possible?!¡¯ ke and his team couldn¡¯t believe their eyes. From their own point of view, the gigantic fireball had disappeared and appeared in front of the city barrier, but instantly it was gone.


    ¡®Did you see what happened?¡¯ ke asked the system.


    [Luckily you had seen what happened, but it was too quick for you toprehend. So all that is needed is to slow things down.] The system said as it reyed the memory at half the original speed.


    ¡®Apart from him snapping his fingers, what is the difference?¡¯ ke asked with a raised brow.


    [Who said I was slowing it down for you?] The system snorted as it began analyzing the memory.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 348

    Chapter 348: Power of a Demigod beast tamer.


    The fusion spell Colonel Darius had used was called extinguisher.


    Itprised using his adept mastery over the fire element to extract andpress most of the heat of the mes, thus weakening the mes. Then he used the water element to humidify the burning air before directly quenching the mes with water.


    This was was the go-to spell that rendered most fire spells useless and made fire users of even the angel realm dread him.


    ¡®That is incredible!¡¯ An epiphany dawned on ke as the system exined Darius¡¯ fusion spell.


    The concept of fusion magic that had been disyed by Professor Gibson was an attacking part of fusion magic, but that seemed to be a small part of it.


    The purpose of fusion magic was tobine both elements to create all effects that elements couldn¡¯t achieve on their own. It sounded high and mighty but it still followed the same concept of normal magic with imagination being king.


    Immediately Colonel Darius had extinguished the gigantic fireball, the emperor rank beasts had given their army the order to begin the attack. Hundreds of beasts had begun pouring through the 20-meter wide holes.


    .....


    The hippodon had aimed 2 of the hydro bombs at the lower parts of the city barrier, while thest one was aimed at the upper part of the city barrier at the same height as the wall. This was the point of entrance for all flying beasts.


    On returning to his previous position, colonel Darius saw as the beasts were swarming through the holes and quickly gave the order for the attack to begin.


    In an instant the bottom of the wall waspletely lit by the flood of spells fired by the humans and arrays.


    At the same time, the aerial beastsing from the hole at the upper part of the city barrier were making their way towards those on the wall, but the wall¡¯s purple barrier that had been deactivated for some time now had suddenly lit up.


    With the ferocious speed the beasts were lunging at the humans, the sudden appearance of the purple barrier took a lot of them by surprise. 10¡¯s of beasts simultaneously crashed head first into the barrier, killing some and knocking many unconscious, but that wasn¡¯t all.


    The moment they came in contact with the wall¡¯s barrier they were engulf by purple that spread to all parts of their bodies and any organic thing that came in contact with them. This made sure that whatever beasts that touched the barrier was as good as dead.


    It took only seconds for the army of flying beasts to realize that there was no way for them get through the barrier. So they changed their path of flight and began moving down to attack the humans below.


    HUMM! HUMM! HUMM!


    The blue orbs of the mini-towers began letting out a low hum as they were powered up.


    In a matter of seconds the hundreds of mini-towers began firing barrages of raw mana at the flying beasts. The main job of the war machines and humans at the top of the wall was to get rid of the flying beasts and make sure nothing takes those at the bottom by surprise.


    ¡°I guess that is our cue to start attacking.¡± ke said to his team as they activated the elemental cannon array. Since they were aiming for speed and lethality, ke took charge of the array and began lightning spells.


    ...


    At the center of the wall.


    Once colonel Darius had given the signal to attack, Oliver and Xavier immediately jump off the wall.


    Xavier didn¡¯t waste time turning into a bolt of lightning. He instantly covered the 100-meter distance between the wall and the ground, while killing every flying beast that was unfortunate to be his path of descent.


    BOOM!


    A loud explosion rang out as the lightning bolt crashed into a knight rank greater Rhea, killing it on the spot.


    Immediately he was back in his human form, Xavier shot out multiple lightning arcs from his fingers killing more than 30 beasts at once and turning their corpses to ashes.


    ¡®Show off!¡¯ At that time, Oliver hadnded on the ground and began walking forward without a care about the hundreds of beasts charging toward him.


    Dominance domain!


    A yellow hue that spread 20 meters wide appeared around Oliver, and every beast at the elite rank or below, that entered the range of the spell stood still for a second before turning and attacking their fellow beasts.


    Oliver had instantly taken over the minds of more than 20 beasts, but more were still charging him. Nheless, he wasn¡¯t bothered because the dominance domain was still active.


    A knight rank cougar among the hordes had noticed this anomaly and had tried to control the rogue beasts, but they had lost the beast tide¡¯s connection with them. So the next best thing was to take out the threat.


    Using the connection of the beast tide, the knight rank cougar alerted 4 knight rank beasts close by, causing 5 of them to attack at once.


    Just like they had expected, entering the dominance domain had no effect on them, but they soon noticed an evil grin on the face of the human.


    Soul Indoctrination!


    5 wisps of light that contained his life force shot out of Oliver¡¯s stout body and merged with the yellow hue of the dominance domain and traveled to the knight rank beasts undetected.


    Once the wisps of light came in contact with the knight rank beasts, their souls were instantly brainwashed and a soul connection with their new master was created.


    Just like the elite rank beasts, the 5 knight tank beasts turned around and began ughtering their fellow beasts.


    Compared to Xavier¡¯s arrival, that of Oliver was nowhere near shy but his involvement was the most felt by the humans behind him.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 349

    Chapter 349: Power of a Demigod beast tamer (part 2)


    The beast tide was the perfect opportunity for beast tamers of all strengths to amass a fortune. For Oliver Nystrom, it was his opportunity to recoup the gold coins he had paid for the Master seal to be stolen.


    The purpose of the beast tamer specialization was to deal with beasts by either killing them, making the beasts submit, or even both.


    Spells like Dominance domain and soul indoctrination were like a factory reset on their will allowing the caster to imbue his own will andmands unto the beasts.


    Once the spell had sessfully taken over a target, they were basically considered dead because once the spell was deactivated the beast would die because their souls had been tampered with.


    Oliver¡¯s arrival on the battlefield greatly slowed down the advance of the beasts. The 5 knight rank beasts had formed a sort of 40-meter wall that didn¡¯t allow any beast to get through.


    Although they were all tier 1 knight rank beasts, they were still nigh invincible to all beasts at and below the elite rank. To add insult to injury, the elite rank beasts that had been dominated were acting as supports to make sure they weren¡¯t overrun.


    As expected, Oliver¡¯s action of controlling the knight rank beasts hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed.


    .....


    Now knowing that going to fight the human alongside the 5 knight rank beasts, was as good as suicide. They used their beast tide¡¯s connection to alert the king-rank beasts about the situation.


    5 king-rank beasts had quickly reacted to the alert, and they were not stupid to underestimate the strength of the humans.


    2 of the 5 king-rank beasts had gone to make sure that take out Xavier and at worst make sure he wasn¡¯t going to interfere, but they had no idea that he would be more than happy to watch Oliver die.


    As for the remaining 3, in a matter of seconds, they had easily made short work of the 5 knight rank and the elite beasts being controlled by the Oliver.


    ¡®I am ttered that 3 king ranks were sent to face.¡¯ Oliver had a smug look on his face as the number of king ranks sent to deal with him proved who was more dangerous.


    If people were able to read his mind they would have seen him as a mad man, especially with 3 king rank beasts standing in front of him.


    Even tier 1 king rank beasts were naturally stronger than demigods even though they were in the same realm. Now 3 of them were standing in front of him, and although he was in the consummate level (second level after Nascent) of the demigod realm, Oliver Nystrom was unmoved.


    ¡®What are the chances of me getting to control them.¡¯ Oliver clicked his tongue as he looked at the giant ho, cape buffalo, and forest scorpion as if they were toys instead of predators.


    Contract summon!


    Contract summon allowed the user to summon a contracted beast from their dimensional space. It was a primary skill that could only be used after the Soul contract had sessfully contracted the beast and master by binding part of their souls together.


    The soul contract would easily work on beasts that are weak-willed. As high-level beasts that possessed iron-like will, they could either be contracted by their own consent or by weakening them to the point that they lose their resolve to fight.


    (AN: Only if Master balls exist, then it would be a sure catch XD)


    ¡°You guys should try as much as possible to capture them.¡± Oliver said as arge spatial tear opened beside him and a 35 meters long ck and brown boa constrictor carrying what looked like a sleeping piglet on its head, crawled out.


    These were Oliver¡¯s 2 strongest contract summons and they were both at the king rank.


    ¡°Genji wake up you have to fight.¡± Oliver screamed at the piglet that seemed to be sleeping on the snake¡¯s head.


    Oink!


    The piglet let out an angry grunt as it stood up to see the unfortunate souls that had disturbed its sleep. Once its gaze had locked on the 3 king beasts, it jumped off the head of the boa constrictor.


    From 20 meters away from the ground, one would think that the piglet would break a lot of bones, but once itnded the ground rumbled as massive amounts of steam were released.


    When the steam had cleared up, the piglet had transformed into 5 headed muscr morg the same height as the boa constrictor. Its skin was literally rock hard and sticking out its back were long green crystals.


    This was Oliver¡¯s king rank morg, Genji. It was a tier 2 king rank beast and had awakened the earth element. Amongst the 2 summons, Genji was the strongest and short-tempered. Even Azul the boa constrictor knew not to disturb Genji.


    The 20-meter tall king rank boar began charging at the king rank beasts, and with each step it took, the green crystals were lighting up. Seeing this, the Cape buffalo charged at Genji further pissing it off.


    Just as they were about to sh. Genji manipted the earth below the buffalo¡¯s gut to erupt, stunning it and slightly propelling it upward.


    Using the opportunity, one of Genji¡¯s heads knocked up that of the tier 1 king rank Cape buffalo before using 2 other heads to drive its meter-long tusks through the steel skin of the buffalo, killing it on the spot.


    At that time the queen giant ho and the forest scorpion had appeared beside the king rank morg, but it was more than ready for them.


    The lit green crystals sticking out of its back suddenly lost their light as a powerful shockwave was released, mming the beasts away, but Genji was nowhere close to being done with them.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 350

    Chapter 350: Power of a peak Angel (part 1)


    To make sure the shockwave didn¡¯t take them out of his area of reach, Genji conjured 2 massive spiked walls before focusing on the queen giant ho.


    The giant ho had awakened the wind element, and just like Genji had expected it had used the wind element to prevent itself from mming into the spiked wall.


    Grunt!


    The king rank morg was even more pissed that not only had the queen giant ho woken it up from sleep, but it was wasting its time and preventing it from going back to sleep.


    2 thick spiked earth walls erupted by the queen ho¡¯s sides as the ground continued to rumble as Genji charged at it.


    This time both the length of the wall and spikes had doubled sealing its part of escapes, and to avoid getting impaled. The queen giant ho conjured a highly pressurized dome of wind, breaking the spikes that tried to impale.


    It took only a second for the queen ho to defend itself from the spikes, but it was more than enough time for Genji to reach it.


    .....


    ng! ng! ng! ng!


    Using its meter-long tusks, Genji easily deflected the wind des the queen giant ho used as ast-ditch effort to save itself.


    BOOM!


    The 10 tusks violently drilled through the queen ho and mmed it into the spiked earth wall behind, instantly killing it.


    Grunt!


    Genji let out steam from its 10 nostrils as it turned to the injured forest scorpion that was trying to escape. That was when Azul the boa constrictor appeared behind it with its mouth open.


    With the mouth of a boa constrictor being able to expand 4 times its width, Azul¡¯s razor-sharp teeth mped at the forest scorpion before flinging it to Genji who impaled it with its tusks.


    ¡°I said you should try not to kill them.¡± Oliver face-palmed as his summons killed all the king-rank beasts.


    ¡°Holy fuck, and I was here thinking morgs were useless.¡±


    Just like ke and his team, everyone that had witnessed the battle between Genji and the 3 king rank beasts was shocked by the overwhelming strength.


    Thest time most of them had seen Genji was during thest beast tide, but he wasn¡¯t this strong. Genji was only a knight rank beast during thest beast tide, but Oliver had purified his bloodline enough to evolve into a tier 2 king rank beast.


    ...


    At the center of the wall, Colonel Darius was scanning the battlefield. So far not up to 5 humans were dead while more than a thousand beasts had been killed.


    ¡°Begin fire.¡± Colonel Darius gave the order for the mana cannons to begin fire when he saw the armored hippos firing barrages of water bombs at the city barrier.


    If given enough time the city barrier had the ability to regenerate its breached parts, but the rate of regeneration would be very slow if it continued to take damage.


    That was where the mana cannons came into y. Their task was to attack beasts beyond the city wall, especially the ranged beasts like the armored hippos.


    Each shot of meteor burst (1st skill of the magic cannon) caused the room to quake asrge burst rays of concentrated mana were fired at the armored hippos.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Ground shaking explosions rang out as thick clouds of dust rose into the air, but even at that, the magic cannons hadn¡¯t stopped firing.


    The walls of the cannon rooms didn¡¯t only provide enhanced vision but things like dust, smoke, and concealment didn¡¯t affect their vision. That was how they were able to see through the dust that king beast was using their elements to protect the pools the armored hippos resided in.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let those 2 get involved, we have to take them down.¡± Colonel Darius said as he pointed at the Hippodon and fire smander Wyrmling. ¡°You 2 should take down the hippodon, I will handle the rest.¡±


    Major Reeves and Brock Ulrik were peak demigods, making them theoretically equal to the tier 1 emperor rank Hippodon. The 2 peak demigods instantly disappeared and appeared outside the city, before flying to their targets.


    ¡°Emperor beasts are smart enough, so why don¡¯t they want dialogue.¡± Darius helplessly shook his head before vanishing and appearing at the fire smander¡¯s position.


    ¡°I know we kill your kind for resources, but it still doesn¡¯t warrant such level of attacks on our cities.¡± Colonel Darius said to the emperor beast that growled in response as spirals of poisonous mes began forming around.


    The fire smander could perfectly understand the human couldmunicate with him, but he was in no mood for conversation. It was time for war!


    Unreal amounts of ck poisonous smoke began pumping out from its nose, mouth, and underside, filling the entire area.


    ¡®I made the wrong decision of talking to the most unfriendly one.¡¯ Darius clicked his tongue as he enveloped his entire body with a thinyer of water that prevented him from breathing the poisonous gas.


    As for how he was still able to breathe, Darius could continuously conjure water. So all he had to do was dissociate the oxygen from the hydrogen molecules and he would have purified air.


    ¡®Even a blind man would be able to predict that.¡¯ Although he couldn¡¯t see past his nose due to the thick smoke, Darius was able to sense the spiral of poisonous mes that were meant to explode on any form of contact.


    Fusion Magic: Extinguisher


    Colonel Darius continuously clicked his fingers, dispelling the spiral mes that wereing his way as his eyes were continuously darting around.


    While unleashing the poisonous mes, the fire smander who was able to see through his own smoke was continuously flying around the human that floated at one spot while looking for an opening.


    On seeing one, the fire smander appeared beside the human and wed at his head, but hit a solid firewall.


    DING!


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 351

    Chapter 351: Power of a peak Angel (Part 2)


    The reason colonel Darius had decided that he, Major Reeves, and Brock Ulrik were to fight the emperor rank beasts outside the city barrier was to make sure the barrier and humans didn¡¯t suffer from coteral damages from high-level battles.


    So far the fire smander Wyrmling had fired enough spells to put multiple holes in the city barrier or to turn arge portion of the new forest into a wastnd. All these had been averted thanks to colonel Darius who had continuously snuffed them out of existence.


    It was because of this that the emperor rank fire smander had decided to take a close-quarter approach since the human didn¡¯t seem to be a physical type and the air element gave it a massive boost to its speed.


    It was correct about Darius not being a physical fighter, but who said close-quartersbat was his weakness?


    Creation pathway: Fire Scutum!


    Immediately the fire smander saw an opportunity and had gone in for the kill, its razor-edged ws had shed with a solid fire construct, instantly halting its advance without even leaving.


    DING!


    .....


    Before the sound waves produced from the sh could move a meter away from them, a hole big enough for Darius¡¯ index finger appeared.


    Destruction pathway: Torpedo droplet!


    A drop of water formed at the tip of his finger covered by the thinyer of water, but before it could be fired the fire smander had sensed the amount of power contained in the drop and immediately backed out of the ck smoke¡¯s range.


    ¡®Should have seen thising, but anyways it doesn¡¯t matter.¡¯ Darius thought as the fire smander made the entire cloud of ck smoke explode.


    BOOM!


    The explosion was sorge and deafening that both the humans and beasts behind the city wall were rocked by the resultant shockwave causing everyone to pause and look at the source of the explosion.


    The fire smander was star-struck when the smoke had cleared up. It couldn¡¯t believe its eyes that the human was floating at the same spot unscathed. Even theyer of water protecting him hadn¡¯t been damaged at all.


    With its centuries of experience, the fire smander was quick enough to snap out of it and began charging a fire spell.


    The tier 1 emperor beast opened its mouth as a small concentrated ball of fire was forming a few inches away from his mouth. Once fully charged, the fire smander released thepressed energy.


    BOOM!


    The small ball of fire released a beam of fire the twice the size of the fire smander at Colonel Darius who didn¡¯t seem to be moving anytime soon.


    Fusion Magic: Greater Extinguisher


    Instead of clicking his fingers, Darius ced his right hand in front forming a barrier that continuously extinguished the stream of scorching poisonous mesing at him.


    The only reason he hadn¡¯t moved out of the way was that the beam of mes would have destroyed part of the city barrier if he didn¡¯t block or extinguish it.


    The fire smander had sensed his mes weren¡¯t dealing any damage so it began conjuring 3 more of the concentrated ball of fire. That was when the entire beam of fire right to the ball of mes generating it extinguished and Colonel Darius appeared right in front of it.


    ¡°Checkmate!¡± With his finger ced like a gun, Darius fired a torpedo droplet at the fire smander¡¯s head.


    The water droplet pierced through its skull like a hot knife through butter, causing the 25ft body of the wyvern to explode into a rain of blood that melted the forest below.


    ¡°Seems like these beasts are growing steel balls.¡± Colonel Darius couldn¡¯t understand why a tier 1 emperor beasts would want to fight a peak angel.


    Darius was appointed the colonel of Calton city not only because of his insane mastery over the fire and water elements but because he was considered a top-tier genius. He had lived less than a century but had already gotten to the peak of the Angel realm with a foot into the Battle Angel realm.


    (AN: For all those that have forgotten the realms. Human, Warrior, Champion, Hero, Demigod, Angel, Battle Angel, Deity, and All-Father.)


    ...


    Right from the explosion of the ck cloud to the beam of fire. Those on the wall had been keeping a tab on the battle going on outside the city barrier.


    When they saw the body of the Wyrmling explode, the entire wall screamed in joy as its death counted as a major win for the humans. The morale of the human army had instantly skyrocketed as their ¡®champion¡¯ had defeated that of the beasts in less than 5 minutes!


    ¡®Is he at the peak of the Angel realm?!¡¯ ke didn¡¯t have much knowledge about either the angel realm or emperor rank, but he knew one shouldn¡¯t be dog-walked like that if they were close to or on the same power level.


    The battle was so one-sided that Colonel hadn¡¯t taken damage, and from what it looked like, he had been holding back from the beginning.


    [That is the only exnation. The level of power between each tier of realm increases exponentially as one goes up the pathway.] The system said.


    ¡®You told me that I should be more scared of Colonel Darius than the beasts. So how did you know when you can¡¯t sense his realm?¡¯ ke asked.


    [Calton city has multiple Angels like Reeves, professor Hoffenheim, Zirrack, and Walden. So for Darius to still be the head of the military, it means he is surely stronger.


    Also, the southern wall is the most dangerous wall but they had only deployed 2 peak demigods and Angel. It just doesn¡¯t make sense.] The system exined.


    ...


    Back outside the wall. The fire smander was dead, but Colonel Darius hadn¡¯t left the area.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t youe out so we can end this quickly?¡± Darius said with an indifferent expression.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 352

    Chapter 352: Situation report.


    Before Darius¡¯ fight with the fire smander wyrmling, he had sensed the presence of another enemy lurking in the shadows. That was why he had been cautious at first and was on the defense in other to prevent a surprise attack.


    It was after he had seen that the enemy had no ns of joining that he decided to end things quickly and face the enemy.


    ¡°You know you would have had a higher chance of beating me if you 2 team up.¡± Colonel Darius said to the empty space.


    ¡°Very cocky.¡± The trees below spoke in a howling tone as a redwood tree began growing until it reached the same height as Darius who was floating 200 meters above the ground.


    At the top of the redwood tree was arge green flower bud that opened to reveal a tier 2 emperor rank Elder Treant.


    Treants were rare intelligent nt-type beasts that resemble trees in appearance. They were the most powerful of the forest races, and one of the most mysterious.


    Treants typically had face-like features on their bark with a division between their trunks that formed their legs. They possessed multiple long branches thatbined to form thick arms.


    .....


    Their wood appeared to be solid as stone but was actually filled with tubes that carried their green blood from its roots to the areas where it was needed.


    They could root themselves into the ground and take the form of any nt of their choice. Once in this state they remained aware of their surroundings and could perceive the effects of events happening miles away based on subtle nearby changes.


    When they advanced to the emperor rank and became elder treants, they awakened the earth element as their second element (nt obviously the first) and gained a humanoid form.


    The female elder treant in front of Colonel Darius had an appearance of a stunning woman in her mid-twenties and stood at a height of 5ft 6 inches (1.67 meters) tall. It had silky neon waist-long hair, emerald eyes, and pale green skin that revealed had nt nature.


    She wore a mini gown made of leaves, exposing her voluptuous curves that would make men turn for a second look.


    ¡°Too bad you are the enemy, because I could consider a human-beast rtionship.¡± Colonel Darius let out a helpless sigh because such a damsel was about to die.


    ¡°A few seconds ago you wanted to quickly end this. So why the long talk?¡± The Elder treant said in an annoyed tone.


    ¡°Apologies for myck of manners. Shall we?¡± Colonel Darius gave a bow before a mirror-like domain covered both of them.


    ...


    Out of the 4 gates, the western gate was the only one that the city barrier hadn¡¯t been breached, yet.


    Standing on a tree in the middle of the forest outside the city barrier was a tier 2 female Arachne. Its spider half was that of a redback spider, while the upper torso was that of a pale woman with bare perky tits and 4 pairs of eyes.


    It was a master of the earth and air element and had gic skills like web weaving and poison maniption.


    So far, it hadn¡¯t shown any signs of movement. So all the humans could do was wait and watch.


    ¡°Status report.¡± Principal Lovren said to Professor Gibson as they watched the female Arachne.


    ¡°The Northern city barrier had been breached by a tier 1 emperor rank werewolf, but so far it hasn¡¯t engaged inbat with Z and Richard.¡± Professor Gibson reported.


    ¡°Z¡¯s lightning and Richards¡¯ fire element should be enough to deal with the werewolf.¡± Principal Lovrenmented.


    Werewolves were hard to deal with because of their regenerative and growth ability. They were masters of the earth and wind element, and as long as they didn¡¯t sustain severe injuries to their vital organs, werewolves could easily regenerate the injury.


    Also, the more non-lethal damage they sustained, the more they grew in both strength and already insane speed.


    ¡°The southern gate was attacked and breached by a tier 1 hippodon and a tier-one fire smander wyrmling. Major Reeves and Brock had engaged the hippodon inbat, While Colonel Darius had dispatched the fire smander.¡±


    ¡°That is great news, but something feels missing.¡± Principal Lovren just knew that the war at the southern gate couldn¡¯t be so easy unless it is a trap.


    ¡°Newsing in now says that Colonel Darius has just engaged a tier Elder Treant.¡± Professor Gibson reported.


    ¡°There it is!¡± Principal Lovren said as the single piece of news answered multiple questions. Just like he had expected, the war in the south wouldn¡¯t be an easy one, but now he knew what was responsible for the forest.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to worry about Darius, the only thing that would have a chance of beating him would be a tier 2 peak emperor beast.¡± Principal Lovren said as he gestured for Professor Gibson to continue with his report.


    ¡°The eastern wall is not doing great. A tier emperor rank 1 blue me tiger, tier 1 emperor rank Queen Moth and a tier 2 emperor rank 3 headed hydra has appeared at the eastern gate.¡± Gibson reported causing everyone to frown.


    Not only did the eastern wall have the same number of emperor beasts as the southern wall, but they also had a tier 2 emperor beast. Unfortunately for the humans, there was only one Darius.


    ¡°What has the ash corps done about it?¡± Principal Lovren couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°They had sent Guildmaster Walden to the eastern wall, and are hoping that they would be able to hold out till Darius was done with the Elder Treant.¡±


    There had to 2 peak demigods to be able to match a tier 1 emperor beast, but numbers were useless when it came to tier 2 emperor beasts.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 353

    Chapter 353: Full-scale attack


    For a tier 1 emperor beast to be defeated, there had to be at least 2 peak demigods to match its strength, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for the tier 2 beasts.


    At the emperor rank, the difference greater bloodline made was so much that numbers didn¡¯t matter. The only difference between 1 peak demigod and 10 would only be a few more seconds before all of them were ughtered.


    For a tier 2 emperor rank beast to be matched, there had to be at least 2 ascended angels (1st stage of the angel realm).


    Currently, there was only Reeves present, but there was no way he could take both tier 1 and tier 2 emperor beasts. Even if Guildmaster Walden was to arrive, Reeves would handle the moth queen while Typhon and his adventurer party were to take on the ming tiger.


    This left Walden alone with the tier 2 3-headed hydra, which was no different frommitting suicide.


    ¡°By the time Darius is done, the eastern wall would have fallen. Someone needs to go and aid them.¡± Principal Lovren didn¡¯t think it would be a difficult battle for Colonel Darius. It was just that Treants were tricky and hard to deal with.


    ¡°You have to go and support the eastern wall.¡± Lovren said to Zirrack.


    .....


    ¡°What of here? I feel this is a n by the beasts to draw our attention to setting areas before attacking the others.¡± Zirrack felt that the Arachne outside the city barrier wasn¡¯t the only thing they had to face, and there was definitely a reason why it hadn¡¯t attacked yet.


    ¡°I feel the same way, but if anything is toe we would definitely be able to handle it.¡± Principal Lovren said.


    ¡°If you say so then, I will be on my way.¡± Zirrack¡¯s body was suddenly engulfed in the darkish-purple mes as he flew off the western wall to the east of the city.


    Seeing the purple me flying out of the eastern wall, an evil grin appeared on the face of the female Arachne.


    ...


    Back to the southern wall.


    It had been close to 20 minutes since ke had activated the elemental cannon array. The mana cost of the battle array was distributed among the 5 of them, but that of the center array was higher.


    Also, controlling it for so long took quite a toll on him, causing him to switch with Luciano, as he drank a mana potion. Now that he didn¡¯t have much thinking to do, ke was now able to fully assess the battlefield.


    So far the human death count at the southern gate was only a little above 5. The low death count was a result of the human army choosing quality over quantity. Unlike the beast army that consisted of every rank of beasts, that of the human army consisted of nothing below the Hero realm.


    This kind of selection made sure that each person had enough experience to know how to react in certain situations.


    ¡®I thought he would put up a good show, just like the potbellied.¡¯ ke was disappointed when he saw Xavier being helped by members of the Karius family to take down the 2nd king rank beast that came for him.


    On looking over to Oliver, ke saw Genji had returned to his piglet form and was sleeping on the head of its master.


    ¡®He is a perfect example of one¡¯s spirit animal manifesting.¡¯ ke found it hard to control himself from bursting out inughter as he saw Oliver¡¯s stout physique.


    [I can see it.] The system didn¡¯t hold back as it burst out inughter, making it more difficult for ke to hold back his.


    ¡°Ahm! Ahm!¡± ke began coughing in order to hide hisughter.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tessie asked with a worried look on her face.


    ¡°Yeah, just having a dry throat.¡± ke said as he tried his best to keep a straight face.


    ¡°Here have some water.¡± Tessie conjured water which he had no choice but to drink.


    ¡®ke you need to focus! A mistake can cost you your life.¡¯ ke said to himself as he shifted his sight away from Oliver and onto the king rank Boa constructor.


    With the 4 newly controlled knight rank beasts by its side, Azul the boa constrictor was easilyying waste to the sea of beasts that wereing its master¡¯s way.


    ¡®The city Barriers¡¯ regeneration is going pretty well.¡¯ ke thought as the openings caused by the Hippodon¡¯s water bombs had reduced in size.


    The suppressive fires of the magic cannon were the main reason for this. Most of the magic cannons focused on the artillery units of the beasts. This made them focus more on defending themselves, thus greatly reducing the damage they dealt with the city barrier.


    ¡®It is only a matter of time till we are safe, and this time the hippodon is being taken care o...¡¯ Before ke couldplete his sentence, the trees in the forest began undting. Something was swimming underground!


    ¡®It is sorge and long!¡¯ ke said as he saw more than 4 trees in the same row moving up at the same time. The length of this undting motion stretched 60 meters long and was moving toward the city barrier.


    (AN: Sorry, but I couldn¡¯t resist doing it XD)


    [I would act like I didn¡¯t see what you did there, but there are more than 1!] The system drew ke¡¯s attention to the other 4 undting motions happening on the other sides of the wall.


    ¡°Holy shit! Their n had been to distract the powerhouses while theyunch a full-scale attack on the wall.¡± ke said in shock attracting the attention of his teammates and the ash corps teams besides them.


    They looked out the city barrier to see double the number of beasts they were facinging out of their hiding ces in the forest.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 354

    Chapter 354: Die already!


    ¡°What is that thing and how had it been undetected this whole time?¡± ke asked.


    Having seen the point where the undting movements had begun and how long the beasts were. It was clear that the beasts had been there for some time now.


    [After analyzing the info you have so far gotten from the beast section of the library. I havee to a conclusion that these should be King rank Killer earthworms.] The system reported its analysis.


    King rank Killer earthworms were tier 2 magical beasts that awakened the earth element. They had an average body length of 50-70 meters that was covered by a darkish-purple armor that possessed retractable 2-meter-long spikes.


    Although they didn¡¯t have eyes, they possessed insane sensory abilities that made them aware of how deep they were in the ground and gave them a 360-degree vision of every part of their body.


    They had crazy healing ability and if one was able to cut through its body. The Killer earthworm possessed the ability to regenerate a decapitated limb in a matter of seconds.


    (AN: It is a Myth that when an earthworm is cut in half, it bes 2 new worms. The head of the worm would regenerate the lost part, but the other half doesn¡¯t possess any vital organs so it will end up dying. So don¡¯t go cutting up poor earthworms ??


    .....


    [As for how they went undetected I have no clue.] The system said.


    They had no idea that the newly formed forest wasn¡¯t just any normal forest nor only a resting ce for the beast army.


    The forest was created by the tier 2 elder Treant alongside other treants and was enchanted with a concealment spell that was strong enough to hide thousands of beasts from the senses of the tracking devices of the human army.


    This would have been easily spotted by either Colonel Darius or the peak demigods, but the new swarm of beasts had arrived at the area only after they were engaged in a battle with the tier 2 elder treant and tier 1 Hippodon respectively.


    The sudden undted movement of the killer earthworms marked the beginning of the full-scale attack on the humans as twice the number of beasts they had been battling so far swarmed out of the forest.


    The magic cannons quickly changed their target to the killer earthworms and began unleashing everything they had as they tried to stop them from getting to the city barrier.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Continuous explosions rang out as more than 20 meteor bursts from the magic cannons were aimed at each killer earthworm, but the attacks didn¡¯t seem effective in stopping their charge.


    ¡°Oh Boy!¡± The heart rate of everyone on the wall had doubled as they watched the killer earthworms inching closer to the wall.


    ¡°The barrier is as good as gone.¡± Luciano stated as he saw the ground under which the killer earthworms were swimming, soak most of the damages dealt by the magic cannons.


    Just like Luciano had predicted, the killer earthworms had made it to the city barrier and had begun to act.


    Their densely spiked heads lunged at the city barrier, as they manipted the earth element to rotate their bodies underground at extreme speeds, turning them into living drills.


    3 of them were aimed at the lower parts of the barrier while the other 2 attacked the upper part of the barrier.Their initial contact with the orange barrier violently shook the ground as they began drilling through the barrier.


    ¡®I can feel the vibrations from here.¡¯ Ripples were appearing on the city barrier as more energy was being supplied to the areas being attacked by the killer worms.


    The mana cannons changed their targets to the heads of the king rank beasts, but they were already prepared for this.


    Parts of the ground below began breaking apart as they gathered to the head of the killer worms to form an extrayer of protection.


    CRACK!


    Visible cracks began appearing in the areas being drilled, causing the hearts of those watching to tighten with the appearance of a new crack.


    CRASH!


    A few secondster, 5 different parts of the city barrier simultaneously gave in to the destructive power of the killer earthworms due to the damage being greater than the mana being supplied.


    They didn¡¯t stop there, the humans watched as the 2 at the top of the barrier began drilling at other parts of the barrier, while the other 3 continued moving forward.


    ¡°Get out of the way!¡± The humans screamed as the 3 killer earthworms were earth-swimming towards the wall¡¯s barrier at terrifying speeds.


    ¡°Help!¡±


    The screams of those unable to make it out of the way in time were heard as multiple spikes of the killer worm punctured through their body before being dragged along with them.


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    ke along with every student on the wall looked away to not see their gruesome deaths, but when their eyes had returned to the battlefield the 3 killer earthworms were already lunging at the wall.


    BOOM!


    ¡°What the hell do we do now?!¡± Brian couldn¡¯t help but ask as they regained their bnce from the quakes caused by the collision with the wall¡¯s barrier.


    ¡°Fire at it!¡± The leader of the ash corps team to their right screamed.


    ¡°Let me take over.¡± ke said to Luciano who handed over the control to the elemental battle array.


    He had no clue if their attacks would deal any damage to the killer earthworm considering the level difference, but one thing for sure was that prative spells were better in such situations.


    Every living and magical thing in and on the wall fired their strongest spells at the 3 king rank beasts to make sure that they didn¡¯t breach the wall¡¯s barrier.


    ¡°Fucking die already!¡± The humans screamed as they were literally giving out everything they had.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 355

    Chapter 355: This is very bad!


    Even from all the damage they were taking from the sea of spells being shot at them and the barrier¡¯s purple mes that were spreading to all parts of their bodies. The king rank Killer earthworms didn¡¯t falter for a second as they continued trying to drill through the city barrier.


    ¡°These shits are suicidal!¡± ke cursed at the Killer earthworms that were sacrificing their lives to make sure that they broke through the barrier.


    The only good thing about the situation was that with the Killer earthworms being so close the attacks from the cannons were dealing a lot more damage to it.


    ¡°It¡¯s working, Keep on firing!¡± The ash corpsmander screamed as the speed and strength of the earth armor which was continuously being summoned couldn¡¯t keep up with the damage the killer earthworms were receiving.


    Once the earth armor was as good as nonexistent, It took only a matter of seconds for their darkish armor to be blown apart, revealing their soft pink skin that easily exploded into a thousand pieces.


    ¡°That was a close one.¡± ke let out a sigh of relief as he saw the cracks in the wall¡¯s barrier.


    ¡°The others!¡± ke had been so focused on their safety that he had forgotten the other 2 killer earthworms that were drilling at the other sides of the city barrier.


    .....


    On turning to them he saw Oliver and Xavier close to their lifeless corpse, causing his heart rate to drop for the first time in what seemed to be forever.


    Since the killer earthworms were totally focused on drilling another hole from the inside of the city barrier. Xavier had used the prative power of lightning to destroy its brain, while Genji had manipted the earth to reduce the rotation speed, eliminating its drilling power and making it a sitting duck for the mana cannons to kill.


    (AN: For those wondering why the killer earthworms could attack the city barrier from the inside when it is ethereal to the humans (attacks from the humans and magical devices could go out). It is simply because the city barrier was designed to fight beasts. So its aim is to keep beasts out and those within it in.)


    ¡°Is it me or did the mana cannons be weaker?¡± Brian couldn¡¯t help but ask when he thought of how the king tank Killer earthworms were tanking their fire like no man¡¯s business.


    ¡°I think it has to do with what major Reeves said about them getting empowered by the beast tide.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that should still be enough to take so many shots without even flinching.¡± Luciano said.


    [I have a theory.] The system said through the mind link.


    [I had been looking at those below and I noticed that they hadn¡¯t been having much of a tough time even though the number of beasts had increased.] The system said.


    ¡®Are you saying they got weaker?¡¯ ke asked in a confused tone.


    [Yes. I suspect that the beasts nearby had transferred the beast tide¡¯s buff to the killer worms to ensure that they went through the wall¡¯s barrier.] The system stated its suspicions.


    ¡®I have one question. If you are correct, does it mean that now that the killer earthworms are dead the transferred energy would return to the beasts?¡¯ Castiel asked.


    [It is only a hunch and I don¡¯t have much knowledge about this, but I think there should be a limit to it. If not, before any beast dies they would simply transfer the energy to those alive. Meaning the fewer they get, the stronger the beasts would be.] The system¡¯s words sent chills down the spines of the trio when they imagine how bad it would be when the beast army¡¯sposition changed from quantity to quality.


    ¡°What the...¡± The trio was snapped out of their reverie when the corpse of the killer earthworms was being pulled out of the 8-meter holes they drilled in the city barrier.


    ¡°This is bad!¡± Castiel cursed as the beasts were about to ¡®unplug¡¯ the drilled hole in the city barrier.


    Most of the killer earthworms¡¯ bodies along with the beasts pulling them were underground, meaning mana cannons couldn¡¯t stop them even though they knew about their ns.


    Although the 8-meter wide holes in the city barrier were nothingpared to the 20-meter holes made by the Hippodon, 5 of them would surely be an added headache to the human army.


    ¡°This is very bad!¡± ke said in a worried tone as he pointed at the swarm of insects that were flying out of the forest.


    He couldn¡¯t help but worry because from what he was seeing, they were enough to block out the sun if they were in the right position.


    ¡°Everybody switch over to mes, activate the mortars!¡± A voice was heard all around the wall.


    ¡°I would be taking over then.¡± ke quickly handed over the controls of the elemental cannon to Luciano.


    ¡®Is there something I need to know?¡¯ ke asked the system because he felt, if something was to go wrong, it was definitely then.


    [From the looks of things, the city barrier wouldn¡¯t hold out for long and if it is down the wall¡¯s barrier would surely be breached.] The system said.


    With the appearance of the king rank killer earthworms, the mana cannons had switched their target from the ranged beasts to them. Theck of pressure on them, made their return back to attacking the city barrier.


    Now that the swarm of unending insects had arrived, most of the mana cannons had no choice but to focus on them and try to limit the numbers that got through the city barrier.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Out of nowhere, 4 veryrge water bombs crashed into the city barrier, leaving visible cracks on it.


    ¡°2 king-rank armored hippos have been spotted! Special ops team is being deployed to eliminate them!¡±


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 356

    Chapter 356: Demigod tier Mother Tree.


    With the appearance of the king rank killer earthworms and the tunnels they had made, it was clear that underground wasn¡¯t safe. So 2 teams of special ops demigods were teleported not too far from the tier 2 king rank armored hippos.


    One of the 5 demigods in each team was enough to take care of a king-rank armored hippo, while the others were meant to deal with the beasts and other king rank beasts around them.


    The only reason they had a chance of killing the armored hippos was that most of the beast army were already attacking the wall, and for them to turn back would give the humans a breathing space and leave the beasts open.


    To ensure that their mission was sessful, some of the mana cannons were to support them in their attacks, and although it would make things harder for those within the city barrier it was very necessary.


    If the Armored hippos as well as other ranged beasts weren¡¯t eliminated, it was just a matter of time before the entire city barrier at the southern gate was destroyed.


    ...


    With the Mortars behind the wall being activated, explosions rang out as the area in front of the city barrier was turned into deep craters killing thousands of beasts at once.


    .....


    They were twice as powerful as the mana cannons, but they needed quite some time to cool off and they had only one form of attack that was useless against aerial beasts.


    The intervals needed to cool off were a serious downside because once the beasts timed the attacks and got through the city barrier, they were as good as saved from it. The mortars couldn¡¯t fire within the city barrier because some humans would be caught in the explosion of their shells.


    ¡®Does the special ops and mortars affect the analysis?¡¯ ke asked.


    [Not that much. The ranged beasts were the ones meant to destroy the city barrier, while the insects andnd beasts destroy the wall¡¯s barrier. Now, much of the city¡¯s barrier wouldn¡¯t be destroyed, but the pressure on the insects has been reduced.] The system exined.


    Just like the system had predicted, the insects along with other aerial beasts had freely swarmed through all the holes at the top of the city barrier, attacking both those below and the wall¡¯s barrier.


    Thousands of insects were currently attacking the wall¡¯s barrier, and although they were being killed in batches of hundreds by the humans, mes from the wall¡¯s barrier, and magical weapons, they never seemed to finish. They were instantly being reced by more insect-type beasts.


    ¡®I have never liked insects and will surely not.¡¯ ke, felt his skin crawling as his view was entirely covered by both the swarm of insects and the sea of fire spells being fired at them.


    [Just as I thought, they are focusing more on the cracked parts of the wall¡¯s barrier!] The system pointed out the 3 spots of the wall¡¯s barrier that had been cracked by the killer earthworms.


    ¡®Fuck me sideways!¡¯ ke cursed when he saw the ingenious n of the insects. Those in the cracked areas were their heavy hitters, and as for the others, their purpose was to attack the barrier to reduce its regeneration speed, but even at that, they couldn¡¯t be left alone.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time humans have dealt with swarms of insect-type beasts. Although they had increased their firepower at the cracked areas. They knew they couldn¡¯t switch their total attention to these hotspots because the insects would instantly use the beast tide¡¯s connection to create new hotspots.


    ¡°What of those below?¡± Tessie asked. Their job was to take care of Aerial beasts and make sure those below could focus mainly on thend beasts, but now they couldn¡¯t even see them talk more of protect them.


    ¡°They should have retreated into the wall¡¯s barrier by now, but if they haven¡¯t, most of the insects are focusing on the wall. So they aren¡¯t that helpless.¡± Luciano said as he continuously shot down insects after insects with the elemental cannon array.


    Luciano was right, most of the human army had retreated into the wall¡¯s barrier, but only a few demigods were still out.


    ¡°You guys can go rest, I will take over from here.¡± Oliver said to his summons as they left the battlefield through a spatial corridor.


    ¡°Other people see swarms of insects, I see a pool of gold coins.¡± With the Dominance domain still active, Oliver was not afraid of getting overran by insects as he was searching for a perfect spot for his next act.


    ¡°This should be okay.¡± Oliver dropped a thorny seed on the floor and it began digging into the ground.


    Mother Tree!


    The ground began to violently quake as hundreds of thin tree trunks began erupting from the ground and twisting around each other to form a trunk that covered 200 meters (656ft). The trunks grew to a height of 50 meters sprouting thousands of aerial roots and a canopy that was 400 meters (1312ft) wide.


    ¡°Time to get to work.¡± Oliver who was at the top of the canopy began sinking into the huge trunks that were hidden by branches and trees.


    Just like in the champion realm, the Mother Tree could be set to attack automatically but with him in control, it would be more efficient and he wouldn¡¯t be in the open.


    On the ground, thousands ofrge roots erupted from below ensnaring, crushing, and impaling every living thing that came within its range.


    At the top, Oliver had made the Mother Tree to release sweet scents that attracted insects to it. In a matter of seconds, they began swarming toward the tree, instantly reducing their numbers at the crack at the center of the southern wall.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 357

    Chapter 357: Barrier has been breached!


    Once the insect type beasts had perceived the sweet scent of nectaring from the Mother Tree. They were forced into a hypnotic effect that attracted them to it.


    In a matter of seconds, the beast tide had lost control over hundreds of insect-type beasts, including king ranks as they swarmed to the 50-meter Mother Tree.


    Once they were within range, the hundreds of leaves came to life as they shot at the insects in form of extremely thorny vines that captured and instantly killed even king rank insects.


    The thorns of the vines didn¡¯t only drain the blood of the captured insects at an rming rate, but they also injected them with poisons that paralyze them and acid that melted them from the insides.


    Once the targets were dead from the inside it took only a second for them to be absorbed by the Mother tree.


    The absorbed nutrients from the insects would be sent to hanging aerial roots, causing them to grow downwards. Once they came in contact with the ground, a new tree trunk would sprout, increasing the Mother Tree¡¯s range of effect.


    At this point, one could say that Oliver Nystrom was simply created to kill all types of beasts, bothnd and aerial animals. He had single-handedly secured the center part of the wall¡¯s barrier, and not that there was only one of him, the humans wouldn¡¯t be such a tough spot.


    .....


    [That affects significantly affects the analysis, and should be enough if nothing new happens.] The system said. The appearance of the Mother tree had released a lot of pressure from one of the 3 hotspots, meaning the forces positioned in those areas could help out at the other areas of the wall¡¯s barrier.


    On realizing how much of a threat the short and annoying the human could be, the beasts were ordered to avoid the Mother Tree and focus on other parts of the wall.


    With the reduced pressure on the humans, it was clear as day that the insects wouldn¡¯t be enough to break through the wall¡¯s barrier. So the beasts had decided to bring out the heavy hitters.


    With the human army, haven retreated behind the wall¡¯s barrier, and the insects swarmed every inch of the burning purple barrier. Only those operating the mana cannons and mortars could see through the curtain of insects thanks to the wall.


    They could see heavy beasts like octopus-elephants, bisons, and sabertooth-moose charging towards the city wall, and in their midst were a lot of king-rank beasts.


    It was clear that this new batch of beasts would be serious trouble if they were to get to the wall¡¯s barrier, but there wasn¡¯t much they could do about it.


    The beast tide¡¯s connection had made the beasts smart enough to deal with the mortars. They would send out the weak beasts to be killed by the mortar, while the strong beasts were sent out during the cooling interval.


    This left the magic cannons and human army to deal with those that came through, but they couldn¡¯t do much because their hands were already full.


    The best the cannons could do was attack everything behind and below the insects on the wall¡¯s barrier, but that was nowhere enough.


    Without much resistance, the heavy beasts had gotten to the wall¡¯s barrier, and even though insects were on the barrier they didn¡¯t slow down.


    They rammed into the barrier, and the humans didn¡¯t waste time opening fire on them, but they didn¡¯t stop.


    They made sure that dealt damage to the barrier before dropping, and just like the killer earthworms, the king rank beasts had been buffed by the beast tide.


    ¡®Can you see what is going on below?¡¯ ke asked the system.


    Although the vibrations they felt were not close to that of the Hippodon or killer earthworms. For them to be able to feel a vibration 100 meters above the ground, meaning it was quite serious.


    [It is too far from my area of detection, and since you can¡¯t see anything, I can¡¯t.] The system said.


    CRASH! CRASH!


    Just as the system was done talking. Multiple sounds of breaking ss resounded all over the wall and immediately came the wall¡¯s announcement.


    ¡°The barrier has been breached, prepare yourselves!¡±


    ...


    At the western gate, the city barrier had been breached by the tier 2 emperor rank Arachne and the army of beasts were already pouring through the 5rge 20-meter holes in the city barrier.


    One could say that the wave of beasts wasn¡¯t as bad as that of the southern or eastern walls, but they had to consider that the forces sent to the western wall were proportional to the army of beasts they were going up against.


    Although it wouldn¡¯t be as hard as that of the southern wall, it was not going to be an easy fight.


    Luckily for the western wall, theirpositionprised more quality due to the presence of the magic school¡¯s professors who were all above the Nascent level of the Demigod realm.


    ¡°So far everything is going quite well. So I have to make sure it remains the same by stopping it from getting into the fight.¡± Principal Lovren referred to the female Arachne that had begun making its way toward the city barrier.


    ¡°Where do you think you are going?¡± Lovren said as he appeared some distance in front of the emperor rank beast.


    ¡°I thought you had the intention of staying in there forever. So I wanted toe to you, but I am d you came out to see me.¡± The female Arachne said in a seductive voice.


    ¡°Sorry but I am not into bugs.¡± Principal Lovren said with a stoic expression, not caring about the Arachne that had lost its temper for calling it a bug.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 358

    Chapter 358: Not just any Angel.


    Calling an Arachne a bug was no different from calling a wyvern a lizard. It was a great insult to them and for someone to dare call them that, he/she either had the strength to go toe to toe with one or they woke up feeling suicidal.


    Ignoring the rants of the Arachne, Lovren adjusted his monocle, activating the artifact. The monocle began scanning the area and analyzing every single detail right from the tallest trees to the grains of sand on the forest floor.


    If someone in the hero realm was to use the artifact, their brain would be instantly fried by the enormous amount of information being ryed by the monocle.


    ¡°I never knew you bugs are close rtives to snakes. Why don¡¯t you stop slithering like a snake ande out.¡± Lovren said to the hidden enemy with an indifferent expression.


    Seeing that there was no need for it to keep waiting in ambush. A Deathworm shot out of the ground as it curled around a tree until its head was at the same level as Lovren who was floating above the trees.


    A Deathworm was a tier 2 emperor rank millipede that stretched over 150 meters in length and had a dark red exoskeleton way tougher than the hide of a Hippodon.


    Just like the Arachne, it had 8 red eyes that were lined up in a W shape, and on its head were two crooked demon horns. Both the outside and inside of its mouth were lined with hundreds of teeth that formed a tunnel.


    .....


    Deathworms were the masters of fire and rarth elements and had the bloodline ability to generate andce deadly poisons in their attacks.


    ¡®This is very bad.¡¯ Although they were 2 emperor beasts in front of him, Lovren knew panicking wouldn¡¯t help, so he was calm on both the outside and inside.


    ¡®Best case scenario, I take down one with me. Worst-case and most probable is I die without killing anyone.¡¯ He was pretty sure that he wouldn¡¯te out of this alive but he was determined.


    ...


    Back in the city barrier.


    The fight between the humans and beasts was still in the early stage, and just like the southern wall, they were charging at the human army with no n. This was bound to change once Lovren engaged inbat with the emperor beasts.


    ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Professor Gibson couldn¡¯t help but ask when the Deathworm appeared. The strongest known person in the city was Colonel Darius and even he would have a hard time taking on 2 emperor beasts.


    ¡°There is nothing we can do. Even if all demigods were to go and support him, the oue wouldn¡¯t change.¡± Major Briggs said with a concerned look on his face.


    Lovren was currently the only one that could prevent the western wall from being destroyed. If he was defeated, it would take only a few minutes for everyone there to be killed.


    ¡°The only thing we can do now is to make sure that we defend the wall until their battle is over.¡± Briggs said.


    Down on the ground, Professor Langston and Hoffenheim in lightning and light form respectively were zooming all through the battlefieldying waste to hundreds of beasts by the second with ease.


    The professors of the magic academy weren¡¯t normal demigods. They were hired because they were so exceptional in their areas of specialization that king-rank beasts didn¡¯t seem to be so much of a threat to them.


    The only reason they had an issue with the wyvern back at the team exercise in the first semester was that the wyvern had used forbidden magic to evolve. The evolution process had worked beyond its expectations.


    The drake had evolved to a tier 2 King rank wyvern, but because its body couldn¡¯t handle such a gap in evolution it went berserk. In the berserk state, its power and speed had doubled making it even stronger.


    ¡°We are royally screwed.¡± Langston said when the Deathworm had appeared.


    Many including Langston were forced to pause their onught and assess the current danger, but not Hoffenheim.


    ¡°Where are you going to?¡± Professor Langston asked when he saw Hoffenheim moving out of the city barrier.


    ¡°I will be back.¡± Hoffenheim turned into a beam of light and shot out of a hole in the city barrier.


    ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± When Langston figured out what he was nning on doing it was already toote. Hoffenheim was already in front of the Deathworm.


    ...


    Lovren was still thinking of the herculean task in front of him when Hoffenheim appeared beside him.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Lovren was surprised.


    ¡°I thought 2 emperor beasts would be too much for you. So I came to help you take care of one.¡± Hoffenheim said pointing at the Deathworm.


    If it was anyone else, Lovren would have thought that they were stupid and crazy, but he knew Hoffenheim would be nothing close to stupid.


    It was then that Hoffenheim deactivated the artifact that had been cloaking his presence, revealing he was in the Angel realm.


    ¡°Just try and survive till I am done with her.¡± Lovren said before turning to the tier 2 Arachne.


    Although Hoffenheim revealed he was in the Angelic realm it still wasn¡¯t enough. It took 2 Angels to match a tier 2 emperor beast, but for him to volunteer to fight, Lovren believed he had something up his sleeves.


    He had no idea that Hoffenheim wasn¡¯t just any Angel, he was Zultra, the son of the God of knowledge and he awakened every element including space and darkness right from creation.


    ¡°If you are noting then I wille.¡± The female Arachne said in a seductive tone as a mirror world enveloped the two of them.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 359

    Chapter 359: Where the hell is Darius?!


    Hoffenheim¡¯s appearance had caused many to let out a sigh of relief because even though he was just an Angel, it was better than Lovren going against 2 emperor beasts on his own.


    ¡°I just received news that a tier 2 fire Capra has appeared at the northern gate.¡± Professor Gibson showed Major Briggs live footage of the battle at the northern wall.


    The fire Capra was a 15-meter-tall mountain goat that possessed thick ck hide and ming hooves.


    Its horn was 16 feet (4.8 meters) long and was glowing red hot due to the constant fire mana passing through it.


    At the center of its horns was a back-length ming hair that was continuously fueled by the mana being fire mana being absorbed by the horns.


    Emperor rank Fire Capre were masters of the fire and earth elements and possessed absurd charging power.


    ¡°Fucking hell! How are they so many?!¡± Major Briggs cursed on hearing the bad news.


    .....


    At this point, there was currently nothing less than 2 emperor beasts at every gate. It made them wonder when emperor beasts becamemon like cabbage.


    ¡°The only person that can solo a tier 2 emperor beasts is Colonel Darius, and he is still fighting the elder Treant.¡±


    ¡°By the time he is done, the northern and most probably the eastern wall would have also fallen. All we can do now is pray for a miracle.¡± Major Briggs said.


    Emperor rank beasts were nothing close to being dumb. Once they breached the Northern wall, they would help out the other beast armies by attacking the humans from both sides.


    If 2 walls were to fall there was a 70% chance that they had lost the entire city because almost all of the city¡¯s defense resources were positioned at the walls.


    So even if they were to get through one of the walls, the city would suffer a lot of damage.


    ...


    Back at the southern wall.


    Red-haired royal knight, Rayzer, was in his golden armor watching ke¡¯s steam from above.


    His previous task had been to watch over ke, but when they had been sent to the wall at the start of the beast tide, it had changed to protecting ke and also Luciano.


    If someone nned on assassinating them, the chaos caused by the beast attacks was the perfect opportunity to attack them.


    ¡®At this rate, I might have to get involved.¡¯ Rayzer thought when the wall¡¯s barrier had been breached.


    The beast army had broken 3rge holes in the lower parts of the wall¡¯s barrier. Once they had gotten through, they swarmed through the hole and formed walls by the sides to make sure the humans didn¡¯t take back control of the position.


    That was when the king-rank beasts that had awakened the earth element created multiple ramps that made their way to the top of the wall.


    With the beast walls giving a free passage, beasts began rushing up the ramps and climbing the wall as they made their way to the top.


    ¡®The situation is getting worse. At this rate, if nothing is done the southern wall would fall.¡¯ Rayzer thought as he assessed the entire battlefield, but remained unmoving.


    That was when he felt a mind-link connection with Prince Bryon.


    ¡®Your Majesty...¡¯ Rayzer knelt with one knee as he awaited the words of the prince.


    ¡®A tier 2 fire Capra has appeared at the northern wall and all of the city¡¯s powerhouses are currently busy. I want you to go take care of it.¡¯ Prince Bryon said.


    ¡®Then what of me protecting his highness and ke? The wall¡¯s barrier has just been breached and the beasts have already made their way to the top of the wall.¡¯ Rayzer reported the situation of the southern wall.


    ¡®What is the current situation of Darius¡¯ battler with the elder Treant?¡¯ Bryon asked.


    ¡®It would take a little bit more time before he is done. The same goes for the newly advanced angels.¡¯


    ¡®Then the kids should be able to take care of themselves for a short period. If they end up dying before then, then they were not worth it.¡¯ Prince Bryon said.


    ¡®Yes, your Majesty.¡¯


    When the mind link had ended, Rayzer took one more look at ke¡¯s team to make sure they were not in danger, before moving to the northern wall.


    ...


    ¡°Focus on the beasts!¡± Everyone was ordered to switch their attacks from the insects on the walls to the beastsing their way. This order would cause more openings in the wall¡¯s barrier, protecting their lives was the most important.


    When the announcement had been made, the ash corps teams beside ke¡¯s team told them to move away from the wall and stay behind. This was to protect them and prevent them from getting taken by surprise.


    Just like they had expected, it didn¡¯t take time for the beasts to reach the top of the wall.


    ¡°I and Luciano would defend the sides while Castiel uses the elemental cannon and you 2 support us.¡± ke said to his team members as he brought out Ebony and Ivory from his dimensional space.


    Unfortunately for them, 2 earth ramps had formed close to them. The 1st one was 2 ash corps teams away, while the 2nd was right in front of a mini magic tower beside the ash corps team by the right.


    The first set of beasts that came up the ramp instantly rammed into the mini-tower, destroying it and killing the operator before turning to the humans by the side.


    2 members from each ash corps team beside them were tasked to kill the beasts that were climbing and flying up the wall, while the other 6 were to defend against those using the ramps.


    Thanks to their training, the six ash corps seamlessly worked together using different arrays and spells to form an imprable wall, but that was sooning to an end when a king rank wasp appeared.


    ¡°Where the fu*k is colonel Darius?!¡±


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 360

    Chapter 360: Magical Zombies?!


    The humanoid king rank wasp stood 8¡ä 2¡å inches (2.5 meters) tall as it looked down on the ash corps team. Its entire body was covered in ck and yellow exoskeleton armor and that included its massive stinger.


    The ash corps team didn¡¯t think twice as they began raining hero tier spells at the king rank.


    ¡®This is perfect because the limited width of the wall prevented the Wasp from dodging.¡¯ ke thought, but who said it needed to dodge the attacks.


    With the help of its exoskeleton armor, the king rank wasp took the full brunt of the spells as it used its left hand to pierce through the defensive barriers protecting them.


    It moved the hand sideways, breaking the rest of the barrier.


    Using the other hand, the king rank wasp stabbed through the skull of an ash corp, instantly killing him before he could react.


    On moving on to its next target an ice wall formed in its way, but with a flick of its finger a wind de sliced through the ice wall, but the ash corp had already moved out of the way.


    .....


    Click! Click!


    The wasp clicked its mandibles in anger as it turned to the aquamancer responsible for the ice wall. Just as it was about to dash at him, the ground had softened causing both its legs to sink, and before it could escape the ground had hardened.


    Its wings began pping furiously as it tried to pull itself out, but the ground wasn¡¯t budging. It began attacking the ground with wind spells but it only left dents.


    The city wall wasn¡¯t made of ordinary rock, it could take emperor-level attacks, talk less of the attacks of king-rank beasts.


    The king rank wasp knew it couldn¡¯t continue taking more hits, so it quickly amputated its legs with a wind de before resuming its attack on the ash corp.


    With the enhanced speed granted by the wind element, the wasp had appeared in front of the geomancer that cost it its leg, before using itsrge mandibles to bite off his head. At the same time, it threw a wind de that cut his previous target in two.


    ¡®Holy fuck we need to get out of here!¡¯ ke was shocked by the helplessness of the ash corp.


    Although they had managed to blow apart parts of its exoskeleton, it wasn¡¯t enough. At this rate, they would die before dealing significant damage.


    [Unless you jump out of the wall you have nowhere else to go.] The system reminded ke that even behind him wasn¡¯t safe.


    Unknown to the wasp, it had made the biggest mistake of its life. It was already taller than a human, so taking flight gave 2 mini-towers a clear shot at it.


    In a matter of seconds, the mini-towers had released 4 shots of energy sts at the flying wasp. With its great speed, it managed to evade 2 energy sts but had taken shots to the head and abdomen.


    Luckily for the wasp, it had managed to conjure a high-pressure wind barrier that took most of the damage, leaving a deep crack on its exoskeleton.


    Seeing that remaining airborne was a death wish. The King rank wasp immediately went low and began using the wind element for movement, but things only got worse.


    Ice chains formed from thin air, wrapping around the king rank wasp and its wings. The other end shot into holes made by a geomancer, anchoring themselves before contracting and pulling the wasp closer to the ground.


    Just as the king-rank insect was about to rip the ice chains apart, an ash corp was already in the air, and in front of him was a fireball twice his size.


    BOOM!


    The resulting explosion didn¡¯t deal much damage to the wasp, but it had mmed half of its body into the sticky ground.


    Oning out of its crossed-hand position, the king rank wasp saw half of its body in the solidified ground and didn¡¯t waste time cutting it off with a wind de.


    Immediately, its wings began pping but before it could rise into the air, a water bullet came out of nowhere and shot through the crack in its skull exoskeleton piercing its brain and killing it.


    ¡®I thought we are facing magical beasts, not magical zombies?!¡¯ ke was shocked and at the same time terrified by the monstrous vitality of the king rank wasp.


    The group turned in the direction the water bullet came from. They saw a 5¡ä 5¡å inches tall man who had a stout physique and a frown as his default expression.


    ¡®Sweet easy points!¡¯ Pascal thought as he concealed his evil grin.


    ¡®This guy is a K.S lord!¡¯ Brian said in the mind link.


    (AN: K.S is a gamer term for kill steal.)


    The ash corps didn¡¯t think the same way as Brian. With 3 of theirrades killed, they were more than happy that Pascal had ended the Wasp¡¯s rampage before more of them would die.


    ¡°Hope your majesty is okay?¡± Pascal said to Luciano as he walked up to them ignoring the rest of the team.


    ¡®K.S lord and an ass licker.¡¯ ke sneered at the bootlicking Pascal, but that was when a golden poison frog¡¯s tongue shot through his chest.


    ¡®What the fuck?!¡¯ Everyone including Pascal was still in shock when meter-long spikes erupted from the tongue, rupturing his lungs and heart.


    ¡°Hel...¡± Pascal stretched his hand as he asked tried asking the teens for help.


    [Grab his dimensional ring!] The system¡¯s scream caused ke to snap out of it and grab him by his hand, but that was when the golden poison frog retracted its tongue dragging at a lightning speed.


    ¡®That was fucking close!¡¯ ke cursed the system as he was lucky enough to have held only the dimensional ring before Pascal was dragged out.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 361

    Chapter 361: Waiting for the perfect opportunity.


    Most of ke¡¯s team was still shocked by how Pascal was killed. This made them oblivious to the fact that ke had taken his ring, instead, they were happy that he wasn¡¯t dragged along.


    It was only Luciano that had noticed the ring slipping off Pascal¡¯s middle finger, but he thought it was just a result of ke failing to save him.


    ¡®So why did you want me to grab his ring?¡¯ ke asked the system.


    [Because it would be a waste if it ended up getting destroyed by the gastric juice of the frog.] The system replied.


    ¡®What the flying fuck?!¡¯ ke screamed in his head.


    ¡®Why the hell will you ask me to do that? I was here thinking that you saw something important. This is just dishonoring a dead man!¡¯


    [That man was a bootlicker, he sure wasn¡¯t honorable.] The system said.


    .....


    ¡®True... but it still doesn¡¯t feel right.¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but admit the system brought up really good points.


    [You will get over it. Now focus on the battle or you will end up like him.]


    With his attention returning to the battlefield, ke noticed that the golden poison frog was only at the knight rank level. If it was a one-on-one fight, Pascal would beat it, but nothing was is truly fair in love and war.


    The ash corps were all in the Hero realm. So it took only seconds for them to get rid of the golden poison frog, giving them a little breathing space.


    ¡°You guys should take over from us, while we go and support them.¡±


    With the death of 3 members, the ash corps protecting them from the beasts climbing up the ramp needed back up.


    So it was best for those shooting down the aerial beasts that had made it through the wall¡¯s barrier to support them, while the students took over.


    ¡°Roger that!¡± ke said as he began organizing his team.


    There was no need to use the elemental cannon array because the area was previously defended by 4 ash corps. So to cover up, they needed to split up into 3.


    For Tessie and Brian whose elements weren¡¯t too effective against aerial beasts, they were paired with ke and Castiel respectively.


    Luciano was alone at the center, ke and Tessie were at the left, while Brian and Castiel were at the right so. This was in case something bad was to happen to the ash corps, Brian and Castiel would use the earth and darkness elements respectively to buy them enough time for them to escape.


    ¡°What happens to the points someone gains after he or she dies?¡± Brian couldn¡¯t help but ask as he saw the battlefield littered with corpses.


    ¡°The points earned are saved by the badge. So after the war, they would be given to their next of kin in any currency of their choice.¡±


    ¡°In the case where they have no next of kin. They would be given to their best friends or teammates. As for the lone wolves, their points are given to charity.¡±


    Luciano exined as they shot down aerial beasts and those climbing the wall without the ramps.


    ...


    At that time outside the city barrier, Major Reeves and Brock Ulrik had finally in the Hippodon.


    It turned out that the aim of the Hippodon was to stall them. It knew it couldn¡¯t do much against them. So it decided to stay on the defense.


    Its n would have worked out alright if it were any other peak demigods, but the problem was that both Major Reeves and Brock possessed the earth element making it easier to counter that of the hippodon.


    By the end of the battle, both of them had gotten the final push they needed to enter the angelic realm.


    ¡°Darius is not yet done with his fight. Seems it is up to us to end the fight.¡± Major Reeves said to Brock.


    ¡°Then this is the perfect ce to start from.¡± Brock replied as they began killing the beasts from the back.


    ...


    Back at the wall...


    Their vision was still being blocked by the hundreds of insects attacking the wall¡¯s barrier, leaving them clueless about the Hippodon¡¯s death.


    In just a few minutes, ke¡¯s team had already killed almost 50 beasts that were trying to make their way up the wall, but that was when Brian noticed the neers.


    ¡®Why the fuck is Serhan¡¯s teaming over here?¡¯ Brian alerted ke through the mind link, causing a deep frown to appear on his face as he turned in their direction.


    It turned out that 3 ramps had been erected at their area which was 3 ash corps teams away.


    They would have been easily overrun if not that the ash corps teams had retreated and regrouped with those close to ke¡¯s team.


    As for Serhan¡¯s team, they had been instructed to go to the safest area, and that was ke¡¯s location.


    [Focus on killing the beasts, I will keep an eye on them] The system didn¡¯t want to see another Pascal happening.


    ¡®Alright...¡¯


    ke would have loved to ask them what the hell they were doing there, but that would definitely lead to an argument that could cost them their lives.


    ¡®This is the perfect opportunity to attack them, but the only problem is Luciano. Attacking him is death for not only me but the entire Karius family atrge.¡¯ Serhan thought.


    ¡®I can¡¯t go after the son of a b*tch because they are quite close. The same goes for the girl, especially after what Cami told me.¡¯


    ¡®That leaves us with these two.¡¯ Serhan thought as he looked at Brian and Castiel.


    From what he knew, they were the least close to Luciano. So if he could kill one of them, he would be able to get away with it.


    Now that he had his targets, the only thing left was to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 362

    Chapter 362: End of beast tide.


    ke and his team had messed with Serhan so much that he was certain that he would not retain his first position in the overall score.


    He would even be lucky to enter the top 5, talk more of the top 3.


    This was bad news for him because not only would his father be pissed about it, but it would also affect the reputation of the Karius family.


    The current gap between him and the current highest was surely enormous. So since he couldn¡¯t do anything about it, he decided to go for the next best option. To cause ke¡¯s team pain by making them lose something important.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the barrier would be able to hold on for long.¡± Brian pointed at the cracks that were appearing all over the purple barrier.


    ¡®I thought the barrier could reflect damage. So why isn¡¯t it doing it?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but curse the timing.


    With Serhan¡¯s team behind them and the barrier in front about to break, ke felt like he was stuck between a hurricane and tsunami.


    .....


    That was until the light of the wall¡¯s barrier began increasing in intensity.


    BOOM!


    An explosion in the form of purple mes erupted from the surface of the wall¡¯s barrier, instantly turning thousands of insects into ashes.


    The only area that hadn¡¯t exploded was the center of the wall where The Mother Tree was, and that was because there were no insects there.


    ¡®There it is...¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡°They are finally out!¡±


    With the insects no longer blocking their view, everyone was now able to see the massacre being orchestrated by Major Reeves and Brock Ulrik in the heart of the beast army.


    [Don¡¯t lose focus, this is the best time for him to attack. Also, the beasts already know what is happening because of their connection, so expect them to be suicidal.] The system quickly reminded ke that the war wasn¡¯t yet over.


    On seeing the 2 powerhouses were done with their battle, Serhan knew that the war against the beasts was basically over. This meant his window to kill Castiel or Brian would soon close.


    ¡®Fuck! I have to take action fast!¡¯ The pressure on Serhan to get his revenge had tripled.


    He was waiting for a beast to approach one of them, then he would fire and then warn them when it was toote.


    The reason for this was to easily convince people that it was an ident. Then his family¡¯s connection would deal with the rest, especially since neither of the 2 were nobles.


    ¡°You guys should be careful it¡¯s not yet over.¡± ke warned his friends as he saw beastsing up the wall with renewed vigor.


    Just like the system had predicted, the beasts were now actively trying to exchange their lives for those of humans. This was the opportunity Serhan had been waiting for.


    [He is charging up a spell, get ready to intercept him.] The system warned ke who activated Mind boost.


    Directly attacking Serhan would put him at fault because he hadn¡¯t done anything yet. So the best he could do was intercept the attack.


    ¡®Now¡¯s my chance!¡¯ Serhan said to himself as a harpy eagle flew to the top of the wall.


    Just as Serhan was about to release a ray of sma, the harpy eagle burst into ashes as Colonel Darius appeared in its position with his eyes locked on him.


    ¡®Attacking a member of his highness¡¯ team indirectly puts him in danger. The punishment is death, so be wise boy!¡¯


    The angry voice of Colonel Darius echoed in Serhan¡¯s head, shaking his soul and giving him an intense migraine that caused him to fall to his knees.


    ¡°I guess it is time to end this war.¡± Colonel Darius snapped his finger causing every beast within the city¡¯s barrier to burst into ashes.


    ¡®Right about time!¡¯


    ke saw as thousands of beasts were killed in an instant, causing the entire southern wall to burst out in thunderous cheers.


    Finally, he could let out a sigh of relief and lower his guard cause all dangers have been eliminated.


    ¡®What the...¡¯ ke was taken by surprise when Tessie hugged him out of nowhere.


    [Before you go ahead and ruin this moment put yourself in her position. She...]


    Once ke saw that the system was about to give another lecture. He ignored it and returned the embrace.


    A lot of pressure has been on everyone, especially the students. So now that they knew something out of nowhere would kill them, it felt like a mountain was taken off their shoulders.


    ¡®How long is a victory hug meant to take and how do I get out of this?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask the system because people were beginning to look in their direction.


    [Hmmp!] The system snorted as it ignored him, but thankfully Brian unknowingly came to the rescue.


    ¡°Why are they letting a lot of beasts go?¡± Brian asked as he pointed at the hundreds of beasts Major Reeves and Brock had ignored as they were flying back to the city.


    ¡°That is to make sure the beast poption doesn¡¯t go extinct. Remember, you still have to hunt for beasts and we still need them for a lot of resources.¡± Luciano exined.


    ¡®That answers my question.¡¯ ke had always been wondering how he was able to hunt if all beasts were killed during the beast tide.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the definition of a cycle?¡± Castiel asked.


    ¡°Yes, but it sustains the human poption and enables us to advance both magically and technologically.¡± Luciano stated.


    ¡°At the cost of so many lives?¡± Brian ask in a pondering tone as he looked at the dead bodies on the wall and the ground.


    ¡°You guys are looking at it from the wrong angle. Extinction of species can lead to the death of humans. Also, remember they are the ones that attack human cities.¡± ke¡¯s exnation reminded them of the importance of bees back on Earth.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 363

    Chapter 363: Not yet over.


    With the southern gate being the first to be attacked, it was natural for it to be the first to either fall or repel the beasts.


    So with the beast tide officially being over at the southern wall, the 3 powerhouses had to take care of some things at the southern wall before they could support the other gates.


    At the center of the wall, Colonel Darius, Major Reeves, and Brock Ulrik had gathered to hear the city¡¯s status report and receive their next orders.


    ¡°Ashely, status report.¡±


    ¡°Just like you had predicted, the Northern wall was attacked by a 2nd emperor beasts, but luckily Royal Knight Rayzer came to the rescue.¡±


    ¡°There are currently no problems at the eastern gate thanks to Zirrack supporting them, but things are not looking too good at the western wall.


    Principal Lovren is currently inbat with a tier 2 Arachne, and so is Hoffenheim who is at the angel rank.¡± Ashely¡¯s report made it clear that the western wall needed backup.


    .....


    Since it was the only the western wall that needed help, Darius was more than enough to handle the problem. So before he left, he gave out tasks to both Major Reeves and Brock.


    Major Reeves was in charge of supervising 2 teams. The work of the first was to bring the corpse of all beasts into the city, while the 2nd was in charge of bringing in and preserving the corpse and remains of their fallenrades.


    As for Brock, he was tasked to stay at the southern gate to prevent any form of surprise attacks that might take.


    ...


    In a matter of minutes, Colonel Darius appeared in front of the city barrier at the western wall.


    Although the city barrier had been breached, the human army at the western wasn¡¯t in a bad position.


    The battle has been raging on for almost 5 hours but even at that, the wall¡¯s barrier hadn¡¯t received any damage. This was because of the presence of the demigod professors.


    The only problem the western wall had were the emperor tier beasts outside the city barrier. If they ended up killing Lovren and Hoffenheim, the thousands of beasts they had in so far didn¡¯t matter.


    He ignored the thousands of beasts swarming in through 5rge holes in the city barrier and locked his sight on the battle some distance away.


    In a matter of seconds, Darius had appeared in front of the 2 mirror worlds where Lovren and Hoffenheim were battling it out.


    ¡°Just like I expected.¡± Darius said with a smile on his face as he looked into Hoffenheim¡¯s mirror world and saw that he was winning against the Deathworm.


    ¡°Shit! Hope I am not toote.¡± Darius hurriedly dived into Lovren¡¯s mirror world to save him.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t he help out Hoffenheim?!¡± Major Briggs and Gibson blurted out when they saw Colonel Darius diving into Lovren¡¯s mirror world.


    Both Lovren and Hoffenheim were facing emperor beasts of equal ranks. So it wasmon sense that he saved Hoffenheim who was weaker. They had no idea that the reverse was the case.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope he pulls off whatever he is nning.¡± Major Briggs said as he continued raining down demigod spells from the top of the wall.


    ...


    After almost 20 minutes, the mirror world copsed revealing arge hole at the head of the female Arachne corpse, and the unconscious Lovren in Colonel Darius¡¯ hands.


    ¡°I guess I came just in time.¡± Colonel Darius said as he appeared at the center of the western wall where Major Briggs and Professor Gibson were present.


    ¡°How is he?¡± Gibson asked as he rushed toward the pale and unconscious Lovren.


    ¡°The Arachne¡¯s poison had already done a lot of damage before I was able to extract most of it. He is still alive, but he would be out for a long time.¡± Colonel Darius replied as he handed Lovren over to Gibson.


    ¡°Time to end these beasts and wrap up this war.¡±


    ¡°What about Hoffenheim?¡± Major Briggs couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. He will be fine.¡± Colonel Darius said, causing both of them to stare at him like he was mad.


    He didn¡¯t need to exin because the mirror world copsed and the Deathworm¡¯srge corpse crashed into the ground, drawing the attention of everyone.


    That was when a beam of light shot through one of therge holes andnded at the top of the wall.


    ¡°That was rough.¡± Hoffenheim said as he materialized from the ray of light.


    ¡°Shit! Lovren is Injured!¡±


    He immediately ran to Lovren and began using light spells to diagnose and treat him for any injuries.


    ¡°I will have to take him back to the academy to begin proper treatment.¡± Hoffenheim said as he opened a spatial gate that led to his office to avoid the questions that wereing.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡±


    Colonel Darius had left to wipe out the army of beasts, but Major Briggs and Gibson were rooted to the spot as both shock and confusion were written all over their faces.


    Not only was Hoffenheim still alive, but he look like he just went on a field trip instead of battling a tier 2 emperor rank beast.


    ¡°Are my eyes ying tricks on me?¡±


    They couldn¡¯t help but ask becausemon sense was that Hoffenheim was meant to be the unconscious one while Lovren carried him back to the academy.


    ¡°Are you saying Hoffenheim is the strongest in the academy?¡± Gibson pondered in a confused tone.


    They had no idea that Zultra could only beat the Deathworm because he had control over all the elements and was also in possession of peak epic tier artifacts.


    ¡°Now clear up the battlefield and be on the lookout for surprise attacks.¡± Colonel Darius who had returned said to Major Reeves who hadn¡¯t moved from the spot.


    ¡°I have to make sure the other areas are okay.¡± Colonel Darius said as he disappeared from the Western wall.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 364

    Chapter 364: DIY project.


    The battle hadsted for more than 6 hours and it was already dark, but the students were still at the wall.


    The beast tide was over, but the students hadn¡¯t been given any newmands. So they had to remain in their different positions on the wall.


    ¡°It¡¯s already past our usual shift, aren¡¯t we suppose to rest and eat?¡± Brian said in an exhausted tone.


    ¡°Surprised that came from you. Usually, it is ke who talks about food.¡± Luciano said causing everyone tough except for ke.


    He couldn¡¯t deny the allegation, but that didn¡¯t mean he should agree to it. So he decided to keep quiet, but that proved that it was true.


    With nothing to do they watched as the light from the walls illuminated the entire battlefield that was being cleared by the cleanup team.


    Major Reeves was floating some meters above the ground outside the city barrier. He didn¡¯t need to protect the cleanup team inside because all they had to do was pick up beast cores from the piles of ashes littered everywhere.


    .....


    As for those outside, their job was quite dangerous. Not only were they susceptible to attacks from beasts, but handling a beast¡¯s corpse wrongly could lead to their deaths.


    That was why Major Reeves was there to protect them and warn them of dangerous corpses.


    ¡°What does the city do with all the beast corpses?¡± With the poption of beasts having plummeted, he was wondering if the city was nning to make some sort of monopoly on beast resources.


    ¡°This is a way the city prevents shortage of resources from beasts. The beast corpse and cores would be sold at an equivalent price to whoever needs it.¡± Luciano exined.


    ¡®If so it isn¡¯t bad at all.¡¯ He knew that it wasn¡¯t that straightforward and that the city would gain somehow from it, but as long as they weren¡¯t exploited then he was okay with it.


    Even with magic, it took more than an hour to clear the sea of corpses, but once it was done Major Reeves had called them to the center of the wall for their final briefing.


    ¡°I am quite surprised and at the same time proud that none of you ended up dying. So before you all are sent back to the school I would like to say good job to each and every one of you.¡±


    Major Reeves didn¡¯t waste time dismissing them before heading outside the city barrier to begin clearing down the forest created by the Elder Treant. On the other hand, the students were warped back to the magic academy.


    ...


    When they appeared at the school¡¯s warp arrays, ke and his team didn¡¯t waste time heading to their rooms.


    On entering his room, ke filled his nostrils with the air of his room, but there was nothing special about it talking more of getting a nostalgic feeling.


    ¡°I wonder if this world has an automatic humidifier air freshener.¡± ke thought about making his room nice.


    ¡°I could make one but I need fragrances and essential oils. I will go check out the exchange storeter.¡± ke said as he hit the shower.


    When the group met at the canteen to fill up their bellies, ke and Brian didn¡¯t waste time in ordering mountains of food.


    Even as Damon and his team sat at the table close to them, they didn¡¯t take their eyes off their te.


    ¡°How did the beast tide go for you guys?¡± Luciano asked Damon.


    It was at this point that ke and Brian were forced to look up to make sure their ears weren¡¯t deceiving them.


    ¡®Is it me or did Luciano start a conversation?¡¯ Brian asked in the mind link.


    ¡®Well, that¡¯s new.¡¯ ke said as he continued eating.


    ¡°No casualties, but some of my team members have to recover mentally.¡± Damon said pointing at La and Esmeralda that waved with wry smiles on their faces.


    They were still teens and witnessing the deaths of hundreds of people had traumatized them.


    As for Haldor, he was chewing on a steak like nothing had ever happened, while Cami was quietly eating a sd as she avoided turning in their direction.


    ¡°How about you guys?¡± Damon asked.


    ¡°The only serious issue we have is their hunger.¡± Luciano pointed at ke and Brian causing them to pause and look up.


    ¡°That is pretty serious.¡± Damon chuckled.


    [Did you see what happened there?] The system asked.


    ¡®Yes. Damon revealed a lot more info than needed, meaning something serious might have happened.¡¯


    ¡®As for Luciano, he used us to avoid giving out relevant info, while painting a perfect but false picture that we had no issue.¡¯ ke said to the system as he continued to slurp noodles from his bowel.


    [Wow... I am shocked that you were paying attention.] The system said in an honest tone.


    ¡®I act this way to make people underestimate, and seems it is working.¡¯ ke mind-smirked.


    [You forgot to add that you are a glutton.] The system chuckled.


    ¡®Fuck off!¡¯


    It was after he was done, that ke finally raised his head to say hi to Damon¡¯s team.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel too heavy after eating so much?¡± Cami finally spoke up.


    ¡°Yeah... but isn¡¯t that the point of eating?¡± ke said but everyone on his table including the system face-palmed as they tried to hold back theirughter.


    After chatting for a few more minutes, everyone returned to their room, but ke headed to the library.


    ¡°To make an automatic humidifier air freshener I need to learn how to make things automatic and periodic.¡± ke thought as he went through the array section of the ground floor.


    The forgemastery ss had gone quite far, but so far everything they had been taught ranging from forgemastery arrays to battle arrays was all manual.


    Since it was a simple DIY project, ke prayed it would be simple to learn and implement.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 365

    Chapter 365: DIY design.


    After he read a book on the automation of arrays, ke found out that the main area he was meant to be focused on was making the array periodic.


    As long as the array had a power source it would continue to remain active until it hadpletely drained the power source. So since he didn¡¯t want the humidifier to continuously spew out essential oil, ke needed to learn how to make arrays periodic.


    ¡°This was way easier than I thought.¡± ke was ecstatic when he saw that the book was not only straightforward, but it exined all the tiers of periodic arrays in great detail.


    Since the humidifier wasn¡¯t anyplex weapon of mass destruction, it needed only the basic tier of periodic arrays.


    The best part of the book was that it taught all the sets of symbols for every second up to 50 secs. So all ke had to do was look at all of them and have the system remember them when he needed to learn them.


    ¡°Since that is done, now off to the exchange store.¡± ke used the warp array at the library to return to the castle.


    On seeing the holographic screen of the exchange store, ke moved over to the alchemist section. He was finding it hard to recognize any essential oil he knew back on earth.


    .....


    ¡®Tea tree... Yuck.¡¯ ke was disgusted as he remembered the scent of Tea tree essential oil.


    ¡®Lemon fragrance! 50 EP that¡¯s a fair price.¡¯ He didn¡¯t waste time purchasing 5 bottles of the lemon fragrance.


    He continued scrolling through the long list and was able to get other fragrances likevender, cinnamon, vani, rose, and wild orange.


    Unfortunately for ke, he couldn¡¯t get a sample of the essential oil. So what he did was buy one bottle of each and smell them one after the other before buying more.


    The thought of upgrading his room to his dream setup had crossed his mind, but he felt it was redundant. Things like light strips would just distract him while he was cultivating, so it was useless.


    After he was done shopping for essential oil, ke began searching for the best metal to construct the body of the humidifier.


    ¡®What if I used gold?¡¯ ke thought. He felt like since he was putting in so much effort he should make it special.


    [I must be dreaming, or did you get hit on the head?] The system was confused about what happened to ke


    ¡®haha funny...¡¯ ke said in a sarcastic tone as he searched for a gold ingot.


    In both exchange points and the gold coins get had gotten frommissions, ke had way more than he needed.


    ¡®It would take quite some time before another DIY project.¡¯


    Although he wanted to make sure the result was magnificent, ke still felt his heart bleed as he paid almost 3k exchange points for a block of gold and silver.


    [There is the cheap stake I know.] The systemughed its ass off, but ke as usual ignored it and headed for his room.


    ¡°Now for thest part before construction, design.¡± ke said as he sat down on his reading table beside his bookshelf and brought out a sheet of paper and a pencil.


    ¡°I should first start with the exterior appearance.¡± ke began searching through his memory for a cool shape.


    After more than 10 minutes, ke was stuck between a hexagonal spiral structure or an oval shape. So he asked for the system¡¯s opinion.


    [You will need more metal for the hexagon.] The system said.


    ¡°The oval it is!¡± ke didn¡¯t need a second more to decide on what shape to pick.


    The exterior of the humidifier was the easiest part of the design. That was why when he got to the interior he was finding it harder to make decisions.


    By the end of the night, ke decided that the humidifier would have 2 sections.


    The bottom would house the power source and arrays needed to make it function, while the top part would contain the chamber for the essential oil and the tubes for air and watering from the bottom section.


    All that was left were now the intricate design of eachponent, and that was work for the next day.


    ...


    The next morning at the cafeteria, ke¡¯s team was currently seated and having breakfast.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you guys think it is weird that the school hasn¡¯t called for any meeting?¡± Tessie said.


    ¡°You guys haven¡¯t heard the news?¡± Luciano asked.


    ¡°What news?¡± Brian, Castiel, and Tessie asked with confused looks on their faces.


    ¡°Principal Lovren was fatally injured by a tier 2 emperor rank Arachne at the western wall.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°That exins a lot.¡± They now knew why they weren¡¯t told to assemble at the auditorium immediately after they were back.


    ¡°Did you know of this?¡± Tessie couldn¡¯t help but ask when she saw ke wasn¡¯t surprised by the piece of news.


    ¡°Hey!¡± It was when Tessie waved her hand in front of ke that he snapped out of his thoughts.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t know about it.¡± ke answered as the system gave him a recap of what they were talking about.


    ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡± Tessie asked because she noticed he wasn¡¯t eating as usual.


    ¡°Nothing. Just a little project that I am working on.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Is there anything I can help you with?¡± With how spaced out ke was, Luciano the problem might be serious so he offered to help.


    ke had a long pause before asking. ¡°Does the empire have a patent for inventions?¡±


    The question took everyone by surprise because it was nowhere rted to the conversation they had.


    ¡°Yes. Both magical and non-magical inventions.¡± Luciano answered.


    ¡°Hmmmm¡± ke stopped chewing on his breadsticks and entered a pondering pose.


    ¡°Is that all?¡± Luciano asked with a raised brow because he was acting weird.


    ¡°At the moment, nothing I can¡¯t deal with, but I will show you guys when I am done.¡± ke said as he picked up his breadstick and continued munching.


    ke¡¯s weird actions made the entire silent for a while before Brian broke the silence.


    ¡°How serious is his injury? When will he fully recover?¡±


    ¡°No one knows this, but it would be in more or less 3 months.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°3 months?! That like almost an entire semester.¡± Brian was shocked.


    They all knew how effective the light element was in terms of healing. So for Lovren to be out for 3 months meant that it was a very serious injury.


    ¡°Did you guys hear that Professor Hoffenheim killed a tier emperor rank Deathworm all on his own?¡± Tessie said as she lowered her voice and leaned in.


    ¡°What do you mean he defeated a tier 2 Deathworm?¡± Castiel couldn¡¯t help but ask for more details because it was unbelievable. Even ke was paying attention to her.


    It was basic knowledge that an angel couldn¡¯t win against a tier 2 emperor rank beast.


    ¡°Yeah, he killed an emperor beast at the same level as the one that defeated principal Lovren.¡± Tessie said in a hushed tone.


    ¡°Firstly, you don¡¯t have to do that when talking.¡± ke said as he face-palmed. ¡°Secondly, how legit is this news?¡±


    ¡°I overheard those posted to the western wall talking about it.¡± Tessie narrated what she had overheard people talking about.


    ¡®I knew he was strong, but not this strong!¡¯ Brian said in the mind link.


    [Seems my suspicion was right all along.] The system said.


    Back when ke had gone into Professor Hoffenheim¡¯s office, he had used both water and light elements to demonstrate the fusion process.


    These were the exact elements of the God of knowledge, and it was hard to think it is a coincidence that he is the best researcher in the entire Synder empire.


    ¡®Are you saying professor Hoffenheim is Azekelwart?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [Doesn¡¯t make sense that a God would be a professor. I am thinking he is Azkelwart¡¯s descendant.] The system said.


    ¡®Are you saying he is Zultra?¡¯ ke asked because the journal confirmed that Zultra was a clone of Azkelwart and he had left the base.


    [Most likely, because this is too much to be a coincidence.] The system said.


    ¡®Come to think of it. With how powerful the royal family is, do you think they didn¡¯t know about Azkelwart¡¯s base?¡¯


    ¡®You can¡¯t tell me something that huge and powerful would be in theirnd and they wouldn¡¯t have any clue of it?¡¯


    ¡®If they already knew, don¡¯t you think they would already know about Zultra?¡± ke said.


    ¡®So?¡¯ Castiel was unclear on where this was going.


    ¡®So, if they knew about him, they should know the secrets and knowledge he possesses. So why haven¡¯t they captured him?¡¯ ke asked.


    ¡®The only reason I could think of is that Azkelwart is so dangerous and powerful that they can¡¯t afford to go against him.¡¯ ke said.


    It took some time for Castiel and Brian to process ke¡¯s thoughts but that was only because they were trying to understand how it rted to the topic.


    ...


    After breakfast, ke returned to his room to continue his DIY project.


    He had used most of his time in the cafeteria to finish nning his interior. It was time to start forging.

 Chapter 366

    Chapter 366: Need for a humidifier?


    Once ke returned, he made his way into his forgemastery room beside his reading table. Using the fire element, ke turned on the furnace and began melting the gold and silver ingot.


    While the metals were melting, ke made his way to the molding device. All he had to do was input the design and measurement for the differentponents of the humidifier, then the molding device would take its shape.


    Once the metals hadpletely melted, ke poured them into the mold and after making sure that nothing was wrong, he left it to cool.


    He returned to his room and began practicing drawing the arrays from his memories being reyed by the system.


    ke had decided to use the integration method to integrate 5 arrays into his yet-to-be-chosen power source.


    The arrays included wind, water, light, switch, and periodic arrays. The wind and water arrays were to propagate the fragrance of the essential oil and humidify the air, the periodic array was to regte its active time, the lights were to add to its elegance, and the switch array was to activate and deactivate the humidifier or a particr array.


    At first, ke didn¡¯t have any ns of adding lights, but after Luciano had told him about the existence of patents on infinite realm, he began having ideas ofmercializing the humidifier.


    .....


    ke already knew the water and wind array. So he first started with the light, before going for the periodic arrays.


    ¡°That should be enough practice.¡±


    With his level of skills and simplicity, it took ke only a few minutes to learn the light arrays and 5 periodic arrays.


    ¡°Just one more time.¡± Having no ns of wasting any beast crystal, ke wanted to make sure he had truly mastered the arrays.


    By the time he was done learning the arrays, the molding device was already done cooling the humidifier. So ke went back into his forgemastery room and took out the 9-inch tall golden egg that had a t base, and began polishing the exterior.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t even know the difference.¡±


    After polishing, ke was left with a seamless lustering oval egg that put a grin on his face.


    [Cheap-stake.] The system shook its head.


    Once the exterior wasplete, ke began polishing the individualponents before screwing open one half of the egg-shaped humidifier.


    To maximize the perfect look of a golden egg, ke chose a screwing motion thatpletely hide the line at the center of the humidifier.


    The lower section had a stand to keep the power source in ce, and above it was a metal base that had multiple holes, 2 metal pipes, and a rod that held the essential oil¡¯s chamber at its center.


    The wind and water vapor produced from the lower chamber would pass through the pipes to the top of the oil chamber where it would carry the fragrance out of the humidifier.


    (AN: For those that don¡¯t know, an essential oil is vtile at room temperature.)


    ¡°Time for the most important part.¡±


    After he was done polishing the humidifier¡¯s interior andponents, it was time to integrate the arrays into the power source.


    ke was using an elite rank beast core as its power source, and this was only because he wanted it tost before he change it.


    ¡°A mistake would be costly. Literally... So no room for errors.¡± ke said as he focused on the task at hand.


    On starting the integration process, the elite rank beast core began floating as hundreds of symbols began forming around it. As seconds went by, each array began arranging itself in a circr line as they rotated around the beast core.


    After a few minutes, ke was done simultaneously forming the arrays and they had begun shrinking.


    Once they came in contact with the beast core, they began fusing with it causing a little outburst of energy.


    ¡°Done.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t ke¡¯s first time using the integration method so he was neither surprised nor excited, rather he was thankful that the elite rank beast core hadn¡¯t gone to waste.


    He ced the elite rank beast core in its stand, before screwing in the metal base above and pouring in thevender essential oil in the oil chamber.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how it turned out.¡± ke screwed on the top half and used his mana to switch on the humidifier.


    The egg-shaped humidifier lit up with a golden color as a thin ray of light shot out of the small hole at the top alongside the humid fragrance ofvender.


    [This is way better than you described.] The system said as it was impressed by ke¡¯s construction.


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ke said with a proud smile stered on his face as he switched off the lights and stared at the golden egg that continuously spewed out golden stars.


    After close to 20 minutes of admiring his creation, ke snapped out of it and began testing the periodic arrays.


    ¡°Do you think people would want to buy this?¡± ke asked the system for its opinion after he had made sure everything was working.


    [I have no clue if this already exists, but if the quality of the materials is increased and certain things are added, then definitely a lot of people would buy it.] The system gave its honest opinion.


    ¡°All I need to do now is carry out some investigation.¡± ke pondered where to start.


    Due to his poor background, ke had read quite a lot of books about wealth creation. He knew that 3 very important things about production were knowing if the market had a need or want for the product,petitors, and the timing of the product.


    Since this wasn¡¯t a product that wasn¡¯t constricted by timing, ke¡¯s major issue if he chose tomercialize it was knowing if they were products like this already in the market and if there was a demand for them.


    ...


    After Launch ke approached Tessie.


    ¡°Can you take me to your room?¡± ke said.


    ¡°M..M...My room?¡± Tessie had to ask because she could swear that her ears were ying tricks on her.


    ¡°Yes... Your room.¡± ke confirmed his word, causing Tessie¡¯s face to turn beet red.


    [What the hell is wrong with you?!!!] The system screamed in ke¡¯s mind as it tried to let out its frustration. If only it had hands they would have been strangling ke by now.


    ¡®What?¡¯ ke asked in a confused tone.


    [Who the f*ck walks up to a girl and tells her to take them to her room?!] The system screamed.


    ¡°Fo... for wh.. what?¡± Tessie had to muster all of her willpower just to speak.


    ¡°I just want to gather data for the little project I am working on.¡± ke said calming Tessie a little bit.


    ¡°You okay?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask because Tessie who had her face glued to the ground seemed to have frozen.


    ¡°Ye... Yes!¡± Tessie said as she snapped out of her reverie.


    ¡°So can you take me to your room?¡± ke asked once again.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tessie nodded.


    The walk to her room was awkward and quiet, but ke was having a full-blown argument with the system.


    [Why do I have a feeling that you are doing this on purpose to get to me?] The system asked.


    ¡®Doing what?¡¯


    [Don¡¯t y dumb with me boy!] The system was enraged at ke acting oblivious.


    ¡®I have no clue what you are talking about.¡¯ ke said while keeping a straight face.


    When they got to the room, Tessie used her imprint on the lock to open the door.


    ¡°I love your decorations.¡± ke said as he walked into the room.


    The main color theme of her room was mint green, and unlike ke that made use of everything given by the school, Tessie had almost everything customized. Right from the bed itself right to the reading table were all different.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Tessie said with her face still nted on the floor.


    ke¡¯s main focus was the room¡¯s fragrance, and after taking in a deep breath he found out that her room was quitecking in that department, especially for a noble.


    ¡®The fragrance isn¡¯t distinct. If it is the same for other nobles then there is a need for the humidifier.¡¯ ke thought.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 367

    Chapter 367: Business proposal.


    ¡°So how can my room be of help to your project?¡± Tessie asked after she finally managed topose herself.


    ¡°I have already seen what I needed, but I still have one more question for you. Do nobles use air fresheners?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Do you mean fragrant oils?¡± Tessie asked.


    ¡®Just like I suspected.¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡°I mean apart from essential oil do nobles use any other thing to make the air smell good?¡± ke¡¯s question made Tessie instinctively sniff in the air of her room.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, your room smells great. I was asking because what I am working on deals with fragrances, so I wanted to know if I am just reinventing the wheel.¡± ke didn¡¯t want Tessie to misunderstand his question for an insult.


    ¡°Apart from fragrant oil and using wind or water element to scatter it around the room, there is no other thing or way I know.¡± Tessie answered.


    .....


    ¡°Alright, that will be all. I will be revealing my project after dinner, so anticipate!¡± ke said as he left her room.


    ...


    After dinner, ke led everyone to his room.


    ¡°I present to you the humidifier air freshener!¡± ke said as he opened his door and led them into the dark room that was lit by the golden light of the humidifier.


    His n was to give a good first impression of the product, especially to Luciano who was his potential investor.


    ¡°Is that Lavender that I smell?¡± Tessie asked as her nostrils were greeted by the pleasant fragrance of Lavender.


    ¡°Yes, it is.¡± ke said as he walked to the glowing golden egg that was beside his bed.


    ¡°This thing over here not only automatically keeps the air fresh with any fragrant oil of your choice, but it also makes breathing more enjoyable by humidifying the air with water vapor.¡±


    ke began exining to them the simple steps on how to use the humidifier.


    ¡®He would have really been a nice salesman if we were back on earth.¡¯ Brian thought.


    ¡°So what do you guys think?¡± ke asked after his little presentation.


    ¡°I love it! Not only would It save me the time and stress of using the water element to scatter fragrant oil around my room, but I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about my room not smelling good.¡± Tessie gave her honest review.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± ke gave a bow and a big smile to Tessie before turning to Luciano.


    ¡°I am not an expert when ites to things like this, but I have to say that it is very impressive and I would like to get one.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°Can I get one too?¡± Tessie said with puppy eyes.


    ¡°Of course, you can, but ites at a certain price.¡± ke said with a wry smile as he scratched the back of his head.


    [Cheap-stake!] The system shook its head.


    ¡®Say what you want, but I am not giving away 6k points, especially for something that isn¡¯t important.¡¯ ke snorted.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Luciano and Tessier chuckled when they heard ke¡¯s reply.


    After hearing everyone¡¯sment on the air humidifier, ke decided to get down to the business part.


    ¡°If I was to upgrade the quality of the materials and add a few more arrays to increase its functionality. Do you think people would buy it?¡± ke asked.


    ke didn¡¯t know much about the wants and needs of nobles. So Luciano who represented the top of the noble hierarchy, and Tessie who was in the middle were the best people to get the info from.


    ¡°Nobles spend a lot on very unnecessary things as long as they portray their wealth and elegance. So as long as the materials are of top quality and expensive they would surely buy it.¡± Luciano said, causing Tessie to nod in agreement.


    ¡°Then that means I have a business proposal for you guys.¡± ke said to Luciano and Tessie.


    ¡°I am all ears.¡±


    From the moment ke asked about the patent, Luciano had already expected something along this line.


    ¡°I would need your help in getting a patent for the design, advertising the product, and depending on how profitable the business is a sort of factory or production line.¡±


    ¡°This won¡¯t before for free though. I would be offering 40% of the business¡¯ profit.¡± ke wasn¡¯t too sure if they understood what shares meant.


    ¡°An interesting offer...¡± Luciano said in a pondering tone


    What ke just asked for was huge, but not for the son of the emperor. He just wanted to make sure that it would be profitable, so his father and brother would question his decision.


    ¡°I agree.¡±


    After a few minutes of thinking about the business n, Luciano shook ke¡¯s hand, thus sealing the deal.


    ¡®Let¡¯s go!!¡¯ ke mind-screamed in excitement as he smiled on the outside.


    Having Luciano as his backer was even more important than the product. With his power and influence, he could make both nobles andmoners buy anything. Also, the business would receive automatic protection from all kinds of problems that may arise.


    ¡°Tessie, I was wondering if your family would also be interested in the business?¡±


    ¡°I would need the Winchester family¡¯srge businesswork. They would help in receiving and delivering orders as they act as the forefront of the business because if I am correct, I and Luciano would like to remain anonymous.¡± Luciano nodded to ke¡¯s words.


    It was not ethically right for someone of Luciano¡¯s status to openly have a hand in a business that doesn¡¯t concern the royal family. So it was best he remained anonymous, besides he wouldn¡¯t like too much attention on him.


    As for ke¡¯s reasons to remain anonymous, they were quite simple. Most nobles if not all would want to buy something made by amoner because they see it as an attack on their ego.


    The second reason was that he already had too many eyes on him. Being the rank 1 already put him on the hit list of nobles, and for his adventurer life, there had already been an attempted assassination on his life.


    ¡°In exchange for their service, I would offer 10% of the business profit to them.¡± ke said.


    ¡°I would have to ry the proposal to my parents first.¡± Tessie said.


    ¡°Of course, but before you do so I have to gift them an upgraded version of the humidifier air freshener and a letter.¡± ke said.


    Although it would cost him quite a lot to make for them one, ke didn¡¯t mind because he saw them as investors. So he needed to give them a reason to invest, but that would be after it had been patented.


    Once that was settled, ke moved over to the final part, and that was offering both Brian and Castiel 5% shares of the business.


    ¡°Are you serious about this? Like we didn¡¯t contribute to any of this at all.¡± Brian and Castiel were shocked by ke¡¯s kindness.


    ¡°Although you might have not contributed, you guys have done a lot for me.¡± ke replied.


    Since they all came from Earth, ke felt that the 3 of them were in this together. So, if one of them had an issue it would also be his issue.


    After the ownership part of the business was over, ke began exining to every party how the business would work.


    For now, the main targets of the business were the nobles. So ke wanted the production to be mainly based on requests from the customer.


    They would be able to decide the materials, size and design they wanted, and that would determine the price.


    ¡°How did you think of all these in such a short period of time?¡± Luciano was more than impressed with ke¡¯s business model.


    ¡°I too have no clue.¡± ke lied through his teeth. He couldn¡¯t just tell him that he had studied businesses on Earth.


    When everything was sorted out, the group. Luciano went to make some calls, while ke began working on the upgraded design humidifier air freshener.


    This time, he was nning on adding some kind of holographic screen that would let users control things like the intensity of the wind and water array, light color, switching it on and off, and an option to use the normal humidifier or air freshener separately.


    ...


    The next day after breakfast, the students were finally told to assemble.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 368

    Chapter 368: ke Dethroned?


    Once the students had settled down in the hall, Professor Gibson and Instructor Zirrack walked through a warp gate that had appeared on the stage.


    ¡°By now most of you should have heard the injuries Principle Lovren had sustained during his battle against an Arachne. He is currently doing okay, but it would take him at least 3 months to fully recover.¡± Professor Gibson¡¯s words made the students have mixed feelings.


    ¡°Till then, decisions would be made by the 5 head of years, while major decisions will be made by highness Prince Bryon.¡± Professor Gibson exined.


    ¡®We all know good things nevere out from things like this.¡± ke thought.


    The main problem he had with systems like this was that majority would win the vote, but in reality, good people were in minority.


    ke had no idea how the other 4 heads of years were, but after putting into consideration that his set was the only one that truly treated bothmoners and nobles as equals, he came to a conclusion that they were not good. So he was expecting the decisions made by the 5 man counsel to be against them.


    After exining everything they needed to know about the new administrative system of the school, Professor Gibson changed the topic to the beast tide.


    .....


    ¡°I would like tomend the elite ss that was posted at the city walls. This beast tide was way more difficult than the previous one, but still, you all went through it with the lowest casualtiespared to previous years and the second-year ss.¡±


    ¡°Across the walls, the total student fatality is 6, and they all came from the eastern wall. 4 out of the 6 of the fatalities were from a single second-year team, while 2 were first-year students.¡± Professor Gibson announced.


    ¡®No wonder La and Esmeralda were traumatized, they might have watched the students being ughtered by beasts.¡¯ ke felt pity for them.


    ¡®Every exercise students keep dying, and Ii makes me wonder if this is a plot to sieve out the weak.¡¯ Castiel said in the mind link.


    ¡®It¡¯s quite suspicious because in every exercise or exam something goes wrong and students end up dying.¡¯ Brian said


    A lot of students were not surprised by the news of the deaths, but at the same time, they were thankful that they weren¡¯t among the fatalities.


    ¡°Now, for the most important information, we all have been waiting for, the results of the beast tide.¡± Professor Gibson said, instantly gaining the attention of everyone in the hall.


    ¡°Starting with the top 3 teams with the highest total points. 3rd position goes to Team Owen with a total of 233k points.


    In Second ce is Team Damon with a total of 282k points.


    Finally, the team with the highest points goes to Team ke with a total of 328k points.¡± Professor Gibson announced.


    ¡®Just like I expected.¡¯ ke thought with a smirk on his face.


    From the moment Damon¡¯s team had been announced as the 2nd position, it was a no-brainer who was in first ce.


    ¡°46k difference that¡¯s crazy!¡±


    Everyone was shocked by the enormous gap between both teams. They found it hard to believe because every member of Damon¡¯s team was in the top 10, while it was only ke and Luciano that was in the top 10.


    ¡°It is definitely because they were posted to the southern wall. Everyone knows that the poption of beasts is greater there.¡± A student said.


    ke heard as haters were trying to downy their efforts, but he paid them no mind because no matter what they said or how loud they screamed his points wouldn¡¯t change.


    [ssic humans. Many of them had prayed not to be posted to the southern gate, but now they are hating on those that were posted there because of the rewards.] The system shook its head in disgust.


    Although they were correct about the southern wall having more beasts, everyone knew that it was the riskiest location to stay during the beast tide. It was a high-risk high-reward location, but everyone had forgotten about the first part.


    ¡°Silence!¡± Instructor Zirrack¡¯s voice echoed all around the hall, instantly turning it silent.


    ¡®Has any of you wondered why Instructor Zirrack is always apanying anyone speaking when most times he ends up not talking?¡¯ Brian asked in the mind link but no one had answers.


    ¡°Over to the top 3 individuals with the highest points obtained from the beast tide.¡± Professor Gibson announced.


    This was the announcement that identified the best individual in the beast tide, but for some reason, most students weren¡¯t that excited about it.


    ¡°Third position goes to Damon with a total of 71k points, 2nd position goes to ke with a total of 85k points.


    In first position, is Luciano with a total of 89k points.¡± Professor Gibson¡¯s announcement not only surprised everyone, but it put smiles on the faces of ke¡¯s enemies.


    This was the first time in a long while, that ke wasn¡¯t the first position in something, and although it was only a difference of 4k points his haters were still happy.


    ¡®The gap was smaller than we expected.¡¯ ke said to the system.


    [Apparently.] The system replied.


    During the beast tide, the system had been keeping tabs on the major beasts Luciano had killed, and with that, it was able to make an estimate. So ke was the least surprised about the news.


    ¡°Since we have no other reason to keep you all in school, we have decided to end the semester by announcing the overall top students.¡± Professor Gibson¡¯s announcement instantly created tension in the air as it was finally time for the moment of truth.


    ¡°Does ke get dethroned by Luciano?¡±


    Luciano having the highest points in the beast tide gave a lot of people hope.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 369

    Chapter 369: Still King.


    Throughout the history of the Calton magic academy, amoner hasn¡¯t taken the overall top student in any year. ke was the first to do it, and surely the nobles didn¡¯t like it.


    They saw it as an attack on their power and ego, which is why they had equipped their descendants with a lot of resources and had also used underhand methods to try and eliminate him.


    Compared tost semester, there was a little bit more hope that Luciano would overtake ke, and they were ready to bank on it.


    ¡°Entering in 5th and 4th ce is Haldor with a total of 157k points, and Cami with a total of 175k points.¡± Professor Gibson paused as the students gave out a round of apuse.


    By now it was more than clear that one¡¯s rank didn¡¯t determine their final position at the end of the semester. The ranks were a measure of one¡¯s battle prowess, while the ss activities measured other things like leadership skills.


    ¡®Not bad.¡¯ ke thought as he pped.


    ¡°3rd ce goes to Damon with a total of 213k points!¡±


    .....


    Everyone already knew who the 3rd position was, and didn¡¯t care much about it. Right now, everyone was at the edge of their sits as they were waiting for the most important part of the semester.


    ¡°With a total of 254k points, the 1st runner-up position goes to...¡± Professor Gibson could feel the tension behind the pin-drop silence in the hall, so he decided to add to it.


    ¡°Luciano!¡±


    Although many were disappointed by the result, the entire hall erupted in apuse.


    ¡°Coming in first position is ke with a total of 281k points.¡± Professor Gibson announced.


    ¡®Just likest time.¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as the apuse he received was abysmally low whenpared to that of Luciano.


    He wasn¡¯t bothered nor did he need their apuse. The nobles hated him and they were well aware that he hated them too.


    Since everything concerning the semester was finally over, Professor Gibson decided it was time to end it.


    ¡°The semester is officially over, have fun in your break and we will see you in 3 weeks.¡± Professor Gibson said to the students before he and Instructor Zirrack left through a warp gate.


    ¡®3 weeks... That was longer than I expected.¡¯ ke said to himself.


    ¡°What are your ns for the holiday?¡± ke asked but as he turned to the others he saw that they were focused on the holographic screens projected by their badges.


    ¡®No wonder the hall is still quiet.¡¯


    Unlike his result which was always announced on the stage, others had to manually check out their performance through their badges or by going through the school¡¯s info board.


    After a few minutes, the attention of others returned to the hall, and there were smiles on their faces.


    ¡°What took you guys so long?¡± ke couldn¡¯t understand why checking their positions took minutes.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about them, but I was checking why the gap between you and Luciano was sorge.


    It turns out that it was from the team test. Apart from the points gotten from the test, you received 40k points from being the number 1 team and also the MVP of the team test.¡± Brian said in the mind link.


    ¡®Did you forget I have the system? I was keeping track of every single point I and Luciano got, that was why I wasn¡¯t worried at all.¡¯ ke said.


    ¡®Wow!¡¯ Brian and Castiel were stunned by the information.


    ¡°I was shocked by what I saw, so it took me some time to process it.¡± Tessie said as she showed him the holographic list.


    ¡°Castiel 6th, Brian 8th, and you 10th.¡± A proud smile was on ke¡¯s face as he saw all of them within the top 10.


    [That exins why almost every eye is looking in your direction.] The system drew ke¡¯s attention to the hundreds of students staring at them.


    ¡°The 3 of them are nothing but useless. They are just getting carried by 2 of them.¡±


    ¡°ke is a beast! He is the reason Owen Ulrik is at 9th ce!¡±


    ¡°Why would they choose to carry someone as weak as her? I am pretty sure she is their sl*t¡±


    With the enhanced senses of the system, ke was able to hear a lot of things people were saying about them. He was more than disgusted by humans and wished a shot from a mana cannon could be fired into the hall.


    The vile words from them made ke fume on the inside. He didn¡¯t care when people spoke ill about him, but he couldn¡¯t take it when it was his friends.


    ¡®Sadly, I can¡¯t do anything, but when I get an opportunity I would make sure they wish they were dead.¡¯ ke swore.


    [There would be a lot of haters, so you should focus more on those that appreciate you.] The system pointed out themoners that praised ke.


    ¡°Congrats to you guys!¡± ke said to his friends as he masked his anger with a smile.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be the ones congratting you guys?¡± Castiel said to ke and Luciano.


    ¡°Exactly! You guys make maintaining the 1st and 2nd position look too easy, but everyone in this hall knows it is an impossible task.¡± Brian said.


    ¡°Then congrattions to all of us for being in the top ten.¡± Luciano said not caring about all those that might have heard them.


    ...


    After lunch, the group met up in ke¡¯s room because Luciano had good news for the business.


    ¡°The humidifier air freshener has gotten patented and wouldst for 20 years.¡± Luciano said, sending everyone into shock.


    On Earth, it took almost 2 years before an invention received a patent. Even Tessie whose family was into business knew how long it would take to get on.


    They would have loved to know how, but this was Luciano, the son of the emperor that they were talking about.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 370

    Chapter 370: Advancement tests.


    Luciano wasn¡¯t done with the good news.


    ¡°I have also purchased a small warehouse and I have employed 3 workers to handle production, and as more orders arrive I would hire more workers.¡±


    Luciano didn¡¯t want ke¡¯s time to be taken up by the business. So he had taken the initiative to hire some workers.


    ¡°Wow! That¡¯s great, thanks man!¡± ke was ecstatic by the good news.


    ¡°So what is the next step?¡± Luciano asked as they were all seated on the floor cross-legged.


    ¡°The main goal now is to get customers, and for us to do that we have to advertise.¡±


    ¡°Like you all already know, I n on making one for Tessie¡¯s parents in hopes that it would help bring awareness to our product. Apart from that my options are very limited.¡± ke said.


    .....


    Unlike Earth which had things like billboards and the inte, Infinite realm had none. They were severelycking in the advertising sector, and it was giving ke ideas of turning it into a business.


    ¡®1 step at a time.¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but rein his thoughts as ideas from Earth were popping up in his brain.


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be an issue then. All I need from you is to make 3 of the upgraded version of the humidifier air freshener and the advertisement problem would be solved.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°How exactly are you nning on doing it?¡± Although ke knew that Luciano was more than capable, he just wanted to how he would solve the problem in case of future references.


    ¡°Simple, I will get nobles with quite high prestige who are nning on hosting parties to put it in their homes.¡±


    ¡°Other nobles would definitely want to have theirs, and most likely, the nobles that have the humidifier would want to buy it.¡± Luciano exined.


    ¡°That is more than perfect. All I have to do now is make the upgraded version and send it to the Winchester family.¡± ke said.


    Immediately after their meeting was over, ke, Brian, and Castiel went to work and began making the upgraded version and 1 for each of them.


    ...


    6 hourster, 8 humidifiers were sitting on ke¡¯s reading table. 2 were for Brian and Castiel, and they were made of gold and silver, while the remaining 6 were made of pure gold.


    1 was for the Winchester family, 2 were for Luciano and Tessie (yes, they paid for it), and thest 3 were for Luciano to advertise.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you craft any golden humidifier for yourself?¡± As the founder and owner of the business, Castiel was wondering why ke was still using an inferior version.


    ¡°Because I do not need a golden version when this one does the same job. Also, having the same thing as nobles would raise suspicions if anyone gets to see it in my room.¡± ke exined.


    ¡°I am surprised that you are willing to spend so much money on these.¡± Brian said.


    The resources used to make 4 of the golden humidifiers came from ke¡¯s pocket. So they were surprised he was notining.


    ¡°This is because I see it as an investment. Even though it is a quite risky investment, I can always melt the gold and use it for something else.¡±


    Since they were done with their task, Brian and Castiel went to their rooms to freshen up, while ke began writing the letter he would send to the Winchester family.


    After he was done, ke finally hit the shower before taking a well-deserved rest.


    ...


    By evening time, ke had already delivered the golden humidifiers to Luciano and the Winchester family, leaving him with nothing else to do.


    ¡°3 weeks break, what will I be doing?¡± ke was thinking about how he would spend his break.


    ¡°It would take at least 2 months before I will be able to hunt. Also, there would be almost nomission for us since every adventurer is currently in the city. The demand formissions would be greater than the supply.¡±


    ¡°At this point, I am not sure if I am happy that Luciano hired workers.¡± ke let out a wryugh.


    [Since you don¡¯t have anything serious to do, then you should use this period to advance to the Hero realm.] The system said.


    ¡°My thoughts exactly.¡± ke said as he crashed on the bed face first.


    ¡°If I remember correctly, you said something about needing rituals or tests to advance. Can you exin more about it?¡± ke asked the system as he rolled.


    [The Mother-stream is the source of all life and magic in the universe. So as one keeps rising in realm, it has to make sure that he or she is worthy of the strength being bestowed upon them and ready for then things toe.]


    [So even if one reaches the peak of a realm, they can¡¯t just barge their way into the next realm even by absorbing an unlimited energy source.] The system exined.


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t I need any test to advance to the warrior and Champion realm?¡± ke asked.


    [That is because the warrior and champion realms are the basic realms with no form of responsibilities.]


    [During my time when Infinite realm was high on resources, babies were born into the world as warriors, and as they grew old, they would naturally advance to the champion realm.] The system answered.


    ¡®Wow! That must have been a very incredible time to be alive.¡¯ ke thought, but the system shook its head because it was actually the most dangerous time to be alive, especially for the human race in general.


    His era produced so many high-level cultivators and inventions, but it gave birth to a lot of chaos and wars because everyone wanted to be at the top.


    Apart from fighting their fellow humans, there was the presence of other stronger races that were hostile to humans, unlike the current era where humans only had to fight themselves and beasts.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 371

    Chapter 371: Can¡¯t afford it.


    [These tests are not only unique for each level, but also for each individual.] The system continued its exnation.


    [The test to advance to the Hero realm won¡¯t be the same to advance to the demigod realm. Also, even if you are in the same realm as someone else, the tests will mean different things.]


    ¡®So how do I know what my test for the hero realm is?¡¯ ke asked.


    [Finding out what needs to be done is also part of the test, but I can give you a hint.] The system said.


    [Each test has to deal with the realm you are advancing to. The Mother-stream wants to know if you are worthy to obtain such power. So in the case of the Hero realm, you most probably have to showcase your heroic values.] The system exined.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean I have to take up missions?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask because that was currently almost impossible.


    Even if he was to get a mission, it would most likely be an escort or investigation mission where he can¡¯t showcase any heroic values.


    .....


    [You are getting 2 things wrong.] The system said. [Being a hero is more about what people think about you. So even if you are to act like one and people don¡¯t see you that way, then you are just a self-proimed hero.]


    [When you understand the first one, then you will know that even a bad person could be seen as a hero. It¡¯s just a matter of perspective. So no matter if your actions are good or evil, as long as people see you as a hero you are one.] The system exined.


    ¡°That makes sense why people like de can advance to the Hero realm.¡± ke thought.


    If there was one thing, ke knew about the Mother-stream, it was all about bnce. It didn¡¯t see any difference between good and evil, and wouldn¡¯t try to punish any evil doer, which eliminated the concept of Karma.


    If it was months back, ke would have seen this as crazy, but as time went on he began to understand what Madara meant when he said ¡°Wherever there is light, there are also shadows.¡±


    (AN: for those who don¡¯t know, Madara is a viin (or a hero ?? from Naruto.)


    ¡°Guess there is no need to force it. I would just keep cultivating for now.¡± ke said.


    ...


    At dinner that evening.


    ¡°What are your ns for the holiday?¡± ke asked Luciano.


    ¡°I will be heading back to the capital tomorrow to spend some time with my Dad.¡± Luciano replied with an anxious sigh.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound fun.¡± ke said.


    ¡°It¡¯s mostly training and official duties. So I won¡¯t say it isn¡¯t fun.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°Yep, that isn¡¯t fun.¡± Brian confirmed ke¡¯s words.


    ¡°If you are so far away. Wouldn¡¯t that affect the business?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask because he was worried about thingsing up and Luciano not being avable to settle them.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that, distance is not a barrier for me.¡± Luciano said as he brought out a goldenmunication amulet and handed it to ke. ¡°Themunication amulet already has my contact. Feel free to call me whenever you need something.¡±


    ¡°There is no need to give me something so costly when I can just add your contact to my adventurer amulet.¡± ke said as he refused the gift.


    Luciano was already doing a lot for him. So ke didn¡¯t want to be more indebted to him.


    ¡°No one can contact me unless they have that. So you should keep it.¡± Luciano said as he slid back themunication amulet back to ke.


    ¡®It¡¯s just like private numbers billionaires use to stop random numbers from calling them.¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡°Then I have to thank you for the gift.¡± ke said as he gave an informal bow.


    ¡®I wonder what it can do...¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t wait to begin exploring themunication amulet.


    [Seems you have forgotten about the dimensional ring you got at the wall.] The system reminded ke.


    ¡®You mean the one you made me steal from a dying man?¡¯ ke snorted.


    ¡°What of you, Tessie. What are your ns for the holiday?¡± Brian asked as ke was arguing with the system.


    ¡°I can¡¯t go out of the city because it is still unsafe. So I have nothing else to do but practice Alchemy.¡± Tessie let out a helpless sigh.


    ¡°Seems no one except for ke is having a fun holiday.¡± Castiel said causing everyone to chuckle.


    ¡°...Eh?¡± ke was forced out of his argument with the system.


    All of them were well aware that he would be unable to hunt or get missions. So he was more than confused by the statement.


    ¡°The only thing I have left is forgemastery. So how is that... Oh, I now understand.¡± ke facepalmed when he realized that they were calling him a workaholic.


    ...


    After dinner, ke returned to his room and brought out the golden amulet.


    He began checking out its functions, and in a matter of seconds, he was bbergasted.


    He found out that not only did the amulet have a private contact, but it could record and save videos just like a phone.


    Apart from that, it was able to add multiple people to the call, unlike normalmunication amulets that could call one person at a time.


    ¡°I wonder how much it is.¡± ke thought.


    [This is definitely not the highest level ofmunication amulets, but from its quality and functions it is safe to say it is what top nobles use.]


    [As for the price. You can¡¯t afford it, so I suggest you don¡¯t bother thinking about it.] The system reminded ke of how poor he waspared to nobles.


    ¡°...¡±


    Having noebacks, ke chose to act like he didn¡¯t hear anything before bringing out Pascal¡¯s dimensional ring.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 372

    Chapter 372: Master seal.


    On normal asions, ke wouldn¡¯t waste a second checking gifts or spoils of battles, but because he felt it was wrong taking Pascal¡¯s dimensional ring. He hadn¡¯t checked its contents up till now.


    ¡°Nothing special about the dimensional ring¡¯s quality.¡± ke said as he inspected the silver ring that had tens of arrays inscribed onto it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what we have here.¡±


    ke emptied the dimensional array to find gold coins, books, bloody beast cores, and even beast parts.


    ¡°What the fuck.¡± ke thanked the heavens that he didn¡¯t empty the dimensional ring on his bed.


    ¡°Why would someone let his dimensional space be so messy. Even I am not this messy.¡± keined as the blood from the beast cores and beast parts were spreading all over the floor.


    He began using the fire element to vaporize the blood while the humidifier air freshener eliminated the stench.


    .....


    [The reason only reason I can think of is that he was in a hurry to not get caught.] The system said after analyzing the items in front of ke.


    ¡°Are you saying he was stealing beast corpses from the battlefield?¡± ke already knew the answer to his question but he just wanted a confirmation.


    [Yes.] The system replied.


    The empire had an agreement with everyone that was defending the wall. They would get the equivalent of every beast they killed in form of points, but they were not meant to take the corpses.


    Doing this was stealing from the empire, but the problem was that they didn¡¯t have people to keep an eye on the battlefield.


    With the battlefield being so chaotic, it was only the powerhouses that could afford to keep an eye on the battlefield without fear of losing their lives.


    ¡°That exins why he came up. He used the appearance of the ramps as an opportunity to move around the battlefield and steal corpses in the name of helping those at the top.¡± ke said as he thought back to the beast tide.


    [Do you still feel bad about taking it from him?] The system asked now that it was more than clear that Pascal was bad.


    ¡°I feel less bad, but 2 wrongs don¡¯t make a right.¡± ke said.


    ke began sorting and cleaning every item one at a time with a bucket of water and detergent.


    ¡°Too bad I can¡¯t sell these.¡± ke let out a helpless sigh as he burnt all the books covered in blood.


    Apart from most of the books being rted to the water element, the blood stains on the pages would definitely raise suspicions. So the best course of action was to get rid of them.


    ¡°What do we have here?¡±


    When ke got to half of the pile, he saw a ck leather heel knot, and on pulling it out, he saw the Master seal.


    ¡°Are my eyes ying tricks?¡± ke was so utterly shocked that he had to ask the system for confirmation.


    ¡°How did the Master seal get into his hands?!¡± The beast tamer artifact was thest thing he would have ever expected to be in Pascal¡¯s dimensional ring.


    [He stole it?] The system said.


    ¡°How is that even possible?¡±


    Although normal adventurers were not invited to the adventurer association auction, everyone knew about the Master seal and the bidding war that had happened before the Karius family obtained it.


    So ke couldn¡¯t even phantom how a nobody like Pascal would be able to steal from the Karius family.


    ¡°Should I return it?¡± ke asked the system for advice.


    [Are you crazy?! Nobles are not good people. So they would most likely want to put the me on you.] The system screamed at ke.


    ¡°If they end up finding it on me, then I wouldn¡¯t have any chance of saving myself at all.¡± ke said.


    [Why would someone who had stolen such a high-level artifacte to the wall of all ces where powerhouses and members of the Karius family are present?]


    [The only logical answer is that the Karius family has no idea of who stole the artifact, and since he is dead there have no leads at all.] The system said.


    ¡°I guess you are right.¡± ke didn¡¯t feelfortable about it, but there was no better option.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look at it then.¡± ke said as he used the system to appraise the artifact.


    [Name: Master seal


    Quality: Mid-epic tier


    Owner: None


    Artifact type: whip


    Passive abilities:


    Amplification: Master seal amplifies beast tamer spells to double its power.


    Beast linguist: Master seal grants the user the ability tomunicate with beasts as long as it is in possession.


    Master¡¯s will: A passive AOE spell that suppressed every beast below the knight rank causing them to be docile.


    Active abilities:


    Abating whip: Master seal forms an energy whip that drains the vitality of anything with every hit, but has double effects on beasts.


    Binding chains: Master seal produces energy chains that would wrap the beast and drain its vitality.


    Beast contractor: The user is granted the power to form contracts with beasts. It could be by convincing the beast or forcefully taking control of it.


    Note: The level of the user should be at least the same as the beast, and the chances of it working would increase the weaker the beast bes.


    Drawbacks:


    1st drawback: Once the artifact was being used, the user would hear the thoughts of all the beasts within the area.


    2nd drawback: Master seal needs to be charged with beast crystals before use. If it isn¡¯t charged before use, it would use both the users¡¯ mana and soul energy to work.


    Note: Soul energy recharges just like mana but at a very slow pace. The more one¡¯s soul energy reduces, the less mana capacity, physical strength, mental strength, and spell power one would have.


    3rd drawback: Master seal was that after the artifact has been used, the user would begin exhibiting the characteristics of thest beast he had contracted for 24 hrs.]


    ¡°Wow!¡± ke was stunned by Master seal¡¯s abilities.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 373

    Chapter 373: Abort mission.


    On reading the abilities of the Master seal, ke understood why there was a bidding war between Oliver and Xavier.


    ¡°If Oliver had gotten his hands on the Master seal, he would have dominated the southern wall and prevented the wall¡¯s barrier from being breached.¡± ke said as he recounted the feats of Oliver during the beast tide.


    ¡°Too bad I can¡¯t use it.¡± ke shook his head as he ced the artifact back into his dimensional space.


    Apart from not meeting any of the requirements to be a beast tamer, using the master seal in the presence of others would incriminate him.


    [The Master seal still gives normal people the power of beast tamers. So you should be more worried about people finding out about it.] The system said.


    ...


    High up in the sky above the Magic Castile were Xander and the masked man.


    .....


    ¡°What is an adventurer doing in the magic school? Are you sure the artifacts signal appeared here?¡± The masked man asked Xander.


    ¡°I am very sure.¡± Xander answered.


    When Commander Darius appeared at the southern wall, Xander was forced to stop keeping an eye on Pascal.


    Even when the tracking device ced on the Master seal had disappearedter that day, he was unable to go check out what happened because Darius was still there.


    It was after he had moved to the Western wall that Xander returned to the wall, but by then Pascal and the tracking signal were nowhere to be found.


    It was when ke had brought it out of the system¡¯s dimensional pocket that the tracking device began working again.


    (AN: There is a difference between dimensional space and pocket. Exnations wille in the future.)


    ¡°What do you think I should do?¡± Xander asked for advice.


    The Castle was home to many demigods and angels, so entering without enough information was no different frommitting suicide with a rocketuncher.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think of entering there. You might be the best at escaping, but once you enter I am certain that you are noting out alive.¡±


    ¡°In case you don¡¯t know, the Castle is an artifact, and I am sure that you know fighting in someone¡¯s artifact is suicide.¡± The Masked man said.


    ¡°All you can do is wait for the target to leave the school¡¯s premises, but before that, I have to make sure of something.¡± The masked man said as the ck mask he was wearing began glowing.


    ¡°Just like I suspected, it is the same target.¡±


    The mask projected the image of ke staring at the Master seal.


    ¡°How did ke get his hand on the Master seal.¡± Xander was shocked by the discovery.


    ¡°Abort the mission, tell your client that the mission had failed.¡± The Masked man said to Xander.


    ¡°Why? What happened?¡± Xander was beyond confused. Some seconds ago the masked man was talking about waiting for the target to leave the castle, but now he was telling him to cancel the mission.


    ¡°He is one of the people we can¡¯t touch or ept missions to take out.¡± The masked man said as he deactivated his mask.


    ¡®It makes sense now. I have always wondered why the nobles haven¡¯t killed him.¡¯ Xander thought as he didn¡¯t question the orders of the masked man.


    Being a member of the assassins guild opened his eyes to things like how the nobles always made sure thatmoners were always beneath them.


    They would at first try to cripple themoner and make him/her beg, but if they proved to be too stubborn, they would take them out.


    So for ke to disturb the bnce that had been present right from the beginning of the Magic school¡¯s establishment should have gotten him killed 100 times over.


    Discovering ke as the current wielder of the Master seal brought an end to the mission. So they both walked through a warp gate and left the area.


    ...


    The next day after seeing Luciano and Tessie off, ke returned to his room where a letter from the Winchester family was delivered.


    The content of the letter was basically the Winchester family epting the deal and being thankful for including them in the business n.


    He had expected such a reply, because which businessman would want to miss an opportunity to do business with the emperor¡¯s son.


    ¡°I wonder if they would have agreed to the deal if Luciano wasn¡¯t involved?¡± ke thought.


    After he was done reading the letter, ke burnt it.


    It was time to start cultivating.


    He was currently at the 31st star of the champion realm. So he aimed to fill up the reaming 11 stars andplete the outeryer of the Azkelwart hourss in less than 3 weeks.


    If it was when school was in session this would have been impossible because he would be too busy.


    At the time he was stuck in Azkelwart¡¯s base, ke was at the 24th star, meaning he had only filled up 7 stars in such a long time.


    ¡°This time I have nothing to do.¡± ke thought as he brought out piles of beast cores from his dimensional pocket.


    He immediately went into a crossed-leg position and began absorbing the energy within them.


    ...


    3 dayster after breakfast.


    ke was in the middle of cultivating when the goldenmunication amulet in his dimensional space rang out.


    Since he was bound to it, no matter where he was, he would hear it ring like it was in his palm.


    On seeing it was Luciano calling, ke immediately picked up the call.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ke asked as the holographic image of Luciano appeared.


    ¡°The party is over and a lot of nobles loved the humidifiers and wanted to get there¡¯s.¡± Luciano said with a smile on his face.


    ¡°They were referred to the Winchester family just as nned, but the problem now is that we need to ce a price on them.¡±


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 374

    Chapter 374: Millionaire in a week!


    ¡°They were referred to the Winchester family just as nned, but the problem now is that we need to ce a price on them.¡± Luciano said.


    They didn¡¯t bother putting a price on the humidifiers because they wanted to see how nobles reacted to the product. Now they knew that they were highly interested in the humidifier it was time to set the price.


    ¡°What do you suggest would be the optimum price?¡± ke had to know what Luciano thought because he had no idea what the spending habits of nobles were.


    ¡°20k gold coins.¡± Luciano said, shocking the hell out of ke.


    The cost of making a golden humidifier was a little above 10k gold coins, and that included payment for the workers. So 20k gold coins was a 50% gain from each humidifier sold.


    ¡°I was here thinking that 15k gold coins was too much.¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.


    ¡°You always have to check 2 things when dealing with nobles. The first is their interest, and the 2nd is the price.¡±


    .....


    ¡°Once they are interested in the product, then the price determines if it is worth buying. If the price is high it is worth buying and can also be used to brag.¡± Luciano exined when he saw ke¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°What if a lot of nobles end up buying the same product, doesn¡¯t it take away their bragging rights?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°No, it creates a kind of pressure that every noble should have the said item in their households.¡± Luciano answered.


    ¡®Hehe...¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but grin when he thought of the money that would soon be flowing in.


    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s go with 20k. How many orders do we have so far?¡±


    ¡°30, and most of them are looking for a way to make theirs unique.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°30?!¡± ke was once again shocked, he hadn¡¯t expected the first batch of orders to be so many. ¡°That¡¯s like 300k gold coins in profit.¡±


    ¡°Yes, 4 customers and 30 orders.¡± Luciano confirmed but wasn¡¯t moved by the figures called.


    ¡°I have an idea for making each customer¡¯s order unique. I am thinking of allowing them to make customizations.¡±


    ¡°Like iying diamonds on the exterior or using more precious metals to make the exterior. Also, we could add things like the family¡¯s symbol on the exterior, but all these would cost extra.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Makes sense. I would inform the Winchester family to ry the news to the customers.¡± Luciano said.


    ke and Luciano chatted for a few more minutes before they canceled themunication link.


    ¡°It would be nice being the Apple of this world.¡± ke was thinking of more ways to milk the nobles of their gold coins, but that is when he discovered something.


    ¡°If all nobles were to buy all the humidifiers they needed, how would thepany keep making money?¡± It was a question of sustainability, and it was a difficult one for ke to answer.


    After half an hour of brainstorming, ke could only think of repairs and making a whole new product.


    The first idea would be needed in the future, but wouldn¡¯t generate enough money. As for the second idea, it would surely happen, but ke just felt that the humidifier still had a lot of money-making potentials.


    [You don¡¯t need to rush ideas. They would surelye the more you expose yourself.] The system advised.


    ¡°You are right. I shouldn¡¯t stress it.¡± ke said as he returned to cultivating.


    ...


    A week after ke¡¯s call with Luciano, new orders had gone past 350.


    Once the first orders were delivered. The cool customizations swayed those that didn¡¯t want to buy it at first while making those already interested frantically buy the humidifiers.


    The sudden increase in demand forced ke and Luciano to purchase a bigger factory and hire more workers in order to meet up with the order.


    The initial staff number of 3 had shot up to 15, and they were assigned to different sections of the assembly line.


    cksmiths were in charge of melting, molding, and polishing the exterior and interior parts before moving over to the artists.


    After the requested symbol was drawn on the surface of the humidifier, it would move over to experts who iy precious stones on the requested areas.


    By this time, power sources with integrated arrays would be ready and sent through a conveyor belt to where bothponents would be coupled and packaged.


    After paying off Luciano for both the old factory they had been using and the new one, thepany had more than 3 million gold coins in profits.


    This meant ke had made more than 1.5mil gold coins in the space of a week!


    The insane figures blew ke¡¯s mind, but it created an issue of storing the gold coins.


    Putting millions of coins into one¡¯s storage space wouldn¡¯t only make it disorganized, but inconvenient to the user.


    Luckily for him, Luciano had made Infinite realms version of the highest level of a bank ount for them.


    Unlike the ounts on earth that were tied to different banks, that of infinite realm was more like a crypto wallet. It came in form of a ck card and could only store gold, silver, and copper coins. It could disy the figures of coins stored on its surface if willed by the owner.


    The cards worked like normal storage spaces, but also like debit cards which could be used to pay for products and services.


    They also had credit and debit notifications features which ke had promptly turned off after 5 minutes of receiving the card because they were interrupting his cultivation sessions.


    As for ke¡¯s progress in his goal to advance to the hero realm. He had only managed to fill up 5 stars, and that was because he had nothing else to do.


    Nheless, it was a lot of progress considering that it got harder the more stars one filled up.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 375

    Chapter 375: Something big is about to happen.


    By the start of the 3rd week of their break, the humidifier air freshener had made over a thousand sales. Filling the pockets of every investor with a lot of cash.


    Throughout the 2nd week, ke had been gued by the thought of thepany dying out because itcked sustainability.


    He had given up on changing the upgraded version of the humidifier, rather his focus shifted to making a new type of humidifier that would require customers to alwayse back to them.


    Since the nobles wouldn¡¯t want to buy anything that wasn¡¯t the best quality, the target of the new product was themoners.


    ¡°Did something happen?¡± Luciano was surprised that ke was calling, so he had to perform a mental check to be sure that nothing was wrong.


    ¡°Yes, I have a n for expanding the business.¡± ke said.


    ¡°I am all ears.¡± Luciano said as he adjusted his posture.


    .....


    ¡°I n on making a humidifier formoners. We would be using lower-value materials like stic, copper, and silver. Also, we would be using beast cores as the power source.¡± ke nned on making a humidifier for almost every level of society.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the beast core end up running out?¡± Luciano asked with a raised brow.


    ¡°That¡¯s the best part of the idea. When the energy in the beast core is depleted, they woulde back to us to buy a new one.¡± ke¡¯s exnation made Luciano¡¯s eyes widen.


    ¡°So, what do you think?¡± ke asked with a smirk on his face.


    ¡°Brilliant!¡± At this point, Luciano was wondering what ke¡¯s next idea would be because all so far were brilliant.


    ¡°I will have to change the design to something less attractive to not affect the egos of the nobles.¡± To not affect the sales of the upgraded versions, ke wanted to give the nobles the impression that these versions were for peasants.


    Not only would it not attack their egos, but it would make all those that act wealthy buy the upgraded version.


    As for advertisements, ke nned on gifting some of the normal humidifiers to all types of shops in the middle region. The aim was to catch the attention of customers, who would make inquiries after seeing the functions of the product.


    ke went on to mention the minor details he would have to change in the new design, before ending themunication link and moving to his reading desk.


    ¡°I need a design that is not only generic but less costly.¡± ke began brainstorming on different designs, but that was when an announcement derailed his train of thought.


    ¡°Announcement to everyone in the Castle. Quickly vacate the Castle walls within the next 10 minutes.¡±


    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± ke was confused by the announcement.


    ¡°The announcement isn¡¯t only for students so they are not telling us to leave permanently.¡± ke thought.


    Knowing that the castle had always been open to students during breaks, ke was reassured that he wouldn¡¯t be paying to sleep in a hotel.


    ...


    On teleporting out of the castle, ke saw a few students and professors from different years. Unfortunately for ke, he knew none of the professors, so he could only sit on the grass and watch as more students left the castle.


    After close to 5 minutes of waiting outside the castle, ke spotted Castiel and Brian teleporting outside.


    ¡°What you guys so long toe out.¡± ke asked.


    ¡°I was taking a dump when the announcement was made, and you know when started there is no stopping till it is over.¡± Brian said causing ke to smack his forehead.


    ¡°I was waiting for him.¡± Castiel said as ke turned to him.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we have seen you. What have you been up to?¡± Brian asked because it was almost 2 weeks since they hadst seen or talked to ke.


    It was mostly because ke stored weeks¡¯ worth of food in his dimensional pocket, eliminating the need to constantly leave his room.


    ¡°I am aiming to enter the Hero realm before resumption. So I spend almost the entire day cultivating. Then I use my little free time on business rted meetings with Luciano.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°We expected that, so we didn¡¯t bother disturbing since nothing important was going on.¡± Brian said.


    ¡®2 weeks without spending time with my friends. What am I bing?¡¯ ke felt bad.


    [Although sacrifices are made in order to attain power, you shouldn¡¯t forget those that would help you in your journey. So always try and bnce things out.] The system said.


    ¡°What do you think is going on here?¡± Castiel brought their attention back to the castle.


    ¡°I have no clue, seems we can only watch and see.¡± ke said as Castiel and Brian joined him in seating on the grass.


    After the 10 minutes countdown was over and it was confirmed that everyone was out, the walls of the castle began pixting.


    In a matter of seconds, the 1st to 4th floors hadpletely turned to pixels floating in the air. Part of itbined with the walls of the ground floor, but there was no visible change.


    After that, more than half of the floating pixels swarmed together to form the 1st floor, before the remaining pixels joined together to form thest floor.


    When everything was over, an announcement came from the castle. ¡°You are now allowed to reenter the Castle.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Just like every student outside the castle, the trio was so dumbstruck that they found it hard to string letters to form words.


    It was after their brains had been given enough time to phantom what they saw, that they were able to speak.


    ¡°What the fuck just happened?¡± The trio asked the same question that was on every student¡¯s mind.


    [Seems things haven¡¯tpletely changed, the castle is still an artifact.] The system said in the mind link confusing the trio.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 376

    Chapter 376: 2nd year demotion?


    [During my time, the academy castles were crafted artifacts, and it is still the same although it is not as powerful.] The system said.


    ¡®Artifact?¡¯ The trio asked. When the word artifact is mentioned, the first image to pop up in their minds would be something like a hand-held object.


    The only exception they had seen so far was Azkelwart¡¯s base, and that was 1 of a kind. So it shocked them that they had been living in one for almost a year now.


    ¡®I knew of the space distortion, but I hadn¡¯t expected the entire building to be an artifact.¡¯ ke said.


    Every student and professor knew that space distortion was the reason why inside the castle was more than double its outer appearance, but many had no clue why.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go check out the changes.¡±


    With the castle going from a 5 story building to a 3-story building, it was sure to have major changes. So they first headed to their rooms to make sure nothing had changed.


    .....


    ¡°How is the business doing, we keep receiving huge loads of gold coins?¡± Brian asked as they walked through the hallways.


    ording to the contract with everyone involved in thepany. Apart from giving suggestions, it was only ke and Luciano that could make decisions.


    So since it had been almost 2 weeks since they had seen ke, they were clueless about what was going on.


    ¡°The humidifiers sold like hotcakes, especially when I introduced the customization feature.¡± ke began exining how thepany had exponentially grown in thest 2 weeks, and also his current ns.


    ¡°Do you think the lower version would sell?¡± Brian asked as he opened the door to his room.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be certain because I don¡¯t know the spending habits ofmoners, but I n on adding functions that meet their needs.¡± ke replied.


    Once they saw no change in Brian¡¯s room, they moved over to that of Castiel while they continued chatting.


    ¡°There are a lot of stores in the middle region, so wouldn¡¯t your advertisement n be too costly?¡± Castiel asked because he was estimating thousands of gold coins worth of humidifiers.


    ¡°Compared to our profits, we wouldn¡¯t even notice.¡± ke replied as he silently cursed infinite realm for making him waste thousands of gold coins because it was primitive in the advertisement sector.


    ¡®What if I make the google of this world?¡¯ ke thought.


    After they had confirmed nothing different had happened to their room. The trio began touring the entire castle, and their next stop was ke¡¯s favorite ce.


    ¡°What the hell?!¡± The trio was shocked when they stepped into the canteen. Not only had the number of entrances to the canteen doubled, but the canteen itself also doubled.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t those 2nd-year students, what are they doing here?¡± Brian pointed at studentsing from the opposite entrance of the canteen.


    ¡°Is it what I think it is?¡± ke couldn¡¯t believe what was on his mind, but what he was seeing was hard to disregard.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a sit, I want to check something.¡± ke said with a deep frown on his face.


    ke was munching on some breadsticks as the trio watched everyoneing in from the entrance at the opposite side of the canteen.


    ¡°You make it hard for me to take you seriously.¡± Brian couldn¡¯t believe that the ke frowning seconds ago was smiling as he ate.


    ¡°Food makes me happy.¡± ke said with a wry smile.


    Throughout 5 minutes of watching the entrances, it was only 2nd-year students were going through the entrances.


    This made it easy for them to conclude that the entrances on the opposite sides of the canteen led to what used to be the 1st floor (2nd-year floor).


    ¡°What was the school board thinking when they thought of this idea?¡± Brian couldn¡¯t believe how stupid the school was.


    There was already a divide between first-year students. So bringing in the second-year students was no different from starting a civil war


    ¡°We have one more thing to check out.¡± ke said as he stood up and began leaving the canteen.


    He suspected 2 things, and the first 1 had just been confirmed. So he was going to check out his 2nd suspicion which was the worst thing.


    ¡°Where are we heading to?¡± Brian and Castiel asked.


    ¡°The ssrooms.¡± ke answered, confusing them for a few seconds before they realized his n.


    Unfortunately for them, the ssrooms and even the schools forge were no longer in their previous location. Rather they had been moved to a central location just like the canteen.


    ¡°Just like I suspected.¡± ke said as he walked into one of the ssrooms and saw that it was also twice its usual size just like the canteen.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t even make sense. Why would they want tobine both years?¡±


    ¡°Are they demoting the 2nd year students, or are they promoting us?¡±


    ¡°What happens to the ranking system and the elite ss?¡± ke clutched his head as he tried to figure out what was going on.


    One thing he didn¡¯t like was massive abrupt changes, and this was more than massive. This was something that had never happened throughout the history of the school.


    [From everything I have seen so far. I would say they are demoting the second year.]


    [From allpetitions that involved both levels, you guys outperformed them in teamwork and equal them in strength. So my guess is that they are demoting them.] The system answered one of ke¡¯s many questions.


    ¡°This is very bad.¡± The trio all had deep frowns on their faces as they thought of their next moves.


    At this point, ke felt even more pressure on his shoulders to fill up thest 3 stars and find a way toplete the advancement test.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 377

    Chapter 377: Looking for a fight.


    Towards the end of the 3rd week, more students had begun returning to the castle, and just like they had expected the shes between each year had increased exponentially.


    The reason the issue was close to inexistent days ago was that most 2nd year and 1st-year students in school at that time weremoners.


    Nheless, ke didn¡¯t care about the squabbles between both years. His main focus was onpleting the protectiveyer of Azkelwart¡¯s hourss by filling up thest 3 stars of the champion realm.


    Also, he still had the design of the normal version of the humidifier toplete and market.


    ...


    Early in the morning of resumption day, every student was already back in school. So the school had called for a meeting at the hall, and just as expected 2nd year students were in attendance.


    ¡°Hope you all enjoyed your holidays?¡± Professor Gibson asked as he walked through a warp gate with Instructor Zirrack.


    .....


    His question was replied to with a lot of questions from the students, so he quickly went straight to the point.


    ¡°I know all of you are confused as to why both years are in the same room. Well, it is actually what you think it is.¡±


    ¡°His majesty Prince Bryon had looked into the results of both the 1st and 2nd year over thest 2 semesters. Afterparing both years, he saw that the performance of the 2nd year students was below that of their juniors.¡±


    ¡°So in order to prevent them from growing into ipetent mages, he decided to demote them.¡± Professor Gibson¡¯s announcement instantly sent the hall into turmoil.


    The 2nd year students couldn¡¯t believe their ears. Many were confused, they couldn¡¯t even believe something like this was possible. While some were protesting against it.


    As for the 1st year students, some of them were also protesting against the decision, but many that hadn¡¯t thought of the consequences wereughing at the 2nd years.


    ¡°Silence!¡± instructor Zirrack released a wave of energy that instantly silenced everyone in the hall.


    ¡°As for your previous head of year, he had been relieved of his position. So I am looking forward to the maximum corporation while working with you all.¡± Professor Gibson said.


    ¡°We don¡¯t agree!¡± A voice screamed, causing everyone to turn to the source, only to see a 2nd-year noble student who also looked confused.


    ¡®He thought others would back him up, what a poor soul.¡¯ ke shook his head in pity, because the next second Instructor Zirrack had stretched forth his palm, and a force pulled the face of the noble into it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± Zirrack said as he effortlessly clutched the face of the noble and walked through a warp gate.


    ¡®May his soul rest in peace.¡¯


    This was the prayer made by almost every 1st year in the hall, especially those that had their lives reformed by Zirrack.


    ¡°On to important matters.¡± Professor Gibson continued.


    ¡°The rankings will change, 65 2nd year students will be at the top of the ranks ording to their previous ranks. As for the 1st year students, their ranks would begin from 66, thus making the elite ss 130.¡±


    This was meant to be the 1st year¡¯s chance to protest, but they thought about it twice when they saw Instructor Zirrack returning to the hall after tying up the noble.


    ¡®Why do I have this feeling that the school demoted them to create a challenge for me and Luciano?¡¯ ke said in the mind link.


    ¡®Although I don¡¯t like the idea, isn¡¯t challenge good? I mean, you get to grow faster.¡¯ Castiel replied.


    ¡®Lol... I don¡¯t care aboutpetition, with or without it I always work hard to surpass my current self.¡¯ ke said.


    ¡®Then you shouldn¡¯t be worried about the ranking then.¡¯ Brian stated.


    ¡®The resources of being 1st is needed. It saves me a lot of gold and exchange points.¡¯ ke said causing Brian and Castiel to wonder if it was the same person that made millions of gold coins during the break.


    ...


    By the time the meeting at the hall was over, it was already noon. So everyone went straight to the canteen for lunch.


    When ke and his team took a seat at one of the tables no one said a word. There was no smile on anyone¡¯s face, but that was when multiple 2nd-year students stood up.


    They moved to the center of the canteen and formed a divide that stretched both ends of the canteen.


    ¡°Listen up 1st years! This is half of the canteen is for the 2nd year. So if enter get ready for the consequence.¡± Dustin Ulrik the current rank 2 announced.


    ¡°Can you believe this guy?!¡± Castiel said in an angry tone as he turned to ke, but he wasn¡¯t there.


    ¡°Where did ke go?¡±


    They looked around the canteen only to see ke walking past Dustin Ulrik and sitting on an empty table.


    ¡®Lord help the poor soul that gets close to me.¡¯ ke was pissed and was looking for a fight, but he wanted them to be the first to engage.


    Not caring about the hundreds of eyes that were on him, ke summoned the menu and began ordering lunch.


    ¡°You have good eyes, I prefer this table to the one over there.¡± Luciano said aloud as he and the others joined ke on his table.


    Their tant actions of disrespect left the 2nd year students bbergasted, but they could only stand and watch. Touching ke, Castiel, Brian, and Tessie would make their lives miserable, but touching Luciano would be worse than death.


    Seeing what just happened, more first-year students began moving past the divide and upying empty seats. Further disgracing the seconds that were still standing.


    ¡°Nice!¡± ke said with a smile on his face as he fist-bumped his friends as they enjoyed their lunch.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 378

    Chapter 378: Advancement n.


    The semester officially took off the next day. Their first lesson was the continuation of theirst ss on fusion magic, and Professor Gibson was still in charge of the ss.


    ¡°By the end ofst semester, we all learned one of the most important fundamentals of fusion magic, mana vision.¡± Professor Gibson said.


    ¡°Today we will be moving into the 1st stage of the main deal which is simultaneously activating both pathways to cast spells of different elements at the same time.¡±


    ¡°It is only when both pathways have been activated that both elements can bebined at a molecr level to form fusion spells.¡± Professor Gibson exined.


    Every student in the ss could double cast and few could triple cast, but that was for only one element.


    ¡°Professor Gibson isn¡¯t that what I do when I activate lightning reinforcement and make cast fire spells?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Not at all. You see, when you cast Lightning reinforcement all that is needed to keep the spell active is to supply mana to all parts of your body.¡±


    .....


    ¡°So apart from the initial time the spell was cast, the lightning pathways are no longer needed, enabling you to use the fire pathway.¡± Gibson cleared the confusion between activating all stars and double casting.


    ¡®I wonder what fusion spell I would be able to cast with 3 elements?¡¯ ke became even more excited to learn fusion magic.


    [Fusion spells require great creativity and understanding of all the included elements. So you should know it won¡¯t be an easy task especially when you have 3 elements in a world where everything is designed for those with 2.] The system reminded ke that more power came with more work and responsibility.


    Professor Gibson continued the lesson and went on to demonstrate the activation process while they all watched with mana vision as he simultaneously controlled water and wind element.


    ¡®Interesting...¡¯ ke asionally muttered to himself as he closely listened and watched Professor Gibson.


    From his understanding, the difference between activating both pathways at the same time and casting normal spells was that the former required high mana control and was more stressful to the mind.


    ¡°This would be all for today. See you all in the next ss.¡± Gibson dismissed the ss, freeing the 2nd year students from the torture of learning what they already knew.


    ¡®From what I have seen, it is safe to say that simultaneously activating both pathways isn¡¯t difficult. All it requires is a lot of practice and I would get used to it.¡¯ ke said to himself as he and his friends headed for the canteen.


    Once they got to the canteen, they made sure to pick a table at the other half of the canteen.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it redundant that the 2nd year students have to learn the same thing over again?¡± Castiel asked as they all sat down.


    ¡°If I was in their shoes, I would die of boredom.¡± Brian said.


    ¡°Yes, it is.¡± ke said to Castiel. ¡°Although their overall performance is lower than that of ours, their average individual strength is greater than that of the first year, making the sses quite redundant.¡±


    ¡°The only good thing I can say is that the exercises from the sses would improve their teamwork.¡± ke shared his thoughts on the matter.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that bad news?¡± Brian asked with a raised brow.


    ¡°Of course it is. Who gives a f*ck about their improvement.¡± ke said.


    They began ordering their foods, but that was when ke saw 4 2nd year students joining the table of 2 1st year students. Straight away ke knew they were about to get bullied.


    That was when a thought came to his mind.


    ¡®I think I have found a way toplete my test and advance to the hero realm.¡¯ ke said to the system as he stood up and began moving to the table.


    ¡°Why so many at one table.¡± ke said as he mmed the head of one of the 2nd year students into the te of pasta he had bullied out of the hands of a 1st year.


    ¡°May I join you guys?¡± ke dragged the unconscious 2nd year out of the seat and left him on the floor.


    ¡°So what¡¯s going on guys?¡± ke spoke to the first-year students not caring about the 2nd year students beside him.


    ¡°I have had enough of this piss of shit. I will teach you how to respect your seniors!¡± The 2nd year student at ke¡¯s right screamed as he threw a punch to his face.


    ¡°You guys can talk to me.¡± ke continued to talk to the 1st years, not caring about the fisting his way.


    Just as the fist was inches away, a spiked mana barrier appeared piercing his knuckles and stopping the attack.


    ¡°Ah!¡± The 2nd year student screamed in pain as he immediately pulled out his hand from the 2-inch spikes that had gone into his bones.


    ke was not yet done.


    As he was still wailing in pain, ke made the spiked mana barrier explode outward, causing the spikes to shoot into all parts of the 2nd student.


    ¡®Too predictable.¡¯ ke thought as the student dropped to the ground writhing in pain.


    From his bodynguage, ke knew the 2nd year student would want to take advantage of his position andnd a hit on him.


    ¡°I know you guys are stupid but don¡¯t tell me you are on the same level as him.¡± ke said to remaining 2 to make them reconsider what they were about to do. In the end, the 2nd year students hurriedly left the table.


    ¡°That saves me some time.¡± ke said as he turned back to the 1st year students that were being bullied.


    ¡°Thank you very much.¡± The 1st year students who were lesser nobles thanked him.


    ¡°No problem.¡± ke said as he stood up.


    ¡°They are so useless that they got demoted, so you guys shouldn¡¯t be scared of them. Just try to always stay in groups.¡± ke advised the 2 before leaving for his table.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 379

    Chapter 379: ke¡¯s first rank battle.


    ¡®Just as nned.¡¯ ke thought as all eyes in the canteen were now on him he moved back to his seat.


    ke¡¯s goal was to make every 1st year student aware that he was going to be the hero that would fight against the tyranny of the 2nd year students. He had already gathered momentum from the previous day, so he wanted to keep it going.


    For his n to work, he needed a constant flow of bullying to intervene, that was why he had defeated the second years in the most demeaning way possible. This was to further disgrace them and cause them to take out their frustrations on other 1st years.


    [You are creating more problems so that you can solve them. That¡¯s evil, but genius!] The system said with a proud smile.


    ording to the It¡¯s exnations, being a hero was more of the view of those being saved. So as long as they didn¡¯t know what was happening, and he kept on saving them, they would continue seeing him as a hero.


    ¡®Although I am trying to create the problem, I also n on ending each case for good.¡¯ ke nned on making each encounter with the 2nd year bullies a painful and unforgettable one.


    ¡°Nice!¡± Brian gave him a thumbs-up as they continued to eat.


    .....


    ...


    After lunch, all students moved to their different specialization sses. Out of all specialization sses, it was only those offering forgemastery specialization that was not so excited about their ss.


    ¡®Although I know he can¡¯t change, why do I still hope?¡¯ ke said to himself as a warp gate opened in front of the ss and the short but muscr Tacitus walked out.


    From his gray hair and beards, and the frown that was never missing from his face, nothing had changed.


    ¡°Why is the ss bigger than usual?¡± Professor Tacitus asked, but he quickly recalled.


    ¡°For a moment I forgot that a bigger set of failures had joined the ss.¡± Professor Tacitus hit 2 birds with one sentence causing everyone except the 1st years from showing any emotions.


    ¡°I thought that I would have fewer people to handle this semester because of the beast tide, but it seems you guys are lesser disappointments. Especially whenpared to the bigger ones.¡± Professor Tacitus said in a contemptuous tone as he referred to the 2nd year students.


    ¡°You are a Professor, you are not meant to say such things.¡± n Nystrom the current rank 20 protested, causing the 1st years to shake their heads in pity.


    ¡°Minus 3000 points for interrupting me. Minus 3000 points for speaking without permission.¡± Professor Tacitus said with an unchanged expression.


    ¡°...¡± n wanted to protest about the point deduction, but on seeing the unfazed expression of Tacitus he quietly sat down.


    ¡®A scapegoat used as an example for the rest.¡¯ ke inwardlyughed.


    ¡°Our main focus this semester would be creating real magic weapons.¡±


    ¡°During thest semester, we learned about the integration method and using normal materials to forge magical items.¡±


    ¡°This semester we would start with handling and processing magical materials that amplify the effects of certain arrays, especially elemental array.¡± Professor Tacitus went ahead and gave the entire overview of the semester before ending the ss and leaving through a warp gate.


    ¡®ssic Professor Tacitus.¡¯ ke wasn¡¯t surprised because, at the beginning of every semester, Tacitus never taught them anything in the first ss.


    ¡®At this point, I feel like he really hates us and tries to spend as little time as possible with us.¡¯ ke thought. ¡°Or is there another reason we are not aware of?¡¯


    [Nah] The system and ke said in unison.


    ¡°6k points for what?!¡± n banged on his table in rage as he stood up.


    Throughout an entire semester, an average student got a total of 50k points. So subtracting 6k points on the first day was a very big deal.


    ¡°Get the fuck out of my way!¡± n shouted as both 1st and 2nd-year students scrambled to get out of his way, but unfortunately, amoner had been pushed to the ground amidst the chaos.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear me?! I said... get... the...fuck... out... of... my way!¡± n said as he continuously stomped the head of themoner.


    ¡®That¡¯s my cue.¡¯ ke stood up and walked over to the noble.


    ¡°You think you can beat me just like those fools?!¡± n Nystrom said in an excited tone because not only would he use ke to vent out his anger, but he would use him to put the 1st year students in their ce.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think, I know.¡± ke said with a smirk as he sized the red hair noble who had a simr physique to him but a bit shorter.


    ¡°I challenge you to a rank battle.¡± Just before n could attack, ke clicked on his school badge to make the challenge official.


    ¡°Head to the battlefield if you want to watch.¡± Instructor Zirrack who appeared in the ssroom warped both of them to the school battleground.


    The students who were in the ssroom all looked at each other before swarming to the battleground.


    On their way to the battleground, they spread the word about the event that was about to go down. Not only was this the first ranked match of the semester, but it was also ke¡¯s 1st ranked match.


    ¡°Who do you think would win?¡± This was the question in the mouths of every student.


    ¡°ke of course, didn¡¯t you watch the highlights of the team test where he wiped out teams of both 1st and 2nd-year students?¡±


    ¡°That was only because of the circumstances they were in. Most of his team wipes were ambushes.¡±


    Every student had their own opinions on the oue of the match, but they could only wait and see the results of the battle about to go down.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 380

    Chapter 380: Man on a mission.


    Immediately after Instructor Zirrack gave the signal to begin, arcs of lightning burst out of ke¡¯s body.


    ¡®I am not giving him a chance to lift a finger.¡¯ ke took in a deep breath, causing the lightning arcs to double in both size and intensity.


    This was the Raiju Breathing technique, meaning ke wasn¡¯t ying around. He had no idea what element n awakened, but it didn¡¯t matter.


    ke dashed forward, instantly appearing in front of n who was in a battle stance, before giving him a thrusting blow that lifted him off his feet and connecting with a right hook to the face.


    Just when he was about to fly off, ke pulled n¡¯s right hand, before using his left leg and stomping on his knee.


    Crack!


    The sound of shattering bones echoed all around the battlefield, causing the students to gasp in shock by the gruesome sight.


    .....


    Not caring about the reaction of the spectators, ke fully stretched n¡¯s right hand before dishing out palm strikes that broke his elbow.


    Thud!


    Without letting out a scream, n dropped to the floor before with his eyes wide open.


    ¡°You... don¡¯t... sound... so... tough... now!¡± ke said as he continuously stomped the head of the noble.


    ¡°Stop the match he is already unconscious!¡± Some 2nd year students protested but Instructor Zirrack ignored them.


    Zirrack was well aware that n was still conscious. The reason he wasn¡¯t moving or making any sound was that right from the 1st punch ke hadnded, he had been stunned by the effects of both the Raiju breathing technique and being an electrode (The champion realm of the lightning pathway).


    It was after a few more seconds of stomping that the golden barrier enveloped n, marking the end of the rank battle.


    ¡°ke wins the rank match, and has now climbed to the 20th rank.¡± Instructor Zirrack announced before warping out of the battleground with the unconscious n.


    ¡°How is his lightning reinforcement so fast?¡±


    ¡°I thought I was the only one that noticed, even that of Serhan isn¡¯t as fast as his.¡±


    The 2nd year students were wondering how ke was so fast that n couldn¡¯t react in time, while the 1st year students didn¡¯t see any much difference because so far they had no one higher than ke topare him with.


    The 2nd year students were actually right. ke¡¯s speed was greater than that of Serhan, and the main reason for that was his 3rd element.


    The fusion process is the main reason for champion realm spells to have more power than those in the warrior realm. It did so by merging the pathways of both elements into one. So no matter the element being used, the stars of the 2nd element would supply their power to the spell.


    In the case of ke, 3 pathways had been merged into one which was why he had always been faster than even those from the Karius family. The main reason why it was more noticeable now was that he had filled the stars of the champion realm and was a step away from the Hero realm.


    ¡®Should I go for the next one?¡¯


    As the others wereparing who was the fastest, ke was wondering if he should challenge the next victim and climb to the top.


    The rules of the ranked matches were that anyone at any rank could directly challenge the 20th rank.


    It was only when they got through the top 20 that they could challenge any at or below the 10th rank.


    From the 10th rank, he could now challenge the 3rd rank, then the 2nd, and finally the rank 1.


    ¡®Nah, there is no need to rush and rank up. If I y it well, I could use the rank matches to help my advancement tests.¡¯ ke said to himself.


    Right on the spot, ke devised the n of using the ranked matches as a public punishment for second-year students.


    Once he caught anyone bullying a 1st-year student, ke would beat up his or her goons before challenging them and disgracing them in front of both years.


    ¡®This is definitely going to work.¡¯ A smirk formed on ke¡¯s face as he could feel the Hero realm at his fingertips.


    ...


    2 weekster.


    ke had risen directly to the 15th rank after the previous rank 15, unfortunately, got his attention. Not only was she disgraced by the one-sided beat down, but ke had inflicted traumatizing injuries that couldn¡¯t be healed with only spells.


    During the 2 weeks, ke had been saving a lot of 1st-year students from being bullied.


    Since he had filled up his stars, ke had plenty of free time. So he had increased his area of operation from the canteen to hallways and secluded areas.


    His actions made it clear to both 1st-yearmoners and nobles that ke was on a mission to show the demoted 2nd years that they weren¡¯t to be messed with.


    As for the progress of all his sses in thest 2 weeks. ke had mastered the simultaneous activation of 2 pathways and was currently practicing activating all 3 at once.


    The forgemastery ss was slow as usual mostly because Professor Tacitus waszy, but no ss was as difficult as that of Instructor Zirrack.


    Last semester they had learned body enhancement, but this semester, Instructor Zirrack nned on taking it to the next level.


    The body enhancement was the absorption of mana by the body, giving it an all-round enhancement.


    Zirrack nning on teaching them the 2nd stage of body enhancement, in which when mastered their bodies would no longer need to absorb mana because everything down to the bones would be a channel for mana to pass through.


    Every ss involved them always circting mana around their bodies while they performed exercises that even top bodybuilders on Earth would find very difficult.


    It was both extremely physical and mentally tiring, but these were words that had be synonyms for Zirrack.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 381

    Chapter 381: Combat ss assessment.


    The first stage of body enhancement was actively circting mana around one¡¯s body to temporarily strengthen it, while the goal of the 2nd stage was to permanently strengthen it.


    Mastering 2nd stage of body enhancement would make the human body tougher from the outeryer of the skin, down to the muscles, internal organs, and finally the bone.


    After 2 weeks of starting the exercise, ke was currently ahead of the ss. This was not only because he performed the exercises outside ss, but because he had 3 elements.


    More elements meant more powerful star pathways, thus more mana would be produced and circted, resulting in greater progress.


    As for his current progress, ke¡¯s skin texture hadn¡¯t changed at all, but he felt his body could take more damage than before.


    ¡°Today¡¯s ss would be assessing your progress over thest 2 weeks.¡± Instructor Zirrack said as he walked into the training ground through a warp gate.


    ¡®The worst part of Zirrack¡¯s ss is assessment.¡¯ ke thought.


    .....


    Although it didn¡¯t help, ke nheless began preparing his mind for the worst things that could happen.


    ¡°In today¡¯s assessment, you all would be facing magic beasts without armor, weapons, artifacts, magic, and Arcane spells.¡± Instructor Zirrack¡¯s announcement made everyone including the demoted 2nd-year students scream in their minds.


    After multiple encounters and reformations with Zirrack, the 2nd year students had taken the steps of the 1st year students to only protest in their minds.


    ¡®What the hell! Is he trying to get us killed?!¡¯


    ¡®How could they let a mentally unstable person be ourbat instructor?!¡¯ A lot of curses were being thrown at Zirrack in the mind space.


    It was alreadymon knowledge that beasts were stronger than humans physically, that was why nature had bnced things out by giving humans magic from a young age. So taking away everything was putting them at a disadvantage.


    ¡®I see what is going on here. The purpose of body enhancement is to improve our bodies to match that of the beast to not bepletely useless when facing them.¡¯ ke thought.


    Just like ke, a few students looked at the assessment from a different angle, making them realize the aim of the ss.


    ¡°Your goal is to survive for 5 minutes. What determines your score is how long you survive and if you are to kill the beast you get extra points.¡± Instructor Zirrack announced as he flew above the training ground and began manipting the ground.


    Using the earth element, Zirrack divided the training ground into 40 spaces. Instructor Zirrack made the top rank 40 students enter 1st. This was to make sure all their actions were from their initiative, not that of someone else.


    ¡®I wonder what beast I would be facing?¡¯


    As ke walked into his assigned area which had its 3 sides blocked off by 20 meters tall walls. Once he was in, a 15 meters wall rose from the ground and block off the entrance.


    At that moment, a sde was warped into the confined walls, but its limbs were all held down by very strong quicksand.


    Hiss!


    On seeing the human, the sde hissed as it tried to pounce on him, but it was unable to move despite all its efforts to free itself.


    ¡®A sde, not bad. Let¡¯s see what we have here.¡¯ ke began assessing his environment as he tried to figure out how to use it to his advantage.


    ¡®The area is around 10 meters wide, meaning I have some room to maneuver, but because it is a in box I have little to no environmental advantage.¡¯


    ¡®I have no sharp objects to pierce its internal organs, so I should go for its eyes, ears, and neck.¡¯


    ¡®Its limbs are too strong to be broken, leaving its gonads (balls) as itsst weakness, but I can¡¯t stoop so low.¡¯


    ke was having an internal conflict. If the opportunity presented itself, should he give a low blow?


    After giving them enough time to prepare to fight the sdes, Instructor Zirrack gave them the signal and released the sdes.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Immediately its bounds were removed, the sde didn¡¯t waste time pouncing on ke.


    ¡®Pouncing at an enemy just leaves you open. I wish I had a sword to punish this idiot.¡¯ ke thought as he rolled out of the way and immediately got back on his feet.


    Although the sde was just a magic beast, the reptile was still bulky and packed a lot of strength. So being under it with no magic or equipment was a sure ticket to seeing one¡¯s maker.


    Once he was back on his feet, ke didn¡¯t distance himself, rather he began bounce stepping as he went into a boxing position.


    Seeing the impudent human right in front of it, the sde opened its powerful jaws as it tried to snap ke in half.


    ¡°Just as nned.¡± Having studied the behavioral pattern of sdes, ke had stayed close to the magic beast to make it use its jaws.


    With him already knowing what wasing, quickly moved back before repositioning to the right and giving the sde a right hook to its throat just as it bit on thin air.


    The reptile hissed in pain as it wed at ke to prevent any follow-up, but that was its biggest mistake.


    Seeing that the attackcked both power and speed, ke easily dodged the w before grabbing onto it and using its momentum to perform a Judo throw.


    THUD!


    The 2 meters long sde was mmed to the ground, and before it could make sense of what was going on, ke grabbed its head and twisted it.


    Crack!


    Although ke heard the neck cracking, he still made sure its heart wasn¡¯t beating before letting go.


    ¡®Thank the heaven there was no need for a low blow.¡¯ ke thought as he walked out of the confinement.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 382

    Chapter 382: Soon to be unfortunate.


    ¡®Have I always been this strong?¡¯ After looking back at what he just did a few seconds ago, ke was shocked by his strength even without magic and equipment.


    ¡®You monitor my body, right? So what made me this strong, is it the first stage of the body enhancement or is it the 2nd stage?¡¯ ke asked the system.


    [I do monitor your body, but I would be unable to gauge your strength if you don¡¯t use it or have nothing topare it to.] The system said.


    Since the 1st stage of body enhancement training, ke had had almost no need for it, and neither had he been in any situation that gave the system an idea of things like his strength or pain tolerance.


    This wasn¡¯t only because of theck of worthy opponents. ke¡¯s elements and fighting style were all about dealing maximum amount of damage without getting touched.


    To add insult to injury, Ebony and Ivory could cut through anything that came in their path, meaning there was nothing like a show of strength.


    [From the little data I have, I guess that the 1st stage of body enhancement ounts for 70% of your performance, while the 2nd stage is responsible for the remaining 30.] The system said.


    .....


    ¡®Not bad for something I have been training for only 2 weeks.¡¯ ke said as his focus returned to the training ground.


    ¡®Guess I am the first to finish.¡¯ ke thought as he looked at the floating screens that disyed all of the 40 battles.


    ¡®Wait, I did all that in under a minute?!¡¯ ke was shocked when he saw the timer on his screen had stopped at 4mins 14secs. ¡®I am a beast!¡¯


    While ignoring the asional looks from both 1st years and the demoted 2nd years, ke listened to the conversations going on around him as he watched the battle¡¯s going on.


    Apparently, 2 demoted 2nd-year students had been eliminated under 30 seconds. It turned out that they hadn¡¯t survived the pounce by the sdes, and were saved by the golden barrier.


    It was then that Luciano killed the sde with 3mins 2 seconds left on the clock, leaving 27 people still ¡®alive¡¯.


    By the 2 minutes mark, only 15 people were still facing their sdes. Out of the 12 that were done with the assessment, only Serhan and Dustin had killed their sdes. The rest had been eliminated.


    ¡®I see why they are taking so much time. Most of them are literally surviving, instead of trying to kill it.¡¯ ke said in realization.


    Unlike ke who had nned on killing whatever beast that was presented to him, many had limited themselves by having the mentality that beasts and humans were only equal when magic was in the picture.


    The mentality had made them afraid to try and take down the sdes even when a clear opportunity was presented to them.


    After the 5 minutes countdown was over, 10 out of the 15 students had survived the assessment making it a total of 14 out of 40 had passed the assessment.


    With the first batch over, the next batches made their way into the confinements after every 5 minutes.


    ¡°47 out of 130 either survived the entire 5 minutes or killed their targets. I am not surprised by the performance, and neither do I care.¡± Instructor Zirrack said.


    ¡°For the point allocation, every 1 minute equals a thousand points, while those that didn¡¯t make it up to a minute would only receive more exercises.¡±


    ¡°As for those that killed their sdes, they would get extra 2k points.¡±


    ¡°1st to finish would get a thousand points.¡±


    ¡°Lastly, the time for killing the sdes would also be rewarded. Every minute it took to kill the beast would be a 400 points deduction from the 2k bonus points.¡±


    ¡°So for ke who finished in under a minute would receive the entire 2k points.¡± Instructor Zirrack¡¯s announcement dropped the jaws of most of the demoted 2nd-year students.


    In an assessment of 5k points, ke had gotten 10k. This was 1/5 of what most people got throughout the entire semester!


    Throughout 2 weeks of sses, ke had been raking in points from every ss possible, but they hadn¡¯t thought much about it right until now.


    ¡®Easy 10k.¡¯ ke ignored the looks and talks about him as he left the training ground to return to his room to freshen up.


    After dinner, ke began assessing his current ns and those for the future.


    He was currently at the top of every ss and every aspect of being a student in the magic academy. His only problems now were advancing to the hero realm and rising in rank in the adventurer association.


    Thetter was a long-term n, so his focus was entirely on his advancement test.


    ¡°How many people do I need to convert before I advance?!¡± ke screamed in frustration.


    His crackdown on the demoted 2nd-year students who bullied their juniors hade to a halt. It was now clear to them that ke was out for them, so they were trying to keep activities on a low.


    It was safe to say that ke had drastically reduced the number of bullying, but that wasn¡¯t much of good news for him.


    [As I said, the tests are different for everybody. You are the best student in both years, so you should not expect your test to be as simple as that of the lowest student.] The system said.


    ¡°I know, I know...¡± ke took in a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. ¡°I would lose momentum If things continue this way. I need to increase it.¡±


    ¡°I think it is high time for me to continue climbing up in rank.¡± ke decided to challenge the soon-to-be unfortunate rank 10 the next day and defeat him in the most dramatic way possible.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 383

    Chapter 383: In search of a challenge.


    The next day.


    Immediately after their final ss for the day, ke made a few inquiries before walking up to the rank 10, Aaron Nystrom.


    Aaron was a 17-year-old who stood at a height of 6¡¯1¡å feet (1.85 meters). His red short hair and pale skin reminded ke of Ron from harry potter, but the freckles on his cheeks and the condescending smirk that was always on his face were sharp contrasts.


    ¡°I challenge you to a ranked match.¡± ke said to Aaron as he tapped his school badge to make the challenge official.


    ke¡¯s announcement caused Aaron¡¯s heartbeat to start racing, but he soon calmed himself down because he had been making preparations for this day.


    For 2 weeks now, ke¡¯s actions had made it clear that he was attacking only the demoted 2nd-year students. So everyone in the top rank had been preparing for when they would get challenged by him.


    Some were well aware that they had no chance, but their main goal was to stop making the demoted 2nd year keep losing face to him.


    .....


    ¡°For those who want to spectate, move over to the battleground.¡± Instructor Zirrack said as he appeared and warped ke and Aaron to the battleground.


    ¡®I thought the officials were chosen at random. So why is it always instructor Zirrack officiating my matches?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [You just had 3 ranked matches so far and you think he has been assigned just for your matches?] The system said.


    ¡®Out of the tens of Professors in the academy, only one is assigned to me 3 times in a row? Something is fishy.¡¯ ke said.


    [Or you might just be overthinking it.] The system snorted at ke¡¯s paranoia.


    Once the crowd of students had arrived, and thebatants were done with their preparations, Zirrack signaled for the battle to start.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    ¡°This is the first time I will be fighting a photomancer. Hope you make the fight interesting.¡± ke said with a smirk, but Aaron just ignored him.


    To prevent instant victory for ke, Aaron immediately cast an earth dome to protect him, while he cast mirror spells to see what was happening on the outside.


    ¡°He is not moving? I will teach him a lesson about being cocky.¡± Aaron dropped the thorny seed of the mother tree unto the ground causing it to burrow through.


    Mother Tree!


    Roots of the Mother tree began sprouting around the battlefield, before the tree itself sprouted from below, lifting the earth dome 6 meters into the air.


    [Are you sure you want to let him make every preparation before you attack?] The system said to ke who hadn¡¯t moved an inch out of his original position.


    ¡®Yes.¡¯ ke replied. ¡®I know it is dumb to not take him out now, but I want to challenge myself.¡¯


    ¡®After yesterday¡¯s battle with the sde, I realized that not only did I properly analyze my opponent and n my every move, but I felt more fulfilled after the fight.¡¯


    ¡®At this point, Ebony and Ivory is a cheat code that allows me to maul my opponents without any effort.¡¯ ke exined.


    While ke and the system were having their conversation, Aaron had brought out therge containers of beast blood from his dimensional space and began pouring them on the mother tree.


    ¡°This might be more exciting than I thought.¡± ke said with an excited smile on his face.


    With so much blood being poured on the mother tree, it took a few seconds before Aaron was able to activate the 2nd stage of the mother tree.


    The mother tree increased to 8 meters in height and the number of vines as well as their thickness had doubled, covering almost the entire battleground.


    ¡°Is he nning on staying in there all day? I didn¡¯t know I was feared that much.¡± ke chuckled pissing off every demoted 2nd-year student around the battlefield.


    ¡°I think I have given him enough time to prepare.¡± ke said as he cracked his knuckles and activated lightning reinforcement.


    ¡®He¡¯s not nning on using his sword?¡¯ Aaron sneered at ke¡¯s overconfidence.


    ¡°Let¡¯s begin!¡± ke immediately dashed forward at astonishing speeds.


    Once he got to the outskirts of the Mother Tree¡¯s vines, ke began conjuring mana steps that he ran up until he got to the same height as the earth dome on the Mother Tree.


    ¡®Weakness of nt type user, aerial attacks.¡¯


    Just as he stepped on thest step, keunched himself towards the Mother Tree with arge meburst propelling him.


    On covering half distance of the Battleground, the thick thorny vines of the Mother Tree shot up forming a nt wall all around the Mother tree.


    ¡®nts can¡¯t stop me!!!¡¯


    Not slowing down one bit, ke enveloped his body withyers of mana, fire, and more lightning at his fingers tips.


    BOOM!


    ke broke through the wall of nts with a loud bang, but immediately he was at the other side of the wall he saw 2 rocks half the size of a ser ball hurling toward him.


    ¡°Interesting...¡± ke didn¡¯t slow down, but just as he was about to collide with the rocks, a spatial corridor opened in front of him.


    ¡®Seems like he prepared for the weakness.¡¯ ke thought as he stepped out of the spatial corridor and appeared at his original location which he had marked.


    (AN: This is the marking ability Zultra disyed in ss. Also, remember he gave him a book on that.)


    Although the rocks looked nothing special, ke was able to see with mana vision therge amounts of mana was pack into each ball.


    ¡®My guess is fusion magic. Too bad I couldn¡¯t see the effects of the fusion magic.¡¯ ke clicked his tongue.


    At this point, ke was looking for every and anything that would give him inspiration on how fusion magic worked.


    ¡°Guess, it¡¯s time to go again.¡±


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 384

    Chapter 384: Epic performance.


    ¡°Guess, it¡¯s time to go again.¡±


    ke dashed forward as he took the same approach to get high up beforeunching himself through the nt wall.


    When he burst through, ke saw 3 of the rocks hurling toward him, but this time he had no ns of retreating.


    Lightning needle!


    ke shot out 3 needle-sized lightning bolts at the rocks before conjuring mana walls and using them to abruptly change his direction.


    BOOM!


    Oning in contact with the lightning needles, the rocks exploded like hand grenades revealing a made of leaves.


    .....


    ¡®Is that all to it?¡¯ ke asked the system as he continued to dodge all the rocks being shot at him.


    [I can sense a lot of mana in the leafs, so I guess that they are poisoned.] The system shared its analysis.


    ¡®The sneaky bastard knows my movement is limited once I am airborne. So he is trying to catch me.¡¯ ke thought as he dodged more of the rocks.


    Lightning reinforcement increased his movement speed and reaction by supercharging his muscles and organs, but it was almost useless when he was airborne because his movement came from mebursts.


    ¡®Although he would eventually run out of mana before me, it is high time I end this.¡± ke said as the Mother Tree¡¯s vines were joining the fray.


    After dodging 3 more fusion magic rocks, ke threw out 2 void daggers to the right and left sides of the Mother Tree before opening a spatial corridor and jumping through.


    2 spatial tears simultaneously opened up at the sides of the Mother Tree causing Aaron to fire his fusion spells at both.


    ¡°All your attempts are futile.¡± ke who had activated mind boost jumped out of the left spatial corridor and instantly created 2 spatial tears.


    The 1st spatial tear was directly in the path of the fusion rocks, while the 2nd one was directly below him.


    ¡®This is too easy.¡¯


    Just as ke fell into the spatial corridor below, the attacks that had gone through the spatial tear at the right side of the Mother Tree came out of the 1st spatial tear and countered the attacking for ke.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Aaron was shocked and confuse at the same time by what he saw, but that was when he looked back at the spatial tear on his left (ke¡¯s right) And saw ke flying through.


    ¡°Fuck me!¡± Aaron cursed as he tried to add more defenses to the earth dome, but there was no use because ke was already beside the earth dome.


    ¡°Your Turtle shell can¡¯t save you.¡± ke said with an evil grin as he coated his right arm withyers of mana, fire, and lightning before bursting through the earth dome and grabbing Aaron¡¯s head.


    Zzzzg! Zzzzg! Zzzzg!


    The crackling sound of lightning echoed all around the battlefield as Aaron spasmed till the golden barrier appeared.


    ¡°ke is the winner, and is now the rank 10.¡± Instructor Zirrack announced.


    ¡°What the fuck did I watch!¡±


    ¡°That was a fucking epic performance!¡±


    The entire first-year students on the battlefield went into an uproar after watching ke¡¯s performance.


    Even some of the demoted 2nd-year students like Sach couldn¡¯t help but apud ke¡¯s skills.


    ¡°Are my eyes ying tricks on me? He let him make all of his preparations, but still ended up beating him without his weapon!¡± A first-year student screamed.


    One may ask why was the battlefield nosier than ke¡¯sst 2 matches. The reason was that the earth and nt elements were the most defensive elements. So allowing Aaron to prepare all his defenses, and still breaching them with only skills was more than mind-blowing.


    [I guess you got the reaction you wanted.] The system said.


    The demoted 2nd years had nned to stop losing face to the 1st year students, but ke¡¯s act had shattered their ns.


    He hadn¡¯t used the weapon that they imed to be the reason for his sess, and he had given Aaron the upper hand before demolishing him.


    ¡®I can get addicted to this feeling.¡¯ ke thought with a fulfilled smile stered on.


    After gathering his void daggers, ke turned to Serhan with a smirk on his face before leaving the battleground.


    By the end of the 3rd week, The 1st year students had shot up in rank.


    ke had moved up to the 9th rank to allow Luciano and Damon to move up to the 5th and 6th rank respectively.


    Cami was current rank 10, Castiel ranked 20, Brian ranked 22, and Tessie rank 30.


    ...


    The weekend had arrived, meaning it was a ss-free day for ke. The problem was that he had no idea of what he should do.


    He couldn¡¯t go hunting because the beasts had not repopted so it would be a waste of time.


    The humidifier business was a hit for both nobles andmoners, so he didn¡¯t see the need to rush bringing out a new product.


    As for his school activities, ke was already bored and wanted to do something different.


    ¡°I think I have to call Susan and check if there are any missions.¡± ke immediately used his adventurermunication amulet and called Susan.


    ¡°Hey, Susan!¡± ke greeted.


    ¡°Adventurer Zero, what a surprise to receive a call from you. How may I be of help?¡± The blonde receptionist asked with a charming smile on her face.


    ¡°I wanted to know if I have gotten any mission requests?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Sorry, but there are currently none. The market is quite saturated now so there are not many missions unless I would help you apply for an investigation mission?¡± Susan suggested


    ¡°I thought you said there are not many missions. So how are investigation missions still avable?¡± ke asked


    ¡°Investigation missions are not missions that could be done by just any random adventurer. So they are not usually swarmed after.¡± Susan exined.


    ¡°Alright, how long will it take before I can get a mission?¡±


    ¡°I just have to call themissioner, am him of your interest. So it would take only a few minutes.¡± Susan replied.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 385

    Chapter 385: Too good to be true.


    ¡°Mr. James I am calling to inquire if the mission you posted 1 week ago is still valid?¡± Susan asked the Merchant.


    Compared to other types of missions, investigation missions were more time crucial. The more time was wasted the lesser the chances of solving the case. This also meant the reward for solving the case had to be increased.


    ¡°Yeah it is, but I currently don¡¯t have the funds to increase the reward.¡± The merchant said.


    ¡°Alright, I shall inform the adventurer who is interested in the mission.¡± Susan said, but as she was about to cut themunication link, the merchant asked a final question.


    ¡°If I may ask, who is this adventurer that is suddenly interested in my mission?¡±


    ¡°It is adventurer Zero.¡± Susan exined who ke was and the investigative feats.


    ¡°I heard he was the one that tracked the notorious leader of the Creed gang and their hideout?¡± The merchant asked receiving a confirmatory nod from Susan.


    .....


    ¡®There might actually be a chance that I would get all my merchandise back!¡¯ The merchant was ecstatic by the news and was hoping that the adventurer would ept his request.


    ...


    ¡°I have spoken to the merchant, the mission is still up.¡± Susan said as she began exining the mission to ke.


    ¡°Mr. James was an average wine merchant whose little warehouse had been robbed. When the case was reported to the Ash corps, but after 2 days of investigation they were unable to find the thieves nor the stolen merchandise.¡±


    ¡®The ash corps is more than capable to locate the thieves, they just felt it wasn¡¯t worth it to expend so much resources just for an average merchant.¡¯ ke thought as he listened to the details of the mission.


    ¡°The mission has been left on touched for a week now, but there is a slight issue.¡± Susan said causing ke to frown. ¡°Due to most of his merchandise being stolen, he doesn¡¯t have the funds to pay for the increase in reward.¡±


    ¡°I really want to help him. So is it possible to convert my payment to contribution points, while he pays the association¡¯s percentage in gold coins?¡± ke had no need for gold coins any time soon, so his main focus was on the contribution points.


    ¡°We don¡¯t normally offer such services, but I shall ask guild Master Walden.¡± Susan was moved by ke¡¯s zeal to help the merchant.


    After a few minutes, Susan was back with good news.


    ¡°Guildmaster Walden has agreed to your request but with a condition. The merchant would have to pay a discounted price of the total sum after the mission isplete.¡± Susan reported.


    ¡°Fair enough, I agree.¡± If he was to locate the thieves and the merchandise, the merchant would be more than able to pay the fees.


    ¡°Before I inform the ash corps handlers that you are taking the mission, is this a solo or a party mission?¡± Susan asked.


    ¡°Hades and Grock currently have matters they are dealing with. So it would be a solo mission.¡± ke replied.


    ¡°Alright, good luck with your investigation.¡± Susan said before ending themunication link.


    ¡°Time to get down to business.¡± ke geared up and left the school for the warehouse located in the northern part of the middle region.


    On dropping from his carriage, ke saw a short and muscr, pallid-skinned man with a pointed chin, ears that stuck out, and a narrow face. He had straight, ck hair,rge hands, and a thick neck.


    ¡°I am adventurer Zero and I am handling the investigation of the robbery that took ce here.¡± ke said as he showed him his adventurer Id.


    ¡°You are adventurer Zero?¡± Mr. James couldn¡¯t believe that adventurer that tracked one of the most wanted gang leaders was a 16-year-old. It was only after he saw the adventurer Id that he finally believed.


    ¡°I am Mr. James, nice to meet you.¡± The merchant shook ke¡¯s hand as they began walking into the storage unit.


    ¡°Can you tell me what happened here?¡± ke asked the merchant, but it turned out that his story was no different from what Susan had told him.


    Mr. James, an average merchant, dealt with wines, so he didn¡¯t see the need to hire anything above regr guards for such a small ce.


    ¡®Now I see why the ash corps didn¡¯t bother with such a case. There are no leads at all.¡¯ ke thought as he heard nothing important from the merchant¡¯s story and that of his guards.


    ¡°Alright, time to get to work.¡± ke gestured for Mr. James to leave the warehouse as he pretended to search for clues.


    Once he was gone, ke brought out a map of the city and activated the locator skill.


    ¡°Where is my client¡¯s merchandise?¡± His current location lit up, but so did 6 other locations on the map.


    ¡°What do we have here?¡± ke soon noticed that the 6 locations were all in the eastern part of the middle region.


    ¡°6 locations means the merchandise has been distributed or this was a joint operation that the rewards had been shared.¡±


    ¡°Looking at the warehouse size and considering that the stolen goods are not magical items, it definitely can¡¯t be a joint operation.¡± ke said.


    ¡°It looks too good to be true.¡± ke chuckled when he noticed something.


    On looking at the 6 points on the map, ke noticed that 1 of the points was at the center of the remaining 5.


    One might ask why criminals would foolishly reveal their hideout from their distributionwork, but the truth was that without the locator skill no one would have a clue they were connected.


    ¡°Time to go check it out.¡± ke put back his map into his dimensional pocket and left the ware.


    ¡°Thanks for the information, I will get back to you shortly.¡± ke said to the merchant as he left the area and boarded a carriage.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 386

    Chapter 386: Investigator Zero.


    The central location pointed out on the map was a logisticspany, which was in the same building as itsrge warehouse.


    Once ke dropped a few blocks away, he made his way into the alley and unto the top of the opposite building where he used Night veil to camouge.


    [This is quite tricky. There is a high chance that the warehouse robbers sold the merchandise to the logisticspany.] The system said.


    ¡°Yes, but owning a logisticspany is also the perfect cover for stealing and storing stolen goods.¡± ke said as he watched the carriages moving in and out of thepany¡¯spound.


    ¡°I think it is time to go in.¡±


    After half an hour of watching, ke didn¡¯t see anything out of the ordinary. So it was time to take a closer look.


    He first left a spatial mark at the top of the building before entering thepany¡¯spound with Night veil cloaking him.


    .....


    On passing the gate, ke saw more than 10 carriages all around thepound. 2 carriages were currently in front of the building getting loaded with wooden crates of different sizes.


    [Scanning... There is no one high enough to send your presence.] The system reported.


    After making sure there was no one able to sense his presence, ke walked into the building where he saw a female receptionist to the right attending to a customer.


    ¡®From the looks of it, I think the workers have no clue of what is really going on here.¡¯ ke thought.


    [Involving too many people poses high chances of the information leaking. So I would bet that the high-ranking staffs are the ones that know.] The system said.


    ke walked through different sections of the warehouse until he got to the wine section.


    He began using the hot and cold spell of a locator, but after more than 20 minutes of searching, he didn¡¯t feel anything.


    ¡®This could only mean there is an underground storage unit.¡¯ ke said as he was thinking about his next move.


    Searching for the entrance to the underground storage unit meant he would most likely get into a fight. The problem here was that ke wasn¡¯t yet sure if this was the right ce.


    If there was just 1 suspected location, ke wouldn¡¯t have had an issue with a fight, but with 5 other unconfirmed locations, he was afraid that they would get informed and evidence would be destroyed.


    ¡®I have to check out the other spots before taking any drastic decisions.¡¯ ke quickly left thepound and began visiting the other spots.


    2 of them turned out to be bars, 1 was a restaurant, 1 was a wine store and thest one was someone¡¯s house.


    ¡®It is clear that the logisticspany was the one to distribute the merchandise, but from the looks of things the distributees have no clue that they are in possession of stolen goods.¡¯


    [The question now is, why would the logisticspany thisrge steal some crates of wine just to resell it?] The system asked.


    ¡®I have a theory, the logisticspany wouldn¡¯t gain anything from doing that, rather they want the merchant to lose.¡¯


    ¡®Think of it this way, if the logisticspany was to rob the merchant¡¯s warehouse multiple times he wouldn¡¯t want to store any of his merchandise there again.¡¯


    ¡®He would look for a safer ce that doesn¡¯t get robbed, and that is the logisticspany.¡¯ ke exined his thought process as the carriage was returning to the logisticspany.


    [That makes sense. Those who own warehouses arepetition to them. So the owner of thepany is trying to eliminate them.] The system said in realization.


    [So what is your n?] The system asked.


    ¡®Bursting them down.¡¯ ke said.


    Immediately after he got down from the carriage, ke wasted no time in entering therge warehouse and using the hot and cold locator spell to search for the underground entrance.


    It soon led him to one of the back doors with an ¡®only authorized personnel sign on it¡¯. Once the system confirmed that there was no one behind the door, ke went through.


    ¡®Eh?!¡¯ He saw a staircase that went underground but was shocked to see no one guarding it.


    With the locator skill active, ke moved down the stairs to find different storage rooms with no form of magical or physical protection.


    ¡®Seems I was right. A logisticspany is the perfect cover for robbery and hiding stolen goods because no one has the time to check everything in their inventory.¡¯


    ¡®So whatever they have in their inventory is considered as theirs, that is why they don¡¯t bother to hire guards to protect the inner section.¡¯ ke thought as he opened the 5th storage room to find the crates of wine amidst other items.


    ¡®Time to call this in.¡¯ ke teleported back to the top of the building opposite thepany.


    ¡°I have solved the case, and I would like to report my findings.¡± ke said to the ash corps handler.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    After he was done reporting his findings, ke requested that the ash corps send personnel to audit the inventory of the logisticspany.


    ...


    ¡°Adventurer Zero is requesting personnel to the eastern part of the middle region for the audit of a logisticpany.


    It is suspected that stolen and illegal items are in their custody¡± The ash corp reported to Ashely.


    ¡°Adventurer Zero?! I thought he just received a mission today... Are you telling me he is already done with it?¡± Ashely asked in a shocked tone but already knew the answer.


    ¡®How?¡¯ Ashely couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Nheless, she reported the news to Colonel Darius who immediately permitted to send out personnel.


    ...


    In under 30 minutes, the ash corps arrived at the logisticspany and began an impromptu audit of their inventory.


    it turned out that they had robbed not only Mr. James¡¯ warehouse but that of other warehouse owners and were also found in possession of illegal items.


    Therge warehouse was immediately shut down and the owner alongside other high-ranking staff was arrested.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 387

    Chapter 387: Stabilizers.


    With the wine crates found and the owner of the logisticspany arrested, the case was officially over, and ke was paid more than 3 times in contribution points.


    When he called Susan to tell her about the mix up she exined that it was because he unknowingly solved multiple cases of robbed warehouses.


    ¡°Although I wanted some sort of action, this was way better than having nothing to do.¡± ke said as he returned to his room.


    Unknown to ke, his actions had once again attracted a lot of attention to him.


    Hisst investigation mission had tracked de and his hideout. Now, he had caused arge logisticpany to shut down.


    The one thing both missions had was that he had done it under 6 hours!


    This caused a lot of people especially fellow detectives to wonder how a 16-year-old was that good.


    .....


    Some were suspecting that he was linked to those crimes enabling him to quickly solve them, while some saw him as a super-talented adventurer.


    Nheless, a lot of eyes were now on him watching his every footstep.


    ...


    The next week the fusion magic ss going on in one of the training rooms.


    This was the 4th week of school, and Professor Gibson decided it was time for them to enter the practical phase of fusion magic.


    ¡°Fusion magic is not only mana consuming, but it produces a lot of power which can be dangerous to the user if not used properly. That is why I am here.¡±


    ¡°Today¡¯s lesson would involve simultaneously activating both pathways and trying to cast spells of both elements.¡±


    ¡°To make things easier, I advise you to cast each element in different hands, and after that, we would be looking at fusing both spells.¡± Professor Gibson exined.


    With ke having long mastered simultaneously activating all 3 elements, he wasted no time in firing lightning and fire from both hands.


    Once he confirmed that nothing was wrong ke decided it was time to take it to the next level.


    ¡®Let¡¯s go!¡¯


    ke conjured arge tube that led into arge mana box before shooting inrge amounts of fire and lightning to heat the air in the tube and box.


    [What are you doing?] The system asked.


    Thest requirement for one to cast fusion magic was to have a high understanding of both elements, and ke did, at least for the sma fusion spell. This was all thanks to science.


    ¡®sma is the fourth state of matter, and can be made by heating a gas until its electrons have sufficient energy to escape the hold of the positively charged nuclei.¡¯ ke said.


    [What?] The system was even more confused.


    ¡®sma is made by heating air to a very high temperature.¡¯ ke exined in simple terms.


    ke¡¯s action had drawn the attention of everyone in the training room, including Professor Gibson.


    It didn¡¯t take long before the crackling sound of lightning had increased and the fire and lightning being shot into the tube had begun turning pink.


    In a matter of seconds, everything had turned pink and the mana box which ke constantly reinforced had burst open revealing a sma ray.


    ¡°I knew mana fusion was stressful and mana consuming, but not like this!¡± ke had to take deep breaths as he stopped supplying the sma ray with more fire and lightning.


    [I think it is so tiring because you didn¡¯t properly cast a fusion spell. To properly cast the sma fusion spell, you need to shoot the fire and lightning as a single entity.] The system said.


    ¡®That exins a lot.¡¯ ke began thinking of how to fire both lightning and fire from the same hand.


    ke was so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn¡¯t realized the amount of attention he had brought to himself.


    ¡®He always keeps proving that he is way ahead of his peers. Too bad I can¡¯t reward him.¡¯ Professor Gibson thought.


    For sses like fusion magic where the demoted 2nd-year students already knew what was being taught. The school had decided to make it fair by not awarding any points for being the first to aplish any task.


    In turn, the 2nd year students wouldn¡¯t be forced to participate only after it was sure they had mastered the lesson.


    As for the demoted 2nd-year students, they were shocked that ke had cast a fusion spell on his first try.


    Even Serhan who was a descendant of the Karius family couldn¡¯t do it on the first try.


    This showed how talented ke was and many were having mixed feelings about it. Some saw it as a threat, while the other group of demoted 2nd years were no longer biased and were slowly being converted to liking ke.


    ...


    After lunch, ke had moved over to the next and final ss of the day, Forgemastery.


    ¡®From the looks of it, it seems Professor Tacitus is nning on finally teaching us something.¡¯ ke thought as Tacitus walked through a warp gate and went straight for the furnace.


    ¡°Today, I will be teaching you all the final stages of crafting a proper magic weapon, embedding stabilizers.¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of differences between a proper magic weapon and what you all make, but the 2 main differences are the number of arrays and stabilizers.¡±


    ¡°A high-quality tier weapon would contain hundreds of arrays both on its core and on its body. The problem is that so many arrays would cause both the power source and the weapon to explode during the fusion process. That is where stabilizerse in.¡±


    ¡°Stabilizers could be considered as mini power cores or pseudo cores. They can be made or purchased and alsoe in different shapes, sizes, and tiers.¡±


    ¡°Creation of stabilizers is not for your level. So we would be moving over to a demonstration on how it is used.¡±


    ¡°This would require a freshly made weapon. So sit back and watch as I forge an elemental weapon.¡± Professor Tacitus said.


    For students, it would take them 2 and a half hours to forge a sword. For Professor Tacitus, it took a little over an hour to forge a bastard, and that included time to prepare the magical materials to improve the sword¡¯s elemental effects.


    ¡®His hammer strikes were immacte and beyond precise. Not only was his grip sturdy, but he knew the right spots to hit to make the pounding quicklye to an end.¡± ke was blown away by Professor Tacitus¡¯ little demonstration.


    [I never knew you were a poet, an erotic one at that?] The system was freaked out by ke¡¯s thoughts.


    ¡®I swear it wasn¡¯t intentional.¡¯ The system¡¯s words made ke realize what he had just done, but it was already toote.


    [It all makes sense now. I have always wondered why you always rejected Tessie and Cami.] The system said causing ke to rain curses on it.


    ¡°As you all already know, this would be a fire elemental sword. So to further boost its elemental effects, I would be using the core of a king rank fire Capra as its power source.¡± Professor Tacitus said as he brought out arge orange beast core.


    ¡®Why is the color of the beast core different?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [When beasts awaken their elements at the King rank. So the evolution process affects their anatomy.] The system exined.


    ¡°For the integration method.¡±


    The Orange beast core as well as the bastard sword began floating in mid-air as hundreds of arrays began forming around them.


    Once Tacitus was done drawing all the arrays they began shrinking as well as therge orange beast core.


    ¡®The fuck just happened?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask when he saw the king rank beast core which was more than twice the size of a fist, shrink to the size of a diamond-shaped pebble.


    [An array.] The system said.


    ¡®If a power source could be reduced to that level, is it possible for an item to have multiple power sources?¡¯ ke asked.


    [Yes, it is, but it requires high-tier knowledge and skill to be able to link them.] The system exined.


    Once the integration process wasplete, it was finally time to fuse the power source and the sword.


    This was when Professor Tacitus brought out 4 yellow crystals from his dimensional space and made them float around the sword.


    ¡°To prevent the burst of energy from destroying the sword. You have to be able to properly time when you embed the stabilizers.¡±


    ¡°Doing it too early reduces the power output of the sword while doing it toote destroys the sword.¡± Professor Tacitus exined as he began moving the shrunk power source closer to the sword.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 388

    Chapter 388: Like a hot knife through butter.


    Once the shrunken orange beast core came in contact with the hilt of the bastard sword, the fusion process began.


    Therge amount of energy being generated was so much that they began creating mana channels that traveled all around the sword. By distributing the energy throughout the sword, not only was it preventing the sword from getting destroyed, but it was creating mana pathways that enabled the sword to cast spells.


    In a matter of seconds, the mana channels wereplete, but the fusion process was nowhere done. With no other ce for the energy to go, it began depositing in the pathways and if left any longer the sword¡¯s structural integrity would be ruined.


    That was when Professor Tacitus ced the 4 yellow crystals at the center part of the de directly above the hilt.


    Without the need to inject mana into them, the stabilizers began glowing as they began draining the excess energy from the core and even those deposited in the mana channels.


    With the mana outburst under control, it didn¡¯t take much time for the fusion process toe to an end, but that was when the stabilizers created their own mana channels that linked back to the core.


    ¡°As I said earlier, stabilizerse in different tiers, and each tieres with extra functions.¡±


    .....


    ¡°The 4 you are currently looking at are tier 2 stabilizers. Not only do they stabilize the fusion process, but they also act as amplifiers by absorbing both energies from the user and the environment.¡± Professor Tacitus exined.


    ¡°From next ss, we would be aiming to improve the number of arrays you all can integrate into a power source because your level of forgemastery isn¡¯t good enough to need stabilizers.¡±


    Integrating arrays into a power source was something that was done once, meaning no matter the number of arrays one had to integrate, it all had to be done at the same time.


    So for the students to be able to handle way more arrays that could warrant the use of a stabilizer, they needed to improve their mana control and mental fortitude.


    Mana control helped to perfectly trace out all the arrays in mid-air, while mental fortitude was responsible for remembering and keeping all the traced arrays active.


    ¡°So we would improve integration skills before practicing using stabilizers. ss Dismissed!¡± Tacitus put his newly forged sword back into his dimensional space before leaving his ss.


    ¡®Did he just forge a peak high-quality fire elemental sword in under 2 hours?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask after using the system to take a look at the sword¡¯s quality.


    [It is what it is.] The system replied.


    ¡®Although Professor Tacitus is harsh on everyone, he is a very skilled forger, and I respect him for that.¡¯ ke said as he left the ss.


    It was the end of sses for the day, so it was time to practice fusion magic and exercise.


    ...


    2 dayster, it was the middle of the week and everyone knew what time it was.


    It was time for ke¡¯s ascension.


    Right from the 2nd week, ke had been challenging students to rank matches.


    All of the challenges had been aimed at the demoted 2nd-year top-ranking students, and many were still betting it would remain that way. This was because when ke became the rank 10, he challenged the 9th rank student to let Luciano and Damon enter the 5th and 6th ce respectively.


    So the question now was who was he going after, the rank 4 student or the rank 3.


    From ke¡¯s previous battle, people already knew that both ranks would be a win for ke. It was just that match with the rank 3 would be more interesting since it involved the strongest member of the Nystrom family.


    They soon found out who the next target was when ke walked up to Michelle Nystrom.


    Michelle Nystrom was 6 feet tall, just 2 inches lower than ke. Her orange hair was braided in a single ponytail, and her hazel eyes were brimming with confidence.


    She had smooth reddish-white skin that gave her voluptuous curves a delicate aura. The most unique thing about her was her tomboy energy.


    She had braided hair to stop it from getting in her way and was always on leather trousers. Even her posture was of someone always ready forbat.


    ¡°I challenge you to a ranked match.¡± ke said to the orange-haired girl as he clicked his badge to make the match official.


    Once again Instructor Zirrack appeared and warped them to the battleground.


    ¡®If I remember correctly, someone was saying I was just overthinking, but this is the 5th time he is in charge of my match!¡¯ ke sneered at the system.


    [Does it make any difference?] The system said.


    ¡®Seeing him puts my body in stress mode.¡¯ ke said as he did his very best to not turn to the bald man muscr man with a scar on his face.


    Once the spectators had arrived and thebatants were done with their preparations, Zirrack signaled for the match to begin.


    ¡°I forfeit!¡± Michelle announced, instantly turning the silent battleground into a rowdy market.


    ¡°Why?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Because I fought you when you were weaker than your current self, and you still won me.¡± Michelle said.


    ¡°You fought me?¡± ke said as he tried to remember when, that was when the system reyed his memory of the team test that involved the queen ant and her hive.


    [When you attacked Tessie¡¯s team, Tessie alongside 3 of her teammatesmitted suicide, leaving her. At that time she was the 5th rank of the 2nd year students.] The system exined.


    ¡°Oh, you are the girl that used the fire and earth magic fusion.¡± ke said.


    ¡°You are funny.¡± Michelle chuckled as she left the battleground.


    ¡®That was disappointing. A disappointing investigation mission and now this.¡¯ ke said as his body was itching for action.


    [her forfeiting didn¡¯t affect what they think about you, rather it increased it.] the system drew ke¡¯s attention to the conversations of the spectator. Michelle¡¯s action made it look like even the rank 3 student was afraid of ke.


    After a few seconds of thinking, ke finally decided on what to do.


    ¡°The show must go on!¡± ke said as he walked up to Dustin Ulrik the rank 2 student.


    ¡°I challenge you to a rank battle.¡± ke said causing the entire battleground to go silent as he clicked his badge and made it official.


    ¡°Step into the battlefield.¡± Instructor Zirrack said to both of them.


    ¡®The only difference between Dustin and Michelle is their main element. Michelle is fire, while Dustin as an Ulrik is Earth.¡¯


    ¡®This means he would most likely going to take a defensive approach to the fight.¡¯ ke ran a quick assessment on his opponent.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Once Zirrack gave the signal to start the match, Dustin brought out a ck gauntlet that had arge emerald crystal on it.


    ¡®Is that an artifact?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [He has one, so it most likely is.] The system said as it was too far to scan the grade of the item.


    In ranked matches, the use of artifacts was not prohibited. The reason ke hadn¡¯t fought anyone with an artifact was that they were rare and those in their possession were useless against him.


    The only people that could possibly get their hands on one were nobles, and that was why people saw it as shameless whenever they used it.


    Not caring about the reaction of everyone on the battleground, Dustin clenched his fist and activated the artifact.


    Therge green crystal began glowing and the ground began quaking as a dome of emerald crystal erupted from below.


    ¡®Is that what I think it is?¡¯ ke asked with a frown on his face.


    [Yes, that is chromastone.] The system confirmed.


    ¡°Then I cannot let himplete his preparation.¡± ke said as ebony and Ivory appeared in his hand as he dashed forward.


    By the time ke had covered half of the battlefield, anotheryer of chromastone had formed, and by the time he was there, it was already 3.


    Nheless, ke thrust Ebony and Ivory in theirbined form into the dome.


    Ding!


    The sound of the collision was heard, but on looking closer they saw that the sword had made its way through the 3yers of chromastone.


    ¡°ke is the winner!¡± Instructor Zirrack announced the winner of the match as he took down the chromastone to reveal Dustin who was enveloped by the golden barrier.


    ¡°What did I just watch?!¡±


    ¡°Did that sword just cut through chromastone like it was butter?!¡±


    ¡°What tier is that sword?!¡±


    Everyone was bbergasted by what just happened.


    Chromastone was the signature spell of a demigod from the earth pathway, meaning ke¡¯s sword could kill a demigod!


    This began raising rumors that ke¡¯s sword was an epic-tier weapon, but the question now was how did he get his hand on one.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 389

    Chapter 389: Sign from the heavens


    Throughout the 5th week, ke¡¯s fight with Dustin was the only eventful thing that happened, but even at that, most students weren¡¯t hoping for the next week toe.


    This was because the sixth week was test week and since the beginning of their time in school, they had always lost someone in all of the events.


    This made the students wonder if they would be the next to die.


    ¡°Any idea of what the test would be?¡± ke asked his friends as they all made their way to the battleground.


    ¡°Nope, even I don¡¯t know.¡± Luciano answered.


    They had all received announcements that they should all gather at the battleground, but they hadn¡¯t been told a single detail about their test.


    When they got to the battleground they waited for 10 minutes before Professor Gibson and Instructor Zirrack walked out of a warp gate.


    .....


    ¡°Today is test day. Just like previous tests, it would be a team test, but the difference is that your teammates would be picked at random. This is to assess your performance when working with unknown people, just like in the outside world.¡± Professor Gibson exined.


    Although he gave his own exnation, most students thought that the school wanted to prevent teams like that of ke, Damon, and Serhan from dominating the entire team test.


    ¡°During the test, you would be randomly paired with 4 students to go against another random team of 5 with a time limit of 5 minutes.¡±


    ¡°Each opponent that is eliminated would grant 1k points to each member of the team. As for the one that eliminates the opponent, he or she would get an extra 500 points.¡±


    ¡°When the 5 minutes timer is over, everyone that had survived would be randomly paired with people that passed.¡± Professor Gibson exined before going over to the rules of the exercise.


    ¡°There are only 2 rules. The first is that you are not allowed to intentionally attack your teammate if not you would be disqualified. The second is that the use of artifacts is not prohibited.¡± Professor Gibson was against making the test dangerous, so he decided to make it more realistic.


    Although artifacts gave people an extra boost it was still considered part of their strength in the outside world.


    ¡®I am actually shocked that the school decided to take a safe approach to our test. Professor Gibson taking over might actually be a blessing in disguise.¡¯ ke thought.


    With the rules exined, the random selection began. ke was paired with 3 1st year students and 1 single demoted 2nd-year student.


    Apart from ke, every single one of them was below rank 40, but they weren¡¯t bothered about losing because of his presence.


    The said couldn¡¯t be said about the enemies. They were part of the hundreds of students praying not to be matched against ke, but they turned out to be the most unfortunate.


    Everyone knew it was a matter of time till they met ke because he would surely make it to the finals. So for them to meet him in the 1st round was more than unfortunate.


    The 26 teams quickly took their position at the 13 different battlegrounds, as they waited for the signal to start.


    [I think I have a theory as to why Zirrack has been the referee in all your matches.] The system said out of nowhere.


    ¡®And that is?¡¯


    [We all know that almost all the top-ranking demoted 2nd-year students are nobles, and we have heard stories about them using underhand schemes to keepmoners below them.]


    [So since everyone knows you are only going after nobles, what if Zirrack had always volunteered in order to prevent noble Professors from tampering with your matches.] The system said.


    ¡®That makes a lot of sense.¡¯ ke thought.


    Although all of his matches were always spectated by almost everyone, the spectators were all champions. If a demigod or someone above was to interfere in any match, no one would have a clue except him.


    The problem was that even if heined after losing, no one would believe him because they would think he was giving excuses.


    Once everything was set, Instructor Zirrack flew up into the air before giving the signal for the matches to begin.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    ¡®Anything I should take note of?¡¯ The other team hadn¡¯t made any move and he knew why. So he wasn¡¯t in a hurry to eliminate them.


    [Nope, you have nothing to worry about concerning the enemies, but you should be careful of your teammates.] The system said.


    ¡®Of course, I trust no one except the 4 of them.¡¯ ke said as he activated lightning reinforcement.


    ¡°Seems like he ising alone. We might actually have a chan...¡± Before the leader couldplete his sentence, ke was already in front of him.


    He saw ke¡¯s hand reaching for his face, but before he could even react he had already lost consciousness.


    BOOM!


    ke mmed the head of the team leader on the ground knocking him unconscious and causing the golden barrier to protect him.


    ¡°You were saying?¡± ke smirked as he dodged the sword shing from the right before grabbing the head of the demoted second-year student and releasing volts of electricity.


    On turning to the rest of the teammates, ke couldn¡¯t help but facepalm.


    The eyes of the 3 first-year students were filled with fear as they couldn¡¯t decide whether to attack or give themselves a less painful elimination bymitting ¡®suicide¡¯.


    ¡®Why do I feel that a lot of people have gotten PTSD because of me?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but pity them.


    ¡°You guys can just walk out of the battlefield, I won¡¯t attack.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The 3 students said as they immediately ran out.


    ¡®When did so many weaklings enter the elite ss?!¡¯ Instructor Zirrack was pissed at the students that decided to chicken out instead of going out with a fight.


    If only the 3 could read his mind, they would reconsider their decision because their nextbat ss would be worse than hell.


    ¡®It¡¯s not as if they are useless, it¡¯s just that when facing ke almost everyone is useless.¡¯ Professor Gibson thought as ke¡¯s match ended in less than a minute.


    ¡®I would have said this wasn¡¯t the best of test ideas, but previous results show he dominates no matter the situation.¡¯


    ¡®The only solution would be to create a ss above the elite ss, but that would mean there would be only 3 students there.¡¯ Professor Gibson shook his head as he focused on other matches.


    ¡®I wonder who I would get paired against.¡¯ ke thought as he took a sit while he waited for the other matches to end.


    After 4 more minutes, all matches were halted. Most matches had ended with the opposing team beingpletely wiped out, while a few of the matches had ended with 1 or 2 surviving.


    The first round had reduced the teams from 26 to 13. The round alone had wiped out most of the low rankers leaving extremely lucky ones like those paired with ke.


    ¡°Because there are 13 teams left, those who don¡¯t make it into the first 12 teams would be given 5k points each.¡± Professor Gibson announced.


    For low rankers who would be lucky enough, this would good news, but for top rankers, it was more of a disadvantage.


    For people like ke who could get 7.5k points from a match, being given only 5k would put them behind others in point ranking.


    Soon the random selection began, ke was assigned to La, Esmeralda, and 2 other demoted 2nd year students.


    ¡°Long time no team.¡± ke said the females who were part of his team in their 1st ever team test.


    ¡°Yup!¡± Esmeralda said.


    ¡°Since we will most likely get eliminated before or by you, can you leave for us some points?¡± La said, but that was when Dustin, Ansgar, d, and 2 other demoted 2nd years.


    ¡°Is this a sign from the heavens? The most unbearable people coincidentally ended up in one team.¡± ke chuckled, causing his opponents to deeply frown.


    ¡°Forget what I said, you can have as many points as possible.¡± La retracted her statement because neither she nor Esmeralda could take on Dustin and d.


    Also, she wasn¡¯t sure about the 2 demoted 2nd years in their team, so they would most likely have to depend on ke.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 390

    Chapter 390: Are you even trying?


    The opponent team was pissed off by ke¡¯s words. If their anger and frustration could be converted to strength and speed, they would have been able to easily take down Instructor Zirrack.


    ¡°Stay together, so he won¡¯t be able to take us by surprise.¡± Dustin began giving outmands.


    d was positioned at the front to try and intercept ke¡¯s attacks since he was the fastest among them.


    Dustin and Ansgar were to stay in the center as they provided the team with defense and attacking capabilities with the earth and fire elements, while the other 2 were positioned beside them.


    ¡°So you are the team¡¯s scapegoat.¡± keughed out loud when he saw d up in front.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be nning our next move?¡± La asked ke who had tears in his eyes.


    ¡°Forgive me.¡± ke said as he wiped his tears. ¡°It¡¯s simple, you join me in the attack while Esmeralda covers our backs.¡±


    .....


    ¡°Is that all?¡± La asked with a raised brow.


    ¡°From their formation, you will see that they are nning on staying on the defense till 5 minutes is over. So I will be the one spearheading the attack, while you are supporting with ranged attacks and creating a safe environment for Esmeralda toe in.¡± ke exined his n in full detail.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you start with that? Also, your n doesn¡¯t include them?¡± Esmeralda asked as she pointed at the 2 demoted 2nd-year students who were at one corner of the battlefield.


    ¡°First, I don¡¯t usually do much exnation because my usual team already knows what to do.¡±


    ¡°For your second, you should have noticed that they aren¡¯t showing any interest in the battle. So my guess is that they are not going to join us.¡± ke whispered to La.


    The rules prevented teammates from attacking each other, but it never said anything about not participating in the fight.


    ¡°Those bastards!¡± La and Esmeralda felt like attacking them, but that would only get them disqualified.


    Just like many demoted 2nd-year students, the 2 on ke¡¯s team hated him. So the best way to get back at him was to not participate in the fight. This would not only give Dustin¡¯s team a higher chance of winning, but it was a way to curry favor with Dustin.


    It was a solid n because even if ke ended up winning they would also gain points from their elimination.


    ¡°Do you think only 3 of us can take them?¡± Esmeralda couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Of course, I am more than enough so you don¡¯t have to worry.¡± ke sounded cocky but his words were reassuring for the girls.


    ¡°I just need your help with something.¡± ke quickly whispered into La¡¯s ears before walking over to the demoted 2nd-year students.


    ¡°I know you dogs are not nning on helping the team. Just make sure to stay out of our way.¡± ke spat before returning to his position.


    Once every team was done with their nning and preparations, Instructor Zirrack gave the signal for the match to begin.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Once the signal was given, the opponent team immediately fired the spells they had prepared at ke who was at the forefront.


    Dustin had learned from his ranked match against ke that being only on the defense was no different from suicide. That was why they had started aggressively.


    ¡®All going ording to n.¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but smile as he didn¡¯t activate any spell or move an inch.


    Once the spells were some inches away, a spatial tear appeared and the spells went through.


    ¡°What the fuck?! When did he drop a dagger?¡± Dustin cursed as they began looking all around them, but that was when a spatial tear opened in front of the demoted 2nd years on ke¡¯s team.


    With the spatial tear appearing out of nowhere, the demoted 2nd-year students were taken by surprise and were unable to cast any spell in time.


    BOOM!


    They were bombardment of spells instantly caused the golden barrier to envelope them meaning they had been eliminated.


    ¡®He is Evil!¡¯ La and Esmeralda shuddered when they realized what happened.


    When ke had told her to use water element to stealthily cover up thest ce he stepped on, she had thought he was just taking measures to keep them in check. She had no idea he wanted to take them out.


    Dustin and his team were waiting for his disqualification but unfortunately for them, it never came. The rule stated that one can¡¯t attack a teammate. So in this case, it was their attacks that had eliminated them.


    ¡°Now that the freeloaders are out let¡¯s get this match started.¡± ke said as he activated lightning reinforcement and dashed forward with La.


    He threw a void dagger to the right side of their formation before opening a spatial tear beside him and right in front of the dagger¡¯s paths.


    Immediately ke jumped into the spatial corridor beside him, Dustin and his team wasted no time unleashing their spells on the side of the spatial tear facing them, but nothing hade out.


    ¡°It¡¯s a distraction!¡± Dustin alerted the team as they turned to locate ke, but that was when they saw tens of water spellsing at them.


    The team easily defended La¡¯s attack, but that was when they heard the crackling sound of lightninging from the side.


    ¡°How did you still fall for the distraction?¡± ke said as he appeared from nowhere and grabbed the head of the student at Dustin¡¯s right.


    Zzzg! Zzzg! Zzzg!


    ke released dangerous volts of lightning to the student¡¯s head, causing the golden barrier to envelope him.


    Immediately, d whose lightning reinforcement was already active dashed at ke, but all he needed to do was step back into a spatial corridor.


    ¡°1 down 4 more to go.¡± ke said as he appeared beside La who was in possession of a void dagger.


    ¡°How?¡± Dustin and his team were still confused about how ke had gone missing from the battlefield, but they didn¡¯t waste time to start firing at the mana, water, and nt walls La had Esmeralda had erected.


    ¡°Nice trick.¡± Gibson couldn¡¯t help butment after seeing ke¡¯s trick.


    ke had created 3 spatial tears. 1 close to Dustin¡¯s team, and 2 beside him.


    The 3rd spatial tear was directly behind the 2nd one. So when ke had walked through the 2nd one, he had appeared in the same area but with night veil on.


    Normally this would have easily been noticed since they were all at the same level, but that was when La¡¯s attack came in.


    ¡°So what next?¡± La asked as she and Esmeralda kept on reinforcing the barriers.


    ¡°Cast Mother tree then wait for my signal before dropping the seed.¡± ke said to Esmeralda as he handed her a void dagger before turning to La.


    ¡°As for you, help me throw the void dagger in possession on the count of 3.¡±


    ¡°1... 2... 3!¡±


    Once La threw out a void dagger from the left side, a spatial corridor opened, and almost at the same time spells bombarded it.


    That was when ke threw a void dagger at the right side of the barriers, opening another spatial tear, and letting the spells out.


    With tens of spells hurling at his opponents, ke wore the hood of night veil before jumping over the barrier and moving.


    ¡°keep your eyes peeled, this is another distraction.¡± Dustin said as they kept their eyes on both sides of the barrier.


    That was when the other demoted 2nd-year student who was on the left sensed something. ¡°What the fuck?!¡±


    They all turned in the student¡¯s direction but that was when they heard Ansgar scream.


    ¡°Are you guys even trying?!¡± ke said as Ansgar spasmed until the golden barrier enveloped him.


    Once again, d charged at him but ke had backed off before putting his hand into a spatial tear.


    Dustin and his team were confused about what he was doing, but that was when the mark he had left beside the demoted 2nd-year student activated.


    While they were looking at him, the spatial tear opened and ke grabbed the student¡¯s head.


    ¡°Fuck!¡±


    It was when the student dropped to the floor that Dustin and d noticed what was happening.


    ¡°We surrender!¡±


    With only 2 of them, Dustin and d knew that it was pointless continuing with the battle because they hadn¡¯t even made it past the 4th minute.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 391

    Chapter 391: Not just any noble.


    If it were only Esmeralda and La that were remaining, Dustin and d would not only survive the remaining 2 minutes, but they would even win the match.


    The issue right from the beginning had always been ke. He had single-handedly eliminated 3 of their teammates, so with his presence, there was no way they were winning.


    ¡®He didn¡¯t use the artifact in this match, seems like the real owner had collected it.¡¯ ke thought.


    The gauntlet Dustin had used in their ranked match was a demigod tier artifact. Since it was one rted to the earth element, ke¡¯s guess was that he had gotten it from a family member to help him in the match.


    ke soon returned to his seating area as he waited for the current round to be over, but that was when he heard the news about Serhan¡¯s match.


    Apparently, Serhan and Cami were paired with 3 other first-year students as they went up against Luciano, Haldor and 3 other demoted 2nd year students.


    When the battle started, the 3 first-year students moved to the corner of the battlefield as they didn¡¯t want to partake in the match leaving only the siblings.


    .....


    As for Luciano¡¯s team, the same would have happened, but the demoted 2nd-year students didn¡¯t dare to leave his team. This led to a 2 v 5 situation that got them wiped out in under 2 minutes.


    ¡®Lol, this is extreme bad luck!¡¯ ke found it very to not burst out inughter.


    All matches soon came to an end and the students were given time to rest up and regenerate mana for their next fight.


    ke used this time to go and meet up with his original team who were all still in thepetition.


    They rxed and chatted about their matches till 30 minutes break was over, and Professor Gibson had returned to the center of the battleground.


    ¡°There are 21 students left, meaning 1 student would have to sit out this round, but just likest time he or she would gain 5k points.¡± Professor Gibson said.


    Immediately, a holographic box appeared and began randomly toggling between all the images of the surviving 21 students before stopping at ke¡¯s picture.


    The rest of the 20 students couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh of relief when they saw this. This was at least going to give everyone a fighting chance.


    ¡®Casting void shift drains a lot of mana. So this gives me more time to regenerate my mana for the final fight.¡± ke said as he took another bottle of mana potion.


    As for missing out on the extra points from eliminating people, ke wasn¡¯t too bothered because he already had a lot of points, and if he ended up winning, then it wouldpensate for the extra points.


    (AN: Mana potion doesn¡¯t instantly give the user mana. It increases the mana regeneration speed of the body.)


    Once that was out of the way the random selection began.


    The first team of the first match was Damon, Esmeralda, Aaron, La, and Tessie. The team had 3 nt users, 3 water users, 2 lightning users, 1 earth user, and 1 darkness user.


    The second team consisted of Michelle, Castiel, Haldor, Brian, and Sach. It had 4 fire users, 3 earth users, 1 lightning user, and 1 darkness user.


    ¡°Castiel¡¯s team has a lot of fire power and defense. I would have said they would be the winner, but on seeing Damon I would have to change.¡± ke said.


    The darkness element was only 2nd to the space element, and although Castiel also had the darkness element, ke who had fought alongside both of them knew Damon was more skilled.


    ¡°Come to think of it. Is Damon a noble? If so what noble family is he from? ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ke had noticed a few odd things about Damon. His dressing style was always ck and the quality of the materials was always top-notch. This could be attributed to being rich, but that could mean he was from a rich merchant family.


    That brought up another question. Why was he respected even by students from the top 3 families?


    ke had always noticed in team exercises that Damon would be given the leadership position without questioning even when top-ranking demoted 2nd-year students were in the team.


    Also, there was the darkness artifact he had used during thest team test. Darkness artifacts were as rare as the element so him having one was a sign that he wasn¡¯t any ordinary person.


    The 2nd match lineup wasn¡¯t as interesting as that of the first. The only people ke knew in the 1st team were Beyoni and Kade, while Luciano was the only person he knew in the 2nd team.


    ¡°I already know who the winner is, so let¡¯s see how the first match ends.¡± ke said.


    After every team was done with their preparation, Instructor Zirrack gave the signal to begin.


    The 3 nt users immediately dropped Mother Tree seed on the ground.


    Almost instantly 3 Mother Trees grew out of the floor as their roots covered the entire battleground.


    ¡°We have more firepower so get close and unleash your spells at them.¡± Michelle said as they all split up and began moving towards Damon¡¯s team that was at the top of the Mother Tree.


    Apart from Aaron, Esmeralda and Tessie didn¡¯t have blood to activate the Mother Tree¡¯s second form. This made it less difficult for Michelle¡¯s team to weave their way through the nt roots.


    When they had gotten close to the bottom of the Mother Trees that was when ck mist covered the entire area including them. At the same time, water spells began hauling at them.


    ¡®That was a clear trap, but it¡¯s not as if there was a better option.¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help butment.


    Damon¡¯s team had the high ground, so their goal would be to wear them out by attacking them from the top and bottom. So Castiel¡¯s team was forced to move closer to end the match quickly.


    [Since it¡¯s a clear trap, they should have a way to counter it, if not they would have surrendered right from the start.] The system said.


    ¡®That¡¯s my cue!¡¯ On seeing Damon activating Night mist, Castiel followed suit as it didn¡¯t take time for his night mist quickly cover the same area as that Damon.


    As the caster of night mist, they could choose who would be able to see. In this case, they were 2 different Night mists covering the same area meaning everyone was equally blind.


    That was when Michelle and her team began the second phase of their n.


    Although they couldn¡¯t see, they changed their location and easily used the fire element to destroy every root below them, before setting a defensive perimeter of fire and earth around them.


    Once they were sure they were safe, that was when they began firing at the Mother Tree with their heavy spells.


    The problem with Damon¡¯s team staying on the Mother Trees was that their location couldn¡¯t change. So no matter how and where Michelle¡¯s team fired, it would either go for the Mother Trees or the opponents.


    ¡°She really deserves to be in the top 5.¡± ke was impressed by Michelle¡¯s strategy.


    The firepower from her team was just too much. The Mother Trees had taken a lot of hits, and those on time were finding it difficult to keep defending.


    ¡°Unfortunately for her, there is a reason why Damon had always been rank 3.¡± ke said as he saw Damon jumping down from the Mother Tree.


    Damon activated his darkness artifact as he jumped down from the Mother Trees. This time it wasn¡¯t to conceal himself but to increase his senses.


    Although it wasn¡¯t going to let him see through Castiel¡¯s night mist it gave him a general understanding of mana flow of the environment.


    Once he got to the floor, Damon saw the mana flow of all the nt roots. It looked like a river of mana with chaotic tides, but on looking around he soon found the river had turned to a dome where mana was constantly being shot out.


    ¡®Jackpot!¡¯ Damon instantly knew it was one of his targets.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 392

    Chapter 392: Speed is King.


    Seeing the dome of mana, Damon already knew it was an earth dome, and one of his targets was in it.


    Using lightning reinforcement, Damon immediately covered the gap and began firing lightning spells at the dome.


    Night mist cut off all senses of the target, So they would be unable to see, hear, feel or even sense their spells.


    That was why even as Lightning spells were breaking through theyers of the earth dome, Brian had no clue of what was happening as he continued to fire spells through the hole he had made.


    ¡°Did we get him?¡± Brian asked as his vision cleared up, but that was when he saw himself outside the battleground enveloped by the golden barrier.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Brian was shocked when realized that he had been eliminated. He quickly turned his sight to the battleground and saw Damon moving from his previous location.


    [At this rate he would win the match but his teammates would have all been eliminated.] The system said as they watched Damon search for his next target.


    .....


    Although the darkness artifact allowed him to see mana flow while in Night mist, its range of vision was very limited. So with Michelle¡¯s team being spread all around the Mother Trees, it was surely going to take some time before he got all of them.


    ¡°I have to confess Michelle¡¯s n is brilliant. She is well aware that she can¡¯t win against Damon so she resulted in a battle of attrition.¡±


    ¡°Worst case scenario she would go down but with all of Damon¡¯s teammates. Best case scenario takes down all of his teammates and still survives the 5 minutes duration.¡± ke said in an impressed tone.


    Just like the system had predicted, when Damon had reached Castiel who was the 2nd to thest man standing, his entire team had been wiped out.


    Nheless, Damon quickly dispatched off Castiel, thus disabling his night mist and giving him back his senses.


    ¡°Seems I was toote.¡± Damon gave out a helpless sigh before turning to thest target, Michelle.


    With his night mist still activate and that of Castiel deactivated, Damon was able to see Michelle, but not the other way round.


    Michelle was in an earth dome at the top of a 4-meter-tall thick spiked earth pir, and surrounding it was a pool of constantly erupting moltenva.


    To make sure no one sneaked up on her, Michelle constantly released bursts of fire explosions as she kept on firing in the direction of the Mother Trees.


    ¡°This would be tough.¡± Damon couldn¡¯t help but admit it.


    To transverse the pool ofva, Damon could conjure mana steps, but the main problem was the constant explosions.


    He could fire lightning spells at her, but with her constantly regenerating her earth dome he would just be wasting mana.


    So the best option was to go closer, but unlike ke and Luciano who had the fire element to propel themselves, Damon was handicapped when it came to aerialbat.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how it goes.¡± Damon said as he began running up mana stairs, but on getting to the range of explosion, that was when he heard Instructor Zirrack¡¯s voice.


    ¡°The 5 minutes countdown is over!¡± Zirrack announced.


    With the round officially over, Damon and Michelle deactivated all their spells. When they turned to Luciano¡¯s battleground, they only saw him standing.


    All of his team members had been eliminated thanks to Beyoni¡¯s illusions, but he had ended up eliminating 5 of his opponents.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Michelle couldn¡¯t help but curse on seeing this.


    The 4 of them were the only ones left, meaning the next round would have her grouped with one of these monsters, but that meant 2 would be on the opposite team.


    Her best option was being paired with ke since he was the strongest, but even at that, her safety or victory wasn¡¯t guaranteed especially with Damon¡¯s nigh mist.


    The only reason she had survived was that Damoncked firepower, but that would be where Luciano came.


    She didn¡¯t bother thinking about otherbinations because as long as ke was on the opposing team, it was a guaranteed loss.


    [Do you think you can take Damon and Castiel?] The system couldn¡¯t help but ask ke as they were preparing for the worst-case scenario.


    ¡®Without Ebony and Ivory and you, no.¡¯ ke answered.


    The main problem ke had was Damon¡¯s darkness, he needed the system¡¯s help to see him.


    As for the lightning element, it was an issue because, whenbined with the speed boost granted by the darkness element, Damon would have a fighting chance in terms of speed.


    That was where Ebony and Ivory came in. With the help of the legendary sword, ke would be able to make any of his mistakes hisst.


    [What of the girl, any ns for her being on your team?] The system asked.


    ¡®Nope. She would instantly get destroyed by them, so there is no need to waste time and resources saving her.¡¯ ke said.


    Once again, thepetitors were given half an hour to rest and regenerate mana. So ke decided to catch up with his friends.


    ¡°During the fight why did you guys remain on the Mother Tree when you could have jumped down?¡± Brian couldn¡¯t help but ask Tessie.


    ¡°The problem was Castiel¡¯s night mist. It somehow disconnected us from the Mother Tree. We lost control of them so if we were to go down the roots would see us as enemies and attack.¡±


    ¡°Also, your attacks were aimed everywhere. So it would make no difference.¡± Tessie exined.


    After 30 minutes, Professor Gibson returned to the center of the battleground.


    ¡°The final round would be a free for all match between the 4 contestants. This time any elimination would add 2000k points to each person, while the eliminator would receive an extra 500 points.¡± Professor Gibson announced.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Damon and Michelle couldn¡¯t help but curse as the change in the type of match had shattered all their ns.


    Michelle had been praying to get paired with ke, but now she was not getting paired with anyone at all, meaning she would definitely be the 1st to get eliminated.


    As for Damon, he had always been worried about who he got paired with, but the announcement had just tripled it. This was because ke and Luciano were very close friends, so they were most likely going to team up to get rid of him.


    ¡°It is what it is.¡± Damon let out a helpless sigh as he made his way to the battlefield.


    Once they were all ready, Instructor Zirrack gave the signal.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Once the match had officially started, ke, Luciano, and Damon instantly turned to Michelle.


    ¡°I surrender!¡± Michelle said as the gaze of the 3 monsters sent chills down her spine.


    ¡°Shall we begin?¡± ke said as he activated lightning reinforcement, but that was when Luciano showed Damon his ne artifact.


    ¡°I surrender.¡± Damon announced shocking everyone.


    This was the artifact that Luciano used against him thest time both of their teams shed. Once used, not only would it reveal his location, but it would set his entire body on fire.


    ¡®Not again.¡¯ Damon shuddered as he remembered the golden mes that burnt his body till he fell unconscious.


    So with his main element rendered useless, there was no need for him to get into an unwinnable fight.


    [That takes care of your problems.] The system said.


    ¡°Shall we finally start?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Not really, I am also surrendering.¡± Luciano announced, turning the entire battleground rowdy marketce.


    ¡°But why?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°There is no need to fight when you would win.¡± Luciano said. ¡°Speed is King in 1v1 battle, and your speed has increased a whole lot since thest time we fought each other.¡±


    ¡°So since there is no point to this battle, why don¡¯t we end it quickly.¡¯ Luciano said as he began walking back to the seating area.


    ¡®That was underwhelming...¡¯ ke thought as he walked back to his friends.


    Although this wasn¡¯t close to what he expected to be a final battle, Professor Gibson still had to announce the scores of the final contestants.


    ke came in 1st ce with 27k points, Luciano in 2nd with 25.5k points, Damon in 3rd with 22.5k points, and Michelle with 19k points.


    (AN: For those that want to check out the math. Instilling fear that causes the opponent to surrender counts as eliminating them.)


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 393

    Chapter 393: Bringing an end to the mission.


    The problem with having safe team tests like these was that they ended too quickly, meaning there would be no break.


    The students continued their lessons the following day, and although it was more stressful as usual (mostly because of Zirrack), ke made a lot of progress.


    From thest fusion ss, ke realized that he was meant to fire both elements as a single entity. So during the 1st fusion ss of the week, he did exactly that.


    It involved simultaneously activating both fire and lightning pathways before firing both of them from the same palm.


    He got it right from the first instance, but he soon noticed that although it wasn¡¯t as mana-consuming as his previous technique, it drained a lot of mana.


    By the 2nd ss, ke began working on the efficiency of casting sma fusion spells.


    Throughout the 1st half of the ss, he didn¡¯t aplish anything, but in the other half, he received an epiphany.


    .....


    Creating sma was basically heating a gas until its electrons have sufficient energy to escape the hold of the positively charged nuclei.


    ke¡¯s thought was that gradually heating air to make it reach that temperature was the most mana-consuming part.


    So to ovee this, ke tried charging up thebined version of both elements before firing it.


    When thebination of both elements was fired, the air immediately reached a very high temperature, and all it needed was a little bit more push before sma was produced.


    Once sma was created, he needed less energy to keep the air in the path at the same temperature.


    This discovery had increased the efficiency by more than 50%, which was the same level as Serhan.


    For the forgemastery ss, apart from tirelessly practicing drawing more arrays at once, there was nothing else.


    Thebat ss was where ke made the most progress, and it was all because of Instructor Zirrack.


    After he saw multiple students quit, Zirrack had decided to double their already hellish exercises.


    The exercises became almost too much for even highly physical people like ke, Luciano, and Haldor.


    As for all those that were less physical, fainting due to physical and mental exhaustion became constants in sses, but Zirrack didn¡¯t care.


    Fortunately, the increased exercises led to a massive boost in his progress in body enhancement. Mana channels had formed in the entirety of his outermost and innermost part of his skin. This not only made his skin more resistant to physical force but to also magical attacks.


    This meant the muscle fibers were the next area of concentration.


    ...


    A week after the test, ke felt that after 6 weeks of putting the demoted 2nd-year students in their ce, it was time to finish the mission by challenging Serhan to a ranked battle.


    This wasn¡¯t just any ranked battle, it was one between the top students of each year. It was a battle that would shift the power bnce between both years.


    If ke was to win, the demoted receive more shame than what they were currently receiving from teachers and 1st-year students.


    If Serhan was to somehowe out victorious, the bullying of the 1st year students would resume in full force.


    ¡®Seems people are more interested in the match than I thought.¡¯ ke said as Instructor Zirrack warped them into the battleground.


    It was already the middle of the week, so everyone knew what was going to happen. That was why many had camped at the battleground to get the front-row view of the fight.


    ¡®Now that I have learned mana fusion there is basically no difference between me and him.¡¯ ke said as he didn¡¯t take his eye off Serhan who was at the other end of the battle ground.


    [Actually, there is.] The system said. [In terms of fusion magic and normal magic skills you both are on the same level. When ites to body enhancement, experience, and arcane spells you are superior.]


    The 1st year students were ahead in both body enhancement and arcane only thanks to Instructor Zirrack and Professor Gibson.


    Professor Gibson had inculcated the habit of using arcane spells at an early stage, but that was never done for the demoted 2nd-year students.


    In the case of body enhancement, although both years were currently in the same ss, the 1st year students had been under Instructor Zirrack for longer.


    Their bodies had been pushed to their limits right from the beginning of their stay in the school. So it was natural for them to be ahead.


    (AN: Don¡¯t get it wrong, the demoted 2nd-year students had their own instructor, but he wasn¡¯t as good and brutal as Zirrack.)


    Soon ke and the system began discoursing all types of possibilities that could happen. Like Serhan using an artifact, surrendering, and so on, but Serhan magically reaching the hero realm wasn¡¯t part of it.


    This was because Serhan hadn¡¯t done anything heroic neither had he done anything viinous. The only thing he had was a list of failures.


    He had been outperformed by the 1st years in the beast tide causing his already frustrated father to be furious at him.


    He hadn¡¯t done anything to stop ke¡¯s rising momentum.


    He wasn¡¯t even in the top 10 of the recent team test.


    With everything going on, ke¡¯s main fear was Serhan surrendering because there were chances it would ruin everything he had worked for.


    Once the time for preparation had psed, Instructor Zirrack signaled for the start of the fight.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    ¡°So far all of your demoted 2nd-year mates have bored me. Hope you would be different.¡± ke taunted Serhan as he activated lightning reinforcement.


    ¡°What about your sword?¡± Serhan ignored his taunts as he wore a ne and activated lightning reinforcement.


    In a battle of lightning users, non-lightning projectiles were useless because they could move faster than it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need it to show you your ce.¡± ke said with a smirk as he dashed forward.


    On reaching Serhan, ke threw a right hook to his face, but Serhan easily dodged it and gave him a punch to his abdomen.


    ¡®What the fuck?¡¯ ke was shocked by what just happened but didn¡¯t waste time to double arm block before giving a quick jab to the head.


    Once again Serhan dodged it and made use of the opening to deliver another punch to his right abdomen.


    ¡®What is going on?¡¯ ke asked the system as he immediately backed off.


    [The feather ne increases his speed to a little bit above yours. Also, from what I have seen it seems to have also increased his thinking speed.] The system analyzed.


    It was one thing for Serhan to dodge his attacks, but it was another thing to perfectly counter them.


    ¡®That makes a whole lot of sense.¡¯ ke said as he took in a deep breath before reengaging with Serhan in closebat.


    He took the same approach and gave him a right hook to the head, but as Serhan dodged it andunched a counter-attack at his open right arm, ke didn¡¯t care about defending instead he dished out a left punch to his face.


    Both punches connected but from the look on their faces, it was only Serhan that seemed to have been affected.


    This was not because ke had coated his body with ayer of mana, it was mainly because his body was stronger.


    ¡°You hit like a sissy.¡± ke said as he didn¡¯t give Serhan any breathing space.


    He continued to throw out punches without regards for his defense, and although not all were connecting both of them were equally damaged.


    ¡°Is the artifact all you have?¡± ke asked as he backed off and spat out blood. ¡°Since there is nothing new, then it is time to get serious.¡±


    ke activated the mind boost before unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks at Serhan.


    The only difference this time was that every attack that didn¡¯t connect passed through a spatial dagger and appeared at an unsuspecting angle.


    In a matter of seconds, the tide of the battle had changed as Serhan was now forced to be on the defense.


    Although he was faster than ke, his speed was not enough to dodge attacksing from all angles.


    As time went by, more attacks were connecting and the damaging Serhan was taking was only pilling up.


    It soon got to the point that ke had no more need for the spatial tears.


    ¡°Got you!¡± ke said as he got a hold of his neck.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 394

    Chapter 394: Advancement testplete.


    The reason Serhan wasn¡¯t worried about ke¡¯s sword was that he was banking on the increased speed granted by the artifact.


    If he was faster than ke, then Ebony and Ivory wouldn¡¯t be a problem because it won¡¯t get to hit him, but things didn¡¯t go as nned.


    Not only had he underestimated ke¡¯s speed but he had no idea that void shift could be used in such a way.


    (AN: A little recap for those who had forgotten why ke is very fast. ke¡¯s speed is greater than that of normal people mainly because of his 3 elements, more stars and pathways mean more power to his spells. Also, the Raiju breathing technique increases lightning-based spells once used.)


    Once ke grabbed Serhan by the neck everyone knew the fight was over.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take this out first.¡± ke reaped out the artifact on Serhan¡¯s neck, before mming him head first on the ground.


    Serhan¡¯s vision was disoriented by the m but it wasn¡¯t as if he could move in the first ce.


    .....


    Every attack that kended on him had sent electric charges to his internal organ, and the only reason he hadsted so long was that electrodes were resistant to lightning.


    At this point, it was less of a gift than a curse because it just made his end more painful.


    On a normal, ke would grab people¡¯s faces and electrocute them, but because he was lightning resistant, ke decided to take him out manually.


    ¡°I told you I don¡¯t need a sword to put you in your ce.¡± ke said as he began stomping on Serhan¡¯s already bloody face, causing the ground to further crack with each stomp until the golden barrier enveloped him.


    ¡°Winner of the match is ke, and he is new rank 1!¡±


    Just as Instructor Zirrack announced the oue of the match, ke¡¯s eyes began glowing with orange, and blue lights as the natural mana in the environment became visible and began flooding his body.


    ¡°What is happening?¡±


    ¡°Is it me or is he advancing to the Hero realm?¡±


    The spectating students were rooted to the spot as they saw ke floating.


    ¡®What the...?!¡¯ Zirrack was shocked by the scene going on in front of him. He never expected anyone to advance any time soon, talk less of causing such a scene.


    He soon snapped out of it and appeared close to Serhan and ke.


    He opened a spatial tear that warped Serhan to the school clinic where he would be treated, before grabbing on to ke and warping him to Hoffenheim¡¯sb.


    ¡®What the fuck is going on?!¡¯


    Although ke¡¯s eyes were glowing with lights he was able to see and hear everything that was going on, but he was unable to talk or move.


    [You havepleted your test and are Advancing to the hero realm.] The system informed ke.


    Once he appeared, he saw Professor Hoffenheim approach him, but that was when his entire body was flooded with pain.


    His body suddenly jerked outward as veins began popping up at all parts of his body.


    ¡°Ah!!¡± ke screamed in his head as he felt multiple needle-sized objects piercing through every inch of his body as they tried to bore their way out.


    ¡®What... the... hell is... happening?!¡¯ ke asked the system as the agonizing pain was making it difficult for him to piece words together.


    [...]


    ke wasn¡¯t sure of what was going on, but he was unable to hear from the system.


    ...


    ¡°How is he doing?¡± Professor Gibson asked Hoffenheim as he warped into theboratory.


    ¡°This is a high-level advancement, sorge amounts of mana flooding his stars, thus causing the pathways to not only connect to his skin but also expand in size.¡± Professor Hoffenheim gave a report on ke¡¯s condition.


    A High-level advancement is a result of passing a high-level advancement test.


    Just like the system had exined, different individuals had different advancement tests, and so was the difficulty.


    The difficulty of an advancement test was mostly dependent on the responsibility of the individual. For example, the difficulty of a normal person¡¯s advancement test wouldn¡¯t be as high as that of King.


    The upside to the high-level advancement test was that high risks came with high rewards.


    Not only would their mana pathways be permanently bigger than that of others, but they would receive a head start and not begin from 0% progress of the next realm.


    ¡°How did he advance so fast? Do you think he knows about the advancement tests?¡± Professor Gibson asked.


    ¡°I am not sure.¡± Instructor Zirrack answered. ¡°Everything he had done from the beginning of the semester points to that direction, but this is no different from what he does every semester.¡±


    ...


    3 hourster, ke who had passed out due to the excruciating pain finally woke up.


    ¡°Why does my head hurt?¡± Once ke woke up he found out the agonizing pain was over, but for some reason, his head still hurt.


    ¡°Oh...¡± Zultra instantly hid his guilty face.


    About 2 hours ago, Professor Gibson and Instructor Zirrack had left him all alone with ke. So instead of watching over ke, he continued his research.


    As usual, he became engrossed in the research and was only brought back to reality when he heard ke¡¯s floating body drop on the steel operating table.


    ¡°You are finally awake.¡± Zultra quickly changed the topic.


    ¡°How long have I been out?¡± ke asked as he caressed his head.


    ¡°3 hours and 17mins, just in time for dinner.¡± Zultra answered as he checked his clock.


    ¡°Guess I have to be on my way. Thanks for looking after me.¡± ke thanked Zultra as he left his office.


    Once ke was out of the office, he hit the shower before heading to the cafeteria to have dinner and meet his friends.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 395

    Chapter 395: Pyromaniac.


    When ke stepped into the cafeteria he got all types of looks from everyone he passed by, but this wasn¡¯t anything new.


    Because the system was still not responding, ke found it hard to locate his crew in therge canteen, so he had to ask students who directed him to them.


    ¡°How you guys doing?¡± ke asked with a brimming smile as he took a sit.


    ¡°We should be asking you that?¡± Tessie said.


    ¡°Congrats on advancing to the Hero realm.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± ke said as he didn¡¯t waste time to begin ordering food.


    He didn¡¯t know how or why, but the advancement process had drained a lot of the nutrients in his body, leaving him shivering from hunger.


    .....


    ¡°How was the advancement process?¡± Brian asked.


    ¡°Bad... Very bad... I even passed out because of the pain.¡± ke felt pain just by remembering what happened a few hours ago.


    The only time he had felt such pain was during his encounter with Alcane the right hand of the All-father.


    It made ke wonder what kind of pain would assault his body when he was advancing to the demigod realm.


    ¡°What powers do you have?¡± Castiel asked.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just hear that he passed out because of pain?¡± Tessie scolded him.


    ¡°There¡¯s no problem with him asking, I am okay now.¡± ke said as he imagined a single tear dropping from his left eye.


    ¡°Anyways, I am just waking up so I don¡¯t even know what powers I have.¡± ke said.


    After ke was done filling his stomach the group made their way out of the canteen.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be heading to the Library see you guyster.¡± ke said to the group, but as he separated from the group Castiel and Brian followed him.


    ¡°We know you are going to practice your new abilities. So we want to see it too.¡± Brian said with a wink.


    ¡°Well, I will but first I have to go to the library and read about the abilities.¡± ke said.


    ¡°I thought the system exined the abilities to you?¡± Castiel asked after making sure no one was around.


    ¡°Yea, but during the advancement process, I stopped hearing from him. My guess is that he is undergoing an upgrade.¡± ke said.


    Once they had borrowed books on the 3 elements, they went straight to a training room.


    Normally ke would go to the concealed space to practice, but at his current level, he was afraid of burning down all the trees in the area.


    The training room used spatial magic just like the castle. It could be made to be asrge as one wanted, and it could also self-repair damage.


    Once they were in, ke went straight to reading the books.


    This took about half an hour, and immediately after he was done ke went to the center of the training room.


    ¡°First off, I would like to see what casting spells feel like.¡± ke said as he waved his hand and cast arge mana wall.


    ¡°Holy shit!¡± ke said in excitement as he stared at his hands as if it was the first time seeing them.


    ¡°What is so special about the mana wall?¡± Brian and Castiel were confused by ke¡¯s excitement.


    ¡°It¡¯s not about the mana wall, it¡¯s about how I cast the mana wall.¡± ke said but they were still confused.


    ¡°Usually, casting a mana wall is by having a clear picture of what size or shape of wall you want, then selecting a specific space in the air and filling it mana.¡±


    ¡°In this case, all I needed to do was have a picture of the wall and wave my hands, then the wall was formed.¡± ke exined.


    ¡°Are you saying you are now automatically casting spells?¡± Brian asked just to be sure.


    ¡°I won¡¯t call it automatic, I will say semiautomatic but with body movements.¡± ke answered.


    During the Hero advancement process, the pathways would connect with the skin, granting the Hero the ability to manipte nature to a certain extent with certain body movements.


    As long as one had a rtively simple intention, it would automatically bepleted. This made casting faster, by removing the need for very specific details.


    After ke was done exploring the new things he could do with Arcane magic, he moved on to the fire element.


    ¡°The Hero level of the fire element is called Pyromaniac and the 1st is the ability to create solid mes.¡±


    ke conjured a ming spear and threw it at a wooden dummy.


    The spear cut through the wood and lodged at the center of the dummy¡¯s head.


    ¡°So far, fire attacks have been all about explosions and burn effects, but not pration. This handles it to an extent.¡± ke said.


    Although the solid fire wasn¡¯t as hard as rock or the best for defense, it made fire attacks more deadly.


    The 2nd ability is the use of smoke to make simple illusions like a clone of oneself.


    The 3rd ability was called Heat marks, and on activation, tattoos would appear from the torso region to the arms.


    The tattoos worked by absorbing heat energy from the surroundings into the body, thus boosting the user¡¯s physical strength. The disadvantage of prolonged use was heat stroke.


    ¡°It¡¯s not too bad considering that pyromaniacs are even more resistant to fire and heat.¡± ke said after testing the ability.


    The final ability which was the main reason for the Pyromaniac name was, berserker.


    The berserk ability more than doubled the physical strength, magical power, and explosiveness of the user, but the longer the ability was used the more overheated and agitated the user would be.


    If continued to be used, the caster would go insane with rage and continue fighting until their mana and life essence were depleted.


    ¡°An ability that might lead me to an untimely death? Hell no!¡± Brian disagreed when he heard the ability¡¯s exnation.


    ¡°Why are youining as if you awakened the fire element.¡± ke chuckled at Brian¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°Nheless, it is a very risky ability and should be used only as ast resort.¡± Brian and Castiel nodded in agreement.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 396

    Chapter 396: Space Traveler.


    Since that was all with the fire element, ke moved over to the lightning element.


    The hero level of the lightning element was called Dynamo, and unlike the fire that had 4 new abilities, the lightning element had only 3 new abilities.


    The first ability was Energy drain, and just like the name implied, it drained the energy of whoever the user came in contact with.


    The human body required electricity for the nervous system to send signals throughout the body. So by intercepting and absorbing the electrical charges, the movement of the target would be dyed.


    Energy drain worked in stacks, The first use wouldn¡¯t have much effect on the target, but the more it was used, the greater the effect.


    The 2nd ability was lightning morph, and it gave the user the ability to turn their entire body into a bolt of lightning. In this form, they would be able to move at lightning speed, to either dodge or initiate attacks.


    The only downside of the ability was that it could only be used twice in the space of 24 hours and this was because of the stress the ability ced on the human body.


    .....


    ¡°How does it feel to crash headfirst into the wooden dummy?¡± Brian couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°When I am in the lightning form I be intangible, thus immune to physical attacks. So I don¡¯t feel anything.¡± ke replied.


    ¡°What happens when you are to go against an impregnable object?¡± Castiel asked.


    ¡°Well, lightning morph has a time duration of a second, so if I cannot prate the target, I will revert to my original form.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°The final ability of the lightning pathway is Neuron overload. It increases the user¡¯s thought process and reaction speed. It¡¯s just like mind boost.¡± keined because even the side effect was the same as that of mind boost.


    [There is a big difference. Neuron overload just increases your thought process and reaction speed, but Mental boost also increases your mental capacity and fortitude which is why you are able to spam void shifts as if you are casting a fireball.] The system said.


    ¡°Are you done with your upgrade?¡± ke asked the system that came out of nowhere.


    [What upgrade?] The system asked.


    ¡®You were out during the advancement process, so I thought that you were undergoing an upgrade just like when we were at Azkelwart¡¯s base.¡¯ ke said.


    [I also wished that was an upgrade, but the reason for my silence was the advancement process itself.]


    [Unlike the Warrior and Champion which only improved your casting capabilities, the advancement process improved both your body and mind.]


    The body improvement increased his vitality, strength, speed, and so on, while the mind improvement increases mental capacity, fortitude, and even resistance to things like illusions.


    [So I had to switch off in order not to affect the advancement process.] The system exined.


    ¡°Well, that was disappointing.¡± ke said as he exined to Brian and Castiel.


    [So, moving over to the space element.] The system began exining the new abilities and improvements in old abilities.


    [The name of the Hero level of the space pathway is Space Traveler.]


    [The 1st ability is an improvement that not only increases your ability to freeze space, but also allows you to move the frozen space.] The system said.


    ke wasted no time to freeze space in the shape of a cone before moving his twisting his right hand and causing the cone to rotate at astonishing speeds.


    ¡°This is beyond cool.¡± ke said as he continued to y with the cone.


    In terms of hardness, the earth was the sturdiest element, while space was just after it. So the improvement was a good addition to his almost non-existent defense.


    [The 2nd ability is a new one, Telekinesis. The weight of what can be lifted is dependent on your mental fortitude.] The system said.


    [The final ability is space travel, and it grants you the ability to open spatial corridors that warp you to any location you can see.] The system exined.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a downgraded version of void shift since I can warp to anywhere the void daggers are?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [Void shift isn¡¯t an official space spell, also the only reason you don¡¯t get lost and die in the void is because of the daggers Professor Hoffenheim gave you.] The system said.


    Unlike void shift that ke had to manually tear a hole in space and create a spatial corridor using mana, Space travel did everything instantly.


    All ke had to do to activate the ability was have a location in sight, then create a spatial. Automatically, a spatial corridor would be made will be made with the help of the locator skill as the exit appears at the chosen location.


    (AN: Just like I said in earlier chapters of MSTS, the reason ke finds it easy to create a tear in space is because he is from the space pathway. That is why other students are finding it hard during dimension magic ss)


    By the time ke was done testing all his new and improved abilities, it was already veryte. So they went straight to bed.


    ...


    With ke having be the rank 1 student, Luciano, Damon, and other top-ranking students had begun challenging those above them.


    Luciano and Damon had both beaten Dustin and Serhan to take the 2nd and 3rd position, leaving them in the 4th and 5th spot respectively.


    As for Michelle, she had risen from the 9th position to the 6th position. She had even challenged Dustin, but his greater mastery over the earth element had clenched him victory.


    With the new top 6 students, Haldor, Cami, Owen, and d filled up the remaining positions, making the top 10 70% of 1st-year students.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 397

    Chapter 397: [Bonus chapter]de¡¯s edge adventurer party.


    Once it was confirmed that ke had advanced to the Hero realm, none of the demoted 2nd-year students dared to cause trouble in the open. Even the cases of bullying that happened behind closed doors had plummeted.


    The magic school became quite boring for ke because, with his enhanced body and mana control, he waspleting every ss and exercise with ease.


    This made ke invest more time in training himself, personal projects, and adventurer missions.


    On the ss-free day of the 10th week of school, ke alongside Castiel and Brian made their way to the adventurer association in search of a mission to keep them busy.


    ¡°Hi Susan, is there any interesting mission up?¡± Havingpleted every private mission given to his adventurer party, ke had to go for public missions on the billboard.


    ¡°Yes, there is actually one that just came in right now, which I just posted on the boards.¡± Susa answered.


    ¡°The de¡¯s edge adventurer party just discovered a rtively new ant colony. So they are looking for another team to help them clear the hive.¡± Susan exined.


    .....


    ¡®It has been more than 3 months since the beast tide. So beasts should have repopted to a certain extent, talk less ants.¡¯ ke thought when he heard the job description.


    ¡°So are you interested in the mission?¡± Susan asked.


    ¡°Yes we are, but we have certain questions we would like to ask this adventurer party for safety reasons.¡± ke answered after discussing it with Brian and Castiel.


    After the attempted assassination, ke couldn¡¯t trust any mission, especially those that took them outside the city.


    ¡°Luckily they are still in the building.¡± Susan contacted themunication amulet leader of the de¡¯s edge adventurer party.


    After informing him about the order of chaos¡¯ power level and adventurer rank, the leader of the 5 man adventurer party decided to meet them.


    ¡°Is this the order of chaos team you were talking about?¡± A muscr man with thick mutton chops beard asked Susan.


    ¡°Yes, Adventurer Bradly, this is the Order of Chaos adventurer party. This is Adventurer Zero, Grock, and Hades.¡± Susan said. ¡°Adventurer Zero, this is Adventurer Bradly the leader of the de¡¯s edge adventurer party.¡±


    The leader of the 5 man adventurer party stood at a height of 5¡¯11 feet and seemed to be in his mid-thirties. His muscr physique, bald head, thick voice, and Mutton chop beard made him look like the perfect description of a warrior.


    ¡®Just like I thought, the rumors are all fake. It is impossible for someone this young to do so many things.¡¯ Badly thought before speaking to them.


    ¡°You said you were interested in the mission and wanted to ask a few questions about the job description?¡± Bradly said in an annoyed tone as he felt his time was being wasted.


    ke took note of this but continued with his question in an indifferent tone. ¡°Yes, I wanted to know how dangerous the hive is; the size of the hive, what kind of ant species are we facing, and the average number of ants spotted in the area?¡±


    ¡®He even acts as if he is on top of the world. I should just reject his offer.¡¯ Bradly was even further annoyed by ke¡¯s question and was about to reject his request to join them, but that was when a thought came to mind.


    ¡®On a second thought, why don¡¯t I just allow them to join the mission. Not only does their fewer number mean more spoils go to us, but I can easily make the mission miserable for them since we outnumber them?¡¯ Bradly thought with an evil mind-grin.


    ¡°The army ant hive is a new one, and because it has been only 3 months after the beast tide, it just came out of the early phase.¡±


    ¡°As for the size it. I personally scanned the area using earth element, and it turns out to be a medium-sized hive.¡± Bradly exined.


    The reason why the recovery speed of beasts was so fast was because of the abundance of resources. this was because the demand was lower than the supply.


    Also, these were magical beasts and their reproduction speed was greater than those back on Earth, especially the insect-type beasts.


    [Did you notice how his annoyance suddenly disappeared? He definitely is nning something bad.] The system warned ke.


    ¡®I know, that is exactly why we should check it out.¡¯ ke said with a mind-smirk.


    From the system¡¯s scan, Bradly was the only one in the Hero realm. The rest were all at the peak of the champion realm. ke wasn¡¯t afraid because he could solo 4, while Brian and Castiel handled Bradly.


    As for chances of it being another assassination attempt, it was very close to being inexistent. This was because, unlikest time when the assassination mission was a private one, this one was a public mission.


    ¡°Alright, but we have to make sure your words are true by checking it out ourselves.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Of course, but you have to sign an agreement to not disclose the location of the hive if you were to reject the mission.¡± Bradly said.


    ¡°I have no problem with that.¡± ke agreed to the condition.


    Since they always packed everything they needed, the Order of Chaos party wasted no time embarking on the journey beyond to the southern city gate.


    ¡®Scan to make sure no one is following us.¡¯ ke instructed the system.


    He wasn¡¯t worried about the members of the de edge adventurer party in the carriage in front of theirs, but he had no idea of the power level of whoever might want to assassinate.


    Once they got to the carriage range of service just outside the southern wall, both groups alighted from the carriages and began moving on foot.


    ¡®Keep an eye out for anything that looks suspicious.¡¯ ke said to Brian and Castiel through the mind link.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 398

    Chapter 398: Shooting one¡¯s foot.


    After 45 minutes of both running and walking, both groups finally got to their destination.


    ¡®Did your senses pick up anything suspicious on our way?¡¯ ke asked the system as they climbed the top of a tree to scout the location.


    [Nothing so far.] The system answered.


    Since there was nothing to worry about, ke and his team went on to monitor the number of army ants in the area and their activities.


    After checking the other 2 entrances and confirming there was nothing off about the ant colony, ke had decided to ept the mission.


    ¡°The reports you gave are correct, so this brings us to the final part of the agreement, the distribution of loot.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Although we are meant to take the greater share of the spoils since we are the ones that discovered the hide, I have decided to be generous. Whatever you kill or find belongs to.¡± Bradly said with an evil grin in his mind.


    .....


    With his team¡¯s number and experience being greater than that of ke¡¯s, Bradly¡¯s goal was to make sure ke¡¯s team got nothing.


    ¡®Does he think we are dumb?¡¯ Brian asked using the mind link as he kept a straight face.


    ¡®He sure thinks we are dumb, so let¡¯s keep acting that way.¡¯ ke thought with a smirk.


    ¡°Thanks for your generosity, we dly ept.¡± ke epted the condition with a smile on his face.


    ¡®Now that they have epted the condition, even if they were toin about kill stealing, or not getting anything we won¡¯t be punished by the association because they agreed to it.¡¯ Bradly was finding it hard to notugh at ke¡¯s stupidity.


    ¡°Before we make our way into the colony, we have to make sure we have killed every army ant outside. We don¡¯t want a scenario where we enter the colony and get surrounded from both sides.¡± Bradly instructed.


    ¡®At least he is not aplete idiot.¡¯ ke mind chuckled.


    Once the instruction was given, both groups began moving around the trees to take down army ants that were outside the colony.


    The first party of army ants that were spotted consisted of 15 elite rank army ants, and while killing them they made sure none of them escaped back to the colony.


    After they hadpletely wiped out the army ants in the area, Bradly couldn¡¯t help but smile because ke and his team were only able to kill 3 out of the 15 ants or so he thought.


    ¡®I think the greedy fool is falling for it.¡¯ Castiel said in a condescending tone.


    ¡®Yes, but we have to keep this up until he fully buys into it.¡¯ ke said as both groups continued moving through the area around the entrance, wiping out multiple ant groups.


    By the time they were done with every ant in the area, ke and his team had only killed less than 25% of all the ants they faced.


    ¡°Now that we are sure to not get boxed in, are our teams going to split up into the different entrances?¡± ke asked as he faked a frustrated look on his face.


    ¡®We haven¡¯t even entered the colony and he and his team are already frustrated. I would be a fool to let go through another entrance.¡¯ Bradly thought.


    ¡°No, we have little to no idea of what we are going to face inside there so it is best that we stick together.¡± Bradly said causing ke to grin on the inside.


    ¡°Alright then, but is there anything we need to know about formation?¡± ke asked because even though the underground tunnels could fit 6 army ants standing side by side, it still limited their movement.


    ¡°Yes, I want your team to stay in front so as to help you 3 get some loots because I noticed you didn¡¯t benefit much from the ant groups we just wiped out.¡± Bradly said as masked his evil intentions with a smile.


    ¡®I can swear on my left ball that he doesn¡¯t give a fuck and just wants us to act as their human shields while they kill steal.¡¯ Brian didn¡¯t even need effort to read Bradly¡¯s evil intentions.


    ¡°Thank you once again.¡± ke gave a small bow before him, Brian and Castiel jumped down from the trees and began heading for the 1st entrance.


    The entrances were littered with ants not only protecting the entrance, but also those that were moving out dirt from the new tunnels they were digging.


    ¡®There is no need to hold back anymore.¡¯ ke said to Brian and Castiel as he brought out Ebony and Ivory from his pocket dimension before activating lightning reinforcement.


    On sensing the presence of the humans, the 10 army ants that were currently at the entrance turned in their direction, but before they could move ke was already in front of them.


    With a single sword sh for each, the ants had been sliced to different sizes before they could even react.


    ¡®What the fuck just happened?¡¯ Bradly and his team members couldn¡¯t help but rub their eyes to make sure their eyes weren¡¯t ying tricks on them.


    They nned that as ke¡¯s team engaged the enemy, they would swoop in and steal the kills, but he had already dealt with them just as they came down from the trees.


    ¡®Were they hiding their strength all this while?¡¯ Bradly didn¡¯t have the time to realize that he had shot himself in the foot, because the trio had already jumped into the hole.


    The 5 man adventurer party quickly snapped out of their reverie and chased after them.


    As they jumped down therge entrance, they saw the yellowish blood of ants spilled all around the tunnel, but not the corpses. It was clear that the trio had killed ants and ced their corpse in their dimensional amulet.


    ¡°Why are you slow?¡± ke said as they waited for them to get close.


    What was the need of going on a killing spree without them seeing it?


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 399

    Chapter 399: False hope.


    On their way down the pitch ck 4 meters deep entrance hole, the system had informed ke that 4 worker army ants were carrying dirt and making their way up the entrance.


    Using the system¡¯s heat vision, ke sliced through the 3 that were already on the vertical climb before falling on thest one and thrusting Ebony and Ivory through its brown exoskeleton.


    Immediately the system confirmed that there was no danger nearby, they didn¡¯t waste time putting the corpses in their dimensional amulet. That was when Bradly and his team jumped in.


    ¡°Why are you guys slow, we need to finish this quickly before the entire colony is aware of our presence.¡± ke said as they waited for them to catch up.


    Bradly had wanted to use them of being in a rush to kill everything, but he soon remembered that they were the ones that were rooted to the spot a few seconds ago.


    ¡°Lead the way.¡± Bradly said as he was still trying to wrap his head around what was going on.


    Ants didn¡¯t need light because they relied mostly on senses and information they get from their legs and antennae than from their eyes, so the pyromancers of both groups conjured floating me balls to illuminate the pitch-ck tunnels.


    .....


    As they walked down the long tunnel, worker ants carrying dirt entered their range of sight, and before anyone could react, ke had activated lightning reinforcement and dealt with them.


    ¡®How is he so fast to react? Did he know the ants wereing?¡¯ Bradly was only getting more confused.


    It was after the same thing happened 2 more times that he confirmed that ke¡¯s team somehow knew when they wereing. That was when he activated a Hero level spell.


    Seismic Perception!


    Seismic Perception was a hero realm earth spell that increased the user¡¯s perception of vibrations. Within the 12 meters radius of the spell, the vibrations created would form an image of both the source of the vibration and the environment.


    ¡®There!¡¯ Immediately 2 army ants entered the range of seismic perception, Bradly charged up a solid me spear, but before he could release it, ke was already there, and with 2 swings of his sword they were dead.


    ¡®What the fuck?!¡¯ Bradly¡¯s stunned.


    ¡®The range of seismic perception should be 7 meters away from the light source, so how is he still able to sense them.¡¯ Bradly¡¯s confusion was turning to frustration. Not only are they not getting any kills, but he couldn¡¯t even kill steal.


    He had no idea that the system¡¯s detection range was 30 meters (100 feet), twice the range of seismic perception.


    They soon reached the end of therge tunnel that turned out to be a T junction.


    ¡°Which direction?¡± ke asked Bradly.


    Although he was on a mission to drive Bradly crazy, ke still had to follow the rules. Bradly was still the leader of the party so his decision had to be respected.


    ¡°Ehm... The right.¡± Bradly was trying to use the seismic perception to check for the best location for his team, but the spell wasn¡¯t picking up anything. So he had to make a random decision.


    ¡®The system has detected 4 ants and they seem to be wing at the wall, meaning they are constructing a new room.¡¯ ke informed Castiel and Brian through the mind link.


    Almost all the ants that came their way were carrying dirt out of the colony, so ke knew it was a matter of time till they reached the digging site.


    Because the tunnel on the right side was rtively new, it didn¡¯t take time for them to reach the end, where they saw 4 army ants digging.


    The antennae of the army ants wiggled as they sensed the vibrations from the footsteps of the humans.


    They turned to confront the invaders, but before they could even let out a screech, their heads were already on the floor.


    ¡°I guess there is nothing here, we should head the other way.¡± ke said as he stored the corpses in his dimensional space while maintaining an indifferent expression regardless of the death stares that wereing from Bradly and his team.


    ¡®If I knew this would be this fun I wouldn¡¯t haveined.¡¯ Brian said as he tried hard to not burst out inughter.


    Bradly¡¯s team members couldn¡¯t talk because ke¡¯s team would hear them, but the looks in their eyes made it clear to Bradly that he had to do something about what was going on.


    ¡®The bright side is that we now get to be in front.¡¯ Bradly thought as both groups turned back and began moving back to the T Junction.


    ¡®Aren¡¯t we meant to remind them about the formation?¡¯ Castiel asked when he saw what they were doing.


    ¡®No need for that, it¡¯s not as if they can stop me.¡¯ ke said. ¡®Also, it¡¯s nice to give them the false hope that they are in control.¡¯


    They soon reached the T junction and went into the tunnel at the left, but after walking for less than 2 minutes Bradly and ke sense quite high traffic of army ants in the area ahead.


    [From the direction the army ants are moving, it is safe to say there are 3 tunnels down there. The problem is If you guys are to charge in, there is no way you to prevent all of them from escaping and alerting the entire hive.] The system said.


    ¡®The best way would be to use the darkness element to go and scan the area ahead before determining the next course of action.¡¯ ke said.


    This was impossible because Bradly didn¡¯t trust them, and would think they were trying to trick him in order to get more kills. On the other hand, ke wasn¡¯t nning on going through the stress of trying to exin especially after what they had done.


    Also, it wasn¡¯t as if he cared about them, so even if Bradly was to make a stupid decision ke and his team could easily escape.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 400

    Chapter 400: Salt to injury?


    ¡®There are 3 tunnels ahead, this is the best time for us to split up after we deal with these ants.¡¯ Bradly thought as the vibrations produced from the footsteps of the ants created an image of the area ahead.


    Bradly and his teammates were sick and tired of ke¡¯s team taking everything and leaving them with scraps, especially since it was their mission.


    The problem was that the formation and sharing system were all proposed by himself and they had agreed on it. So going back on his word could invite a lot of punishments from the adventurer association.


    ¡®The only problem is that with so many exit points, there is no way the entire colony wouldn¡¯t be alerted, but this is way better than letting them take everything.¡¯ Bradly thought as he gave his team hidden signals that there was danger ahead as they continue walking forward.


    ¡®He knows about the danger ahead, but he didn¡¯t care to inform us because he wants all the spoils to himself.¡¯ Brian said.


    ¡®We have gotten a lot of kills and will still get more, so you should let them do the work of scouts while we assess the environment.¡¯ ke said.


    The presence of 3 tunnels gave rise to a lot of dangerous possibilities like one leading to the queen¡¯s chamber. So since he had no clue where they led, ke decided to y it safe.


    .....


    When both groups had reached the 4-way intersection, they saw worker ants moving through and fro the 3 tunnels, but that was when all of them simultaneously turned in their direction.


    Bradly quickly conjured arge fireball that illuminated the entire intersection, before he and 2 other members of his team drew their weapons and dashed at the ant workers.


    The remaining 2 members of the de¡¯s edge that stayed behind were mages, and their job was not only to support the team with ranged spells but to keep an eye on ke¡¯s team and try to kill steal.


    On the other hand, ke¡¯s team didn¡¯t bother about the kills, instead, they had their eyes on the tunnels.


    ¡®Some of the worker ants are running into these 2 tunnels.¡¯ ke pointed at the tunnels at the center and the right. ¡®While more ants areing out of the left tunnel.¡¯


    They watched as most of the worker ants sacrificed themselves to enable some of their brothers to escape and alert the queen.


    [The number of ants charging through the left tunnel doesn¡¯t seem to be reducing, I don¡¯t think you would want to give up so many kills.] The system informed them.


    ¡®With what you said, my guess is that the tunnel to the left is their resting area.¡¯ ke said.


    ¡®Ants rest?¡¯ Brian was stunned by the information.


    ¡®Yes, an average worker ant sleeps 250 each day, with each onesting just over a minute. That adds up to 4 hours and 48 minutes of sleep per day.¡¯ ke replied.


    ¡®Wow, I always thought that their life span was short because they never rested.¡¯ Brian said.


    ¡®Not that I am not intrigued by the ant fact, but at this rate, their kills would surpass ours.¡¯ Castiel drew their attention back to the battlefield.


    The de¡¯s edge adventurer party avoided using explosive spells to prevent the tunnels from copsing, but even at that they weren¡¯t getting overrun by the army of ants continuouslying out of the left tunnel.


    This was all thanks to Bradly who was disying the power of the offensive and defensive hero realm spells of the fire and earth element.


    ¡®You guys should stay here, I will deal with it.¡¯ ke said as he activated the lightning reinforcement and dashed towards the left tunnel.


    With Ebony in his left and Ivory in his right, ke cut through tens of ants like their brown exoskeleton was made of butter as he continued moving deeper into the tunnel.


    ¡®Should we kill steal?¡¯ Brian asked Castiel as they stood at the back.


    With ke going deeper into the left tunnel, they were left with nothing to do. So Brian was wondering if they should add salt to the 5 man party¡¯s injury.


    ¡®Nah, it¡¯s best we conserve mana in the case of unforeseen events.¡¯ Castiel said.


    After a few minutes, Bradly and his party had killed every single ant in the intersection, but that was when ke walked out of the left tunnel.


    ¡°I figured out that the tunnel led to their resting area, so I took care of the problem at its source.¡± ke said in an oblivious tone causing Bradly to fume with rage as sheer willpower was the only thing stopping him from attacking ke.


    He had never turned off seismic perception, so he had sensed ke killing more than double the number of ants that were at the intersection.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± ke asked with a concerned look on his face when he saw Bradly¡¯s face turning red because of his rage.


    ¡°Yes, I am fine.¡± Bradly replied with gritted teeth as the thought of soon splitting up slowly calmed him down.


    ¡°If you say so then.¡± ke shrugged as he returned to Brian and Castiel.


    ¡°The entire colony would have been alerted by now. So I propose to split up to cover more and divide their attention.¡± Bradly said.


    ¡®Not a bad n.¡¯ ke thought.


    If they were to stick together, not only would they be surrounded from all sides, but the walls of the tunnel would greatly inhibit their fighting capabilities, thus increasing their chances of getting overrun by the army ants.


    ¡°I have no problem with that. So which tunnel would you choose? ¡± ke asked.


    ¡°This one.¡± Bradly pointed at the center tunnel.


    Both tunnels were identical and led deeper underground, but during the fight, most of the ants that escaped went through the center tunnel. So Bradly guessed that the queen¡¯s chamber was in that direction.


    ¡°Alright then, see you allter.¡± ke said as he and his team went through the tunnel to the right.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 401

    Chapter 401: Race to the Ant queen.


    The moment ke¡¯s team went through the right tunnel, Bradly and his team let out a sigh of relief, as they began organizing themselves.


    The race to the queen ant had officially begun, but Bradly and his team were not too confident about winning the race.


    Although they were greater than ke¡¯s team in number, after witnessing the speed at which ke alone cleared the army ants, they felt they were the ones that we¡¯re outnumbered.


    The only good thing about the situation was that they were closer to the queen¡¯s chamber, while ke¡¯s team had to take a longer route.


    ...


    At the right tunnel.


    ¡°The queen ant is the most important thing in the colony, so aren¡¯t we meant to increase our pace?¡± Castiel asked when he realized that ke had no ns of increasing their pace.


    .....


    ¡°There is no need to be in a hurry, at worst we would be right on time to kill-steal the ant queen. For now, I want to test something out.¡± ke said as he brought out the hilt of a whip.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that master seal?!¡± Shock was written all over the faces of Brian and Castiel as they stared in disbelief.


    ¡°Yes, it is.¡± ke replied.


    ¡°How... how did you get it?¡± They couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    There was no adventurer that hadn¡¯t heard of the bidding war that urred during the recent adventurer association auction because of the Master seal.


    They even knew it was stolen from the Karius family by a member of the League of assassins, so Brian and Castiel were beyond shocked that it was in ke¡¯s possession.


    ¡°You remember when I tried to save that bootlicker during the beast tide?¡± ke narrated how he had forgotten the ring and opened it not too long ago.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you have returned it then?¡± Brian asked.


    ¡°Not at all.¡± Castiel said. ¡°What do you think the Karius family would do when amoneres out of nowhere with their stolen artifact?¡±


    ¡°To put the me on him.¡± Brian said I realization.


    After the master seal was stolen from the vi of the Karius family and the news spread, they automatically became theughing stock of the entire city. So to save face they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to use ke of hiring Xander.


    Since ke was just amoner, it would be easy for the Karius family to grease some palms that would get him convicted of theft and other crimes.


    ¡°So rather than go through all that stress, isn¡¯t it better to hold it until I finally get caught?¡± ke said with a wry smile.


    The fact that he was in possession of a stolen property made ke feel ufortable, but throwing it away would not only be dumb but there were chances that it could be traced back to him.


    ¡°So what do you want to test?¡± Brian asked.


    ¡°Just one thing.¡± For safety reasons, ke could only use the Master seal in unmonitored areas. So this was his first time testing the artifact.


    [Name: Master seal


    Quality: Mid-epic tier


    Owner: ke


    Artifact type: whip


    Passive abilities:


    Amplification: Master seal amplifies beast tamer spells to double its power.


    Beast linguist: Master seal grants the user the ability tomunicate with beasts as long as it is in possession.


    Master¡¯s will: A passive AOE spell that suppresses every beast below the knight rank causing them to be docile.


    Active abilities:


    Abating whip: Master seal forms an energy whip that drains the vitality of anything with every hit, but has double effects on beasts.


    Binding chains: Master seal produces energy chains that would wrap the beast and drain its vitality.


    Beast contractor: The user is granted the power to form contracts with beasts. It could be by convincing the beast or forcefully taking control of it.


    Note: The level of the user should be at least the same as the beast, and the chances of it working would increase the weaker the beast bes.


    Drawbacks:


    1st drawback: Once the artifact was being used, the user would hear the thoughts of all the beasts within the area.


    2nd drawback: Master seal needs to be charged with beast crystals before use. If it isn¡¯t charged before use, it would use both the users¡¯ mana and soul energy to work.


    Note: Soul energy recharges just like mana but at a very slow pace. The more one¡¯s soul energy reduces, the less mana capacity, physical strength, mental strength, and spell power one would have.


    3rd drawback: Master seal was that after the artifact has been used, the user would begin exhibiting the characteristics of thest beast he had contracted for 24 hrs.]


    After reading the abilities once again, all he now needed were test subjects but luckily for them, they met more than 15 soldier ants in less than a minute.


    [Seems those that escaped had already reported to the queen ant and her troops had already been deployed.] The system stated.


    ¡®Let¡¯s see how it goes.¡¯ ke said as he walked up to army ants with Master seal in his right hand.


    On Sensing the aura and vibrationsing in front, the 15 soldier ants charged forward.


    ¡°Attack the intruders! Attack the intruders! Attack the intruders!¡±


    Due to the 1st drawback of the master seal ke was simultaneously hearing the thoughts of the 15 soldier ants, but they were nothingpared to when he used Mental boost.


    When they got within a certain range of the intruder they suddenly paused and their thoughts seized.


    ¡°It really is worthy to be called an epic tier artifact.¡± ke was more than impressed by the passive skill of the master seal.


    He triedmunicating with the ants, but the only reply he got was the order given by the queen ant.


    ¡°I am not surprised, they are simple-minded creatures when on their own.¡± ke thought


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 402

    Chapter 402: I will handle the rest.


    Once he was done admiring the passive ability, ke tested the 1st active skill, abating whip.


    Kwishuuuuuu!


    The sound of a lightsaber echoed all around the walls of the tunnel as a 2-meter sma whip formed above the hilt.


    ke wasted no time whipping the closest soldier ant leaving a clean cut.


    ¡°As expected of an epic tier artifact, elite rank beasts can¡¯t even take a single hit.¡± ke said as he stared at the soldier ant that was sliced in half.


    ¡°On the other hand, I noticed the draining effect even though the soldier ant was killed instantly. The best part was that the drained vitality was absorbed by the whip, meaning that as long as I keep killing or getting hits the less beast core I need to spend charging it.¡± ke said.


    When he activated Binding chains, the sma whip shot out at an unfortunate ant before expanding into sma chains that sliced through the body of the ant instead of constricting it.


    .....


    It was then that ke realized that he could adjust the power of the artifact by reducing its energy output.


    He shot out the sma chains once again, and this time the soldier ant was constricted without being sliced up. Although it didn¡¯t die instantly, the vitality drain was so much that it died in less than 10 seconds.


    ¡°Too bad it was made to go against beasts.¡± ke said.


    The powers of the Master seal were this strong only because it was being used on beasts. If something like binding chains was used against a human, it would hardly constrict him or her talk less of draining them to death.


    ¡°I wish I could test out some things, but I don¡¯t have much time left and the drawbacks may greatly affect the rest of the mission.¡± ke thought.


    ke couldn¡¯t test out the beast contractor ability because the drawback was random and he had no idea if he would start obeying themands of the queen too.


    ¡°We are quite behind, so I will have to speed things up. So just keep up and store the corpses¡± ke said as he activated lightning reinforcement and dashed forward.


    While moving through the tunnel ke began clearing the soldier ants that were making their way to the intersection.


    ¡°This is why I hate ant colonies, it¡¯s a fucking maze.¡± ke was forced to stop when he reached another intersection.


    ¡°Show me the map of the area we have explored and an image of the entrances at the surface.¡± ke instructed the system.


    After less than a minute ofparing both maps, ke was able to discern that tunnel straight ahead led to the other entrance, while the one to his left led deeper into the ant colony.


    When Brian and Castiel caught up, he exined everything to them before they moved into the new tunnel. The antsing their way had increased, but they still weren¡¯t what they couldn¡¯t handle.


    [There are hundreds of life signatures at the end of that tunnel.] The system informed them as they came across another intersection.


    The trio didn¡¯t waste time dashing in, but on reaching the end of the tunnel it turned out to be a room full of hundreds of ant pupae.


    ¡°What should we do about it?¡± Brian asked.


    Ant pupae were not only used to prepare delicacies that sold for high amounts but they were also used by alchemists to concoct potions.


    Literally, everything made with ant pupae was expensive, and that was because raiding an ant colony was no easy task.


    ¡°I am not happy to be the one saying this, but we have to burn them.¡± ke said with a tear dropping from his eyes.


    Both Dimensional spaces and pockets were only able to store none living things. So since pupae were alive they had no way of storing or carrying.


    ¡°We have to make sure we get that queen.¡± ke felt a sting in his heart as he watched hundreds of white gold slowly turn to ashes.


    [Shit!] The system interrupted ke¡¯s grieving.


    ¡°What happened?¡± ke asked with a frown on his face because apart from when he was being roasted, the system never cursed.


    [A powerful sound wave just went past my detection range.] The system said causing the trio to look at each other.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t hear anything.¡± Brian and Castiel said in a confused tone, but that was when ke¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t hear it because it was at a higher frequency.¡± ke said with a deeper frown.


    ording to a book he read about ants, queen ants could call back every member of the ant colony with a high frequency screech that traveled kilometers and could only be picked up by the antennae of ants.


    This was one of the major reasons that made clearing an ant colony very dangerous, because no one would know they were about to be surrounded.


    ¡°Should we abort the mission?¡± Castiel couldn¡¯t help but ask after realizing what was going on.


    ¡°Nope, we have to get take down the ant queen.¡± ke said as he marked the wall of the nursery. ¡°The good news is that with the nursery is always close to the queen, so it shouldn¡¯t be far.


    The trio left the nursery and continued on their original path, and in less than a minute the system informed them about the present 10 elite rank soldier ants, 2 knight rank soldier ants and a knight rank queen.


    ¡°Seems we made it before them. So time to take it down before they arrive.¡± ke said with a wide grin on his face.


    ¡°With night mist we can take the knight rank guards but we are no too sure if the other ants were to join.¡± Castiel said.


    Not only did the tunnels limit their movements, but if the 10 ants were to attack them, then they would have nowhere to move to.


    ¡°You guys don¡¯t have to worry, I will handle the rest.¡± ke brought out the Master seal from his pocket dimension, but that was when something weird happened.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 403

    Chapter 403: [Bonus chapter]Two Queens?


    With Ebony and Ivory in his right hand, and the Master seal in his left, ke was about to engage the ants, but that was when the legendary tier sword began vibrating and periodically glowing.


    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± ke was shocked because this was the first time something like this was happening.


    [I think Ebony and Ivory are reacting to the Master seal.] The system said.


    ¡°Yeah, I think it wants me to move it closer to the master seal. What should I do?¡± ke asked.


    [My guess is that it wants to absorb it.] The system said.


    ¡°If you are correct then that means there is meant to be a type of upgrade, but this is not the perfect time for that.¡± ke cursed the timing. This was the first time both he and the system had heard of a weapon absorbing an artifact so they had no clue of how long it would take.


    Without his sword it wasn¡¯t as if he couldn¡¯t handle the queen ant and the soldier ants without Ebony and Ivory, it was just that it would be way more difficult.


    .....


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the best time, can we do this some other time.¡± ke said to the sword with a wry smile, but surprisingly it stopped vibrating.


    ¡°What the?!¡± ke was so shocked by what happened that he had to turn to Brian and Castiel to make sure he wasn¡¯t only the one that saw it.


    [I guess we still have a lot to learn about.] The system said in a shocked tone.


    The trio soon snapped out of their reverie as Brian and Castiel dashed forward firing spells at the knight rank soldier ants that were positioned at the entrance of the queen¡¯s chamber.


    ck! ck!


    The knight-rank ants snapped theirrge mandibles together, alerting the rest about the presence of the intruders as they dodged the spells.


    Night mist!


    Just as both groups were about to sh, a ck mist began filling the tunnel and before the soldier ants inside coulde out, ke had snuck past the 2 knight rank ants and was inside the queen¡¯s chamber.


    The ants continued charging toward him, but that was when ke activated the Master seal causing the ants to halt.


    ¡°I thought the presence of the queen would save them from the effects of the master seal.¡± ke was once again impressed by the epic-tier artifacts, but he was soon forced to focus because the ant queen just stood up from its eggying position.


    The queen ant was more than double the size of the soldier ants, standing at a height of 3.5 meters with a body length of over 10 meters. Its brown exoskeleton was twice as thick, while its speed was greater than those of the knight rank soldier ants despite its greater size.


    ck! ck! ck! ck!


    The queen was furious that its subjects were not obeying itsmands.


    ¡°Why so angry?¡± ke was freaked out when he saw the queen ant tearing apart all the soldier ants in it came closer to him.


    Out of nowhere, the queen ant lunged at him at astonishing speed, but ke was more than ready.


    ¡°I expected you to be faster than this but still not bad.¡± ke said as he easily dodge the mandibles that would have snapped his body in half.


    ¡°Would have loved to y with you and test some things, but your forces are already on their way.¡± ke said as he dodged an acid spray before appearing beside the ant queen and chopping off its head.


    ¡°That was too easy.¡± ke said in a pondering tone.


    [Obviously, because you are above it in realm.] The system said.


    Ever since he had advanced to the Hero realm, ke hadn¡¯t encountered anything challenging from both school and adventurer missions.


    ¡°I am not only talking about the ant queen, I mean everything in general. 2 knight rank and 10 elite rank protecting the queen?¡± ke said.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Castiel and Brian asked as they entered the queen¡¯s chamber and saw ke with his hand on his chin.


    ¡°I am not sure, but I feel there is something more to...¡±


    At that very moment, they heard a high pitch screeching from the tunnels as more than 15 soldier ants marched past the queen¡¯s chamber and moved deeper into the colony.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Brian and Castiel were both shocked and confused by what was going on, but this just confirmed ke¡¯s suspicion.


    ¡°So I was correct, it was really too easy.¡± ke said. ¡°The reason the queen was only protected by only 12 ants was that it was a secondary queen ant.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying there are 2 queen ants?¡± Castiel asked with a raised brow.


    ¡°During the early stages of a colony, there can be 2 or more queens to produce arger initial workforce that increases their chances of surviving the 1st year.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°How do you know so many ant facts?¡± Brian couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°I think the most important question at this moment is what we should do.¡± Castiel face palmed as this was the 2nd time they were distracted by ant facts.


    ¡°Kill the main queen of course.¡± ke replied.


    ¡°Are you sure? You are aware that not only are more ants returning to the colony but just like those that just passed some came from the other entrances.¡± Brian said.


    ¡°That is the reason I will be the only one to go, besides Bradly¡¯s team would be the center of focus making it easy for me to steal the queen and leave the area.¡± ke said as he handed Castiel a void dagger.


    ¡°Is it really necessary to put yourself in so much danger? We already go this ant queen.¡± Castiel asked.


    ¡°Dangerous situations bring out the best in us.¡± ke said as he began walking out of the queen¡¯s chamber. ¡°Besides I don¡¯t have ns of dying anytime soon. So I would warp back when things get out of hand.¡±


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 404

    Chapter 404: I caused her death?


    Once ke was out of the queen¡¯s chamber he used the system¡¯srge detection range to follow the 15 elite rank soldier ants at a safe distance.


    Following their lead, ke went through a few more tunnels before reaching an intersection with more than 100 ants.


    [The room at the intersection is the main queen¡¯s chamber, and Bradly is currently fighting the queen and her knight-rank guards while his team is fending off the ants pouring into the room.] The system gave ke a description of what was going on.


    ...


    ¡°We are running out mana and there seems to be no end to this, you need to end this quickly!¡± A member of the de¡¯s edge adventurer party screamed to Bradly who was currently in a 5 v 1 situation.


    From the moment they split up with ke¡¯s team, the de¡¯s edge adventurer party had seen it as a race to the ant queen. So they had used a lot of spells not only to get here quicker but to get more kills.


    If all things were equal they would still have enough mana and strength to face the queen, but nothing truly goes as nned.


    .....


    Immediately the queen ant had been alerted about the presence of the intruders, she had sent almost all the ant forces to the intersection through the center tunnel before summoning back all the members of the colony.


    This led to the 5 man adventurer party attacked being attacked from both sides, forcing them to spend even more mana and draining their stamina.


    They had the option of leaving, but Bradly couldn¡¯t handle the possibility of ke killing the queen, so he decided they push deeper into the colony which resulted in their current predicament.


    ¡°Hold on for a bit longer!¡± Bradly said as he simultaneously activated Heat marks and Berserker.


    With double magical firepower granted by the berserk mode, Bradly instantly turned most of the queen¡¯s chamber into a furnace with an explosion that pushed back the ants, which in turn powered the heat marks.


    Since he had no ns of going berserk, Bradly wasted no time dashing towards the closest ant knight rank guard before melting a hole through its thick brown exoskeleton with a punch. At the same time, he conjured an earth wall that blocked all the acid sprays that came his way.


    ¡®4 more to go!¡¯


    Bradly stored the corpse of the soldier ant guard into his dimensional pocket before moving out of the protection of the earth wall and using meburst to reduce the distance between him and his next target.


    HAA!


    Bradly screamed in rage as he grabbed the mandibles of a knight rank soldier ant guard and proceeded to rip it apart along with its head.


    ¡°Hi!¡±


    Bradly was shocked as he saw a spatial tear open up above the queen ant and ke falling out with his Ebony and Ivory in his hands.


    ¡°No!¡±


    Bradly screamed in rage and helplessness as he watched ke¡¯s greatsword pierce through the head of the queen ant.


    ¡°Bye!¡± ke waved with an ear-to-ear smile stered on his face as he ced the corpse in his dimension pocket and fell into the spatial corridor.


    Immediately ke appeared outside the queen¡¯s chamber he opened another spatial corridor that sent him to Brian and Castiel.


    ¡°Got it. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± ke said as they left the queen¡¯s chamber and left for the closest exit.


    It was after they climbed on top of a tree overlooking the colony entrance that Brian and Castiel began asking questions.


    ¡°How many ants were they?¡¯ Castiel asked.


    ¡°How were they faring?¡± Bria asked.


    ¡°There were more than hundreds of ants swarming the area, and more were stilling. As for how they were doing, I would say they should be okay as long as they don¡¯t make another bad decision.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°Get ready, they should be out any time from and they would surely be pissed.¡± ke said.


    Since Bradly¡¯s team couldn¡¯t warp in and out just like him, their only option of escape was by sting through the ceiling. This was because theycked mana to kill all the ants and they couldn¡¯t use explosive AOE spells because the hive would copse.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this taking too long?¡± Brian couldn¡¯t help but ask because, after almost 5 minutes of waiting, nothing had happened.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that he was stupid enough to put the lives of his team at risk.¡± ke said with a frown on his face.


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Castiel asked.


    ¡°Well, when I was there theyined about having little mana left. So since I got rid of the ant queen they should have escaped a long time ago...¡±


    ¡°Unless the idiot decided to get more kills topensate for the queen.¡± Castielpleted the sentence with a facepalm.


    ¡°Do you think they are dead?¡± Brian asked in a worried tone, because if they turned out to be dead then they would face a lot of questions from the association.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ke said.


    BOOM!


    An explosion rang out as the ground burst open, revealing Bradly and his team.


    ¡°You son of a bitch!¡± Bradly screamed at ke in anger as tears were rolling down his eyes.


    The trio was about to question why he was crying but that was when they noticed that one of their members was missing.


    ¡°Why the cursing? What did I do?¡± ke said in a serious tone as they came down from the tree.


    ¡°You are the reason she died!¡± Bradly who still had berserk mode and heat marks active pointed at him as he walked closer.


    ¡°How am I the cause?¡± ke asked, not caring about Bradly who was walking closer.


    He wasn¡¯t worried about a fight because not only did Bradly have less mana and energy, but ke was normally stronger than him.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 405

    Chapter 405: Haiti and Skoll.


    ¡°If you hadn¡¯t stolen the ant queen, we wouldn¡¯t have had to stay there any longer!¡± Bradly screamed as tears continued to roll down their cheeks.


    ¡°You chose to prioritize kills over the life of your teammate, so don¡¯t me me and deal with the consequence of your stupidity.¡± ke said in an annoyed tone, sending Bradly into an uncontroble rage.


    ¡°Fuck you!¡± Bradly bellowed in rage as he lunged at ke, but before he could cover half the distance his teammate knocked him out.


    If Bradly was allowed to engage ke, not only would he be the one at fault but it gave ke the right to do anything to him, and that included ending his life.


    Also, heat marks and Berserk mode had been active for a while now so he would not only lose the fight but would most likely die from the adverse effects of Berserk mode.


    ¡°The mission is officially over, let¡¯s return to the city.¡± The 2ndmand said with tears in his eyes as he carried the unconscious Bradly and began walking back to the city.


    ¡®You should have at least tried to save them.¡¯ Brian said in the mind link as he watched the members of the de¡¯s edge adventurer party weep.


    .....


    ¡®Why the fuck will I do that?¡¯ ke said.


    ¡®If you think about it, we kind of caused her death. We actually have no need for any of the spoils, but we kept taking almost everything causing them to make so many bad decisions.¡¯ Brian said.


    ¡®He has a point.¡¯ Castiel said.


    ¡®Are you guys kidding me?¡¯ ke was bbergasted. ¡®Seems both of you have forgotten that not only did they try to exploit us because of our age, but they put us in harm¡¯s way because of their greed.¡¯


    ¡®In case you are not aware, if we were as weak as they thought we would have most likely been dead or gravely injured, but the funny part is that didn¡¯t care.¡¯


    ¡®So I don¡¯t owe them anything, neither do I care if all of them die or not!¡¯ ke said in a pissed tone.


    Brian and Castiel had no reply to ke¡¯s outburst, causing the journey back to the city to be a long and quiet one.


    Once they got back to the city, both groups boarded different carriages back to the adventurer association building.


    By the time they made it to the association building, Bradly had woken up ready to give the mission report.


    ke had expected them to give a false report but he was surprised that they reported every single thing that happened. This disappointed ke because he felt they hadn¡¯t been punished at all.


    The fact that they put their lives in danger because of their greed angered ke. If Bradly had been allowed to fight him, ke wouldn¡¯t have wasted any time in killing him because he couldn¡¯t stand the thought of working so hard to return to Earth and see his mom, only to end up dying because of the stupidity of greedy idiots.


    Since this was a raid mission, ke and his team were paid in contribution points before moving over to the market section of the association building to sell their spoils.


    Once they were all done, the trio decided to call it a day and board a carriage that took them back to the school. The journey was a long and silent one, but once they got back to the castle they went straight to their different room.


    ¡°Time to fulfill my promise to Ebony and Ivory.¡± ke said as he brought out both Master seal and Ebony and Ivory from his pocket dimension.


    Just like before Ebony and Ivory began vibrating and glowing, but this time it was with greater vigor.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how, but I can feel it is excited and wants me to take it closer.¡± ke said as he slowly brought both items closer. The more the distance lessened the stronger the force of attraction between both items.


    Immediately both items came in contact with each other, a strong force sent ke flying to his bed as both items began floating.


    Thud!


    Just as ke recovered from the surprising hit both items had already fallen to the ground.


    ¡°What the fuck just happened?!¡± ke asked as he picked up both artifacts.


    [Name: Master seal


    Quality: Destroyed


    ]


    Those were the message ke received when he checked the status of the beast tamer artifact.


    ¡°Did it just destroy an Epic tier artifact?!¡± ke was both shocked and confused, but he decided to keep calm and check the legendary sword.


    [Name: Ebony and Ivory.


    Grade: Legendary tier (Peak Epic tier.)


    Type: Greatsword (Dual sword.)


    Passive skills:


    Soul call: Once the owner is sensed to be in battle mode or danger, Ebony and Ivory would appear even if not called.


    (Passive skill: Ivory): As the owner¡¯s mental faculty increases, so does the powers of Ivory.


    Cognitive empathy (passive): Once bonded with the owner, Ebony and Ivory will be able to feel the owner¡¯s emotions and vice versa.


    (Passive skill: Ebony): In and off battle, Ebony is able to feed off the negative emotions of the user and convert them to raw power.


    (Passive skill: Ivory): When the owner is sensed to be afflicted mentally or in a mental battle, Ivory can assist the owner.


    Overhaul: If the physical bodies of Ebony and Ivory get injured, energy and emotions from the owner would be used to hasten their recovery.


    Active skills:


    Disseverance: Ebony and Ivory split into dual des.


    Soul Call: Grants owner the ability to summon ebony and Ivory from anywhere.


    Metamorphosis: Ebony and Ivory transform into Haiti and Skoll.


    Canine fusion: Haiti and Skoll merge.]


    ¡°Holy Fuck! That was definitely worth it!¡± ke went over the moon the moment he read the abilities.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 406

    Chapter 406: Haiti and Skoll (part 2)


    Immediately ke was done reading the upgrades and new active abilities, he wasted no time testing them out.


    ¡°First, Soul call.¡± ke ced Ebony and Ivory at one end of the room, before moving over to the other end.


    ¡®So all I need to do is summon the sword.¡¯ ke stretched out his hand and envisioned the greatsword in it.


    Immediately, Ebony and Ivory began floating in the air before moving to ke¡¯s right hand at an astonishing speed.


    ¡°Not as if I ever lose Ebony and Ivory, but this woulde in handy.¡± ke said as he tried summoning the greatsword again, but this time in a slightly different way.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how it goes.¡±


    This time ke stretched out his 2 hands and when the greatsword was summoned it split into its different forms. It was only then that ke noticed the change in its appearance.


    .....


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t I notice this?¡± ke asked when he noticed that the silver color of Ebony and Ivory had turned ck and white respectively.


    [Because you were too focused on how you lost the Master seal.] The system answered.


    Ignoring the system, ke began checking out both swords, noticing that the design of the cross guards had changed from normal ones to that of howling wolves. The howling wolf design on Ebony had glowing red eyes, while that of Ivory had blue eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s super cool, but the problem is that people would easily notice and begin asking questions.¡±


    There were already a lot of questions about Ebony and Ivory and how he got it. With this ring change, things were bound to get worse.


    Just as ke was thinking about how people would react to the change, the colors, as well as the cross guard design of Ebony and Ivory, reverted to their previous look.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± ke was so shocked that he had to drop the swords.


    ¡°It¡¯s as if they can hear me.¡± ke was stunned, but that was when both Ebony and Ivory glowed.


    ¡°You can hear me?¡± ke asked because he thought his eyes were ying tricks on him, but that was when they glowed again.


    ¡°Are you shitting me?¡± ke¡¯s shock changed to a wide smile as he picked up both swords.


    ke changed the appearance of the legendary sword a few more times before trying other things.


    ¡°Can you reduce your sharpness?¡± ke asked.


    The swords glowed again, and ke tried cutting a silver ingot but the sword had be too blunt.


    ¡°Time to return to testing out the abilities.¡±


    ke activated Metamorphosis, and immediately Ebony and Ivory moved out of his hands and transformed into wolves made of energy. Ebony¡¯s energy bodyprised mostly of ck outlines and red eyes, while that of Ivory were light blue outlines with blue eyes.


    They both stood at the same height of 0.9 meters (2 feet 11 inches), but unlike Ivory that had a serene aura, Ebony had an aggressive aura and was continuously growling.


    While ke was still trying to make heads and tails of what was going on, Ivory walked up to him and began rubbing its head on ke.


    ¡°So soft!¡± ke was shocked when he touched Ivory and felt her soft fur.


    ¡°Ivory is cute but I am not too sure about Ebony.¡± ke was still apprehensive of the growling wolf.


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t bite off my fingers.¡± ke said as he decided to pet Ebony.


    Surprisingly, the growling reduced, and Ebony began leaning towards ke as he rubbed the top of his head and under his chin.


    ¡°A second ago you were acting hard to get.¡± ke said.


    Owoo!


    Ebony howled in embarrassment, causing ke tough.


    [You never seem to stop amazing me. How are you not questioning how something in an energy form has soft fur?] The system facepalmed.


    ¡°It¡¯s not as if the answer would change anything so it¡¯s best to enjoy the moment.¡± ke said.


    ke knew that Haiti and Skoll were in energy form because the legendary sword wasn¡¯t at its peak. As for why it felt like real fur, he had no idea.


    After spending a few more minutes petting both Ebony and Ivory, ke decided it was time to finish testing the upgrades and new abilities.


    ¡°Alright guys, time to get back to work.¡± ke said to the wolves, but they gave azy howl and didn¡¯t move out of his body.


    ¡°I am free for the entire day. So after testing you guys would get as many pets as possible.¡± ke¡¯s promise of receiving more petster made them stand up.


    ¡°ording to the list, all that is left is Canine fusion.¡± ke said to the wolves as he checked the sword¡¯s info, but that was when he saw new information.


    [Name: Haiti and Skoll


    Grade: Peak Knight rank


    Metamorphosis: Ebony and Ivory transform into Haiti and Skoll.


    Ruler¡¯s will: Once in Haiti and Skoll form they suppress every beast below the knight rank within a 15-meter range.


    Binding chains: Haiti and Skoll produce energy chains that constrict and drain vitality.]


    ¡°These abilities are from Master seal but this just shows how unique Ebony and Ivory are.¡± ke had never heard of any artifact or weapon that was able to upgrade itself, talk less of one that absorbed and obtained the abilities of an artifact.


    ¡°Although it didn¡¯t get all the abilities of Master seal, it still handled my problem. Now all I have to do is burn the hilt to ashes and no one would be able to trace it back to me.¡± ke let out a sigh of relief as the invisible weight on his chest had been removed.


    After making sure there was nothing else he was missing, ke decided to test the final ability, Canine fusion.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 407

    Chapter 407: Final exam.


    Immediately canine fusion was activated, Ebony and Ivory ran into each other producing a burst of mana, which cleared up to reveal a 2-meter tall ck and blue wolf with red and blue eyes.


    ke immediately checked their info with the system, only to find out that nothing had changed.


    [Name: Haiti and Skoll


    Grade: Peak Knight rank


    Metamorphosis: Ebony and Ivory transform into Haiti and Skoll.


    Ruler¡¯s will: Once in Haiti and Skoll form they suppress every beast below the knight rank within a 15-meter range.


    Binding chains: Haiti and Skoll produce energy chains that constrict and drain vitality.]


    .....


    ¡°Still knight rank?¡± ke asked in a disappointed tone.


    Since they were both at the peak Knight rank before the fusion, he was expecting the fusion to push them into the King rank, but they were just stronger and faster.


    Owoo!


    Ebony and Ivory let out a sad howl when they saw the disappointed look on their face.


    This made ke realize that he was asking for too much. The difference between the knight and King rank was colossal, that king rank beasts could solo an army of knight rank beasts.


    ¡°I am sorry for not being content, I love you guys the way you are.¡± ke said as he rubbed his head on that of the 2-meter tall wolf.


    [Why do I feel you always wanted pets?] The system couldn¡¯t help but ask after seeing the amount of affection ke was giving to the wolves he met a few minutes ago.


    ¡°Yes I had always wanted pets, but we were finding it quite difficult to sustain ourselves talk more of a pet.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Talking about sustenance, do I need to feed them?¡± ke asked out of curiosity.


    [I don¡¯t know?] The system said.


    ¡°I can sacrifice 2 beast cores.¡± ke said as he brought out two elite rank beast cores from his pocket dimension and brought it close to Ebony and Ivory.


    Awoo!


    The 2-meter tall energy wolf howled in joy as it ate the beast cores in one go.


    Once inside its mouth, the elite rank beast cores instantly dissolved and got absorbed, causing their red and ck color to glow.


    ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    The color glow and the tail wagging made ke feel Ebony and ivory feel they were just happy because of the treat, but he thought it improved their strength.


    [Since they are still technically beasts, eating beast cores should improve their strength and evolve.] The system said.


    ¡°I guess there is only one way to find out.¡± ke said as he looked into the face of Ebony and Ivory and asked ¡°Does beast cores improve your strength?¡±


    Awoo!


    Ebony and Ivory howled,municating that he was correct.


    ¡°That¡¯s great news!¡± ke screamed in joy because although it would cost him a lot of beast cores this meant they would get stronger and unlock more cool abilities.


    After confirming his beast cores were not going to waste, ke fed Ebony and Ivory 10 more elite-rank beast cores.


    Since they were done with the testing, ke made them revert to their Haiti and Skoll forms and began petting them as promised.


    ...


    2 weekster.


    The 12 weeks of the 3rd semester were over and it was time for the final exams of thest semester of the session.


    The rankings hadn¡¯t changed since the 10th week, and everyone except for ke was still at the peak of the champion realm.


    As always, the students had made preparations for any and every possible situation the school could bring at them.


    Once all the students had settled down, a warp gate opened as Professor Gibson, Instructor Zirrack and Principal Lovren walked out.


    ¡®Look who we have here.¡¯ ke suspected that even though Professor Gibson was in charge, the exam wouldn¡¯t be as easy as the tests. So Lovren making an appearance to make the announcement just confirmed his suspicions.


    Almost all the students in the hall had the same thought as ke, but unlike him who was calm, they were afraid.


    This was because all of the exams and some of the tests carried out under his supervision had taken the life of at least 1 student.


    ¡°What a nice way to wee me back.¡± Principal Lovren said to the hall filled with murmurs as he adjusted his monocle.


    ¡®Truth be told, Lovren isn¡¯t bad, as a matter of fact, he is the reason we were able to match up to 2nd-year students. if Professor Gibson had been the one in charge of all our exams and test, many of us would have been too soft.¡¯


    ¡®The only problem I have are his methods, but if I was to be in his shoes I wouldn¡¯t be able to do better.¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡°To not waste any of our time I would go straight into the exnation for the exam.¡± Principal Lovren said causing the entire hall to turn silent.


    ¡°This would be a capture the g exam. Each team would have a unique g color that would be randomly selected location and can only be moved by spending 10k points from the exam.¡±


    ¡°The aim of the exam is to farm as many points from the beasts in the location while defending your g from both beasts and students from the opponent team.¡±


    ¡°Killing an opponent would deduct 5k points from them, and would respawn them at their g with all their mana and injuries healed. So to permanently eliminate an opponent or team you have to destroy their g and then kill them.¡± Principal Lovren exined.


    The point system for killing beasts was as follows: Magic beast 0, chief rank 100 points, elite rank 250 points, Knight rank 1k points, King rank 10k points.


    As for points for eliminating opponents, killing an enemy gave 2k points while destroying the g granted 5k points.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 408

    Chapter 408: What are the chances?!


    ¡°Since eliminating an opponent gives 2k points shouldn¡¯t I just continuously eliminate them without destroying their g?¡± Castiel voiced his opinion because he felt the rule was quite stupid and had many loopholes.


    ¡°Firstly, the enemy team would destroy their g since points would be deducted for dying. Secondly, there are only a few people that can actually do that.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°Members of each team would be randomly selected, same as their g and initial respawn location.¡± Principal Lovren exined.


    ¡°How do you guys feel about the exam?¡± Tessie asked.


    ¡°This is a new kind of exam, so I am quite excited.¡± Castiel said.


    ¡°Quite nervous especially when there is a chance that I would be going against these 2.¡± Brian said pointing at ke and Luciano.


    ¡°What of you?¡± Tessie asked ke.


    .....


    ¡°Boring...¡± ke said without taking his eyes off Principal Lovren. ¡°There are a lot of things I would have aplished in 5 days.¡±


    ke was currently notcking resources and was a realm above everyone else, so he felt entering the exam would be a waste of time since there would be no challenge.


    ¡°Same here...¡± Luciano said with an indifferent expression.


    ¡®It must feel good being that strong.¡¯ Brian and Castiel thought.


    Although they were quite jealous of how strong ke was, they were well aware of how hard ke worked to get to this level.


    If it wasn¡¯t time for ss, eating, or missions, ke was either in his room cultivating, forging, reading books from the library or in one of the training rooms training his spells orbat skills.


    ke basically didn¡¯t have a life outside these ces, and this made many girls that were into him slowly lose interest.


    ¡°Well, I am quite nervous, but I am also excited about the new challenge.¡± Tessie said.


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit!¡± ke said as brought out his fist which she bumped with a smile.


    ¡°Since there are no more questions, we will be moving over to the random team selection process.¡± Principal Lovren announced.


    There were 130 students in the elite ss and 13 different gs, meaning there would be 10 students on each team.


    The familiarrge hologram cube appeared in the air and began toggling between the faces of every student in the elite ss.


    The 1st team was quickly selected and consisted of only 3 notable people, Kade, Haldor, and Owen. They were assigned to the red g.


    The selection for the 2nd team began, and the first face to appear was that of ke.


    ¡®That was quicker than expected.¡¯ ke thought.


    The 2nd and 3rd members of the team were demoted 2nd-year students, but the 4th face was Damon.


    This caused the murmuring in the hall to increase, but that was until they saw who the 7th team member was.


    ¡°How is this possible?!¡±


    ¡°Is it me or are my eyes ying tricks on me?¡±


    ¡°This is definitely rigged, they just want us to lose!¡±


    The entire hall was in an uproar when Luciano¡¯s face appeared on the floating cube.


    ¡®Haha! what are the chances of something like this happening.¡¯ Unlike the rest, ke couldn¡¯t help but when he saw the turn of events.


    It wasn¡¯t only the students that were shocked and confused by the so-called random selection, even Principal Lovren, Instructor Zirrack, and Professor Gibson had to pause and talk to each other.


    ¡°What should we do now? We can¡¯t just restart the selection because it wouldn¡¯t be fair at all¡¯ Professor Gibson said.


    ¡°If left together, there would be no need for the exam because we would already know the winners.¡± Zirrack said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not as if we don¡¯t know who the winner is...¡± Gibson said, referring to ke.


    ¡°It is hard to believe that just the pictures of 3 students are causing so much trouble.¡± Professor Gibson said.


    ¡°We have no choice but to continue like this. The only thing we can do now is to make the odds against them.¡± Principal Lovren sighed as he made his decision.


    ¡°There would be no changes, the selection continues.¡± Principal Lovren announced causing the students to protest more, but a single word from Zirrack silenced the entire hall.


    The selection continued for thest 3 members of ke¡¯s team but fortunately for every no other notable person was selected. After that, they were assigned the green g.


    ¡®This should be fun.¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but smile. He didn¡¯t care about the other 7 team members, because the 3 of them alone could win the exam.


    In a short while, 13 teams had beenpleted and they were given some time to get familiar with themselves and agree on the roles each team member was taking.


    ¡°Are we not nning at all?¡± A demoted 2nd-year student on ke¡¯s team couldn¡¯t help but ask when he saw ke, Luciano, and Damon doing nothing.


    ¡°Once we get on the map, I will exin the n so no need to rush.¡± ke said.


    This made the demoted 2nd-year student not worry again, because one thing that was clear to every student was that ke wasn¡¯t just stronger, but he was also a good nner.


    After a few minutes, the students were ready to get warped into the map location.


    ¡°May the best team win!¡± Principal Lovren said as he activated the warp arrays that sent them to the exam location.


    Unknown to ke and his team, not only had Principal Lovren sent them to the worst location on the map, but he had also put other teams in their element.


    Teams with mostly Geomancers were warped to the top of a mountain, those with mostly aquamancers in ake, and so on.


    ...


    ¡°Not the best of locations, but it shouldn¡¯t be too troublesome.¡± ke said after scanning the environment they warped into.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 409

    Chapter 409: Ending the exam today.


    ke and his team were warped into the middle of a in field. To both sides and behind were forests, while the area up ahead led to a hill.


    ¡°Not the best of locations, but it shouldn¡¯t be too troublesome.¡± ke said after scanning the environment.


    ¡°How is this not the worse location? Not only are open to ambushes that cane for any part of these forests, but we don¡¯t even have any beasts to farm.¡± The demoted 2nd-year studentined.


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to worry about that, we will deal with them before they can get to us.¡± ke said as he handed the team member a void dagger.


    ¡°Why are you giving me this?¡± The demoted 2nd-year student asked.


    ¡°You wanted to know the n right? It is very simple, we...¡± ke said pointing at himself, Luciano, and Castiel. ¡°Would eliminate the other teams while you all defend our g.¡±


    ¡°What about farming points?¡± The student was so shocked by the so-called n that he asked a useless question.


    .....


    Everyone had already witnessed the power of these 3 so it wasn¡¯t as if he was doubting them, it was just that it was too abrupt.


    ¡°Eliminating students give more points.¡± ke answered the obvious question before turning to his assault team.


    ¡°I suggest we go in that direction.¡± ke said pointing to the left.


    ¡°I thought we would go in different directions to cover more grounds?¡± Damon asked.


    ¡°We are meant to aim for efficiency. With 3 of us not only would it be easier to track the opponents, but we would take them and their gs out in a few seconds.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Is there a need for the rush?¡± Luciano asked.


    ¡°Yes, I have more important things to do, so I want to end the exam today.¡± ke said shocking everyone in the field and even those watching from the school.


    Everyone was shocked because they were trying to confirm if ke was talking about eliminating 120 elite rank beasts or students in one day.


    ¡°I like that.¡± Luciano said with a grin that sent chills down the spines of their 7 members.


    ¡°I would return to check on you guys after every 30 minutes, so make sure you guys don¡¯t die before then.¡±


    ¡°Also, make sure to take care of the moles under the ground to avoid unforeseen circumstances.¡± ke said as the 3 of them were making their way into the forest.


    ¡°Moles?¡± The demoted 2nd-year student said in confusion, but that was when he used the element to find out that more than 30 moles were underground.


    ¡°How did he know?¡± The demoted 2nd-year student asked but that was when he remembered that ke wasn¡¯t on the same level as them.


    ¡°We need to worry about ourselves not them. So 4 of us should take care of the moles, while the other 3 construct a type of fortress around the g.¡±


    Although a in field was quite disadvantageous and left them open for attacks. It was still the same for the enemy, they would also have no area to take cover. So to take advantage of this, they would construct a fortress.


    ...


    The trees of the forest were above 90 meters (300 feet) with average trunk width of 10-15 meters and countless leaves that blocked out most of the sunlight.


    ¡°With 13 teams scattered all around the map, there should be at least a single team in every terrain.¡± ke said as he killed a spider monkey.


    ¡°The major problem is locating them in such arge forest.¡± Damon said as he drove his dagger into the head of another spider monkey.


    ¡°I have an idea, I and Damon would speed through the forest. The first to discover anything would send out a signal.¡± ke suggested.


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Damon and Luciano agreed.


    They both activated lightning reinforcement and began dashing through the forest in search of prey.


    ke made sure to kill everything unfortunate enough to get in his way, and just after 5 minutes of searching the system picked up something.


    [We have been looking in the wrong area, their g is mounted at the top of the trees.] The system reported as it sensed 10 students on arge tree.


    ¡°Considering how thick the trees were, it makes more sense that it was ced on top.¡± ke said.


    [Seems they have also spotted you.] The system said.


    With the quietness and darkness of the forest, the lightning arcs from lightning reinforcement had betrayed ke¡¯s position.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t as if I was trying to hide it.¡± ke said as he conjured a meburst that exploded and alerted Damon and Luciano.


    In a matter of seconds, Damon and Luciano appeared beside ke.


    ¡°What is the n?¡± Damon asked as they saw nt vines erupting from the ground.


    ¡°They want to use the environment to their advantage so we destroy it.¡± ke said as dashed forward.


    ¡°Is he nning on cutting down the tree?¡± Damon asked with a raised brow.


    While Damon was still asking, ke shed Ebony and Ivory at the trunk of the tree.


    ¡°Is he trying to cut the tree down?!¡± Aaron was shocked to the core.


    He would have really wanted to scoff at his attempt, but after seeing the crazy things ke had done he was filled with doubt.


    With Ebony and Ivory, ke was able to cut round the tree in under a second, but because the thickness of the tree trunk was a tillrger than the length of the legendary sword it was still standing.


    ¡°That was a close.¡± The members of team 5 let out a sigh of relief, but that was when they saw Luciano who was enshrouded in golden mes and wasing at the tree at an ungodly speed.


    ¡°Fuck!¡±


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 410

    Chapter 410: One down eleven more to go.


    With just a look, Luciano was able to understand what ke was nning on doing. So he took a few steps back before engulfing his entire body in mes andunching at the tree trunk in a flying kick position.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± The 10 members of team 5 cursed in unison.


    BOOM!


    With wind and me bursts multiplying his momentum, the moment Luciano crashed into the trunk. The entire tree violently quaked as the little part that connected the tree and stem together had been torn apart.


    Aaron and his team were still trying to recover from the quake when they began losing their bnce from the falling tree.


    BOOM!


    The 90-meter-tall tree crashed into the ground, sending a massive shockwave to all parts of the forest.


    .....


    ¡°Fuck me.¡± Aaron gritted his teeth in pain as he climbed out of the nt and earth sphere he had used to protect himself from most of the impact of the 90-meter drop.


    Just like him, all of his team members had shielded themselves from the impact and were making their way out, but that was when a thunderbolt struck at their open purple g, destroying it.


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    The members of Team 5 cursed as they tried to get back on their feet, but that was when ke and Luciano rose into the air and in their hands were fireballs more than 3 times their size.


    The fireballs were dumped on them without them having enough time to prepare defenses that could match their destructive power.


    BOOM!


    The result produced a massive explosion that rang past the trees of the forest.


    Once the dust and smoke produced by the explosion had settled down, ke made sure that there were no survivors before flying high up in the sky and having a clear view of how big the forest was.


    ¡°Do you think there would be another team here?¡± ke asked the system.


    [I highly doubt the school would ce them so close because if there were other teams in this part of the forest, the beast wouldn¡¯t be enough.] The system.


    ¡°On to the next target.¡± ke said as he returned.


    ke came to the conclusion that it was time to leave the forest. This was because tracking the enemy team would take more time, and the trees were advantageous for the defenders.


    ...


    Outside the forest, every team in the exam was shocked to see that Team 2 had shot up to the 1st position and was currently sitting at 29k points.


    The worst part was that team 5 who previously had 2k points were no longer on the leaderboard, meaning they had been eliminated.


    ¡°How is that even possible, the exam has only been on for less than half an hour?!¡± This was the same question that was in the mind of every team that wasn¡¯t team 5.


    Many felt that it was just an unfortunate coincidence that team 5 met ke and his team, while some felt it was a nned attack on them.


    Nheless, everyone was afraid because they knew if they came in contact with ke and his team they wouldn¡¯tst a minute. Also, they had no idea of where the massacre urred or if they were the closest to team 2.


    As for ke¡¯s team, not only were they the least shocked by the turn of events but they were the most rxed.


    ...


    At the center of ake that covered 3 acres ofnd (450 square meters) and had a depth of 12 meters was Tessie¡¯s team, Team 10.


    They and their yellow g were warped on a 10-meter ind at the center of theke which was surrounded by lots of aquatic beasts.


    The aquatic beasts could act as a line of defense against any attacker, but the problem was that they weren¡¯t under their control so they could also turn to bite them. So they had to go.


    Thanks to the presence of 2 photomancers on the team and their mother Tree, it was very easy for them to clear up most of the beasts in theke, which ended upgrading them to the next level.


    It was after they were done clearing up most of the beasts and setting up their defenses under and above the water body that they decided to check their position on the point leaderboard.


    With the number of beasts they had just killed, Tessie and her team were confident to be at the top, but that was when they saw that not only was team 2 leading with an outrageous point difference but team 5 was also missing.


    Just like the rest, they were split into 2 groups and were debating if it was a coincidence or not.


    ¡®They mentioned they were bored, so it most likely means it was a nned attack.¡¯ Tessie thought but didn¡¯t care to join the debate.


    ¡°We¡¯ve gotpany.¡± The team leader alert them as the surveince devices they ced on the trees at the outskirts of the forest picked up something.


    ¡°Shit!¡± The team leader cursed when she saw who the intruders were.


    ¡°They are here!¡± She said as the team turned to see Luciano and Damon walking out of the forest.


    ¡°Where is ke?¡± Tessie couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Maybe they split up and he was the one that soloed team 5 because these are the 2 that my arrays picked up.¡± The team leader said.


    ¡°If that is so then we actually have a high chance of winning.¡± A team member said raising the morale of the entire team.


    ...


    At the outskirts of the forest, Luciano, Damon, and ke who was wearing night veil walked out of the forest.


    They knowingly triggered the array, and because of the distance, ke knew they wouldn¡¯t be able to see or sense him.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 411

    Chapter 411: On to the next.


    With the appearance of only Luciano and Damon, Tessie¡¯s team was more confident that they had a chance of surviving the attack.


    This was because most of them awakened the water element and since they were surrounded by arge body of water they could easily counter Luciano¡¯s golden mes.


    They had no clue that this was all part of ke¡¯s n to give them hope that they had a chance of defending the attack.


    They began by casting water wheel and preparing their spells as they waited for Luciano and Damon to act.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it suspicious that the 2 teams we have met were warped into the most favorable locations?¡± Luciano said as he saw most of team 10 members casting water wheel.


    ¡°You are right, thest team had quite a number of nt users and were ced in the middle of e a forest .¡± Damon said causing Gibson who was back at the castle to turn to Principal Lovren.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t change anything.¡± ke said bringing their attention back to the task at hand.


    .....


    ¡°We have 10 more teams after this, so let¡¯s get over with this.¡± Luciano said as his entire body was engulfed in golden mes.


    Luciano charged at Tessie¡¯s team, flying over the surface of theke while dogging hundreds of spellsing at him.


    Damon on the other hand activated lightning reinforcement and began conjuring mana tforms as he ran above the water body.


    On getting to the range of the mother Trees, Damon stopped and began firing lightning spells at them while Luciano continued moving forward.


    With the great maneuverability granted by air spells and the asional thrusts from the fire element, Luciano was able to skillfully dodge the hundreds of water spells pouring his way, but things became more difficult with the involvement of the nt roots that shot up from underwater.


    ¡°This is annoying.¡± Luciano frowned.


    With all the attacksing from all angles Luciano had no other choice than to keep dodging because the wind element didn¡¯t possess enough defensive or offensive capabilities to match the power of the attacks.


    As for the fire element, he had more than enough firepower to match theirs but to what end?


    Not only would the result of the sh create steam that would be disadvantageous to him, but he would spend way more mana to match their firepower, while they expended only a fraction of their mana.


    ¡°He can¡¯t get close, keep firing!¡± The team leader screamed at the top of her lungs.


    ¡®From everything I know and have seen, even if Luciano or Damon were toe alone, they should still be able to wipe out our team, talk less of 2 of them working together.¡¯ Tessie thought.


    ¡°This is too easy, it is a trap.¡± Tessie came to a conclusion after seeing how easily Damon¡¯s attacks were being blocked and how Luciano was unable to maneuver through their attacks when he was meant to be the best in aerialbat.


    ¡°What do you mean it is a trap?!¡± The team leader asked in confusion as she didn¡¯t stop continuously firing spells from the water wheel.


    ¡°This is way too easy, this is definitely ke¡¯s n.¡± Tessie said as she began looking around in search of ke.


    After being with ke for so long, she had learned that things were not as simple as they looked whenever facing him.


    ¡®Am I wrong?¡¯ Tessie said to herself after looking around and not spotting him, but that was when she looked up, only to see ke falling on the ind.


    ¡°Above us!¡± Tessie alerted her teammates but it was already toote.


    BOOM!


    ke crashed onto the ind before releasing an explosion that destroyed the yellow g and sent everyone flying away.


    ¡°I am sorry, but it has to be done.¡± ke said as he appeared in front of Tessie and grabbed her face before electrocuting her.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Tessie¡¯s teammate cursed as they quickly recovered and turned to ke.


    ¡°Are you guys kidding me?¡± ke chuckled at their futile efforts, but that was when Luciano and Damon eliminated them from behind.


    ¡°A quick check on our g and we will be on to the next one.¡± ke said as he activated void shift.


    ...


    After seeing how fast team 5 had been eliminated, every team had been keeping a close eye on the leaderboard.


    So immediately ke¡¯s team eliminated Tessie¡¯s team, everyone was already aware of it.


    It was now clear to everyone that this was no coincidence, that ke and his team were nning on eliminating every single one of them.


    ¡°With this everyone should agree to my n.¡± Serhan thought as he flew into the air.


    From the moment the cube had ¡®randomly¡¯ selected ke, Luciano, and Damon in one team, he knew something like this would happen.


    That was why immediately after all teams had been selected he had discreetly sent someone to every to inform them of his n for every team to fight together against that of ke.


    Some of the team had agreed to this n, while a few didn¡¯t agree because they felt they couldn¡¯t trust him.


    Regardless, he informed them about the signal in case they changed their minds.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to initiate the n.¡± Serhan said to his team members as he shot arge fireball into the air.


    After waiting for a few seconds 2rge fireballs shot into the air from both sides, and like that, a chain began.


    All the teams that saw the fireball would shoot up theirs as a sign of agreement and also inform those farther from the origin point.


    Not only was it a signal, but it was a way of tracking down ke.


    Since he and his team had no clue of the n, Serhan could guess the general location of ke¡¯s camp from the areas that didn¡¯t shoot the fireball.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 412

    Chapter 412: 2 vs 50.


    Staying high in the air, Serhan watched 10 fireballs fly into the air, signifying that all the teams left had agreed to his n to team up against that of ke.


    Also, he was able to spot 3 areas that didn¡¯t fire the signal. 2 areas were definitely from the eliminated team while another was ke¡¯s camp, so all they had to do was check it out.


    The n involved every team sending out 5 of their strongest to attack ke while the remaining 5 protected their gs in case someone was trying to fool them.


    With 50 students Serhan was more than confident that they could take down ke using sheer number.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get going.¡± Serhan said after selecting 4 of the strongest from his team which included d, Castiel, Kade, and another demoted 2nd-year student.


    ¡°It is clear that they n on eliminating every team, so how are you sure that they would still be in the same location?¡± Castiel asked.


    ¡°He should have seen the signal, so he would try to protect his g. If he decides not to protect his g we would simply destroy it and then track him down. Either way, it is a win-win situation.¡± Serhan said.


    .....


    ...


    The moment ke stepped out of the spatial corridor and unto the grass of his camp, he saw fireballs going into the sky.


    Immediately, ke flew into the sky and not only counted 10 fireballs, but he also saw the locations from which all of them emanated.


    ¡°Nice fireworks, at least things are about to get interesting.¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but smile as he flew back to the ground.


    ¡°From the beginning of time, humans had always remained divided. The only thing that usually unites them is the appearance of a greater evil.¡± ke thought.


    Right after team selection was over, ke had been keeping an eye on every team because he suspected something like this would happen.


    Sure enough, when all the members of each team met up, ke saw members of Serhan¡¯s team move to other teams.


    He found it quite suspicious, that was why he didn¡¯t bother exining his intentions in case there were moles on his team.


    ¡°What do all those fireballs mean?¡± A member couldn¡¯t help but ask ke.


    ¡°Every team is nning on attacking us.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± This time his 7 teammates asked.


    ¡°Yes, why would I lie?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but chuckle after seeing the dread in their eyes.


    He understood their reaction, because they couldn¡¯t phantom going against every student, and even if he could defeat them all, their safety wasn¡¯t assured.


    ¡°I will be back.¡± ke said as he returned to Damon through the dagger he had given him.


    ¡°You guys saw the signal right?¡± ke said to Luciano.


    Luciano was the smartest person ke knew, even smarter than him. So if he was able to detect and decipher their n, he was sure Luciano had also done that.


    ¡°What do you guys suggest we do?¡± Damon asked.


    ¡°We fight them.¡± ke and Luciano said in unison.


    ¡°Are you sure we can take on every student?¡± Damon couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°First of all, we won¡¯t be fighting everyone because no one would want to leave their gs unprotected. So my guess is that each team would send half of their members.¡± ke exined.


    ¡°Secondly, it would be only 2 of us that would do the fighting, while you go and take out all their gs. We don¡¯t want a situation where they keeping back.¡±


    With 5 of the weakest members of the team protecting their g, it would only take seconds for any of them to wipe out any team.


    So the reason he wanted Damon and not Luciano to do it was because he would be quicker in covering the distance between each team¡¯s camp.


    As for defending their g, it was a must that ke was there to protect it, if not even Luciano would be overwhelmed.


    ¡°Finally, I want you to use 10k points to move the location of the g after wiping out the next team.¡± ke exined all of his ns.


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Since he saw no problem with all of the ns, Damon agreed.


    With that settled, ke proceeded to give Damon the location of every area the fireballs came from.


    ¡°Also, I need you to alert us by firing mana bombs into the air after destroying each g. The number of mana bombs should be the same as the team g that was destroyed.¡± ke said before he and Luciano returned to the g.


    ¡°Alright now, I want you all to split up and move as far away from here as possible.¡± ke said to his 7 team members.


    Although he was confident that he and Luciano were enough to defend their g, he still wanted to make sure that if everything was to go wrong, his team wouldn¡¯t be totally eliminated


    ¡°What about the g? Isn¡¯t it better we all defend it?¡± The demoted 2nd-year student asked.


    ¡°We can handle it, and you guys would just be dead weight. No offense.¡± ke said.


    ¡°None taken.¡± His team members said.


    None of them were above the 30th rank, while most of thoseing were above them. So it would be useless for them to die when they wouldn¡¯t have any impact in the battle.


    With that being settled, the 7 members of the team split up and left their camp.


    Once everyone was gone, ke and Luciano start down cross-legged on the grass and began chatting as they waited for the enemies to arrive.


    In less than 5 minutes, the system detected studentsing from all parts of the forest surrounding them. ke and Luciano could even see theming in the direction of the hill in front of them.


    ¡°What took you guys so long? I almost slept because of boredom.¡± ke said to Serhan who just as he yawned.


    ¡°Only 50? Are you sure you guys are serious about eliminating us?¡± ke asked with a raised brow causing most of the students to swallow their saliva.


    ¡°It is disappointing because I thought this would be challenging.¡± Luciano joined ke in ying mind games on them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down, we have no clue where Damon is.¡± Serhan said to the others.


    That was when a single mana bomb was shot high in the sky, causing everyone to look in that direction.


    ¡°That¡¯s the location of my team!¡± The Team leader of team 1 shouted with his eyes filled with dread.


    ¡°Seems like you found where Damon is at.¡± ke chuckled, but that was when everyone watched as their g disappeared.


    ¡°I just checked the leaderboard 10k was deducted from their points.¡± A student verified that their g had really been moved to a different location.


    ¡°What should we do?¡± A student couldn¡¯t help but ask because there was a lot of tension in the air.


    ¡®Why can¡¯t anything go as nned?!¡¯ Serhan cursed.


    Attacking ke and Luciano was useless because even if they could defeat them, they would just respawn at the location of their g.


    If he chose to split up the forces to chase down Damon, then their defeat would be set in stone because he was already having doubts that 50 would be enough.


    In the case that they tried running away, ke alone could effortlessly chase them to their gs and end them all at once.


    ¡®There is still the option of killing ourselves and respawning at our gs, but to what end?¡¯


    ¡®No team here can defend against them, so we would just be sitting ducks waiting for our turn to get butchered. Destroying our gs and eliminating ourselves would even be a better option.¡¯ Serhan thought.


    ¡°There is no point in going back, we would only be dying the inevitable. So I say we fight because even though we would all lose at the end of the day, this battle would prove that they are not invincible!¡± Serhan said after making a decision.


    p! p! p!


    ¡°That was an inspiring speech, can we fight or should I go to sleep?¡± ke said causing Luciano to burst out inughter for the first time.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 413

    Chapter 413: End of 1st year.


    ¡°That was an inspiring speech, can we fight or should I go to sleep?¡± ke said causing Luciano to burst out inughter for the first time.


    ¡°You should have let him lead them to their deaths.¡± Luciano said as he managed to put hisughter under control.


    ¡°You guys are better than this. Don¡¯t you see that he doesn¡¯t care about your teammates and gs currently being destroyed?¡±


    ¡°His main focus is getting revenge, that is why instead ofing up with a n to safeguard every team he decided to go on the offense even when he was well aware a lot of teams would lose their g and get eliminated in the process.¡±


    ¡°So even if you all manage to somehow defeat both of us, he would simply finish off the rest of you.¡± ke said.


    ¡°That¡¯s... a... lie!¡± Serhan screamed in defense. ¡°Can¡¯t you all see that he is just trying to put us against each other!¡±


    ¡°What is the need for that? Not only can you guys not win, but even if things go south, Luciano and I can simply warp to Damon who is in possession of a void dagger.¡±


    .....


    ¡°The g destruction would continue, and there is certainly no way you all can defeat 3 of us together.¡± ke said with a smirk.


    ¡°He has a point.¡± Haldor said as he turned to Serhan with an angry expression.


    The members of every single team present were frustrated and angry at Serhan because not only were they losing teammates as time passed, but his decision had hastened their elimination.


    With this time, they would have been able to kill a lot of beasts and raise their points as they waited for their turn.


    ¡°Are you guys going to believe him just like that? Exin how you would have protected everyone because it is impossible.¡± Serhan said in a frantic tone, but it was then that another set of mana bombs was shot into the air.


    ¡°You selfish bastard! How can you still ask for an exnation when gs are being destroyed?!¡± Michelle said.


    ¡°Just like he said, he had always nned on exploiting us. Rather than go alone, I¡¯ll ensure youe with me!¡± Haldor Roared in anger as he and his team charged at Serhan, but that was when Cami alongside some demoted 2nd-year students like Dustin went over to Serhan¡¯s side.


    On seeing this, all 1st-year students and some demoted 2nd-year students like Michelle and Sach joined Haldor.


    ¡°This should be an interesting show.¡± ke whispered to Luciano.


    ¡°At least the exam wasn¡¯t totally disappointing.¡± Luciano said as they watched the fight between the 2 groups unfold.


    ...


    ¡°Did they just win 50 top ranking students without fighting?¡± Instructor Zirrack was bbergasted by the whole situation.


    ¡°He is a genius, not only did he make them feel small, but he took advantage of the hatred each year had for each other.¡± Professor Gibson said.


    With the 50 students being the strongest in each team, Gibson, Lovren, and Zirrack thought that they had a high chance of winning the battle, but they never expected something like this to happen.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Professor Gibson couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    The final exam of the session which was scheduled to end in 6 days was about to end in less than 6 hours.


    ¡°There is nothing else we can do about it.¡± Principal Lovren sighed as they continued watching the fight.


    ...


    During the fight that was going on, Damon had fired 2 sets of mana bombs signaling the elimination of 2 more teams and their gs, but both groups currently fighting didn¡¯t seem to care anymore.


    This was no longer a battle of teams, but years, because even Castiel was also attacking Serhan.


    Although the demoted 2nd year group had top rankers like Serhan who was ranked 4, Dustin ranked 5, and Cami ranked 7, the battle was alreadying to an end, and the 1st year group seemed to be winning.


    Not only did they have more top-ranking students but the presence of Castiel who possessed the darkness element was game-changing.


    On activating Night mist, not only did he blind Serhan and his cohorts but he allowed those on his side to see.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost time to step in.¡± ke said as they could no longer see what was going on.


    ¡°I agree.¡± Luciano said as he brought out a ck stone amulet with the inscription of a golden me out from under his shirt.


    ¡°The lord of chaos, bestow upon this ground the light that destroys all iniquity.¡±


    Immediately after the chant was over, arge golden ray of light burst out of the stone in Luciano¡¯s hands, instantly revealing the location of everyone within the range of night mist.


    The 33 students within night mist burst into golden mes as they all dropped to the floor screaming in pain from the scorching mes.


    ¡°That was easier than I thought.¡± ke said as they walked closer to them.


    Just a few secondster, they were knocked unconscious and disappeared. Few were sent back to their gs while most of them were eliminated.


    With that, ke and Luciano began also went after the remaining gs, ending the exam of the final semester in less than 5 hours.


    ...


    ke¡¯s team finished the exam with over 200k points, while Tessie¡¯s team came in second ce with measly 7k points. As for 3rd ce and below were all negative points.


    Dying and respawning at one¡¯s g deducted 5k points from the team¡¯s point, but Tessie¡¯s g had been destroyed before they were wiped out. So none of their points were deducted.


    The situation was chaotic because if they followed the rules students would lose a lot of points they gathered throughout the semester.


    The school ended up not subtracting the points and crowning ke, Luciano, and Damon as the overall top 3 students of the first year.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 414

    Chapter 414: The final semester of school.


    Almost 2 yearster, ke was still dominating in exams, tests, and ranked matches, but he was no longer at the top in overall points.


    During the 2nd year, ke felt that he had wasted a year of his life, and the worse part was that he still had no leads on his purpose in infinite realm.


    So he had decided to skip every ss except for forgemastery andbat sses with Zirrack So that he could focus more on his life as an adventurer.


    This meant he didn¡¯t get points for attendance and ss exercises, pushing Lucian and Damon who were not far from him to 1st and 2nd position respectively.


    ke felt it was more than worth it because he hadpleted a lot of missions and was currently a famous B-rank adventurer.


    As for Castiel and Brian, they weren¡¯t as strong as ke. So they decided to focus more on their studies and joined ke in missions once in a while, but they were still at the C rank.


    In the case of tests, exams, and even ranked battles against Luciano, ke was still dominating. Even though everyone in the elite ss had advanced to the Hero they were still no match for him.


    .....


    Not only did ke have a head start but also he had a high-level advancement and was currently in the mid-tier of the Hero realm.


    Unlike the warrior and champion realm where one could skim through by absorbing energy from beast cores, the hero realm had a requirement to enter the next tier.


    For ke to enter the mid-tier of the Hero realm, his mastery over all of his elements had to reach a certain level. As for entering the peak hero realm he needed to understand nature and part of itsws.


    It was during this period that ke created 2 new fusion spells.


    The first was fiery charge, which was another fire and lightning fusion spell that used the lightning element to increase the speed and the prative properties of solid mes.


    The 2nd fusion spell was spatial call. It was a fusion spell between the space, fire, and lightning elements. Using the locator spell ke could conjure spells, including fusion spells into a spatial corridor, without the need to open an entrance. This made his attacks more deadly and unpredictable.


    The all-round growth ke had made everyone wonder how he was growing so fast even with his absence from school. They had no idea of the system and the important role it yed in his growth.


    The system knew a lot of things, including most of what they were being taught in school. So after telling the system his intentions, it agreed that it was a necessary decision and had decided to help him.


    When they got into 3rd and final year in the magic school, ke was forced to fully return to school. This was because the 3rd year was different from the previous years.


    The school took a further step to introduce them into the real world. Their 1st-semester exam had them moving to the outskirts of the Malock desert where they raided a ruin.


    The ruin was scouted beforehand and was monitored, but unlike the previous exams where the school always saved students in danger, no one woulde to their rescue.


    After killing countless beasts and disarming hundreds of traps in the ruin, ke¡¯s team came out victorious once again.


    9 students ended up dying from beasts and traps in the ruin, but no one med Principal Lovren this time because the students made very poor decisions.


    At the end of the 1st semester, there were only 115 students in the elite ss, but that reduced to 82 after their second exam.


    (AN: Filling of the deceased elite ss students was no longer possible because the skill difference only erged as the years went by.)


    The 2nd exam was just a few days after the city had defended against the beast tide. They were sent deep into the forest and were tasked to build and defend an outpost from scratch.


    The students were informed 2 weeks prior of the task, and that they were to work as a single team which would be led by ke and Luciano.


    During that period, ke and Luciano who studied the location began assigning tasks to students of different specializations.


    Forgemastery students were to craft defensive magical equipment like mid-tier mana cannons, magic towers and mortars, alchemists explosives and support potions, etc.


    On the day of the exam, once they were warped to the area, the geomancers constructed the outpost ording to the blueprint given by ke.


    The beast tide wasn¡¯t as difficult as the one they partook in their first year, so there were not many problems clearing each wave of beasts that came at them.


    The exam was scheduled tost for 3 days, and even at the end of the 2nd day there was still no issue thanks to ke¡¯s ns and preparations, but everything changed on the 3rd day.


    Some of the nobles had not only sabotaged some of their weapons during their night shift, but they had also refused to participate in battle arrays.


    This caused a breach in the walls of the outpost and led to the death of 11 students.


    ke expected something like this and had created countermeasures but they weren¡¯t enough to save everyone.


    The 22 nobles thought that they would get a light p on the wrist as usual, but not only were they expelled from the magic school, but they were also charged to the court ofw and sentenced to prison, while some were executed.


    Normally, some of them would have used their family background to get them out of trouble, but with the presence of Luciano, none escaped judgement.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 415

    Chapter 415: End of school?


    The break was over and the final semester of their stay in school was to begin the next day.


    ke who was currently 18 years, had grown to a height of 6¡¯3 feet (1.9 meters). After more than 2 years of daily exercises and hellish ones from Zirrack, ke was now ripped. His ck short quiff haircut and diamond face shape were the icings to the mouth-watering cake.


    After going through a lot of exams and missions with other adventurers, ke¡¯s brown eyes had lost a little bit of light in them, and his stoic expression was now his default facial expression.


    ke was currently sitting at one of the cafeteria tables with 6 people.


    Starting from his right was Brian who still retained his short dreadlocks that gave his ripped buff dark skin a rugged look.


    Beside Brian was Castiel, the shortest among the trio, standing at 5¡¯11 feet tall. He had pitch-ck subtle fades that emphasized his Asian look.


    (AN: For those who have forgotten, Castiel is half Chinese half American.)


    .....


    At the other end of the table was Tessie. Her waist-long braided brown hair made her innocent face and immacte curves more distinct.


    Her room-brightening smile hadn¡¯t changed one bit, same with her kind heart.


    Beside Tessie was Damon who was 6.2 feet (1.8 meters) tall and was addon in a ck leather jacket, shirt, and leather pants.


    As expected his hair and brows were pitch ck and all that was left was eyeliner and pale skin for him to be a proper emo boy.


    Beside him was Cami who was considered to be the most beautiful girl of the year.


    Tessie¡¯s beauty came from her innocent face and tender temperament, but everything about Cami was hot.


    From her flowing jet-ck hair that made her seductive brown eyes standout, to her thin glossy lips and irresistible voluptuous curves that made both nobles andmoners go crazy.


    Lastly, was Luciano who was almost the same height as ke His blonde hair emphasized his charming blue eyes that made both girls and boys stare.


    His indifferent expression remained the same just like hismanding aura that made everyone think twice before they uttered a word.


    (AN: From early chapters, you guys should have noticed that I am not too good with descriptions. I hope this is better ??


    Everyone currently sitting at the table was all in the top 15. ke, Luciano, and Damon hadn¡¯t moved once from their position.


    Castiel whose mastery over the darkness element had greatly improved climbed up and had remained at the 4th position since the start of their 3rd year.


    Cami was in 6th position just behind her brother Serhan, while Brian and Tessie were at the 14th and 11th rank respectively.


    ¡°So what have you been up totely?¡± Tessie asked ke.


    ¡°We just finished a 2-week long mission deep in the Bulian hills a day ago.¡± ke said. ¡°What of you?¡±


    ¡°I went on a 1-week adventure in the forest in search of a beast to contract, but I didn¡¯t have much luck finding anything interesting.¡±


    ¡°Guess I have no other choice than to buy from the beast market.¡± Tessie sighed.


    For intermediate-level beast tamers like Tessie, contracting a full-grown beast was very difficult, so most of them had to go for beast cubs.


    The price of beast cubs from beast markets was dependent on the specie and tier of the beast, but all in all, they were expensive even for nobles. This was because the process of obtaining them was difficult.


    ¡°At least you guys had fun, I was stuck training to enter the mid-hero realm.¡± Damon said with a long sigh.


    ¡°Did you seed?¡± Tessie asked in an excited tone.


    ¡°Of course, if I didn¡¯t my dad wouldn¡¯t have let me resume school.¡± Damon let out another long sigh when he thought of his long holiday.


    ¡°It¡¯s funny how time flies, how we move on so quickly from the things we¡¯ve lost, and the number of memories we created in 2 and a half years.¡± ke said causing everyone at the table to pause and reflect on his words.


    ¡°I have a feeling that thesest few months of our stay in this school will be the most exciting. I just can¡¯t wait to see what the school has in stock for us.¡± ke said.


    ...


    The next day, the final semester had officially begun and it was time for the general assembly.


    After ke and his friends made their way into the hall, they waited for everyone to settle before Principal Lovren, Professor Gibson and Instructor Zirrack warped into the hall just like always.


    ¡®I wonder how old they really are?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask when it dawned on him that 2 and half years had passed, but the 3 on the stage still looked the way they were when they first came to the school.


    It wasmon knowledge that since they were in the demigod realm and above, that their aging would be drastically slowed down, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder how old Lovren was to look this old.


    ¡°I am here to congratte every one of you for getting this far, and I am d to announce that your stay at Calton Magic school has actuallye to an end.¡± Principal Lovren said causing everyone to look at each other in confusion.


    ¡°You all won¡¯t be returning to any sses after today because you have been taught everything you need to know as an entry-level mage.¡±


    ¡°The only thing that is left is to showcase your strength to the entire empire.¡± Principal Lovren said.


    ¡°So much for the speech, I gave yesternight.¡± ke facepalmed and shook his head.


    [Shouldn¡¯t you be more worried about what he meant by showcasing your strength to the empire?] The system couldn¡¯t help but facepalm.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 416

    Chapter 416: Revealing Ebony and Ivory.


    ¡°The top 15 students will be representing Calton magic school in a regionalpetition that would be held in the capital.¡±


    ¡°The other 5 magic schools would be taking part in thepetition which would not only determine the best school in the empire, but also the top students of the empire.¡± Principal Lovren said.


    There were 5 regions of the empire; the north, south, east, west, and the capital which was at the center of the empire. The capital cities of each region had a magic school, which students from different cities in the region could attend.


    ¡°Does anyone have info on the other schools?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°All I know is that for decades now, the magic school at the capital has always been dominating the regionalpetition.¡± Damon said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not information at all.¡± ke facepalmed.


    ¡°I will give you all a detailed reportter today.¡± Luciano said in a serious tone.


    .....


    ¡°You have 3 days to make preparations for thepetition.¡± Principal Lovren said. ¡°Lastly, all students of the elite ss would apany the top 15 students to the capital and cheer for them.¡±


    No oneined about it because not many had had the opportunity to see the magnificent capital, and they also wanted to find out if ke, Luciano, and Damon would keep dominating or were just local champions.


    Just like Principal Lovren said to them nothing else was happening so after informing them about the regionalpetition they left.


    ¡°Why did none of you mention that there arepetitions at the end of every final semester?¡± ke asked with a raised brow.


    ¡°The regionalpetition is held every 3 years. Thest one was held a year ago by thest final year students before this set. So we were expecting to have graduated before that.¡±


    ¡°So I am as shocked as you that they decided to move thepetition to our set instead of thest set at 500 level.¡± Damon said.


    ¡°Howe I didn¡¯t hear about the previous regionalpetition?¡± ke asked himself but Brian was quick to answer.


    ¡°Because you were not always in school and you didn¡¯t have a life outside sses and your room.¡± Brian answered.


    ¡°Fair point.¡± ke nodded in agreement.


    It had been years since ke knew he had close to no life outside school, but he wasn¡¯t bothered because he had a goal and he didn¡¯t belong in Infinite realm.


    ¡°Is itpulsory we participate in thepetition because I don¡¯t care who the best student is or what school is?¡± ke asked as he stood up.


    ¡°It is amand by the emperor so it ispulsory that all those involved attend thepetition.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°The winner of thepetition is rewarded with an artifact and many other prizes.¡± Damon said piquing ke¡¯s interest.


    ¡°Since it ispulsory, I guess I would have to win it then.¡± ke said to the group as he left the hall to his room to begin making preparations.


    ...


    A few hourster, Luciano had given everyone a report on the students of other magic schools.


    It turns out that currently, the capital magic school was ranked 1st, the southern magic school in 2nd, the northern magic school 3rd, the eastern magic school in 4th position, and finally the west atst.


    The eastern magic school was previously 3rd thanks to Xavier Karius¡¯ outstanding performance, but thest set to attend the regionalpetition performed poorly causing them to drop in rank.


    As ke continued reading the report, he found out that the other schools weren¡¯t like theirs. Their top positions were entirely dominated just like the 2nd years before they were demoted.


    ¡°It seems no one was able to foil their ns of crippling the growth ofmoners.¡± ke thought.


    [Apart from that, this region is most likely the only one that makes things fair for both nobles andmoners, thanks to Bryon being the counselor of the region, so I am not surprised.] The system said.


    ke moved over to the power level of students in each school and was quite shocked by the power level of the capital.


    Just like Calton city which currently had only 3 students in the mid-tier of the Hero realm, the capital had a total of 5. That was aplete team!


    ¡°Family background truly matters a lot.¡± ke thought.


    Tarius the capital of the Synder Empire was home to the main families and leaders of the top 3 families. They were the ones that called the shots and distributed resources to all the branches of the empire.


    The descendants of the top families carried a purer bloodline, giving them ess to not only more resourcespared to the others, but also top-tier family techniques and teachers.


    That was why even though ke¡¯s high cultivation speed was attributed to the system guiding him, they were still able to keep up.


    ¡°With the info, we just read, what do you think are the chances that I would win thepetition?¡± ke asked the system for its opinion.


    [Considering the fact that they have more resources, most likely better training and possibly artifacts from their families. Thepetition is most likely going to them if you rely on your skills.] The system said.


    The major advantage ke had over others was having an additional element, but ording to the system¡¯s analysis, the passive advantage like increased mana capacity increased mana control, and so on was not enough.


    He needed more active abilities like the space abilities but he couldn¡¯t openly use them.


    ¡°Guess I would have to show them the power of my own artifact.¡± ke said as he looked at Ebon and Ivory which were in their Haiti and Skoll form.


    [Are you really nning on revealing ebony and Ivory to the public?] The system couldn¡¯t help but ask because up till now the only people that knew about Ebony and Ivory were Castiel and Brian.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 417

    Chapter 417: King rank evolution.


    [Are you really nning on revealing ebony and Ivory to the public?] The system couldn¡¯t help but ask because up till now, the only people that knew about Ebony and Ivory were Castiel and Brian.


    ¡°Yes, but as ast resort.¡± ke said.


    [Are you ready for the consequence of showing how powerful your weapon is?] The system asked.


    No one had a clue of what a legendary weapon would look like, talk more of one Azkelwart used before he became a deity. The problem was that even though many thought it was an epic-tier weapon, its powers and strength would attract lots of the wrong attention.


    ¡°I already have a lot of enemies so adding a few more wouldn¡¯t change a thing.¡± ke let out a helpless sigh.


    With his quick ent in the adventurer association, ke¡¯s aplishment and record of not failing a single mission had made a lot of people jealous.


    In the space of almost 2 years, he had been involved in 3 assassination attempts but they had all failed.


    .....


    It wasn¡¯t as if they underestimated him, it was just that ke had too many hidden cards.


    No one knew he had the space element so they were only making preparations to counter the fire and lightning elements. Also, there was still the system that could detect a lot of things people in the Hero realm couldn¡¯t.


    [Alright then, I just wanted to know your decision.] The system said.


    After weighing the pros and the cons the system agreed that it was a good decision because not only would he get a strong artifact if he won the regionalpetition, but he would gain more recognition that would in turn open more doors for him.


    ¡°If I am to reveal them as my trump card, they need to be on the level of a trump card. No offense.¡± ke said to Ebony and Ivory.


    Right from the moment ebony and Ivory evolved, ke had been feeding them tons of beast cores, but even after almost 2 years, they hadn¡¯t evolved.


    ¡°Men, you guys are turning into a bottomless pit, hope you evolve this time.¡± ke said with a tear in his eyes as he brought out 2 king-rank beast cores.


    He had gotten one of the king-rank beast cores as a reward from the ruin they had raided while purchasing the remaining 2 with a lot of gold coins.


    [Why are you stillining about gold coins when you have a lot.] The system couldn¡¯t help but facepalm for ke being a cheap stake.


    During his 2nd year, keunched more inventions from Earth making him more than twice richer than he was in his first year.


    ¡°Even though I am rich, if I spend my gold coins anyhow I would return to being broke. So I have to keep my spending way below my earning.¡± ke felt his heartache when he remember that he spent 2.5 million gold coins on each king rank beast core.


    ¡°let¡¯s get this over with or I might cry.¡± ke said to Ebony and Ivory as they immediately fused together.


    Ebony and Ivory in theirbined form had a 2-meter tall ck and blue energy wolf body with red and blue eyes.


    Awoo!


    They howled in excitement when they saw the King rank beast cores that were twice the size of ke¡¯s hands.


    ke gave them the brown king rank beast core which came from an earth beast that he had no idea of.


    On entering their mouth, the beast core instantly dissolved causing their energy body to glow with an extremely bright light.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good sign.¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but smile with his fingers crossed.


    He waited for a few minutes for them topletely assimte the enormous amount of energy in the King rank beast core before feeding them again.


    The next king-rank beast core was orange in color and came from a fire-type beast.


    ke fed them the beast core, but this time the light from absorbing the beast core was even brighter.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± At this point, ke was pumped because it was safe to say that their evolution was sure.


    This time it took them a longer time for them to assimte the beast core, but ke could wait.


    After close to an hour of waiting Ebony and Ivory were back up on their feet, but when ke tried feeding thest king-rank beast core they didn¡¯t want to eat it.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Awoooo!


    Ebony and Ivory howled as they pointed around the room.


    ¡°How did I forget that the King rank evolutions are always explosive?¡± ke patted them on the head for reminding him.


    It had been 2 years since the exam with the ant queen incident, but ke could still remember every single detail that happened that day.


    [I don¡¯t think the training rooms would be able to withstand the King rank evolution process. Also, even if it could withstand the damage, it would gather a lot of attention.] The system said.


    ¡°To the forest then.¡±


    ke wasted no time to board a carriage that took him to the western gate.


    From there he began moving deep into the forest because he didn¡¯t want a situation where those on the city wall would be able to spot the energy pir from the sky.


    After close to an hour of travelling through the forest ke finally stopped after the system told him it was far enough.


    He quickly scanned the area for any humans, before clearing out the beasts that could interrupt the evolution process.


    ¡°Are you guys ready?¡± ke asked, receiving a nod from Ebony and Ivory.


    ¡°Alright then, lets get this over with.¡± ke said as he fed them the blue king rank beast core that came from an ice beast.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 418

    Chapter 418: King rank evolution (part 2).


    ¡°I will be over there.¡± ke pointed at a tree 30 meters away before feeding them the beast core.


    Once the king rank beast core entered their mouth, it dissolved causing their body to glow brighter than ever.


    Immediately ke fed them the beast core he wasted no time getting out of the way because a secondter a 10-meter-wide pir of mana crashed on ebony and Ivory.


    BOOM!


    The ground was instantly shattered by the destructive power of raw mana, creating a 20-meter-deep crater.


    ¡°Why the hell is the evolution process of beasts so destructive? Also, why do they require a pir of mana from the sky to evolve?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [Both questions have the same answer.] The system said.


    .....


    [Just like human advancement, that of beasts involves a change in their anatomy, but the change is 10 times more than that of humans.]


    [During the evolution, every single cell of their body is shredded and regrown into a stronger version. Also, their body anatomy would change to amodate the hundreds of mana pathways that would develop in their body.] The system exined causing ke to shiver.


    He had passed out due to the pain of the Hero advancement process that connected his mana pathways to his body, talk less of the pain he would feel when every muscle fiber was being shredded and regrown.


    [So the process is obviously destructive because of the mana pir, but the mana pir is what keeps them alive and regrows the body parts.] The system exined.


    ¡°So you are saying that they won¡¯t be able to die even when the pain bes too much, all because of the mana pir?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [Yes, the mana pir keeps the body alive, but not the mind and consciousness. So when the pain bes too much for a beast to handle, they would go insane just like the wyrmling that attacked in your first test.] The system said.


    It was still considered as the beast dying because it was only on very rare asions that the insane beasts regained their sanity.


    The chances of this happening were 1 in a million because either humans or fellow beasts would have to end their rampage by killing them.


    ¡°If Ebony and Ivory were to go insane what would happen?¡± ke asked in a worried tone.


    [I have no clue because I have never seen beasts that are also artifacts talk less of one that can evolve, but one thing I am sure that you would be dead before you knew it.] The system said causing ke to gulp.


    If it was only one king rank beast, ke had a high chance of escaping because of the lighting and space elements, but with 2 king rank beasts that were more powerful than beasts on the same level. It was certain death.


    ¡°This means I should protect them or I die with them.¡± ke shook his head as he let out a wryugh.


    ¡°The only problem I have is that the mana pir is arge beacon for every beast.¡± ke said.


    [You can think of it that way, but it is also a big deterrent signal for everything below the king rank realm, and apart from that it also acts as a form of defense.] The system said.


    The raw power of the mana pir couldn¡¯t be prated easily by even king-rank beasts unless they decided to use their full strength.


    ¡°So you are confirming that it is a beacon for even stronger beasts?¡± As the seconds went by, ke was bing less excited about the evolution process.


    [Yes.] The system confirmed.


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you tell me, I would have brought Castiel and Brian to support me in case of any attacks!¡± ke said to the system as he felt his head hurting.


    [That¡¯s because beasts don¡¯t go attacking anyone that is evolving, if not we wouldn¡¯t have problems dealing with them during the beast tide.] The system exined.


    ¡°Howe I didn¡¯t of it that way?¡±


    [Because just like other humans you think all beasts are primal.] The system said.


    For the next 30 minutes, ke continued to circle the area to make sure nothing was disrupting the evolution process, but on the 43rd minute, the mana pir had changed.


    ¡°What the fuck is this?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask the system as the blue mana pir had changed to red and white.


    [I have no idea, but I think it has to do with the elements they are awakening.] The system said.


    Everything about Ebony and Ivory was a mystery to the system. It had no knowledge of beasts that were separate and single entities simultaneously, so its abnormal evolution process was both shocking and expected.


    The red part of the mana pir was the purest form of fire energy while the white part was the purest form of ice energy.


    (AN: Ice is basically water element that would be unlocked in the demigod realm.)


    The result of both energies colliding was a thick fog that quickly spread to all parts of the forest.


    ¡°How am I meant to keep an eye on what is going on now?¡± ke let out a helpless sigh when he saw he couldn¡¯t see pass his nose.


    It was clear that they didn¡¯t need protection, but ke wanted to witness the abnormal evolution process that surely wasn¡¯t recorded in books in the library.


    ¡°The most important thing is that they are okay. So I shouldn¡¯t beining.¡± ke said as he sat in a crossed legged position on arge tree branch and began meditating.


    ke was at the peak of the mid Hero realm, so since absorbing energy was now useless to him he was focusing onpleting the requirements to enter the peak of the Hero realm.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 419

    Chapter 419: Caught in the act.


    For ke to enter the peak of the Hero realm, he needed to understand the principles of nature in order to manipte it.


    Till now he hadn¡¯t had a clue of what that meant, and just as always, He was on his own because the system wasn¡¯t helping him.


    ke thought that the best way to understand nature was by feeling it, so he had been indulging in a lot of meditation in vegetative areas.


    Although he had figured out close to nothing doing this, ke knew that patience was key in learning and growing.


    With the system monitoring the environment, ke remained in his meditation position for close to an hour before the system alerted him that the mana pir was reducing in intensity.


    ke opened his eyes and quickly moved closer, but that was when a stream of air hit his face.


    [Something isi...] The system attempted to alert ke about the unidentified creature but it was already toote.


    .....


    ¡®Fuck me!¡¯ ke cursed as he was rooted to the spot, but that was when the fog covering the entire forest came towards the beast in front of him.


    Awooo!


    Once the fog cleared up, ke saw a 5-meter tall wolf with abination of pitch ck and snow white fur. On its thick soft fur were glowing red and blue marks that matched the color of its eyes.


    ¡°You guys scared the hell out of me.¡± ke let out a sigh of relief as he hugged therge head of Ebony and Ivory.


    ¡®It was Ebony¡¯s idea.¡¯


    ke heard a sweet voice in his head causing him to pause and take a look at the wolf in front of him.


    ¡°Is that you Ivory?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    From their first evolution, ke couldn¡¯t hear them talk, but he was somehow able to understand the meaning of every howl. This time it wasn¡¯t a howl, but a mentalmunication.


    ¡®Yes.¡¯ The voice answered.


    ¡®It¡¯s not my fault that he didn¡¯t like it!¡¯ An aggressive voice screamed in ke¡¯s mind, causing ke to facepalm.


    ¡®Since when did my mind be a group chat?¡¯ ke was shocked by the development and didn¡¯t know how to react to it.


    ¡°How do you mean it was his fault, aren¡¯t both of you in charge of the body?¡± ke asked Ivory.


    ¡°We are both one but I control the mind aspect and him the body.¡¯ Ivory answered.


    ¡°Interesting...¡± It was at that moment that the mana pir had dispersed, returning the forest to its serene state.


    ¡°The main thing is that both of you sessfully evolved.¡± ke said as he kissed their forehead.


    In thest 2 years, Ebony and Ivory had taken Brian and Castiel¡¯s spot as his closest friends. He could confide in them without the fear of people using his weakness against him.


    (AN: So sad that animals are more trustworthy than humans.)


    ¡°The only problem now is your size.¡± ke said to Ebony and Ivory that were crouching just to be on the same level as him.


    Just then, Ebony and Ivory began shrinking in size until they reached 3 and a half meters till they became the same height as ke.


    ¡°Wow!¡± ke was stunned because the only beasts he knew could alter their size were emperor-rank beasts.


    ¡°Time to check out your upgrades.¡± ke said as he opened up their info.


    [Name: Ebony and Ivory.


    Grade: Legendary tier (Peak Epic tier.)


    Type: Greatsword (Dual sword.)


    Passive skills:


    Soul call: Once the owner is sensed to be in battle mode or danger, Ebony and Ivory would appear even if not called.


    (Passive skill: Ivory): As the owner¡¯s mental faculty increases, so does the powers of Ivory.


    Cognitive empathy (passive): Once bonded with the owner, Ebony and Ivory will be able to feel the owner¡¯s emotions and vice versa.


    (Passive skill: Ebony): In and off battle, Ebony is able to feed off the negative emotions of the user and convert them to raw power.


    (Passive skill: Ivory): When the owner is sensed to be afflicted mentally or in a mental battle, Ivory can assist the owner.


    Overhaul: If the physical bodies of Ebony and Ivory get injured, energy and emotions from the owner would be used to hasten their recovery.


    Active skills:


    Disseverance: Ebony and Ivory split into dual des.


    Soul Call: Grants owner the ability to summon ebony and Ivory from anywhere.


    Metamorphosis: Ebony and Ivory transform into Haiti and Skoll.


    Canine fusion: Haiti and Skoll merge.]


    [Name: Haiti and Skoll


    Grade: King rank


    Metamorphosis: Ebony and Ivory transform into Haiti and Skoll.


    Ruler¡¯s will: Once in Haiti and Skoll form they suppress every beast below the king rank within a 30-meter range.


    Binding chains: Haiti and Skoll produce energy chains that constrict and drain vitality.]


    ¡°Aren¡¯t there meant to be new abilities thate with evolution?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask when he saw the thing that changed was an upgrade to Ruler¡¯s will and their rank.


    [Most of the new abilitiese from their element, the rest are body parts that evolve into something else. Also, there might be some things that might have been upgraded but not written in the ability section.] The system reminded him of the size reduction that happened a few seconds ago.


    ¡°Alright then, we have to test out your fire and ice elements.¡± ke said with an excited smile as they went on a search for soon-to-be unfortunate beasts.


    Due to the mana pir, beasts had moved away from the area but thanks to the sharp nose of Ebony and Ivory, they immediately tracked down 4 sabertooth moose.


    On getting closer, ke realized that it was a harem heard and the male was currently mating with one of the females in the herd.


    ¡®This just made things awkward.¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but facepalm.


    [The beast tide ended almost 2 months ago so you should have expected it.] The system said.


    With the beast tide ending not long ago, resources for beasts were now abundant, meaning reproduction would also be rampant.


    ¡°Should we wait for them or should interrupt them?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Interrupt!¡± Ebony said in a mischievous tone.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see what you guys can do in yourbined form.¡± ke said as he came down from their back.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 420

    Chapter 420: Why should I?


    Once ke came down from their back, Ebony and Ivory wasted no time in charging at the sabertooth moose.


    Just after taking 2 steps, Haiti and Skoll jumped up into the air before twisting their body and turning into a ming drill that crashed into one of the female sabertooth moose.


    BOOM!


    The armored body of the sabertooth moose sttered, and the scorching heating from Ebony and Ivory instantly evaporated the blood.


    It took them but a look to freeze the male sabertooth moose and the female he was on top of, before sending a fireball that shattered the ice sculpture.


    The overbearing presence of Ebony and Ivory left thest sabertooth moose rooted to the spot as it waited for its judgment.


    Once Ebony and Ivory turned back to it, the sabertooth moose was set aze and in a matter of seconds, it turned to ashes.


    .....


    ¡°Oh, shit!!!¡± ke¡¯s mind was blown by the spectacle that had just taken ce.


    Awoo!


    Ebony and Ivory howled in joy that their dad was happy about their performance.


    ¡°Time to test your individual strengths.¡± ke instructed them to return to their normal form.


    In their separated form, Ebony and Ivory were 2 meters tall and possessed fierce faces and razor-sharp fangs that would make champions wet themselves.


    Ebony had fear-inducing pitch ck fur with red glowing markings all of its body, representing the fire element constantly coursing through his body.


    As for Ivory, she had soft snow-white fur that would tempt anyone looking at them to touch. On her body were glowing blue markings that represented the ice element coursing through her body.


    This time, they weren¡¯t going hunting for another group of beasts. Instead, they were just going to practice their elements.


    ...


    3 dayster everyone was done with their preparations and was present at the school hall.


    ¡°The top 15 students would be teleported to the capital first, before the rest of the elite ss.¡± Principal Lovren said as the warp arrays were activated.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Lovren gestured for ke to continue with his question.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t been briefed about what thepetition would be all about.¡± ke voiced everyone¡¯s thoughts.


    ¡°That¡¯s because no one knows.¡± Principal Lovren said. ¡°To prevent thepetition¡¯s event from leaking, they would be randomly selected on the spot.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± ke said as he and the other 14 top-ranking students stepped into the warping arrays.


    5 students stood in each array, and once the exit point had been triangted, the circr light rose from below and once it dropped, they found themselves in arge array room.


    They were currently in the 2ndrgest arena in the capital city.


    ¡°Please follow us.¡± 2 ash corps members that had been waiting for arrival led them to a lobby filled with other students from different regions of the Synder empire.


    ¡®Just as expected, 95% of them are nobles.¡¯ ke shook his head in disappointment.


    While ke was still assessing everyone in the room, the rank 1 student of the capital, Lucas, walked up to Luciano.


    ¡°It¡¯s been more than a year since Ist saw you at the capital.¡± Lucas said as he gave Luciano a bow.


    Lucas stood at a height of 6¡¯3 feet (1.9 meters) tall and had blond wavy that was tied up in a bun. He had charming blue eyes, but unlike that of Luciano that carried authority, his was charismatic.


    Lucas was dressed in grey leather pants and a blue cotton shirt that emphasized his lean muscles.


    ¡°I have been staying with Bryon during the holidays. So I couldn¡¯t make it back to the capital.¡± Luciano replied with an unchanging expression.


    ¡°I am d to see you in good health. Hope you have fun in the regionalpetition.¡± Lucas gave a bow before leaving.


    ke on the other hand was still scanning the room, but that was when he heard someone behind him.


    ¡°Move!¡±


    On turning to the voice ke saw Lucas causing him to smile.


    ¡°Why should I?¡± ke said with a smirk causing the entire room to be quiet as all eyes were on them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself.¡± Lucas said with an annoyed look on his face.


    ¡°And if you do, what would happen?¡± ke said with a yawn, causing almost everyone in the room to gasp.


    They shook their head at ke¡¯s stupidity because not only was Lucas the strongest in the capital¡¯s magic school, but he was also a member of the royal family.


    ¡°You will pay for this!¡±


    Since fighting in the lobby would lead to an automatic disqualification, Lucas was forced to ept the disgrace and walk away.


    ¡®Why are nobles so dumb? There was a lot of space but he chose to make a mockery of someone, but when the person refuses to be mocked you take an offense and want to punish him?¡¯ ke was confused by Lucas¡¯ logic.


    ¡®Are you sure that was the best thing to do, this isn¡¯t Calton?¡¯ Castiel couldn¡¯t help but ask in the mind link.


    Castiel was afraid because not only did they not have home advantage, but Lucas wasn¡¯t just any noble.


    ¡®ording to thew, the only people that can order you around are; The Emperor, his sons, counselors, and high-ranking ash corps officials.¡¯ ke said.


    ¡®You know we aren¡¯t talking about public consequences, but those that would happen behind the eyes of the public.¡¯ Castiel said.


    ¡®That makes it better because it would only mean more trouble for him when Prince Bryon and Luciano get involved.¡¯ ke said.


    ¡®What if they decide not to get involved?¡¯ Brian couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡®Then I handle the problem myself.¡¯ ke said with a smirk causing both Castiel and Brian to wonder where his confidence came from.


    ¡®One thing for sure is that the highest they can send to deal with me would be the demigod realm, but with Ebony and Ivory I would either be able to kill them or escape.¡¯ ke thought to himself.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 421

    Chapter 421: Start of the regionalpetition.


    One of the main reasonsmoners were afraid of nobles was because they could go after their family, but ke had none in infinite realm. So he had nothing to fear.


    When the top 15 students of all 5 magic schools of the empire arrived, they were assigned to tforms that raised them to the center of the arena.


    ¡®I wonder howrge the empire really is for it to be night in the capital.¡¯ ke thought as he saw the night sky. They had been teleported to the capital 3 hours after noon, but the time was past dusk in the capital.


    The arena was 3 times as massive as that of Calton city. It could easily contain more than nine hundred thousand people.


    Above hundreds of thousands of seats was a VIP section for nobles. Unlike the area for themoners, this area had luxurious padded seats, and in front of these areas wererge holographic screens that disyed the action going on at the center of the arena.


    Above the VIP section was a single row of luxurious booths with opaque ss that prevented people from seeing what happened inside.


    The booths were for important nobles like the top members of the top families, and top members of top organizations like the adventurer association.


    .....


    At the center of these booths were those of the highest level of luxury meant for the counselors and the Emperor.


    Not only did the screens of the luxurious booths disy everything happening below, but they were reinforced and could take Peak demigod realm spells without leaving a scratch.


    ¡°These are the 75 students that will be taking part in this year¡¯s regionalpetition!¡±


    The crowd in the arena let out rounds of thunderous apuse.


    ¡®I wonder if the emperor is watching.¡¯ ke thought without daring to look at the Emperor¡¯s booth.


    ¡°Just as always, the regionalpetition would be testing the team strength, survival skills, and individual strength of our 75petitors.¡± The announcer said.


    ¡°The event for today would be a team capture the g event. Teams from all regions would be randomly put against each other to capture gs in the heart of 3 castles protected by ash corps.¡±


    ¡°The first team in each of the 3 groups to capture the g would advance to the survival stage.¡± The announcer said.


    For higher chances of winning, every school had grouped their top 15 students into 3 sets. Rank 1 to rank 5 was the first group, rank 6 to 10 was the second group, and so on.


    So all that was left was the random selection that would pick a team from the 5 regions and assign them to one of the 3 castles.


    After the announcement was over, the random selection immediately began. Team 1 of the capital was paired alongside team 1 of the west, team 3 of the east, team 3 of the north, and team 2 of the south.


    ke¡¯s team, team 1 of the east, was paired alongside team 2 of the west, team 2 of the capital, team 1 of the north, and team 3 of the south.


    Team 2 of the east was paired alongside team 3 of the west, team 3 of the capital, team 2 of the north, and team 1 of the south.


    ¡®Remind me of who is the most dangerous in the north.¡¯ ke asked the system.


    [That would be the Nystrom twins who are ranked 1 and 2 in their school. They both awakened the light element, while their secondary elements are fire and water.] The system reported.


    ¡®That is a very dangerousbo.¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but admit it.


    Right from the champion realm, the lumomancers could create illusions, but the Hero realm of the water element had the ability to create illusions using mists. This meant both of them could take down teams without the opponents knowing what hit them.


    Once the random selection wasplete, all the teams of each group were warped outside of the prepared castles located in different parts of the capital.


    ¡°The capital is a beautiful ce to live in, but I doubt it is my style.¡± ke said as he saw the beautiful skyscrapers.


    ¡°What is the n?¡± Serhan asked.


    In front of them was a 25000 square foot castle which had both outer and inner walls with towers and members of the ash corps.


    Not only were they defensive weapons like mid-tier magic cannons, but the walls were also reinforced with arrays that prevented them from breaking through.


    ¡°Most of the ash corps on the outer wall are champion level while a few are Hero level. So with Damon and Castiel, going over the wall is not the problem.¡±


    ¡°The main problem would be when the other teams join the fray.¡± ke said.


    All 5 teams were positioned at different sides outside the castle, to make sure they don¡¯t go attacking themselves right from the beginning.


    After 5 minutes of their arrival at the outskirts of the wall, the announcer gave the signal for thepetition to begin.


    Once the signal was given, ke and his team vanished from the sight of the ash corps on the wall.


    Fire!


    Themander in charge of this side of the wall knew about the darkness element and how deadly it was. So he wasted no time in instructing the ash corps to start firing at the area in front of them.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Explosions rang all around the area outside the castle walls, but even after 3 minutes straight of randomly firing there were no casualties.


    ¡®Curse these kids they are going to make me look bad in front of the emperor and the counselors!¡¯ The ash corpsmander cursed his bad luck for being assigned to the wall that had 2 shadow walkers (Hero realm of the darkness element).


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 422

    Chapter 422: [Bonus chapter]Breaching the castle walls.


    Seeing that no attack was hitting their marks, themander instructed some of the ash corps on the wall to start firing spells below the walls, just in case they were already climbing.


    Unknown to them, the moment thepetition started, Luciano who was in possession of a void dagger used the wind element to fly up with Castiel who kept him concealed.


    When they got to a high enough altitude, ke opened up a spatial corridor which warped the 3 of them to the top. On appearing at the top, they conjured mana barriers which theynded on before conjuring more as they walked toward the wall.


    The hero realm of the darkness element was Shadow walker. They had the ability to move from one shadow to another and create a shadow domain that slowed down the movement speed of the opponent.


    They could now create illusions and could now warp from one location to another in Night mist. Also, their attacks and spells had chances of inducing fear to the opponent.


    ¡®It¡¯s not their fault that they think we are below.¡¯ ke thought as the 5 of them made their way onto the outer wall of the castle.


    [I must say, this was actually a nice formation, but they didn¡¯t expect things to take this route.] The system said as they saw ash corps with mounted weapons at the inner wall.


    .....


    If they had taken a direct approach and somehow managed to get on the wall, not only would they be fighting the ash corps at the outer wall, but they would also have to be evading the attacks from those stationed at the inner wall.


    The worst part was that unlike the weapons at the outer wall which were more of AOE attacks, those at the inner wall were precision-type weapons that eliminated chances of friendly fire.


    ¡®Good for us then.¡¯ ke said.


    Since the ash corps stationed at the inner wall hadn¡¯t spotted any enemy that breached the wall, they had no reason to attack, allowing ke and his team to move across both walls and enter the main courtyard.


    They soon reached the wooden double door of the castle, before using mana vision to see that it was packed with different kinds of traps and rms.


    ¡°The arrays are not that difficult to disable, it would just take some time.¡± Serhan said.


    ¡°That is exactly why we shouldn¡¯t try to disable it. I suggest we look for another entrance like a window.¡±


    ke felt something was wrong because one of the arrays on the wooden double door produced heat in order to prevent the system¡¯s heat vision from seeing through.


    Apart from that, not only could opening such arge door be spotted, but there was a high chance that there was a mechanical trap behind it, or even an ash corp.


    ¡°I agree with ke, going through the front door in an infiltration isn¡¯t ideal.¡± Luciano said.


    With that, the group left the door and in less than a minute they spotted a window on the 1st floor of the castle.


    ¡°Just like I thought.¡± ke said while looking at the window with mana vision.


    The windows had way more arrays protecting it than the front door, meaning that it was actually a trap.


    ke wasted no time in disabling the arrays in such a speed that bbergasted Damon, Serhan and everyone watching.


    As for Luciano and Castiel they were not surprised because this wasn¡¯t the first time they were seeing it.


    Back at their 1st semester exam which had them exploring a ruin, ke was the reason they disabled the countless traps and had gotten to the end way before others.


    Once the arrays were disabled, the window lock opened and the group made their way into the castle.


    ¡°The problem now is locating the room with the g.¡± ke said with mana vision still active.


    From what they saw at the door, they were not taking any chances because one mistake could bring the attention of more than 50 ash corps on them.


    ...


    At the other side of the battle.


    When the signal had been given, 2 members of team 1 from the north created a mist that blocked the sight of ash corps on the wall. Nheless, themander instructed the ash cops to fire at them.


    After more than 5 minutes of firing, not only were they no casualties but all the members of the team were still present, or so they thought.


    The name of the Hero realm of the water element was Siren. They had the ability to create and control mists to form illusions.


    When inside water, their body anatomy changed, giving them gills and web feet that granted them great movement speed under water.


    In addition to their water spells having more explosive power, Siren¡¯s had the ability to heal wounds even though they weren¡¯t as effective as the light element.


    ¡°We can keep doing this all day, but they can¡¯t.¡± The ash corpsmander said but he had no idea that they were only 3 students outside the wall.


    The Nystrom twins they were currently looking at were illusions made from the mist.


    The real Nystrom twins had used the light element to bend the light around them, concealing themselves.


    Using their mana, they were able to climb the wall before activating artifacts that concealed their presence.


    With all of these, the Nystrom twins made their way past the outer and inner wall before entering the castle through a window.


    The Hero realm of the light element was Lightsworn. Apart from their ability to create illusions being boosted, they now had the ability to heal injuries and regrow limbs.


    Using the light spell Revealing light, they could shatter illusions and camouge spells. That included the concealing effects that of night mist and darkbringer.


    They also had the ability to shoot outsers, but even at the light element was still considered to be a support element.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 423

    Chapter 423: Nasty set-up!


    Among all 5 teams, ke¡¯s team was the 1st to make it into the castle, and since they were on the 1st floor, they decided to explore the lower and underground parts of the castle.


    Their train of thought behind this decision was that the underground was the best location for the g because it would be easier for them to get surrounded.


    With ke¡¯s speed in disabling arrays, they were able to quickly breeze through the underground rooms, storage space, dungeons, and so on.


    On seeing that there was no g underground, ke activated spatial corridors that led them to the spatial mark he had made at the window.


    [The heat signature of the fingerprints on the window stool is meant to have gone cold by now.] The system said.


    ¡°People entered through this window not too long ago.¡± ke said to his team.


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± Serhan couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    .....


    ¡°By sensing the temperature of the window stool. Parts of it are warm, and that can only happen if someone recently touched it.¡± ke exined.


    ¡°So what do we do now?¡± Castiel asked.


    ¡°We follow them.¡± ke said


    ¡°How? Shoes have almost no heat signature.¡± Serhan said in a frustrated tone.


    They were the first to enter the castle, but people were now in the lead because they wasted time searching the underground part of the castle.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, just follow my lead.¡± ke said in an unbothered tone.


    ¡®Where is the other group that entered through this window?¡¯ ke was unbothered because if there was someone that could locate anybody it was him.


    With the Locator skill activated, ke turned towards the path they had gone through, before turning the other way and moving forward.


    ke and his team were right on the track of the Nystrom twins, but the speed at which they were moving, made them feel that ke was not too sure of the direction he was moving in.


    ¡°Whichever team that got in through the window is in the lead. So shouldn¡¯t we be moving faster?¡± Serhan asked.


    In the past 2 years, Serhan hade to ept that ke was better than him in almost everything. So instead of antagonizing and nning against him, Serhan decided to focus on himself and regain his father¡¯s favor.


    This was why he was trying his best to win thepetition or at worst not get eliminated in the first round. That was the reason he was ufortable knowing that people were ahead of them.


    ¡°No need to rush, not only would there surely be ash corps protecting the g, but they would also have to deal with disabling the traps and rms.¡±


    ¡°Besides they already know that we are inside the castle since the window was wide open. So when they realize that none of the traps and rms in their path have been disabled, they would be weary and might even set a trap of their own.¡±


    ¡°So like I said, there is no need to rush.¡± ke said.


    ke¡¯s exnation did not only wow Serhan but also everyone in the arena.


    The decisions he had been making right from the start of thepetition not only tempted prominent noble families and the ash corps to recruit him after thepetition but also made the adventurer association give him even more privileges and benefits to keep.


    ...


    ke continued following the Nystrom twins¡¯ trail until they got to the staircase that led to thest floor, that was when revealing light blinded their eyes and undid the concealing effects of Darkbringer.


    In microseconds, their eyes readjusted, but that was when they saw that they were surrounded by ash corps from both in front and behind.


    ¡°Where did theye from?¡± ke¡¯s team couldn¡¯t help but wonder if they had missed a trap that alerted and teleported the ash corps to their location.


    It was then that ke¡¯s eyes lit up for a brief second before he suddenly jumped forward and grabbed the heads of the Nystrom twins before releasingrge voltages of electricity that caused a golden barrier to protect them.


    It was only then that the 20 ash corps disappeared revealing that it was an illusion.


    ¡°How did you know it was an illusion?¡± Damon asked as he let out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°I was certain that we didn¡¯t trigger any rm, so immediately I saw them I used my heat senses and sure enough I could only see 2 more heat signatures.¡± ke exined showing everyone that he had studied all of his opponents and put every scenario into consideration.


    ke knew there was no way the system would miss a trap. So he found it fishy that ash corps appeared out of nowhere, but it was all thanks to the passive ability of Ivory that helped him escape from the illusion so quickly.


    ¡°I have to say, that was a nasty n from them.¡± Damon couldn¡¯t help but admit it.


    The Nystrom twins had nned to eliminate every single one of the participants on the staircase before going for the g. This would have eliminated all chances of being taken by surprise when they were fighting the g¡¯s defenders.


    After thanking Ivory, ke and his team climbed up the wall to thest floor, but it was then that the system detected the presence of ash corps patrolling the corridors.


    Nheless, it wasn¡¯t a problem for ke¡¯s team thanks to the darkness.


    ¡®Why take them down, when they would help you stop your opponents.¡¯ ke thought as he and his team walked on the ceiling to avoid a collision.


    After 2 minutes the group reached the entrance to the sr room, but with mana vision on they saw that the area in front of the door had an array that would disable their concealment.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 424

    Chapter 424: End of first day of regionalpetition.


    Not only did the door possess light arrays that would undo their concealment, but among the many arrays it had was one that would let those inside see the room see what was on the other side.


    This meant there was no way that anyone would be sneaking up on those protecting the g.


    ¡°I will deal with this.¡± ke said as he walked in front of the double wooden door of the sr room.


    (AN: For those who don¡¯t know, the sr room served as a kind of parlor to which the family of the owner of the castle could retire from the bustling activities of the hall below.)


    ke didn¡¯t bother disabling the array because the moment he stepped in front of the door, those inside should have sounded the rm.


    Instead, ke opened the door to see 2 peak hero realm ash corpmanders standing side by side with the golden g behind them.


    Immediately, he threw out 2 void daggers at the ash corpmanders, but the speed of the daggers was nothing special. So they decided to dodge it since they had no idea if they were explosive or had something even more deadly, but this made ke smile.


    .....


    Void shift!


    2 spatial tears appeared, which ke thrust his hand into and grabbed the ash corps at the back of their head before electrocuting them causing a golden barrier to protect them.


    ¡°They always fall for it.¡± ke said with a smirk as he walked up to the g and pulled it out of the ground sleeve.


    ¡°The winner of the 2nd castle is team 1 of the east!¡± The voice of the announcer was heard from all parts of the 2nd castle.


    With a winner being announced, the rest of thepetitors in the 2nd castle were as good as eliminated. So everyone was warped back to the center of the arena where the hundreds of thousands of people in attendance cheered at ke and his team¡¯s performance.


    At the same time, nobles and even counselors began looking into ke¡¯s background because how he took out 2 peak hero realm ash corpmanders was suspicious.


    Although at this level few students could cast dimension magic, ke had done it too smoothly, making a lot of them suspect that he had the space element.


    In less than 5 minutes everyone had gotten ke¡¯s file. ording to the info they got, ke was able to cast dimension magic thanks to his talent for dimension magic and the void daggers that were given to him by Hoffenheim.


    This made a lot of them lose interest, but when they read about his achievements in both school and as an adventurer many felt threatened.


    It was the first that they heard of amoner dominating the school at which the emperor¡¯s son was in, and if care was not taken there were chances that he would dominate the regionalpetition.


    They had no problem if another region except for the capital won the regionalpetition, but for amoner to be the reason was uneptable.


    This was because it would improve Prince Bryon¡¯s power in the counsel, meaning morews and rights would be created in favor ofmoners.


    ke needed to be taken out or dealt with, but the question was how?


    Not only did they have less than 48 hours to do so, but they were sure that Prince Bryon would have surely made ns to protect his prodigy.


    ...


    Back at the center of the arena.


    No one had a clue when the other groups would be done, so ke and his team were taken to the cafeteria for refreshments.


    It was after close to half an hour that every team was finally done and the results were called.


    Although teams that didn¡¯t get the gs were eliminated, they were still graded on how far they got in the first exercise. This method was to make it easier for every region to have a total grade.


    The team exercise was graded in 4 parts. The 1st and 2nd parts were getting past the outer and inner wall into the courtyard.


    The method of the entrance didn¡¯t matter, nor did the finesse behind any method, all of them were 1 point each.


    The 3rd part was getting to thest floor without triggering any arrays. If the team reach thest floor undetected by the ash corps, they would get 1 point. If not it would half a point.


    The 4th and final part was getting the g which was another point.


    So in ke¡¯s group they were leading with 4 points, in 2nd position were the Nystrom family with 3 points, and in 3rd ce was the team 2 of the capital with 2 points.


    It was just a few minutes after they had gotten into the castle that ke had grabbed the g, leaving them with only 2 points.


    As for the rest, they hadn¡¯t made it past the outer wall, leaving them with 0 points.


    In group 1, Lucas¡¯ team got 4 points, team 1 of the west 2, and the rest which included Brian, Tessie, La, Esmeralda, and Ansgar didn¡¯t make it past the outer wall.


    In the final group, the 1st team of the south came in 1st position with 3 and a half points because they had activated one of the arrays while fighting with team 2 of the east.


    It was a close battle especially when the ash corps had joined the fight, but in the end, they got their hands on the g, ending the exercise.


    2nd position was team 2 of the east whichprised Dustin, Michelle, Cami, Haldor, and Owen. They got 2 and a half points


    This put the east at the top of the table with 6 and a half points.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 425

    Chapter 425: Best time to be assassinated.


    The 1st day of thepetition was over and it was time for the students to be taken to their hotels. So they followed ash corp members to warp arrays which teleported them to the Golden seal hotel.


    The Golden seal hotel was a 6-star hotel with a whopping 270 floors that could house more than 100k people at any given time thanks to dimension magic.


    The skyscraper was owned by the royal family and would be the resting area for all of the students in the elite ss for the entire time of the regionalpetition.


    ¡®This is even better than the hotel of the adventurer association back in Calton city, and the best part is that I don¡¯t have to pay a dime.¡¯ ke thought with a grin on his face as they walked out of the hotel¡¯s warp array room.


    Under the guidance of the ash corps leading the students from the east, they moved to the reception.


    The massive reception was divided into 3 sections by thick white pirs with capitals (topmost part of the pir) made of gold.


    At the center of the reception was a straight part from the door to therge reception desk which was well lit by mourous golden chandeliers that hung off the white ceiling.


    .....


    Separated by the white pirs was the waiting area which had a lot of white exotic sofas, tables, and expensive arts.


    ¡®From what I am seeing, it is safe to say that I would go broke after spending a week here.¡¯ ke thought as he was captivated by the beauty of the reception.


    ¡°By binding with your keycards you would be able to gain ess to different parts of the hotel using your biometrics and also your keycards.¡± One of the ash corps informed them as golden cards were being given to them.


    The golden cards had their room number at the top, and at the center was a glowing ash circle that turned green after bounding with them.


    With all of them being assigned a room, the ash corps took them on a little tour of important locations like the elevators and teleportation rooms.


    The toursted for only 20 minutes after which they entered a teleportation room that took them to the 77th floor which was only reserved for all the students taking part in the regionalpetition.


    After freshening up, it was time for what was meant to be dinner. ke decided not to get served in his room instead, he joined his friends in the floor¡¯s restaurant.


    With their keycards, they didn¡¯t have to pay for anything because it was being taken care of by the royal family.


    ke had bruschetta as appetizers, and cream of mushroom soup before moving on to the main course which was Spaghetti with ham, ceps, and ck truffle.


    ¡®How do people eat so little and still be able to sleep peacefully at night?¡¯ keined. He had no issues with the food because they were delicious, but the problem was the quantity.


    [That is because in the Hero realm the body can go days without feeling hungry. So the problem is that you are a bottomless pit.] The system snorted.


    ¡®Firstly, my body needs the nutrients to grow. Secondly, I am not a bottomless pit, I sadly have a limit.¡¯ ke said.


    [Who doesn¡¯t know that the further growth of your body will not be gotten from food, but instead from herbs and other magical resources.]


    [Yes, I agree you have a limit, the entire kitchen!] The system screamed.


    ¡®Although I don¡¯t care about what the other students think. I can¡¯t act like someone without manners, my reputation could be ruined.¡¯ ke thought to himself as he ignored the system.


    He couldn¡¯t order more because, unlike the magic school where their food was teleported directly to their table, these ones were brought by waiters. So it would raise a lot of questions if waiters continueding to their table.


    ¡®Let¡¯s hope that dessert and cheese would be substantial.¡¯ ke thought with a tear in his eyes as he ordered a ckout cake with a drizzle of chocte and strawberries on the side.


    All this while, ke had been ignoring death res from Lucas.


    ...


    After ¡®dinner¡¯ ke returned to his room and immediately went topless and began meditating, but that was when he heard a knock on his door.


    ¡®Who the fuck would that be?¡¯ ke thought with a frown on his face, but that was when the door turn transparent showing him who was outside.


    ¡°Open.¡±


    ke gave the verbalmand for the door to open as he saw it was Tessie, Castle, Brian, Damon, Cami and Luciano.


    ¡°I hope I am safe?¡± ke had no idea why almost everyone he knew decided to visit him.


    ¡°Are you guys okay?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask Tessie and Cami who were speechless and with beet red faces.


    That was when he realized they were reacting that way because their eyes were glued to his ripped chests.


    ¡°Ahm!¡± Brian cleared his throat snapping the girls out of reverie.


    ¡°We were nning on touring some parts of the capital. So we wanted to know if you would like to join us?¡± Castiel asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it already toote? Also, isn¡¯t thepetition tomorrow morning?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°ording to Luciano, the capital is very safe even at night. As for your 2nd question, our body doesn¡¯t need much sleep to function, so a few hours would be more than enough.¡±


    ¡°So are you joining us?¡± Brian asked once again.


    ¡°Nah, this is a perfect time and setting for an assassination. So I will pass.¡± ke said bringing everyone back to reality.


    ke was amoner who was breaking records and dominating nobles. So this was the best time to take him out and get rid of thepetition.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 426

    Chapter 426: Threat to nobles.


    ke was in a foreignnd that had a social structure worse than that of Calton city. So even if he were assassinated it could be easily brushed off and regionalpetition would continue like nothing ever happened.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I am undermining the security of the capital, but I don¡¯t want to take chances.¡± ke said to Luciano.


    The hotel was the only ce ke could feel safe because the royal family owned it. So starting a fight here was no different from suicide.


    ¡°I understand.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°Help me hold this just in case an attack happens here.¡± ke said as he handed Luciano a void dagger.


    ¡®Let¡¯s just hope I will be able to explore the city after thepetition.¡¯ ke let out a helpless sigh as he returned to his meditation.


    Unknown to ke, his paranoia was right and he had dodged a lot of bullets and foiled a lot of ns that night.


    .....


    ...


    The next day.


    The reason thepetition of the previous day had been hosted at night was it was an infiltration, but that of today was Survival.


    Just like the previous day, all of the students were warped to the arena¡¯s lobby, before the tforms raised them to the center of the arena.


    The atmosphere of the arena was electrified as the hundreds of thousands that came to watch the top students and future leaders of the empirepete for supremacy cheered.


    ¡°Today¡¯spetition would be survival.¡± The event announcer said.


    The survivalpetition was a battle royal match between all 15 contestants. There were no team members in the battle royal and the battle was to go on until 8 out of 15 students were left.


    The battlefield was unique not because of it being 50 meters long and wide battleground thatprised of 5-meter long and wide hexagons, but because the top was 30 meters high up.


    The hexagonal pirs formed a leveled battleground, but once the match begin they would randomly begin falling and rising.


    When a pir falls a very powerful force would pull anyone directly above it down to the bottom.


    The force was strong enough to shatter mana barriers and prevent anyone from flying away.


    So once the contestant touches the ground they would be eliminated and teleported out of the battlefield.


    Another way of elimination was the regr way of dealing enough damage to kill the opponent.


    For the point system, eliminating any student including those from the same school granted 1 point to their school¡¯s overall points.


    ¡®Why the hell would they put everyone against each other, but their points are still connected to each other?¡¯ ke was bbergasted by the rule and felt it was stupid.


    [I feel it is a rule that gives people the opportunity to betray each other.] The system said, causing ke to unconsciously turn to Serhan.


    With the rules exined to both the contestants and the spectators, ke and the other students were ced randomly on the battlefield.


    ¡°Begin!¡± The 2nd day for the 2nd day of the regionalpetition was announced, and the hexagons began randomly dropping.


    ¡®I can sense when the hexagons are a second away from falling, but that is that. Getting distracted for a second can lead to elimination.¡¯ ke along with every other student thought as they studied the battleground.


    Once they were all sure of how the pirs worked, the contestants raised their heads to look at their opponents.


    ¡®This just shows that the nobles are actually trying to get rid of me on a national level.¡¯ ke thought as he saw 10 students from the capital and south looking at him.


    Seeing that all noble students were going against him It was now ring that the nobles saw him as a threat that needed to be eliminated.


    ke had expected something like this to happen, so he had created a contingency n, but that was when Luciano, Damon, Castiel, and Serhan intercepted the enemiesing at him.


    ¡®That¡¯s so kind of them.¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but smile, but it soon returned to normal when the closest student who was from the south tried to stab him in the back.


    The student had lightning reinforcement active, but ke didn¡¯t need to match his speed because he had been keeping an eye on him from the start of the match.


    Void shift!


    Without turning back, ke opened a spatial tear behind him, allowing the shortsword to pass through and exit behind the attacker.


    ¡°AH!¡±


    The southern student screamed in pain as the lightning-infused shortsword went through his armor¡¯s shield and into his back.


    [Move.] The system alerted ke who immediately jumped to another hexagon.


    Thanks to the improved vitality of being a Hero, the student wasn¡¯t eliminated instantly, but it was at that moment that the hexagon dropped.


    ¡®It¡¯s funny that the backstabbers are the ones that let their guard down.¡¯ ke thought as the injured student fell to the bottom.


    ¡°I finally get to show you your ce.¡± Lucas who was engulfed in golden mes said with a frown on his face as he and the rank 5 of the capital approached ke.


    ¡°I guess you guys would have to wait a little bit longer.¡± ke said as he jumped into a spatial tear behind him and appeared beside Luciano who was currently inbat with the rank 4 of the capital.


    ¡°Sorry to bother you guys.¡±


    Both Luciano and the rank 4 of the capital magic school were startled when they heard a voicee out of nowhere but that was more than enough time for ke¡¯s hand toe out from the spatial tear and grab onto the head of the enemy.


    Zzzzg! Zzzzg!


    Large voltages of electricity were released into the head of the rank 4, but the golden barrier hadn¡¯t appeared. That was when Luciano connected an explosive punch aimed at his heart.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 427

    Chapter 427: One-sided beatdown.


    On the other side of the battleground at the 50-meter-long battleground, Castiel, Damon, and Serhan were handling the rest of the noble students.


    Sure, they were outnumbered but thanks to night mist from both Castiel and Damon, the other students had changed from teaming up to attack them to self-preservation.


    The darkness element was overpowered especially the spell Night mist. The only way to counter it was to either use the light spell, revealing light, or move out of its area of effect.


    Almost half of the battleground was covered in thick ck mist, so everyone within it tried to escape from the sides, but that was the n all along.


    Once they had activated Night mist, Castiel and Damon made their way out of the mist. So if any of the enemy students didn¡¯t get eliminated by the falling pirs and managed to escape the ck mist that was constantly draining their vitality, they would be ganged up by both of them.


    This was a deadly n that showed how helpless all the elements could be when going up against the darkness element.


    It also made everyone wonder how there were 2 people from the darkness element and how much of a coincidence that they were both on the same team. The darkness element was only 2nd to the space element in both strength and rarity. So seeing one person with the darkness element was rare talk less of 2.


    .....


    BOOM!


    Just as Castiel and Damon eliminated the rank 1 of the south who blindly sprinted out of the ck mist, the explosive sound of Luciano¡¯s punch rocked the entire battleground.


    Turning in the direction of the punch, they saw the rank 4 student of the capital was on the floor enveloped by a golden barrier, before getting teleported out of the battleground.


    ¡°The information says he can only warp only to the location of the daggers, so how did he get there?¡± The rank 5 student was shocked and confused by how their teammate was eliminated.


    ¡°Snap out of it or we would lose more people!¡± Lucas screamed at the rank 5 as they began charging up their spells to attack ke.


    After the rank 4 was eliminated, Luciano immediately moved to Castiel and Damon to make sure none of the other students escaped from the night mist.


    As for ke, the moment Luciano left, the rank 5 student of the capital and Lucas fired a hydro pump spell and a golden me spear at him.


    ¡®Shit!¡¯ ke cursed when he saw the attacksing at him.


    Blocking was not an option because the attacks were too strong, leaving dodging as the only option. The problem with this was that to his right was the edge of the battleground and to his left were areas where the pirs had fallen.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how he warped over there now.¡± Lucas said with a smile on his face as he saw ke use lightning reinforcement to dodge the attacks by jumping into the area of a fallen pir.


    Using mebursts ke tried to get away from the forceing from above, but it was too strong, causing him to fall.


    ¡°Time to deal with the rest.¡± Lucas said as he turned to Damon and Castiel, but that was when a spatial tear opened behind them and ke fell out.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡±


    Lucas, the rank 5, and every noble that was celebrating a few minutes after ke¡¯s elimination were shocked to see ke who had almost touched the ground was back at the top.


    They had no idea that it was ke¡¯s n all along.


    If he wanted to dodge the attack, ke could have teleported to Luciano who was still in possession of the void dagger given to him the previous night, but ke decided to go on the offense.


    Once he was falling and everyone thought he was out, ke activated the spatial mark he had left on the pir at the start of the match.


    Unfortunately for Lucas and his teammate, they hadn¡¯t moved from the pir they attacked ke.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you fell for it.¡± ke said as he fell out of the spatial tear with Ebony and Ivory in his hands before stabbing the rank 5 in his heart and causing the golden barrier to envelope him.


    Lucas was so focused on making ke pay that he had forgotten that thepetition was the top priority. So not only would this affect his chances of winning the regionalpetition, but the act of losing focus on the real target gave a bad impression to the Emperor and counselors.


    ¡°YOOU!¡± Lucas was enraged and was about to unleash his full power on ke, but that was when the match was stopped by the announcer.


    ¡°Congrattions to the remaining 8 students for making it to the finals!¡± The announcer dered causing, Lucas to turn in the direction of the night mist to see only 2 of his teammates left.


    It turned out that when Luciano had joined Castiel and Damon, the 3 of them had entered the night mist and began eliminating those inside.


    As for Serhan, he had been inbat with the rank 3 of the capital right from the start of the match and had managed to hold his ground for so long.


    The crowd erupted in cheers as the show put on by the dimension mage and his darkness element teammates came to an end.


    It was a one-sided beatdown in which ke¡¯s team was responsible for every elimination that took. This was not only a shame to the south and capital magic schools but nobles in general.


    ¡°I guess I will be seeing you tomorrow.¡± ke said with a smirk as he walked past Lucas to meet up with his team.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 428

    Chapter 428: Brian¡¯s fear of heights.


    At the survival stage of the regionalpetition, the eastern magic school was sittingfortably at the top with 13 and a half points. That was an outrageous 9-and-a-half-point gap between them and the capital magic school which was in 2nd ce with only 4 points.


    At this point, it was safe to say that the eastern magic school was already the winner of thepetition, but no one was sure yet because the events and points for each round were random.


    Unknown to ke his team¡¯s wless victory against the other regions was thest straw that broke the camel¡¯s back.


    This time, the top-ranking nobles had decided that by all means, ke isn¡¯t to return to the arena.


    Since ke doesn¡¯t n on going out of the golden seal hotel, they would have to force him out.


    ...


    With smiles on their faces, ke and his team were warped back to the golden seal hotel. ke freshened up before joining his friends for lunch.


    .....


    After they were done, they told ke that they were going out again to tour the city. To be precise, they were going to visit Tarius amusement park.


    ke was tempted to see what the amusement park of this world would look like, but it was not tempting enough to put his life at risk.


    So he decided to return to his room and continue meditation, even though he knew he would most likely not experience a breakthrough that day.


    ...


    Using the teleporter on the 77th floor, Luciano and the group quickly made their way out of the golden seal hotel and boarded 2 carriages that took them to the Capital¡¯s amusement park.


    The golden seal hotel was located on the outskirt of the central region of the capital. This was to give everyone the feeling that the six-star hotel was open to all, but the sad truth was that it was quite pricey even for lesser nobles.


    The streets of the capital were more than twice as bustling as that of Calton city, but even at that, traffic was more organized thanks to the use of traffic lights.


    Unlike the mid-region of Calton city where most of the buildings were under 4 stories, the average buildings of the empire were 5 stories.


    20 minutes away from the amusement park, they could already see arge Ferris wheel and rollercoasters.


    ¡®When they were talking about an amusement park I thought it would something basic, but I had no idea it would be better than most amusement parks on earth!¡¯


    Castiel and Brian were astonished by the Ferris wheel that was almost the same height as the Dubai eye.


    Their carriage stopped in front of the yellow gate that had arge burning sign at the top. ¡°zing Park¡¯ was written on it.


    ¡°There are a lot more people than I expected.¡± Brian said.


    He was thinking that since the amusement park looked so beautiful, the nobles would want to take over. To their surprise, there were no nobles in sight.


    ¡°The zing Park was built for everyone, especially the normal citizens. The admission fees were made affordable for normal citizens, leading to the daily influx ofmoners.¡±


    ¡°The problem with this is that most nobles don¡¯t like being aroundmoners, let alone hundreds of them. That is why you will rarely see any of them there.¡± Luciano exined


    ¡°Finallymoners have something they could enjoy in peace.¡± Tessie said.


    ¡°How can they miss out on so much fun because of pride and prejudice?¡± Brian snorted as they walked forward.


    Luciano would have loved to mention to them that the nobles weren¡¯t missing out on anything. As a matter of fact, they were having more fun with their wealth, but he decided to keep this to himself.


    Just after the gate was ticket stands, and after purchasing one for everyone, Luciano led them into the amusement park.


    The zing Park had a singlerge road with junctions leading to the different rides in the park.


    ¡°What ride do you guys want to get on?¡± Luciano asked after they got buckets of popcorn and some sweets.


    ¡°That one!¡± Everyone except Brian simultaneously pointed at the gigantic Ferris wheel at the center of the park.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to ride the zing wheel?¡± Luciano asked Brian.


    ¡°Nah.¡± Brian said in a tense tone. ¡°As for what ride I would pick, I haven¡¯t made up my mind and I would like to see the other rides.¡±


    ¡°Alright then let¡¯s hook them up and then find a ride you like.¡± Luciano said to Brian.


    The zing wheel was 200 meters tall and 250 meters wide. The cabins were elliptical with mes painted on them.


    Inside the cabin were 3 white leather seats on each side equipped with seatbelts. At the center was a white table with contraptions like cup holders to hold whatever the passengers had with them.


    ¡°Why does this feel more like a rollercoaster instead of a Ferris wheel?¡± Brian gulped as he asked Luciano.


    ¡°Because it is.¡± Luciano said as he waved at the 4 to board one of the cabins.


    ¡°The zing wheel is slow until it gets to the top, then it suddenly drops at an astonishing speed and returns to the top.¡±


    ¡°Itpletes a slow revolution, but when it returns to the top, the same things happen again.¡± Luciano exined as they made their way to a different section of the park.


    ¡°The ridests for 30 minutes so we have enough time for you to try out other things.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°What do you suggest?¡± Brian asked.


    ¡°Since you are afraid of heights, I suggest you go for something grounded like a carousel. From there we can go for the zing carts.¡± Luciano suggested.


    ¡°Wait a minute! How the hell did you know that I am scared of heights?¡± Brian asked.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 429

    Chapter 429: Logic or heart.


    ¡°Wait a minute! How the hell did you know that I am scared of heights?¡± Brian asked.


    ¡°You became way quiet than usual, You were acting ufortable when someone spoke about the zing wheel, your voice was tense when you asked a question about it.¡±


    ¡°You are someone who likes doing things together with others, but without a reason, you decided you didn¡¯t want to join them.¡±


    ¡°Your palms were clenched nonstop at the zing wheel and your...¡± Luciano was still going, but Brian decided to stop him in his tracks.


    ¡°Was it that obvious?¡± Brian asked in an anxious tone as they turned into the road that led to the carousel.


    ¡°They were focused on the ride so I doubt, it was obvious to me.¡± Luciano answered without a change in expression.


    ¡°Thank the heavens.¡± Brian let out a sigh of relief.


    .....


    Right from his childhood, Brian retained his fear of heights. His nearly 3 years of experience had mitigated his phobia, but seeing that the zing wheel was worse than rides on Earth, it was a big no for him.


    As for the balloon carousel he was about to enter, it was just a few meters above the ground so he wasn¡¯t worried.


    ¡°You are not joining me?¡± Brian asked.


    ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t find things like this fun.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°So you will just stand there doing nothing?¡± Brian couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°...¡±


    Taking Luciano¡¯s silence as a yes, Brian took a seat and began thinking about his decision.


    ¡®It¡¯s lonely doing this shit alone. I should have just sucked it up and joined them at the zing wheel.¡¯ Brian thought as the carousel began moving.


    ¡®After this round, I am returning to the zing wheel.¡¯ Brian said with a newfound resolve to conquer his greatest fear.


    ...


    On the outside, Luciano was putting ns in ce for the grand finale taking ce the next day.


    ¡®The grand finale is individualbat, so I wonder what artifacts those from the capital would get.¡¯


    Although his eyes were on the carousel he was lost in thought, but he couldn¡¯t fail to notice that a seat was empty.


    Immediately, Luciano began searching for Brian with his eyes but he was nowhere to be found.


    ¡®He has been abducted.¡¯ Luciano thought with a deep frown before pulling out hismunication amulet and calling his brother.


    ¡°Brian has been abducted, I need a royal knight to be deployed.¡± Luciano said in a distressed tone.


    How Brian was abducted without others having a clue meant that the abductor was not below the demigod realm. Also, this meant that top nobles were involved, implying the ash corps wouldn¡¯t be reliable.


    That was why he directly opted for the royal knights, not only would their involvement mean a sessful rescue but they couldn¡¯t be dyed or diverted.


    ¡°He is the one with the least priority among the 3. So it would take quite some time and energy convincing Father to deploy one.¡± Bryon said.


    ¡°I suspect that he was abducted to lure ke out from the Golden Seal.¡± Luciano exined his suspicion.


    ¡°I am aware of that, but this is an opportunity to see if he will choose to be logical even at this moment.¡± Prince Bryon said in a pondering tone with his hand on his chin, but that was when he noticed that Luciano wasfortable with that train of thought.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry, a royal knight will be deployed just in time to save your friend even if ke gets involved. See you tomorrow at the arena, I have things to deal with.¡± Bryon said before cutting themunication link.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just make sure that Castiel doesn¡¯t get abducted too.¡± Luciano let out a helpless sigh.


    Brian wouldn¡¯t just get returned, so it was best he made sure that Castiel wasn¡¯t abducted too.


    ...


    On the 77th floor of the Golden Seal hotel.


    ke hadn¡¯t moved an inch from his current spot and had no n of doing so till dinner, but unfortunately his doorbell rang.


    ¡°Are they back already?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask with a raised brow.


    He used the see-through door function only to see no one was at the door, but that was when he saw a piece of paper on the floor.


    ¡®Scan the environment.¡¯ ke instructed the system.


    He was in a foreign city where he had even stronger enemies. So he was not taking any chances at all, especially with a letter that mysteriously appeared in front of his door.


    [Everything is safe, including the paper.]


    It was after the system gave him the green light that he finally opened the door and picked up the piece of paper before quickly shutting the door.


    ¡°Your brown friend has been abducted, you have 55 minutes to get to the location at the back. Make sure toe alone.¡± ke read out.


    ¡°Wtf! I thought he was with Luciano how did he end up getting kidnapped?!¡± ke face-palmed.


    [What¡¯s your n?] The system asked.


    ¡°I am not sure.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°This guy wants to kill me and would most likely kill Brian too after me, making it a stupid decision.¡± ke sat on his bed as he felt a headache brewing.


    ¡°These are not the useless nobles of Calton city, they would have employed someone that can surely get the job done. Also, there is most likely a contingency n to make sure there are no mistakes. So I will be dead either way.¡±


    ¡°Trying to save him means jeopardizing everything I have worked hard for and saying goodbye to ever seeing mom again, but it was because of me that he was targeted in the first ce.¡± ke thought with closed eyes.


    (AN: What do you guys think is the right decision, logic or heart?)


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 430

    Chapter 430: Rayzer appears.


    Although a good part of Brian¡¯s sess was from being associated with ke, one could say he was reaping the disadvantages. ke felt that it was just too much of a disadvantage.


    ¡°I am a bad person for even considering leaving him to fate.¡± ke said as he brought out hismunication amulet and called Luciano.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have much time. I believe you know that Brian was abducted, I wanted to know if you could request for royal knights.¡± ke asked.


    After more than 2 years of working closely with the ash corps at Calton city, ke knew that they wouldn¡¯t respond in time.


    So for those at the capital, ke wasn¡¯t na?ve to think they would be any different especially when top nobles were involved. That was why he went straight to requesting for the royal knights.


    ¡°I already did, but it would take a while because Brian is just amoner.¡± Luciano exined.


    ¡°Shit!¡± ke cursed. ¡°Alright then, I have no other choice than to do it myself.¡±


    .....


    ¡°In case I don¡¯t return, it was nice knowing you all.¡± ke cut themunication link before Luciano could say anything.


    [So that¡¯s your final decision?] The system asked.


    ¡°I am going to save him of course. If you like to put it more realistically, I am going to die with my friend.¡± ke said as he put on his ash shirt.


    [Any ns?] The system asked.


    ¡®Nothingplex, just hoping that a boatload of lucky is on my side and the enemy is someone that Ebony and Ivory can deal with.¡¯ ke said as he left his room.


    Using the teleporter on the 77th floor, ke warped down to the lobby before making his way out of the golden seal hotel.


    ¡®This was definitely not the way I wanted to explore the capital.¡¯ ke let out a helpless sigh as he boarded a carriage.


    ¡°Take me to the piston warehouse.¡± ke said to the carriage driver as he got on.


    ke wasn¡¯t in the mood to evaluate the living standards of the inhabitants of the capital let alone enjoy the view.


    After close to 40 minutes of a thought-filled journey, the carriage finally came to a stop in front of what seemed to be an abandoned little warehouse.


    ¡®Criminals need to start getting creative with their meeting points.¡¯ ke thought as he instructed the system to scan the environment.


    [I can¡¯t sense any traps, but I can sense 2 people at the center of the warehouse.] The system reported.


    ¡°Most likely Brian and the abductor.¡± ke said as he walked into the abandoned warehouse.


    ¡°Alright, let my friend go I did what you as... Fuck!¡± ke cursed as he walked into the warehouse and saw a woman standing beside Brian who was conscious and unarmed.


    The woman was 5¡¯6 feet tall with blonde hair and red lipstick. She wore a long ck coat with a white shirt that made her look no different than any woman in the city.


    The problem ke had was that she was not covering her face meaning she nned on killing both of them.


    [We have a big problem, she is in the Angel realm.] The system reported. This meant that even Ebony and Ivory would be useless.


    Immediately ke activated mind boost and almost instantly thedy who still had an unchanged expression fired mana the size of a needle.


    What seemed to look like a harmless attack from the angel, was not only way faster than ke, but it would go through anything ke could put up.


    Luckily, ke had activated mind boost before the attack and instantly opened a spatial corridor in front of him with an exit at the back.


    The speed of the needle-sized mana was so great that even the spatial corridor hadn¡¯t fully opened to half its size when it went through.


    Almost instantly the angel turned to her back and grabbed the mana needle prompting questions in her mind.


    ¡®How? The info only says he could open the spatial tears at locations of the dagger. Also, how was he able to react so fast?¡¯ The angel abductor thought.


    ¡®It doesn¡¯t matter, I will just end it with my hand.¡¯ The angel abductor thought as she turned back to ke, but that was when she saw a red-haired man in golden armor standing next to ke.


    ¡°Shit! How did a royal knight get here so quickly?!¡± The angel abductor immediately turned to run for her life but that was when the surrounding area changed to ava terrain.


    ¡°What the flying fuck?¡± ke was confused by how the warehouse changed to a volcano, but that was when he looked beside him and saw a red-haired man in golden armor.


    ¡°I think you should be more focused on bringing your friend over here.¡± Rayzer said snapping ke out of his reverie.


    ¡®Even if I could walk over a pool ofva, I can¡¯t just walk over to her. How does he expect me to save him without using the space element?¡¯ ke thought.


    [Because he saw how you defended against the mana and most likely knows you have the space element.] The system said.


    ¡®Are you sure?¡¯ ke who still had mind boost active asked.


    [I am 100% sure but I don¡¯t think Brian has much time left to live.] The system pointed at the angel who was currently charging a spell.


    The angel saw that escaping was no longer an option, so she decided she wasn¡¯t going out with a fight.


    ¡®Although I am a newly advanced angel, we are both on the same level. I still have a chance of escaping this.¡¯ The angel thought as she began charging her most powerful spell. On the other hand, Rayzer still hasn¡¯t made any move.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 431

    Chapter 431: Not in the same league.


    Inside the angelic domain was a volcanic world with scorching rocks and magma as its ground.


    The angel abductor knew that if she took her eyes off Rayzer even for a millisecond she would lose her life. So she didn¡¯t bother stopping ke from warping Brian to his side.


    In a matter of seconds, her lightning and wind mana fusion spell, heaven¡¯s call was ready, but before she could release the angel tier spell she exploded into a shower of blood.


    ¡°What the fuck just happened?¡± ke and Brian were stunned by the event that just took ce.


    This was a battle between angels so they had been expecting a lot of explosions, but instead, it had all ended in less than 3 minutes.


    ¡°Even if we are on the same level, they always keep forgetting that Royal knights are not in the same league as normal people.¡± Rayzer scoffed as he deactivated his volcanic domain.


    People weren¡¯t recruited to be royal knights just because they were in the angelic realm. It was because they were one of the bests in certain fields of magic.


    .....


    That was why he hadn¡¯t bothered about moving from the start of the one-sided beatdown.


    ¡°Thanks for the help, but I thought Luciano said it would take some time for a royal knight to get here?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Yes, that was because he has no clue that I have been following you.¡± Rayzer said.


    ¡°Wait, you have been following me?¡± ke asked with a shocked and confused tone.


    ¡°Your facial expressions are always the best.¡± Rayzer chuckled.


    ¡°Always the best?¡± At this point, ke was freaking out.


    ¡°Rx, it¡¯s not as if I stalk you all the time, I do have other things to do.¡± Rayzer said as he wiped the tear on his left cheek.


    ¡°I guess that isn¡¯t an exnation.¡± Rayzer said as he saw that ke was even more confused.


    ¡°On the day that you 3 were sent to the magic school, I was tasked by Prince Bryon to protect you.¡±


    ¡°So for 3 years, I have been watching over you, especially during tests, exams, adventurer association missions and even normal strolls out of the school environment.¡± Rayzer exined.


    ¡°So you know about me having the space element?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Rayzer said without a change in expression.


    ¡°Not to look ungrateful for saving me, but if you were following ke since we got admitted to the magic school that means you followed us into Azkelwart¡¯s base?¡± Brian asked.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t follow you all into the base because the artifact controlling the base didn¡¯t want me to enter. It just warped me to a different part of the Bulian hills while you guys entered the base.¡±


    ¡°Also, if I had joined you guys I would also need someone to save me because the golems and defensive arrays would kill me.¡± Rayzer said confusing both of them.


    ke and Brian couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it were the same golems they had defeated that he was talking about.


    Seeing their confused expressions, Rayzer exined to them how fury (the artifact in control of Azkelwart¡¯s base) was sentient and how they were manipted to awaken Azkelwart.


    ¡°Wow¡± ke and Brian muttered as everything began making sense.


    ¡°Last question, why did you decide to tell us this now?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°That¡¯s because Prince Bryon didn¡¯t want you to rx, also the protection will be ending after the regionalpetition is over.¡± Rayzer replied.


    ¡°let me guess, I would have helped him achieve a goal.¡± ke said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that. Not only is a lot of resources and manpower being wasted by having me protect you, but we have no clue of where your allegiance is.¡± Rayzer muttered as he didn¡¯t want ke to feel he has outlived his purpose and is to get dumped.


    ¡°I understand, it was a very nice exchange.¡± ke said with no hard feelings.


    ¡°So... What next?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°You guys should return and stay in the hotel, while I go back into hiding.¡± Rayzer said as the environment around him distorted for a brief second before he disappeared.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the hell out of here before they send someone else after us.¡± ke said as they exited the warehouse and boarded a carriage back to the Golden seal hotel.


    ...


    ¡°What a day.¡± ke let out a sigh as they stepped out of the warp array room.


    ¡°You guys are back already?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask when he saw Castiel, Luciano, Damon, Tessie and Cami standing in front of his door.


    ¡°Would you continue to stay at the amusement park when you hear that your friend has been kidnapped?¡± Damon asked with a raised brow.


    ¡°You have a...¡± Before ke could reply both Tessie and Cami hugged him.


    Brian was about toin but that was when Castiel and Luciano hugged him.


    ¡°So what happened? Did you guys sustain any damages?¡± Damon who was the only person that wasn¡¯t in any embrace asked.


    ¡°When I was on the carousel, I just cked out and found myself in an abandoned warehouse. A few minutester ke entered.


    ¡°To keep things short, a royal knight appeared when I was about to get killed. As for injuries, we are okay, we just need some rest.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Ahm I said we just need some rest.¡± ke repeated himself in a louder tone, causing Tessie and Cami to snap out of their reverie and let him go.


    ¡°I will see you guys at dinner, I have to freshen up and rest.¡± ke said as he unlocked his door and entered.


    ¡°I guess I will also see you guys at dinner.¡± Damon said as he headed to his room.


    On entering his room, Damon pulled out his goldenmunication amulet and called his Dad.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 432

    Chapter 432: Jaeger Nyx.


    ¡°You were thest person I expected to be on a call with.¡± Counselor Jaeger Nyx said with a smirk on his face.


    Jaeger Nyx was a 6¡ä 2 feet tall man who looked to be in histe 50¡¯s but was more than 5 centuries old.


    He was an older version of Damon, with an even worse obsession with the color ck. His slick back hair and short beard were all ck. Even the room he was currently in had no lights on and was also painted ck.


    Jaeger was supposedly the strongest counselor and the current leader of the 2nd strongest ancient family, Nyx.


    In terms of strength and resources, the Nyx family were only second to the royal family among the 4 founding families of the Synder Empire.


    The 3 ancient families were basically the families of Synder¡¯s right-hand men that helped him during the creation of the empire. Not only were they above the top 3 noble families of the empire, but they heavily influenced their actions.


    They chose to remain hidden from the public and even normal nobles while they controlled things from behind the scenes. That was why even though no one knew anything about Damon¡¯s background, the respect given to him was only second to Luciano.


    .....


    ¡°Before you go on can you kindly switch off the lights, they are burning my eyes.¡± Counselor Jaeger said.


    ¡°We both know that is a lie.¡± Damon said as he used a simple hand gesture to turn off the lights of the room.


    ¡°And this won¡¯t be the hundredth time you are telling me that.¡± Damon¡¯s dad snorted.


    ¡°So what is the reason for your call?¡± Jaeger asked.


    ¡°An assassination attempt was carried out on my friends, I wanted to know if you had a hand in it.¡± Damon¡¯s indifferent expression changed to a serious one.


    ¡°No. Since you said he was your friend, I decided to not partake in the other counselors¡¯ ns to assassinate him.¡±


    ¡°Besides, you know if I was involved not only would the current assassination attempt be a sess, but he wouldn¡¯t have lived for so long.¡± The counselor said as he examined his ck fingernails.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to hear that you still decide to be neutral in everything. Also, thanks for considering my feelings¡± Damon said with a genuine smile that anyone hardly saw.


    ¡°Politics is stressful so I am just doing so to not get stressed. Also, anything for you.¡± Jaeger said with a smile that everyone including fellow counselors hadn¡¯t seen.


    ¡°What would you have done if I was involved in the assassination attempt?¡± The smile on Jaeger¡¯s face disappeared, and the atmosphere and sky above the Nyx mansion became dampened as he stared at Damon¡¯s soul with pitch-ck eyes.


    ¡°Nothing, I just wouldn¡¯t have been happy with you.¡± Damon remained unfazed as this wasn¡¯t the hundredth time his dad was searching for the slightest form of fear in his soul.


    ¡°That¡¯s good to know.¡± Jaeger¡¯s smile returned just as every other thing returned to normal.


    ¡°You know you are the reason our side of the capital is deserted?¡± Damon said.


    ¡°The Nyx family name and my name instils fear into everyone, that is the reason why we have no estate neighbors.¡± Jaeger said.


    ¡°...¡±


    There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Damon¡¯s dad decided it was time to end the call.


    ¡°Since there is nothing else, I will return to my meditation.¡± Jaeger said.


    ¡°You won¡¯t ask me about my preparations for the finals?¡± Damon couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Damon was pampered by his dad, but when it came to training and achievements Jaeger was very strict. That was why he was shocked that he hadn¡¯t said anything about his performance and preparations for the finals.


    ¡°That¡¯s because if you win or not, it doesn¡¯t affect your future. See youter.¡± Jaeger said before cutting themunication link.


    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t matter, then why have I been working so hard?¡± Damon couldn¡¯t help but facepalm.


    ...


    In ke¡¯s room.


    ¡®Exin to me what a domain is. Also, how did the royal knight one-shot the angel?¡¯ ke asked as hey on the floor.


    [Domains are pocket dimensions which only Angels can assess. Each angel¡¯s domain is different in terms of looks and functionality.] The system said.


    ¡®You said it¡¯s only for angels, but how was the demigod from our first mission able to create one before he advanced to the angel realm?¡¯ ke asked.


    [Seems you have forgotten what happened that day. He had made use of the artifact to create the domain.] The system facepalmed.


    [Domains enhance the power and control of the dominant element of the user by a substantial amount. Also, it inhibits the power and control of pr opposite elements. So if there was a water user their ability would be reduced.] The system exined.


    [As for how he killed the angel, I don¡¯t know much but looking back at your memory her internal temperature was rising at an rming rate.]


    [I guess that he was increasing her internal temperature while using an illusion to make her not realize what was going on.] The system exined.


    ¡°Wow!¡± ke was mind blown by the exnation.


    He couldn¡¯t imagine how much control it took to raise the temperature of a human being without harming the armor or skin of the angel.


    ¡°This entire situation made me realize how useless I am. Although I might be the strongest student, those after my life are not students.¡± ke said in a helpless tone.


    ¡°I wonder what would happen after the regionalpetition is over. Would the nobles stille after me or would they let me be?¡± ke thought.


    [I guess we won¡¯t know till then.] The system said.


    ¡°You are right, no need to worry over something I can¡¯t change.¡± ke said as he got up and headed for the shower.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 433

    Chapter 433: First ever 1v1 battle.


    The next day which was the final day of the regionalpetition, ke woke up with a hate-filled heart.


    ke was angry at nobles for making people¡¯s life harder even when they already had everything. He was pissed off at them because they could ruin someone¡¯s life just because their pride was hurt.


    ¡°Let¡¯s end this shit and return to Calton city, I am sick of this ce.¡± ke said as he made his way out of the room and to the warping room.


    Alongside his 4 other teammates, ke was warped to the lobby of the arena.


    ¡°Is it me or is something wrong with ke?¡± Damon whispered to Castiel when he saw the frown on ke¡¯s face.


    Among the 5 of them, Castiel was the one that has spent the most time with ke. So he felt he should be the one to know what was wrong.


    ¡°That expression means that shit is about to go down.¡± Castiel said as he prayed to the heavens not to be put against ke.


    .....


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, wee to the final day of the regionalpetition.¡± The host announced.


    ¡°The final event is a 1 versus 1 elimination battle with randomly selected students, and each win grants 3 points to the region of the winners.¡±


    The announcement made the students from the capital thank the heavens because they still had a chance of winning the regionalpetition although it was very slim.


    For them to win the regionalpetition, not only were they not meant to face each other but the 3 remaining capital students had to win all their matches in the 1st round. This would leave them with 13 points.


    Then in the 2nd round, they would also have to win all their matches which would give them 19 points, leaving the east region at 16 and a half points.


    Although it was very unlikely that ke¡¯s team would win only 1 match in 2 rounds, the students from the capital were very confident, especially with what they had gotten from their families.


    ¡°The final event would not only dictate the winners of the regionalpetition, but also the strongest student of the Synder Empire.¡± The host announcement was apanied by thunderous cheers.


    With the announcement over, the random selection began.


    The first face to show up on the screen was that of Damon followed by ke.


    ¡®Funny how it took almost 3 years for us to have a 1v1 battle.¡¯ Damon thought as he turned to ke whose expression hadn¡¯t changed.


    All the encounters they ever had were during tests, exercises or exams with teammates.


    As for ranking challenges, Damon always thought that he would be able to defeat ke in a 1v1 situation, but Luciano being in 2nd position prevented the encounter.


    For the other matches, Serhan was paired against Lucas, Castiel against the rank 3 of the capital and Luciano against the rank 2.


    [It seems they aren¡¯t even hiding their interference anymore.] The system said in a disgusted tone after seeing the lineup. It was too much of a coincidence that none of the students from the capital was facing each other.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± ke said as he began walking to one of the tforms that would take them to the top.


    The tforms took both him and Damon to the center of the arena where they took their positions on the battlefield.


    ¡°This would be the 1st time we would be facing each other in almost 3 years.¡± Damon said to ke as they waited for the signal to begin.


    ¡°Not to brag, but I don¡¯t think anything would have changed.¡± ke said causing Damon tough out loud.


    ¡°I like your confidence.¡± Damon said.


    Their conversation made the audience wonder why ke had been the number 1 in Calton magic school. Apart from dimensional magic, there was nothing too special about him, especially whenpared to Luciano who had golden mes and Damon who had the darkness element.


    ¡°Begin!¡± The host finally announced the start of the final event of the regionalpetition.


    Immediately after the signal was given, a pitch ck light armor appeared on Damon¡¯s body. He wasted no time activating one of the armor¡¯s skills which granted him increased speed.


    Although he and ke awakened the lightning element, ke was faster because it was his main element and he had the Raiju breathing technique that enhanced lightning spells.


    With the increased speed granted by his armor and the passive of lightning and darkness element, Damon activated lightning reinforcement and dashed at ke.


    When he covered half the distance, Damon activated darkbringer before changing direction and attacking from behind.


    ¡®He is very fast, it¡¯s not something I can¡¯t handle.¡¯ ke said as he activated lightning before moving his head to the left and dodging the punch without even turning.


    ¡®How can he sense me?!¡¯ Damon was so shocked by what happened that he had to back off, but that was when ke turned to him with Ebony and Ivory in his hands.


    The system¡¯s detection skill was like a still pond. So if anyone or anything was to enter its detection range it could use the disturbance in the surrounding to map out the location and shape of the person or object.


    Taking in a deep breath to temporarily boost the effect of the lightning reinforcement, ke dashed toward Damon.


    When he got within range, ke jumped before using me bursts to begin spinning with both des in his hands.


    ¡®Fuck!¡¯ Damon cursed as he dodged the attacks until kended, before creating a shadow path to slow him and prevent further follow-ups.


    ¡°Nice try, but that won¡¯t work.¡± ke said as he put back Ebony and Ivory in his dimensional pocket and threw a void dagger at Damon who was trying to retreat to a safe distance.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 434

    Chapter 434: A threat to the Nyx family?


    ¡°Nice try.¡± ke said as he put back Ebony and Ivory in his dimensional pocket and threw a void dagger at Damon who was retreating.


    Having been with ke for almost 3 years, Damon knew almost every trick of the void daggers. He knew there was no point in blocking or dodging because as long as it passed through that area, ke knew the spatial location and could open a spatial corridor.


    Shadow Jump!


    Damon sank into his shadow and rose from ke¡¯s shadow behind ke, but that was he saw another void daggering at him.


    ¡°Give me a break!¡± Damon cursed ke¡¯s persistence as he deflected the void dagger with a lightning bolt.


    ¡°Got you!¡± ke said as he opened 3 spatial tears. One at Damon¡¯s previous location, one at Damon¡¯s current location and thest which he thrust Ebony into.


    For shadow jump to work there needed to be a shadow within a certain range before he could jump.


    .....


    Also, shadow path was useless because it slows down the body only when it was directly in contact with the shadow path. In this case, it was just Ebonying at him.


    ¡°You wish!¡± Damon smirked as the lightning bolt used to deflect the void dagger made the dagger¡¯s shadowrge enough for him to shadow jump.


    Immediately Damon popped out of the dagger¡¯s shadow, he cast shadow path before distancing himself from ke.


    ¡°Finally!¡± Damon let out a sigh of relief as he began to assess the situation.


    ¡®I am still not fast enough and I have no clue how he is able to sense me even with darkbringer active.¡¯ Damon thought.


    ¡®I guess I have no other choice.¡¯ Damon said as he activate his darkness artifact. Both his armor and darkness artifact amplified darkness spells, so when he activated night mist, it began filling the battlefield that was as big as an American football field.


    The only way to counter night mist was to leave its range of effect, but there was no ce to go.


    ¡°Time to end this.¡± Damon activated the fear factor of the night mist.


    ¡®Seems like he has gotten serious.¡¯ ke thought as he was amid the ck mist, but that was when the battlefield changed to his home back on Earth.


    ¡®Let it not be what I think it is.¡¯ ke thought as he saw the door handle broken and the door wide open.


    Before ke could enter the house, Ivory lit up dispelling the illusion.


    ¡®Thanks.¡¯ ke thanked Ivory as he continued to stand still faking being trapped in the illusion.


    When Damon came in front of him and shed with a ck curved de, ke finally moved. He dodge the attack before grabbing onto Damon left hand and pulling him closer.


    ¡®How?!!!!¡¯ Damon was utterly confused as he received a blow to the abdomen.


    ¡®Darkbringer, nightshade artifact, night mist, and illusions. So how is he still able to sense me?¡¯ Damon was perplexed as he was mmed headfirst into the ground.


    ¡°As I said, it doesn¡¯t make any difference.¡± ke said as he stabbed Damon with Ebony causing a golden barrier to envelope him.


    Right from the first time ke had seen Damon fight, he had been thinking of ways to counter the darkness element. Luckily he had the system and Ebony and Ivory.


    Illusions were useless against ke thanks to the passive ability of Ivory, the same went for the darkness element.


    Spells like night mist that rendered the senses of the body useless did not affect the system. The system only needed ke¡¯s vision to record memories, so the ck mist was no different from the concealing effects of darkbringer.


    ...


    Inside the luxurious booth of Councilor Jaeger Nyx, not only was he alone but it waspletely dark just like he liked it.


    ¡®Still being able to sense him with only darkbringer active is not a problem. The question is how he could do so even with night shade active.¡¯ Damon¡¯s dad was shocked by the oue.


    ¡°Any info on how he could do that?¡± Jaeger asked as a shadow rose at one of the corners of the luxurious booth.


    ¡°During their stay in the magic school, he had rarely gone against either young master or the other one. As for the time they have met, Prince Luciano had dealt with it using an artifact.¡± The shadow reported.


    ¡°What of the other councilors, do they know anything about it?¡± Jaeger asked.


    ¡°No, they are also clueless.¡± The shadow reported.


    ¡°Hmm¡±


    Jaeger was concerned about the event that just unfolded because the Nyx family were in control of the darkness element in the Synder Empire. So someone that could somehow counter the darkness element and even darkness artifacts was a danger to them.


    Not only could he share the info with the other ancient families which would in turn weaken their strength and power, but he would be a problem if he decide to go against them.


    ¡®The only option I can think of is that Prince Bryon gave him an artifact.¡¯ Jaeger thought.


    ¡°Dismissed.¡± Jaeger said as the shadow instantly vanished.


    ...


    Back at the lobby, the match was just over and Serhan watched as both ke and Damon returned to the lobby.


    ¡®I shouldn¡¯t be surprised, he is always full of surprises.¡¯ Serhan thought after recalling how ke won without taking a single hit.


    ¡°Next match Serhan vs Lucas.¡± The host¡¯s announcement snapped Serhan out of his reverie.


    ¡®No matter who I was paired against, I would still lose.¡¯ Serhan thought as he let out a helpless sigh. He was the least ranked person in both schools, and even the 2nd lowest which was Castiel would beat him thanks to the darkness element.


    ¡®Let¡¯s just hope I don¡¯t get defeated in less than a minute.¡¯ Serhan thought as he walked up to the tform that took him to the center of the arena.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 435

    Chapter 435: Serhan¡¯s rotten luck.


    Although Serhan¡¯s n of impressing his dad and making a name for himself was about to be cut short by Lucas, he wasn¡¯t too worried because his performance so far had been quite good. So he was leaving the rest to ke and the others.


    ¡®All we need is a win against the students of the capital, so it doesn¡¯t matter how badly I lose.¡¯ Serhan thought as he saw Lucas who was quite a distance away from him.


    ¡°Begin!¡± The host announced.


    ¡®He has the golden mes and the water element, meaning the only thing I am superior in is speed.¡¯ Serhan wasn¡¯t confident that it was enough.


    Golden mes were not only more than 3 times hotter than normal mes, but a golden me user also had more control over the fire element. As for the water element, Lucas could use it for both offensive and defensive ways such as quenching his mes.


    In just a few seconds, Serhan hadpleted his n, but that was when Lucas raised his right hand. The ring on his middle finger lit up and a king rank zing hawk flew out.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Serhan alongside the audience and otherpetitors were stunned by the appearance of a zing hawk.


    .....


    The zing hawk stood at a height of 6 meters. It had ck contour feathers (the colorful feathers seen on the outside) that were sharp and strong as steel. Inbat mode, the wings and tail would begin burning while the contour feathers would be red hot.


    ¡°He is a beast tamer with a king rank beast?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask because things weren¡¯t adding up.


    Lucas was an aquamancer, so him being a beast tamer was not impossible. The problem ke had with the scenario was the rank of his beast.


    Oliver who was the strongest beast tamer in Calton city had only 2 king-rank beasts, which he had trained from a very young age to be obedient.


    So it was practically impossible for Lucas who had only learnt how to subdue beasts less than a year to capture or train a king rank beast.


    [Beast tamers can create a space linked to them for their beasts, just like your pocket dimension. So the ring just shows that the beast isn¡¯t his.] The system exined.


    During the beast tide, Oliver Nystrom hadn¡¯t used any item or artifact to store his beasts instead, he had used a beast tamer spell to summon them from their beast dimension.


    ¡®Are you saying it¡¯s an artifact that can summon a king-rank beast?¡¯ ke asked.


    [No, I am saying that a beast tamer had ced his beast into the ring and hadmanded the beast to obey him.] The system exined.


    ¡®So this is how desperate they are to win.¡¯ ke shook his head.


    [Serhan does have rotten luck.] The system said, to which ke nodded.


    ...


    The appearance of the zing hawk had shattered all of Serhan¡¯s ns, but the worst part was that he didn¡¯t have time to change his ns because the king-rank beast was already charging a spell.


    ¡°Fuck me!¡± Serhan cursed as he activated lightning reinforcement and dashed out of the way.


    BOOM!


    Instantly, arge beam of mes shot past the area he just came out from and smashed into the barriers protecting the viewers.


    ¡°Holy shi¡± Before Serhan could curse a tide of golden mes mmed him into the ground.


    Thanks to his armor and fire resistance, Serhan wasn¡¯t knocked unconscious, but just as he tried getting up he saw the zing hawk gliding toward him.


    ¡®Fuck!¡¯


    Before he could react, the talons of the zing hawk were already on him, causing the golden barrier to envelope him.


    ¡°Winner of the second match, Lucas!¡± The host announced.


    Unlike ke¡¯s match where the viewers cheered after the match, the arena was filled with murmurs.


    It was clear to the viewers that the zing hawk was given to him by the royal family because the ring was not with him during the 1st and 2nd events.


    They were not happy because this was an event that was meant to showcase the individual skills of each participant, not how many resources their families possessed.


    Most of the viewers would have booed Lucas, but doing that was disrespectful to the royal family. So they decided to whisper.


    ...


    Back at the lobby.


    The only person shocked and worried about the appearance of a king-rank beast was Castiel. That was because the other 2 students from the capital knew they couldn¡¯t defeat Lucas, while ke and Luciano already had ways to counter it.


    ¡°It¡¯s not as if I was nning on winning in the first ce. I will just leave it to ke and Luciano to handle.¡± Castiel thought as he began walking up to the tform that took him to the center of the arena.


    His opponent was the rank 3 of the capital who awakened the wind and water element, but he wasn¡¯t worried at all.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Immediately after the host announced the start of the match, the rank 3 brought out an epic tier green bow that had eyes at the belly and back of the bow.


    Apart from allowing the user to fire arrows based on the elements of the user, the epic tier bow had an auto lock ability that allowed bows to continuously change direction as they chased after their target.


    Although the abilities didn¡¯t look like much, the bow was deadly not only was every shot very powerful but they were all guaranteed hits.


    ¡®I need to probe the abilities of the bow before I can do anything serious.¡¯ Castiel thought as he went into a battle stance.


    Woosh!


    The rank 3 wasted no time firing an ice arrow that left arge frosty path in the air.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 436

    Chapter 436: Can¡¯t win with brute force.


    Once the signal for the match to start was given, the rank 3 of the capital wasted no time firing an ice arrow that left arge frosty path in the air.


    ¡°Holy cow!¡± Castiel screamed as he used a meburst to get out of the way just in the nick of time.


    ¡°What the fuck?¡± Castiel didn¡¯t have the time toin because not only was the ice arrowing back to him, but the rank 3 had also fired another arrow.


    With the arrow changing direction, Castiel guessed the bow¡¯s ability. So he decided it was time to act.


    Dark bringer!


    Instantly, Castiel vanished, causing the eyes on the bow to dart all around the battlefield in search of their target.


    With both ice arrows losing their target they mmed into each other causing a miniature explosion.


    .....


    BOOM!


    Seeing that even the eyes on the bow couldn¡¯t track Castiel, the rank 3 began continuously firing wind des at random locations.


    ¡°There you are!¡± The rank 3 grinned as he saw explosive fire arcs countering wind des at the left side of the battlefield.


    Without wasting a second, he stretched the string of the bow and fired a few shots while also casting multiple wind des in that direction.


    ¡®Does he think I am that stupid to reveal my location?¡¯ Castiel thought as he released 2rge fire arcs from Typhlosion at the normal wind des at the side.


    Just when the ice arrows were about to hit the spot he was in, Castiel sunk into the ground and rose from the shadow cast by one of therge me arcs.


    ¡°...¡± The grin on the rank 3¡¯s face turned upside down when he saw that the ice arrows passed through the area without hitting anything.


    It was then that he realized the true purpose of therge me arcs, but that was when over 6 me arcs wereing for him.


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    The rank 3 cursed because the fire arcs originated from a closer position than before.


    This was bad not only because he was a ranged fighter and close-quartersbat was his weakness, but because unlike ke who had lightning reinforcement, he didn¡¯t have the mobility to escape the spells of the darkness element.


    Wind Dome!


    To make sure that the distance between them would no longer reduce, he cast wind dome which was arge dome of wind that covered a radius of 5 meters.


    The wind dome had a powerful suction force that prevented anyone that stepped in from escaping while hundreds of wind des were fired to all parts of the dome from the center.


    The only safe ce was the center of the dome where the rank 3 stood, but that was also where the wind des wereing out from, leaving the wind dome with no blind spots.


    The downside of the wind dome was that not only did it drain a lot of mana, but it was stationary, meaning the caster couldn¡¯t move out of the safe spot without deactivating the spell.


    ¡®That was the n all along.¡¯ Castiel grinned as he activated night mist.


    With the activation of the wind dome, the power behind each shot, and the bow¡¯s ability to convert water to ice, it was clear to Castiel that the rank 3¡¯s mana was being heavily drained.


    So this was the best time to use night mist especially since he was forced to remain stationary in the wind dome.


    ¡®Fuck me sideways!¡¯ The rank 3 cursed as he could only stand and watch as night mist make its way into the wind dome.


    ¡®What do I do now?¡¯ The rank 3 began raking his head for a solution that would bring him out of this tight spot.


    ¡®I still can¡¯t see him, the wind element is useless against this mist, and I can¡¯t leave because activating the wind dome costs more than maintaining it. So even if I can make it out I won¡¯t be able to use it again, leaving me defenseless.¡¯ The rank 3 thought.


    Leaving the night mist was the best choice, but he knew the moment he deactivated the wind dome, Castiel would warp to his location and finish him.


    ¡®If you try to leave I will end you, if you don¡¯t either you arepletely drained or you sumb to my illusions. Checkmate!¡¯ Castiel thought with a wide grin as he closely watched and waited for the rank 3 next course of action.


    ¡®Fuck my luck for being paired against him.¡¯ The rank 3 cursed as he decided to remain in the same position.


    Although the Nystrom family had given him a very powerful weapon, it was useless against the darkness element.


    If he had faced anyone else he would have been able to dominate the match since they couldn¡¯t dodge the attack or continuously block so many powerful shots.


    (AN: For those thinking why wasn¡¯t he given something to counter the darkness element? You should remember that both the element and artifacts as well as the counter of the element are rare.)


    It didn¡¯t take long for the rank 3 to sumb to the illusions of the night mist and for his mana to bepletely drained.


    It was only then that Castiel went in and finished him up by stabbing him with 5 of his darkness tendrils.


    ¡°Winner Castiel!¡± The host announced the oue of the match causing the crowd to cheer at the power and amazing performance of Castiel.


    ¡°GG.¡± Castiel smiled as he walked out of the battlefield.


    ...


    ¡®Because of the rarity of the space and darkness element, a lot of people don¡¯t understand them. The space and darkness elements are not straightforward, so they can¡¯t be defeated by just using brute force.¡¯ ke thought with an impressed expression after watching Castiel¡¯s fight.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 437

    Chapter 437: me kin.


    The final event of the regionalpetition was the individual event and with Castiel clenching the victory in his match, the East had unofficially won the regionalpetition, but it wasn¡¯t to be announced till the end of the final event.


    Winning the regionalpetition would not only give the counselor of the region more authority and freedom to make certainws, but it also meant greater allocation of resources for the region¡¯s development.


    As for the students that hadn¡¯t been eliminated, they were no longerpeting for their schools but themselves.


    Thest event of the regionalpetition was to determine the strongest student of the empire. The winner would get arge number of gold coins, artifacts and most importantly recognition.


    Nobles did not need the gold coins, the artifacts from the royal family and the recognition were the most important thing. With the recognition, they could start their career in the military andter on venture into politics.


    As formoners, the recognition they would receive was even greater because theypeted with those at the top of the food chain and won.


    ...


    .....


    Since this was still the first round, there was no break between fights. So once Castiel had won his match, Luciano had begun making his way up to the tform.


    His opponent was Austin Karius, the rank 2 of the capital who had awakened the lightning and water element, making him quite a good counter for Luciano hypothetically.


    ¡°Begin!¡± The host announced the start of thest match of the 1st round.


    Once the signal had been given, Austin who was in a deep blue elemental armor activated lightning reinforcement and dash forward while firing water spells.


    ¡®Why do they always waste mana doing useless things at the beginning of the match all in the name of ¡®probing¡¯ the opponent?¡¯ Luciano shook his head as he created arge ring of fire using golden mes.


    Once the water spells got to him, the ring of golden mes rose, easily quenching them.


    ¡°My turn.¡± Luciano said as he began continuously firingrge amounts of golden mes at Austin.


    Sensing the mana used to cast suchrge amounts of mes, Austin saw no need in trying to counter them with water spells when he could just dodge them.


    Putting more mana into lightning reinforcement, it became quite easier for the Austin to dodge the rain of fire spells.


    ¡®He is quite slowpared to ke and Damon, this shouldn¡¯t be too difficult.¡¯ Luciano thought as he began firing explosive fire arrows at both Austin¡¯s current position and possible positions.


    Although his predictions were not 100% urate, it made it even more difficult for Austin to continue dodging.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Austin cursed as the force and scorching heat from the explosions of one of the me arrows hit him. (Luckily for him he had moved quite a distance away from it, thus receiving very little damage.)


    ¡®The mes are too hot and powerful, I can¡¯t even get close to him.¡¯ Beads of sweat rolled down his face as the temperature of Luciano¡¯s part of the battlefield had risen to staggering heights.


    Normal mes were nothingpared to golden mes. Golden mes were more than 4 times as hot as normal mes, and in addition to that, golden me users had twice as much control as normal pyromancers.


    The absurd power of the golden mes was the reason why Luciano rarely used the wind element.


    ¡®At this rate, there is no doubt that I will lose.¡¯ Austin thought.


    The situation was very bad because the fire element was very destructive, so fire users were not meant to be allowed to go on the offense.


    The hrious part was that at the start of the match he had been the one on the attack, but now the tables were turned.


    ¡°If I want to have a chance I have to use it.¡± Austin said as he activated the ability of his elemental armor that doubled the power and control of his water spells.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try this again.¡± With lightning reinforcement active, Austin once again dashed toward Luciano while dodging fire attacks and quenching mes when necessary with greater amounts of water.


    ¡®His elemental armor is quite powerful, but does he think that it is enough to defeat me?¡¯ Luciano scoffed at Austin¡¯s futile attempts.


    With golden mes burning in the surrounding the moisture in the air was minuscule meaning the power of water abilities would be reduced.


    ¡®Time to add fuel to the mes.¡¯


    Luciano raised his hands and multiple mid-sized whirlwinds began appearing in the areas with the most mes.


    With the addition of more mes and with the whirlwinds being very low in humidity, in a matter of seconds Luciano¡¯s half of the battlefield was filled with ming whirlwinds.


    ¡°How can he withstand so much heat?!¡± Austin couldn¡¯t help but ask as he covered himself with a thinyer of water before returning to his side of the battlefield.


    ¡®He is a monster!¡¯ Austin was shocked as he watched Luciano standing in the middle of a ring of fire and multiple golden me whirlwinds without even showing a sign of pain.


    Although the pyromancers were resistant to fire, they still weren¡¯t immune to it. A hot enough fire would still cause damage to their body, that was why when scorching mes were used for a prolonged period they could get a heat stroke.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t the same for members of the royal family. The golden mes were only second to white mes, so overheating and burning oneself had been put into consideration. That was why every member of the family had to go through heat training.


    Right from birth, Luciano had been continuously exposed to heat, and as he got older the heat he was exposed to got fiercer.


    He surely wasn¡¯t immune to fire, but he wasn¡¯t in the same league as normal people.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 438

    Chapter 438: me kin (part 2)


    Once the whirlwinds had turned to mes, it was time for Luciano to begin the next phase of his n.


    ¡®This should suffice¡¯ Luciano thought as he brought out his golden sword before throwing it into the ring of mes around it.


    ¡®What is he nning?¡¯ Austin was shocked as he saw Luciano direct more mes at the sword.


    ¡®In almost 3 years of our stay in the school, Luciano had only used the sword during our battle against the knight-rank praying mantis.¡¯


    ¡®We only knew that it granted the user berserk mode with more power and speed the more it gets hit. So what is he doing now?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask as Luciano kept on pouring golden mes on the sword.


    ¡®Attacking him would only be a waste of mana.¡¯ Using this opportunity, Austin began putting out the mes closest to him.


    After close to 3 minutes of heating his golden sword, Luciano opened his hands causing the sword to transform into dual-chained sickles and flew to him.


    .....


    The peak epic tier weapon could transform from a sword to dual-chained sickles or long staff with des at both ends.


    It had one active and two passive skills. Its only active skill was the berserker, but its true strength was in its two passive skills.


    The first passive skill was the one that ke saw, as long as the des kept getting struck the physical and magical power being supplied by the berserker skill would keep increasing. The same went for the second passive skill, but only as the sword kept increasing in temperature.


    Heat marks!


    With the glowing tattoos of heat marks absorbing the heat from the sea of mes all around, Luciano began spinning the chains of the des as he activated its berserker skill.


    Ding! Ding! Ding!


    The sickles began hitting the ground, and with every hit, the ring of fire as well as the fire whirlwinds began increasing in size and intensity.


    Luciano wasn¡¯t done yet, he activated berserk mode (fire pathway) causing his eyes to glow with golden light and the mes to double in size.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡±


    Everyone including Austin was shocked by the enormous amount of mes Luciano had generated. His entire half of the battlefield was covered with golden mes to the point that even those sitting in the top seats of the arena couldn¡¯t see him.


    ¡®Fuck me!¡¯ Austin cursed as he hurriedly activated the spell-holding ring given to him by his family.


    The rank 2 of the capital raised his hand into the air before a torrent of water burst out of the ring, submerging the other half of the battlefield.


    ¡®What the fuck is that ring?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [That is a spell-holding ring and the reason why you haven¡¯t seen one before is that they are rare. They can store spells, and depending on their grade they could hold up to angel-rank spells.]


    [The spell holding ring also allows the user to control the stored spell which in this case is a demigod-rank spell called, waterfall, just as if they were the ones that cast the spell.] The system exined.


    ¡®That exins why they are rare.¡¯ ke began fantasizing about everything he could do if he got his hands on one. He started making ns to get one.


    ...


    Back on the battlefield which was divided into fire and water.


    Thanks to the passive ability of the water element that granted waterborns fins and gills, Austin had no problem being submerged in water.


    (AN: I can¡¯te up with a better name for the hero level of the water element. Does anyone have a better name?)


    ¡®This should be enough.¡¯ Austin tried to convince himself, but there was still a part of him that felt he was underestimating Luciano.


    ¡°You think that is enough, I will teach you not to underestimate the power of the golden mes.¡± Luciano said using mana to propagate his voice into the water body Austin was in.


    ¡®He must be bluffing, he can¡¯t quench a demigod water spell just like that.¡¯ Austin was both confused and anxious, but he had no time to think about it because the sea of golden mes wasing toward him.


    Right before everyone¡¯s eyes, therge body of water began evaporating at an rming rate.


    ¡®How can he control so many mes all at once and from such a far distance?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask as he found the scene currently ying out unbelievable.


    [Not sure but it¡¯s most likely his sword.] The system said as both of their eyes were glued to the screen.


    After close to 5 minutes of the arena being drowned by the fizzling noise produced by the sh of both elements, the silence had returned.


    Thanks to the special screens, the steam produced wasn¡¯t obstructing the view, allowing the crowd to see that bothpetitors hadn¡¯t moved an inch.


    It was a stalemate!


    Luciano¡¯s mes hadpletely quenched a demigod-level water spell, but that was not for long because Austin had once again activated the spell-holding ring.


    ¡®This is thest charge. I might not make it past the next round, but if I take him out it would be worth it.¡¯ Austin thought as he controlled waterfall spell to move toward Luciano.


    That was when Luciano brought out his artifact which was a stone pyramid with inscriptions of an eye amid mes.


    ¡°Lord of chaos, Eternal mes that¡¯s turns everything to ashes, bestow on your faithful servant the mes to vanquish all iniquity.¡±


    Immediately after the chant was over golden mes burst out of the stone pyramid in Luciano¡¯s hands and instantly evaporated every single drop of water before attacking Austin and causing the golden barrier to envelope him.


    ¡°Winner, Luciano!¡± The host announced.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 439

    Chapter 439: Wishe true.


    With the end of Luciano¡¯s match, the first round of the final event was concluded.


    The remaining contestants were given high-quality mana regenerating potions and a 1-hour break to prepare for the next round.


    ¡°I would have loved to use this time to fill my stomach with something delicious, but I am afraid that it would make me feel heavy for the next fight.¡± ke let out a helpless sigh.


    [The only thing you think about is food?] The system scoffed.


    ¡®There is nothing else to think about, I am done nning countermeasures for everyone.¡¯ ke said to the system but he suddenly turned to see Lucas walk up to him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you look too happy for someone that is about to lose?¡± Lucas said with a smirk on his face.


    ¡°Lose to who, you?¡± ke burst out inughter, annoying Lucas and making him wonder what was giving him so much confidence.


    .....


    ¡®Didn¡¯t he watch my match against Serhan? Even if he didn¡¯t, he should have heard about the zing falcon from his friends.¡¯ Lucas thought.


    ¡°I just hope we meet in the next round so that I can put you in your ce.¡± Lucas said with a disgusted look on his face.


    ¡°Above you right? Because if I remember correctly I have won you in basically everything so far.¡± ke said with a smirk that left Lucas tongue-tied. He had never had someone talk to him like this, and it wasn¡¯t as if ke was wrong either.


    With nothing else to say, Lucas stormed off causing ke to chuckle.


    ¡®It feels good getting into people¡¯s heads.¡¯ ke thought with a smirk stered on his face.


    ...


    After the 1 hour break time was over, the draw for the next round began.


    The first face that appeared on the screens of the viewers was Lucas, and just a few secondster ke also appeared.


    ¡®After our battle is over he would regret that his wish came through.¡¯ ke said to Ebony and Ivory causing them to roar in happiness in his mind.


    As for the second match it was between Castiel and Luciano, and everyone knew what the oue would be.


    With the draws over, ke and Lucas made their way to the tform that carried them to the center of the battlefield


    ¡°Begin!¡± Without wasting time, the host announced the start of the 1st match of the 2nd round.


    ¡®I would have loved to make him pay by showing him that he is nothing but a peasant, but I have to save my mana for the battle against Luciano.¡¯ Lucas thought.


    The royal family had a rule that none of their trained beasts or artifacts was allowed to be used against other members of the royal family, especially inpetitions. Meaning he wouldn¡¯t be able to use the zing falcon against Luciano.


    On raising his right hand, the ring on his middle finger lit up and the king rank zing hawk flew out.


    Kee-eeeee-arr!


    The hawk screamed as it flew high in the air and spread its massive wings.


    ¡°Nice bird you¡¯ve got there.¡± ke said as he threw Ebony and Ivory into the air.


    ¡®Is he surrendering?¡¯ Lucas as well as the rest of the crowd were confused by ke¡¯s action.


    The greatsword split into two and just as they were about to touch the ground, a fire and ice explosion broke out from the swords.


    ROAR!


    Booming roars that sent chills down the spine of even demigods were heard all around the arena.


    When the smoke and frost cleared the crowd saw two 5-meter tall king rank beasts. One had pitch ck fur with glowing red tattoos all around its body, while the other had snow white fur with glowing blue tattoos.


    Ebony had a savage look as it continuously grunted at the zing hawk, while Ivory was calm but emitted a bone-chilling aura.


    ¡°The reports never said anything about him having 2 King rank beasts!¡± Nobles and even counselors were confused by the scene that just took ce.


    ¡°Sir he had always had the sword since his 1st year, but the beasts had never been spotted.¡±


    They were all wondering how he got his hands on the sword in the first ce, and were tempted to ask for another background check but that was when they all turned to Bryon¡¯s booth.


    ke receiving the sword from Bryon was the only exnation, but it now made them feel that their descendants were underprepared even though they had been given different powerful artifacts.


    ...


    ¡®I can¡¯t lose just like that.¡¯ Lucas thought as his confusion turned to anger.


    ¡®I should still be able to take him down!¡¯ Lucas thought with a newfound resolve as he summoned a purple armor.


    Lucas¡¯ parents knew that the chances of winning the regionalpetition were very slim. So they were banking on him winning thest event. That was why they had given him 2 powerful artifacts.


    The 2 artifact was the purple armor with the ability to quadruple the power of all of the user¡¯s elements.


    ¡°Attack!¡± Lucas ordered the zing hawk as he began casting both fire and water spells.


    Kee-eeeee-arr!


    The zing hawk dived at both Ebony and Ivory, but a roar from Ebony immediately caused it to change direction.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Lucas, as well as ke and everyone in the arena, were confused by what just happened.


    ¡®What just happened?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [Not sure but it is either afraid of Ebony or it has something to do with pathway suppression.] The system said.


    ¡®I thought pathway suppression had to affect only those lower in realm?¡¯ ke asked.


    [Yes, but I can¡¯t see any other exnation because if it was afraid it would have attacked in the first ce.] The system exined.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 440

    Chapter 440: Finals as usual.


    ¡°Useless piece of shit!¡± Lucas cursed the zing hawk as he saw it changing direction.


    ¡°I will just handle this myself.¡± Lucas said as he cast an ice and golden fire dragon at Ebony and Ivory respectively.


    The ice dragon left a thick trail of ice, while the golden fire dragon was so hot that it melted the ground below it.


    Just when the ice and fire dragon were a few meters away from the wolves, their eyes as well as the tattoos began glowing. They took control of the spell and returned it to Lucas.


    ¡®What the fuck?! How?!¡¯ Lucas was shocked to the core when he saw that both elemental dragons wereing back to him.


    Lucas had no idea that Ebony and Ivory weren¡¯t just any king rank beast. Not only were the elemental dragons nothing to them, but their control over the fire and ice element was so strong that they could take over his spell.


    Snapping out of it, Lucas conjured another set of golden fire and an ice dragon to counter them.


    .....


    BOOM!


    The sh of both sets of spells sent Lucas flying a few meters back.


    ¡®Fuck me!¡¯ Lucas cursed as he got back his footing, but that was when Ebony and Ivory instantly appeared beside him.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Lucas cursed as he tried to jump out of their midst, but standing so close to Ivory had chilled his entire body including his joints, thus drastically reducing his reaction speed.


    Wasting no time, Ivory used her powerful jaws to mp him from the sides before tossing him high up into the air. Ebony jumped up and turned into a ming tornado that mmed into Lucas.


    BOOM!


    The collision had caused Lucas to m into the top of the area that was protected by a barrier, but Ebony wasn¡¯t done yet.


    Seeing that his prey was still somehow breathing, it made a turn before mming him into the barrier while still spinning.


    ¡®That armor is really strong, but that only prolongs the suffering.¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but pity Lucas as the heat and internal damage was ravaging his body.


    It was only when the golden barrier appeared that Ebony stopped trying to turn him to paste, before returning to ke and letting him fall to the ground.


    ¡°Winner ke!¡± The host announced.


    From the start to the finish the nobles were shocked by the power of the wolves. It was more than clear that they weren¡¯t just anymon king rank beasts, but the problem here was that none of them knew what specie of wolves they were.


    As for themoners watching the match, they were not only happy that one of them had gotten so far in the tournament, but they felt that Lucas got a taste of his own medicine.


    ¡°You were brutal but I like it.¡± ke said as he pats Ebony¡¯s head with admiration.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite a lot of damage done to the armor, but it should be good enough.¡± Luciano said as he watched ke returning to the lobby.


    ...


    ¡®I guess this is the end of the road for me.¡¯ Castiel let out a helpless sigh as he began making his way to the battlefield.


    Just like during their stay in the school, Luciano had easily ended the match with either him or Damon by simply pulling out the pyramid artifact. It looked like it was specially crafted just to deal with the darkness element.


    Apart from that, his main element which was fire was inferior to that of Luciano, leaving him with literally no chance of victory.


    They only reason he was still going to battle him was that it would be rude not to, especially with the presence of the emperor and counselors.


    Once they had taken their positions, the host announced the start of the match.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Immediately, Castiel began firing fire spells at Luciano, but he easily countered them with his golden mes.


    ¡°You must feel helpless.¡± Luciano said as he began rising into the air using the wind element.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will make it quick.¡± Luciano continuously fired golden mes at Castiel while flying toward him.


    ¡®Shit!¡¯ Castiel cursed as he was barely keeping up with the mes. He had been focused on how useless his fire element was that he had forgotten that Luciano also had the wind element that greatly increased his mobility.


    ¡°Fuck it!¡± Castiel shouted as he activated Night mist.


    ¡°Just as expected.¡± Luciano smiled.


    Fighting a shadow walker in night mist was no different from suicide. The only way of surviving was leaving the spell¡¯s range.


    The problem with this was that shadow walkers would use this opportunity to finish off the victim while they turned their back to escape.


    This didn¡¯t apply to Luciano, because with the wind element he just flew high up, out of night mist¡¯s range before firing golden mes at the outskirts.


    ¡°Time to smoke you out.¡¯ Luciano thought as he continuously poured out the golden mes.


    The mes went from the outskirts and gradually into the night mist until they covered its entire range.


    Although night mist absorbed the mana of spells and those within, its absorption rate was slower than the supply rate of the mes. Meaning Castiel would either get killed inside or outside.


    A few minutester, Castiel could no longer handle the heat and was forced to leave, but he saw Luciano directly in front of him with his golden sword.


    ¡°Good game.¡± Luciano said the phrase they had taught him as he stabbed Castiel, causing the golden barrier to envelope him.


    ...


    ¡°That was brilliant! I would have done the same thing if I were in his shoes.¡± ke said as the match came to a quick end.


    ¡°So we will meet in the finals, just as always.¡± ke said with a smile on his face.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 441

    Chapter 441: Punishment for insolence.


    Luciano had ended thest match of the 2nd round in total domination, leading him to the finals where he would face ke for the umpteenth time.


    Unlike the end of the 1st round, both the contestants and viewers were given 30 minutes to rest up and buy extra snacks for the final showdown.


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, it is undeniable that this year¡¯s regionalpetition has been breathtaking from the beginning right up to now.¡±


    ¡°In the first event, we witnessed the tactical prowess and synergy of each team. In the second event, we watched a miraculous and most likely the greatest upset in thest decade of the regionalpetition.¡±


    ¡°Not only did they single-handedly wipe out the southern team but they had also dominated the 1st seed of thepetition and eliminated 2 of them.¡±


    ¡°The domination didn¡¯t stop there, it extended to the final event of thepetition. Not only had they won all of their matches, but they had done it in grand style.¡±


    ¡°As for the final showdown that would be taking ce in less than 10 minutes, we would be seeing the 2 top students of the eastern region go head to head in a bid to prove who is the strongest student of the Synder empire.¡±


    .....


    ¡°Would history repeat itself or would the rank 2 finally ovee this hurdle?¡± The host announced as his speech riled the blood of the viewers.


    The host went on to exin the rewards that the winner of the final match would get.


    The first reward was 10 million gold coins, the second was bing the captain of a special ops unit and finally an artifact from the royal family.


    By the time the announcement was over, the time for the break was over and it was time for the fight to start.


    ke and Luciano quickly made their way to the battlefield as they waited for the signal to be given.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Without wasting time Luciano summoned both the beast-holding ring and the purple armor Lucas had used in the previous match.


    ¡®How? Is that even allowed?¡¯ ke alongside every single view thought.


    [There is nothing in the rules that says you can¡¯t use someone else¡¯s artifact or equipment, so It is allowed. Also, who would have ever thought that someone would allow another person to use his or her equipment?] The system said.


    Most equipments had to be bounded to a user before they could make use of it. So why would they even go through so much stress to unbound it since doing so was very difficult.


    As for the case of Luciano, it was very different. Both artifacts didn¡¯t need to be bound to function, also they still belonged to the royal meaning any other member could use them as long as they had authorization.


    ¡°I thought we would be fighting fair, but since you want to do it this way you leave me no other choice.¡± ke said as he threw Ebony and Ivory into the air.


    Before the des touched the floor, the king rank wolves appeared exactly at the same time as the zing hawk.


    ¡°What makes you think this situation would be different?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask because history seemed to be repeating itself.


    ¡°I am better of course.¡± Luciano said with a smirk as his entire half of the battlefield erupted in golden mes. He brought out his golden sword and began heating it.


    ¡®Let¡¯s get rid of those wolves first, we will handle kest.¡¯ Luciano said to the zing hawk using the mind link between them.


    With his armor that quadrupled his elemental powers, and the king rank beast beside him it would only take less than 30 seconds to deal with ke.


    ¡°GO!¡±


    Once the order was given, the zing hawk immediately charged as Ebony and Ivory.


    ROAR!


    Ebony roared, but unlike before the zing hawk was stilling at him, causing him to be pissed off.


    ¡®What the fuck is going on here.¡¯ ke was shocked once again when he saw the zing hawk stilling at them.


    [My previous guess was that it was either scared or that it had something to do with pathway suppression, but it seems the former is the case.] The system said.


    ¡®Just like you said before if it is afraid why is it still attacking?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [Beasts have emotions just like humans, so when going against something very strong they would waste no time backing out, especially when what they are fighting for isn¡¯t worth it.]


    [In a case where it is fighting for something worth it, for example, the owner or someone very close to it. The beasts would have a lot of confidence.] The system exined.


    ¡®That exins a lot.¡¯ ke thought as the zing hawk shot out a beam of fire at them.


    Ebony replied with a fire beam of his own but even stronger, causing the hawk to add more power to avoid receiving damage.


    BOOM!


    A water beam hit the zing hawk like a truck, but that was when Luciano appeared from nowhere and fired sma boosted by the armor and both berserk modes.


    Just as the sma was a meter away from Ivory, the sma moved over to Ebony and was absorbed into his body.


    At the same time, Ivory released a burst of ice that put out the golden mes and froze the entire battleground.


    Luciano had managed to distance himself on time while heating himself up. In anger, Ebony had turned into a zing tornado as he chased after the zing hawk that was back in the air.


    This time, the zing hawk had no ns of attack, instead it was running for its life, but Ebony and Ivory were adamant about punishing it for challenging them and itsck of respect.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 442

    Chapter 442: Strongest student of the empire.


    Although Ebony alone was stronger and faster than the zing hawk, it still had an advantage in the air thanks to its wings and the fire element, but unfortunately for it, Ivory had joined the fray.


    Just as the zing hawk was about to make a sharp turn to the right, an ice wall formed in its path halting its momentum.


    BOOM!


    Ebony crashed into the zing hawk like a truck, sending it flying through the 2-meter thick ice wall. It didn¡¯t stop there, the furious wolf used its powerful jaws to mp down on its neck before throwing it to the ground and mmed on its back.


    The force at which ebony mmed into the zing hawk was intense that the ground below cracked, but the monstrous vitality of king rank beasts kept it alive.


    ¡°Lord of chaos, eternal mes that¡¯s turns everything to ashes, bestow on your faithful servant the mes to vanquish all iniquity.¡±


    It was at this moment that Luciano activated thest charge on his stone pyramid artifact.


    .....


    A sea of golden mes even greater than that of his match against Austin poured out of the stone pyramid, filling his entire half of the battlefield and moving over to that of ke.


    In a matter of seconds, the sea of golden mes was less than 5 meters away from ke and his beasts, at that moment Ebony and Ivory roared.


    The tattoos on Ebony¡¯s body began glowing as it started absorbing the heat, while Ivory instantly conjured a sea of ice as a countermeasure.


    The sizzling sound of evaporation as well as the steam produced by the sh of the pr elements filled the arena.


    Seeing this as its opportunity to escape, the zing hawk that was beneath Ebony released a fiery explosion to get the wolf off its body.


    The explosion had gone off, but instead of Ebony trying to dodge just as it had expected, the wolf hadn¡¯t moved an inch.


    Ebony had taken the hit, without even taking damage, but the zing hawk¡¯s action even pissed it more.


    To make sure it was out for good, Ebony grabbed its wings with his jaw and broke them. at that time Luciano made his way to ke.


    ¡®Seems like I have underestimated the power of the wolves. If I had known they were this strong I would have gone for ke from the beginning.¡¯ Luciano thought as he used the cover of the steam to make his way to ke while both wolves were upied by the zing hawk.


    If he had gone after ke right from the start, it would have put the wolves on the defense and given him a higher chance of victory.


    ¡®With the armor¡¯s ability still active I should be able to end things quickly.¡¯ Luciano thought as he appeared behind ke, but that was when Ivory¡¯s 5-meter body turned into a pool of water that blocked him.


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    Luciano couldn¡¯t help but curse as Ivory¡¯s water body returned to normal and a pissed expression was on her face.


    Her anger instantly froze the area behind ke including Luciano, but thanks to the heat constantly being produced by the armor, his internal organs weren¡¯t frozen meaning he wasn¡¯t eliminated yet.


    Giving him no time to escape the ice, Ivory threw him into the air, and Ebony who was even more furious for Luciano¡¯s failed sneak attack mmed him into the barrier of the battleground.


    As the bleeding Luciano was falling, Ivory appeared in front of him and once again mmed him into the barrier before letting him drop to the ground as the golden barrier appeared.


    Taking a hit from a king rank beast and surviving was no small feat even for demigods, let alone taking 2 hits from Ebony and Ivory when they were angry.


    ¡®Luciano and that armor are pretty strong. I thought he would have been eliminated on the first hit.¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I present to you the strongest student of the Synder Empire, ke!¡± The host announced as almost the entire arena erupted in cheers.


    Most nobles surely weren¡¯t happy about this, but as for themoners that all saw ke as their representative, they felt this was a big victory for them.


    This was the first time in history that amoner beat all odds and came out on top against nobles, and it felt good.


    ¡®Why do I feel I just made things worse?¡¯ ke thought as he waved at the crowd while returning to the tform that took him back to the lobby.


    [Depends on how you see it. You are now on the radar of every noble in the empire, but you are now seen as a promising talent by themoners.] The system exined, making ke think about all the opportunities this could bring him.


    ¡®I understand what you are saying, but the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.¡¯


    ¡®Not only are even more dangerous eyes now on me, but I am now receiving the responsibility of being a promising talent.¡¯ ke thought.


    [You are right, but you should look at it from the long-term perspective. Achievements like this increase your worth in the eyes of people, meaning more opportunities that would help you figure out your purpose in Infinite realm faster.] The system exined.


    ¡®You are right. Although things would only get more dangerous for me if I am to continue this way, I might not get to see my mom even in the next decade.¡¯ ke thought.


    [Don¡¯t go being an overachiever unless you will get put down before you can even find your purpose.] The system cautioned ke.


    ¡°You could have taken it a bit easy.¡± Luciano said to ke with a chuckle.


    ¡°Sorry man, they were pissed off that you were sneaking up on me.¡± ke said while fuddling his hair.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 443

    Chapter 443: Enjoying the moment.


    ¡°I actually deserve the manhandling. I asked for it when I brought out the zing hawk and the armor.¡± Luciano chuckled.


    Although he was taken out in seconds, it didn¡¯t take away the fact that it was a painful experience. The armor was so strong that it prevented him from being taken out in one shot, but he still ended up breaking all his ribs, internal bleeding and so on.


    ¡°That reminds, what of the zing hawk hope it is okay?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°It has also been healed up, but was it that obvious that we are close?¡± Luciano couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Not sure, but I noticed that it disobeyed Lucas¡¯mand to attack, but obeyed you.¡± ke said. ¡°So tell me how both of you are so close.¡±


    Luciano began exining how he had grown up with the zing hawk as they ate some muffins.


    ...


    .....


    As ke and Luciano chatted, geomancers used the earth element to prepare a stage at the center of the arena for the presentation of awards.


    After 30 minutes, Prince Bryon appeared on the stage causing the arena to be drowned in thunderous apuse and cheers. This just showed how much Bryon was loved by themoners.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Prince Bryon said as he gestured for the apuse to stop.


    ¡°To be honest, I shouldn¡¯t be the one to apud, rather it should be for everyone that took part to make this year¡¯s regionalpetition a sess. From the guards to the students that disyed their incredible talents.¡± Prince Bryon said causing the crowd to once again burst out in apuse because of his humility.


    Once the apuse and cheers died down, Bryon continued.


    ¡°The royal family had created the regionalpetition as a way to allocate the extra resources as a form of reward to the region that produced the best students.¡±


    ¡°This year, the eastern region came out on top. So I want to thank the professors in the magic schools and most importantly the students that put in their blood and sweat to make sure that the victory came to us.¡±


    Prince Bryon went on to inform the public about some of the projects he would carry out in his region, before moving over to the students.


    ¡°In the past 2 days, we have witnessed the start of a journey, where the top future mages of our beloved empire passed through different tests to prove their strength and most importantly the best magic school in the empire.¡±


    ¡°This journey has finallye to an end, so now it is time to reward them for their performance and effort as well.¡± Prince Bryon announced.


    From the 2nd position below were given huge sums of gold coins, and also some positions in the ash corps.


    ¡°Now for the number student of the empire who had not only proved his strength, but also his resourcefulness and leadership skill.¡±


    ¡°He would be getting 5 million gold coins, a position as the captain of a special ops unit, and finally an artifact from the royal family.¡± Prince Bryon.


    With the award section over, Prince Bryon left the stage for magical dancers who performed for the crowd.


    As for the students, it had been a very long day for them so they returned to the Golden seal hotel to freshen up and rest.


    The group were done freshening up and were now having dinner, but that was when ke suggested that they explored the capital.


    ¡°I thought you said this is the best chance to get assassinated. So why change your mind now¡± Cami asked the question that was on everyone¡¯s mind.


    After the failed assassination attempt on ke, everyone had removed the thought of leaving the hotel because they could still be used to get to ke.


    ¡°The regionalpetition is over and a lot of eyes are now on me, especially those of themoners. So killing me on the same day would be a very bad decision for all nobles.¡± ke exined.


    ¡°Why do you talk about a possible assassination as if it is nothing?¡± Tessie couldn¡¯t help but ask after seeing ke¡¯s expression.


    ¡°Because this isn¡¯t the first time someone had attempted to assassinate me. It started in our 1st and has never stopped, so that¡¯s a lot to make me tired of being afraid.¡± ke said shocking everyone except Brian and Castiel.


    ¡®How was I so dumb? I should have known that aplishing so much would put him on the hit list of many nobles.¡¯


    ¡®That exins his hate for nobles and me that time. We just make people¡¯s lives miserable because of our pride and ego.¡¯ Cami thought, causing her to feel bad for ke.


    She had always thought that ke¡¯s life was straightforward, but she never knew it was this fucked up. If she knew about ke¡¯s backstory she would even have been crying for him.


    ¡°So are you guys joining or what?¡± ke asked again when he saw no one was responding.


    ¡®Yeah, of course.¡± The group replied.


    ...


    Once they were done with dinner, the group left the golden seal hotel and boarded a carriage that took them to a few important sites before heading to the amusement park


    Because Brian went missing on theirst visit, they had to cancel and return to the hotel after their first ride. Meaning they still had a lot to do there.


    By the time they got to the zing Park, it just turned dark, but they didn¡¯t care because this was theirst day in the capital.


    They went straight for the zing wheel, and this time Brian had joined them because he wanted to face his fear of height. Also, his fear of getting abducted was greater than that of height.


    ¡®I think about my next step when I get back to Calton, for now, I will just enjoy the moment.¡±


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 444

    Chapter 444: Enjoying the moment (part 2).


    ¡®I shall think about my next step when I get back to Calton. For now, I will just enjoy the moment.¡¯ ke thought as he was entranced by the beauty of the capital.


    With the zing wheel being 200 meters tall, they were able to see the capital in its full splendor. From the beautiful skyscrapers to the well-lit streets, everything was majestic.


    ¡®Only if Calton was as beautiful.¡¯ ke thought, but that was when both Cami and Tessie leaned on him.


    ¡®Yup, this is a sign from the heavens that I should enjoy the moment.¡¯ ke open his arms and brought them even closer.


    On the other side, Brian was trying to minimize how terrified he looked on the inside, while Luciano and Castiel were lost in their thoughts as they stared at the capital.


    The ridested for only 30 minutes, but it cleared all the tension and anxiousness making them feel refreshed, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for Brian.


    Unlike the rest that wanted the ride tost a little bit longer, Brian had been contemting if being abducted was better.


    .....


    ¡°Time for the fun to begin.¡±


    With Cami and Tessie¡¯s hands in his, ke led the group to the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the amusement park.


    After buying tickets they noticed that not everyone was allowed on the ride. Using a device, the ride attendants scanned the soon-to-be passengers to make sure that their bodies could handle the ride.


    ¡®That¡¯s nice.¡¯ ke thought.


    ke had been expecting the rollercoaster to be disappointing especially since he had already gotten used to moving at very high speeds, but from seeing that not everyone is allowed, he became optimistic.


    They got into the 3-seater rides and without wasting time the coasters began moving.


    Just like most rides, it climbed to a high point before pausing. At this point, Brian was holding the over-shoulder restraint as if his life depended on it.


    Immediately the rollercoaster started dropping, Brian began screaming, but no one had the time tough at him because the coaster was looping at astonishing speeds.


    ¡°Holy Fuck!¡± ke who was at the front screamed when he saw that arge section of the track was missing in the loop ahead.


    He was ready to warp them out of there, but immediately after the rollercoaster entered the loop he felt something keeping them afloat.


    On looking down, ke saw that there were rocket boosters beneath the coasters which carried them past the missing section and back on the track at the other end.


    ¡®Now I know why they didn¡¯t let the elderly on the ride, they would have died from a heart attack!¡¯ ke thought.


    At the back, unlike ke that was thinking of ways to get them out in case the rollercoaster was about to crash. When Brian had seen the missing tracks he had instantly fainted, only to wake after they had gotten back on the track.


    The ridested for 20 minutes, but Brian had spent almost half of the time unconscious.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know your fear of height was that bad.¡± Luciano said.


    ¡°You guys can let it out.¡± Brian shook his head when he saw everyone¡¯s face was bloated, as they tried to hold back theirughter.


    Immediately Brian permitted them, everyone burst into uncontrobleughter.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know your voice could reach such a high pitch.¡± Castiel said as theughter forced him to hold his knee to avoid falling.


    ¡°Haha, funny. Just know that when it¡¯s your turn, you won¡¯t hear the end of it.¡± Brian said with an embarrassed look on his face.


    To give Brian some time to recover, they went to the closest food stands in the area. To avoid puking they ate something light before moving on to the next ride.


    ...


    It was at about a few minutes past midnight that the group returned to golden seal hotel.


    ¡®I should do this more often.¡¯ ke thought to himself as they came out of the warp room on the 77th floor.


    The group separated and everyone went to their rooms to call it a day, but just a few minutester ke heard a knock on his door.


    Onmand, the door turned transparent, and ke could see both Cami and Tessie in their night robes.


    ¡°Is there anything wrong?¡± ke said as he opened the door and gestured for both of them toe in.


    ¡°You remember when I asked you out in 1st year, and you told me I needed to change before you could consider me?¡± Cami asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± ke answered with a raised brow.


    ¡°I wanted to know if you still feel the same.¡± Cami asked without taking her eyes off ke.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± ke replied.


    ¡°So would you be my boyfriend?¡± Cami asked as she came closer.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it toote now for me to be your boyfriend? I mean we are basically done with school.¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°We can figure that outter, none of us is leaving Calton anytime soon. So what do you say?¡± Cami asked once again.


    ¡°Yes, but the same goes for Tessie.¡± ke said pointing at Tessie.


    ¡°I have no problem sharing, that is why we are both here.¡± Cami said as she hugged the shocked ke.


    ¡°Is it true?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask Tessie who nodded.


    ¡°Thene over here.¡± ke said as he opened his arm for her to join.


    After close to a minute of cuddling, ke finally broke it up.


    ¡°So, what next?¡± ke asked. When Tessie and Cami untied their robes, his answer wasid bare.


    ¡°What...¡± ke was tongue-tied when he saw their full breasts and voluptuous curves no longer hidden by clothes.


    [Yup, time to hibernate.] The system quickly shut down on seeing the scene in front of him.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 445

    Chapter 445: Graduation ceremony.


    The next morning ke, Damon, Luciano, Castiel and Brian were all waiting in the cafeteria for Tessie and Cami to arrive before ordering breakfast.


    ¡°What could be taking them so long, I am starving.¡± Brian let out a helpless sigh.


    ¡°Are my eyes ying tricks on me or is it that Brian is the only oneining about the food?¡± Castiel couldn¡¯t help but ask as everyone turned to ke who was sitting quietly.


    When it came to anything concerning food, Brian could be considered a lesser version of ke. That was why they were shocked that ke didn¡¯t start or join theint.


    ¡°He is starving because he puked multiple times yesterday leaving him with an empty stomach. So stop looking at me that way.¡± ke snorted.


    It was then that Tessie and Cami finally arrived at the cafeteria.


    ¡°What took you guys so long?¡± Brian asked.


    .....


    They would have said they were tired, but if they were asked why they were tired they couldn¡¯t exinst night¡¯s experience that started quite painful and graduated to intense pleasure and ended in brain-melting quivering that left them drained.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know why, guess we had too much funst night.¡± Cami said causing both her and Tessie to blush as they took their seats.


    This wasn¡¯t the first or hundredth time Cami was sounding cryptic, so the boys just shook their heads and began ordering breakfast.


    ¡®She is cunning, but as long as she is not harming any of us, I like it.¡¯ ke inwardly smiled.


    ...


    After breakfast, all students packed their belongings and warped to the arena before being warped back to their different schools.


    Oning out of the warp array, they moved straight to the hall where they met principal Lovren as well as every professor of the school on the stage.


    ¡®First time in history, they are here before us.¡¯ ke thought as he took a seat just like every other student.


    ¡°You all have made us beyond proud, that is why the entire staff of the Calton magic school would like to congratte and most importantly, thank every student that made our victory possible.¡± Principal Lovren as well as every other professor bowed in thanks.


    ¡°As you all already know, the regionalpetition was the final activity in your set stay in the school. So it is time to announce and award the overall best students.¡± Principal Lovren said as professor Gibson brought out the cushion on which 3 medals were resting


    Once they heard that it was the top 3 students that were being awarded everyone knew who they were.


    ¡°The best student of the set goes to none other than ke.¡±


    Once ke was announced as the overall best student of their set, every single student in the hall including both nobles andmoners stood and continuously apuded as he made his way to the stage.


    ¡®How times change.¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but remember what happened at the end of the first semester in the magic school.


    He was the top student of the semester, but instead of getting a standing ovation from every student, it was only his friends andmoners that apuded him.


    [Their apuse doesn¡¯t mean they like you, but that they respect you and your strength.] The system said.


    The system was right, although arge number of the nobles didn¡¯t like ke, it was without doubt that he had indirectly helped them.


    His domination during exercises, tests and exams inspired bothmoners and nobles to get stronger. The nobles trained even harder just so they can beat him, whilemoners trained to change their situation and to get stronger to prevent being trampled upon.


    ¡°Congrattions.¡± Principal Lovren said as he pinned the medal to his chest.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± ke shook his hand and returned to his seat.


    Once the medals had been given, principal Lovren moved on to the final part of the ceremony.


    ¡°The real world is a very dangerous ce, so as you all go into it I wish you all the very best, and pray that your thirst for magic never quenches.¡± Immediately after principal Lovren¡¯s speech was over, the hall was buzzing with apuse.


    ¡®That¡¯s all? This was boringpared to the graduation ceremony on Earth.¡¯ ke shook his head in disappointment as he saw Lovren and all the professors warping out of the hall.


    ¡®So what next?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but think.


    [You can answer thatter, first of all, deal with them.] The system pointed at peopleing his way.


    ¡°Wow!¡± ke was shocked when hew a line of people waiting to see him.


    ¡°Congrattions ke!¡± La and Esmeralda were the first people toe to him.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± ke said as he hugged them.


    ¡°Move along there are people behind.¡±


    Someone in the line said when they were taking too much time to let go of him.


    ¡°See youter then.¡± The girls chuckled before leaving the line.


    After 15 minutes the line of close to 40 students had ended, but instead of ke feeling tired and awkward especially for those that were weeping and telling him how he changed their lives. (ke felt fulfilled for the first time in a long while.)


    ¡®I have been so focused on returning to earth that I haven¡¯t properly cherished the people and moments.¡¯


    ¡®At least, it¡¯s nice to know that my selfish actions and bad decisions turned out to help people.¡¯ ke reflected on his life in infinite realm as he was making his way to the canteen where he would meet up with his friends.


    ¡°Finally you are here.¡± Damon said.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t know that you guys would be hungry in such a short time.¡± ke said as he began checking out the menu, but that is when he noticed that no one was ordering any food.


    ¡°Oh.¡± ke said with a wry smile on his face, causing everyone to facepalm.


    ¡°We just ate less than 3 hours ago, how are you still hungry?¡± Castiel couldn¡¯t help but ask, but ke acted as if he heard nothing.


    ¡°He is on a whole different level, you shouldn¡¯t beparing me with him.¡± Brian said in an attempt to redeem himself but he was ignored.


    ¡°So why are we here in the first ce if we are not eating?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°We just wanted to chat.¡± Luciano said as he brought out a bottle of very expensive wine.


    It was then that ke looked around only to notice that almost everyone had at least a bottle of wine on their table.


    After pouring the sapphire-coloured wine into everyone¡¯s cup Luciano gestured for him to make a toast.


    That was when he stood on his chair before tapping on his ss of wine.


    ¡°I know that we all hate each other, but I believe every one of us deserves a toast.¡± ke projected his voice to all parts of the canteen using mana.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Everyone said as they grabbed their ss of wine.


    ¡°To make out of this school alive!¡±


    Hundreds of ss went up followed by clinging sounds of ss touching each other.


    ¡°So what next after this?¡± ke asked.


    For a few seconds, the table was silent, but that was when Tessie spoke.


    ¡°Since alchemists and beast tamers are rare, I will be helping my family in those sections. Also, my parents want me to get involved in the family business.¡± Tessie said.


    ¡°I still have to undergo some tests, especially in this region before I will be able to take on any official royal duties in the empire. So I wouldn¡¯t be around that much.¡± Luciano said making everyone a little bit sad.


    ¡°As for me, I have no idea of where I will be headed to after this. It all depends on my dad¡¯s n, he would most likely want me toplete my family¡¯s training before doing anything on my own.¡± Damon said.


    ¡°I have always wondered what family you are from. If it is personal you don¡¯t have to answer.¡± ke said.


    ¡°There is no problem. I am from the Nyx family and my dad is councilor Jaeger.¡± Damon said shocking everyone except Luciano.


    ¡°You mean one of the founders of the empire and the councilor in charge of the southern region?¡± ke asked just to make sure.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Damon replied.


    ¡°You knew about this?¡± Everyone asked Luciano whose expression hadn¡¯t changed at all.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Luciano answered.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us?¡± They asked.


    ¡°You never asked.¡± Luciano replied causing everyone to facepalm.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 446

    Chapter 446: Changes.


    ¡°Why are you guys shocked I thought you knew?¡± Damon asked Tessie and Cami with a raised brow.


    ¡°No.¡± Tessie and Cami shook their head.


    ¡°Then why has every noble been afraid of me?¡± Damon was confused.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about the others, but my family warned all members to not mess or offend you two, but they never gave us a reason, especially for you.¡± Cami pointed at him and Luciano.


    ¡°I think the most important question is why were both of you sent to eastern magic school instead of the capital?¡± ke asked the question that has been on the mind of everyone since the first day of their stay in the school.


    ¡°My dad felt that the only one that could be apetition in the entire empire was Luciano. So since he was going to the east he also sent me here.¡± Damon exined causing everyone to turn to Luciano.


    ¡°My dad felt I had nopetition in the empire, so instead of me staying with conceited nobles it was better I came to the east where my brother could train and also monitor my progress.¡± Luciano exined.


    .....


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it such a coincidence that the 2 supposed strongest students in the empire got humbled by this monster?¡± Damon said pointing at ke.


    ¡°Although no one would believe it, a good part of my sess is due to luck.¡± ke said, but truly no one except Brian and Castiel believed.


    Right from his arrival on Infinite realm, ke was lucky enough to get the All-father¡¯s inheritance. It was also by luck that he got the void daggers which in turn kept him alive to get Ebony and Ivory from Azkelwart¡¯s base.


    It wasn¡¯t as if ke was undermining his effort, but he felt he needed to know it could have been someone else because it made him cherish it more.


    ¡°So what of you guys?¡± ke asked Brian and Castiel.


    ¡°I and Castiel were nning on continuing with the adventurer association and see how it goes.¡± Brian said.


    ¡°Since I have 2 elder brothers taking care of family matters, there is no point for me staying there. So I would most likely be joining the ash corps.¡± Cami said.


    As graduates of the magic school, all students especially those in the elite ss would be given a quite high post in the ash corp. Cami that was in the top 10 of the elite ss was guaranteed a good position.


    ¡°So what of you?¡± Cami asked ke.


    ¡°I am not certain yet, but I would most likely take the captain rank reward.¡± ke said shocking everyone.


    ¡°What happened to the adventurer association?¡± Castiel couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    They all knew ke as someone who cherished freedom the most. So it was surprising that he nned on leaving the adventurer association where he was established and free.


    ¡°For almost 3 years now I havepleted a lot of missions but it still feels like I haven¡¯t achieved anything. So I feel if I am to join the ash corps I would achieve something and in the process understand my purpose in this world.¡± ke said.


    ...


    After almost 2 hours of chatting, they all returned to their rooms to think about their next step in life because the uncertainty and anxiousness in their tones were clear.


    Unlike the nobles in his group, ke¡¯s life was in no way nned out. He didn¡¯t belong to this so he was finding it hard tomit to things, especially when he had no clue if it was the right path.


    ¡°If I was just like the others, the adventurer association would have been perfect.¡± ke thought.


    In almost 3 years ofpleting a lot of solo and party missions, not only had ke and his party rise to the B rank, he still had a 100% sess rate which was beyond insane.


    The only problem he had was that he still hadn¡¯t discovered anything concerning the All-father or his purpose in Infinite realm.


    He didn¡¯t even have a clue of what was going in other empires or the direction the entire world was moving to.


    ¡°If I join the ash corps not only would I gain ess to a lot of information concerning the Synder Empire, information about the other empires would be easy to get.¡±


    ¡°Apart from the empire, there are still the death zones which may hold secrets to my purpose.¡±


    ¡°With all this information I should be able to deduce if there would be a world war or a cataclysmic event that the All-father had foreseen.¡± ke thought.


    ¡°As for the disadvantages, I would be taking orders, I will have more targets on me and lose my freedom.¡± ke said as he stared at his ceiling.


    Taking orders from a fool could get him killed, but doing things his way could be seen as a sign of disobedience.


    As for the problem of freedom, not only could he be controlled by high-ranking ash corps officials in the pockets of nobles. Also, he would be closely monitored by the ash corps to make sure he doesn¡¯t divulge state secrets and also by crime syndicates.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± ke asked the system.


    [I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Staying a decade without knowing what next is nothingpared to taking orders.]


    [Also, being monitored by the ash corps is not a big deal because you have no ns to leak state secrets. As for you being a target for crime syndicates, it doesn¡¯t make any difference because you were also hated as an adventurer.]


    [Besides you have a connection with Bryon so you won¡¯t be anybody. Also, you will receive a certain level of protection from him since you are joining the ash corps.] The system analyzed the situation.


    ¡°You are right, it doesn¡¯t sound as bad as I thought.¡± ke thought, but there was one thing that was stopping him from making a decision.


    ¡°If I join the ash corps it means that I won¡¯t be with them anymore.¡± ke said as he called Castiel on hismunication amulet.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Castiel was surprised that ke was calling him.


    ¡°Is Brian there with you?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Yeah, why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because of your decision of staying with the adventurer association.¡± ke said.


    ¡°What about it?¡± Brian asked.


    ke told them about his decision to join the ash corps and its pros and cons concerning their purpose in Infinite realm.


    ¡°I am sorry ke, but we won¡¯t be joining the ash corps. To us the most important thing is freedom and we won¡¯t be getting that there.¡± Castiel said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± ke cut themunication link because he felt they had made up their mind.


    [You all have a goal to aplish, but from the looks of it, it seems you are the only one doing something about it.]


    This isn¡¯t about what you want, but what you have to do. So I just see this as a useless excuse.] The system said.


    ¡°The fact they didn¡¯t consult me before making the decision makes me feel something is wrong.¡± ke said as he began thinking about all the possibilities.


    ¡°Is it that they don¡¯t want to continue staying with me or that they don¡¯t want to return to Earth or even both?¡± ke said.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense why would they not want to be with me? We came from the same, and have done things together for 3 years.¡± ke said.


    [Maybe they feel your light is overshadowing them, so they want to aplish things on their own.


    As for not wanting to return to Earth, maybe their life back there wasn¡¯t as pleasant as yours.] The system exined.


    ¡°You might be right, but I don¡¯t know their lives back on Earth to tell.¡± ke said but that was when he realized something.


    ¡°I have been with them for almost 3 years, and I don¡¯t even know basic things about them.¡± ke felt like a terrible friend.


    He had been so focused on cultivating and aplishing his purpose, that he didn¡¯t realise the disconnection in their friendship.


    ke was about to start thinking of ways to correct his mistakes, but that was when he heard a knock on the door.


    On opening it, it was a staff who handed him a package.


    These were the rewards for winning the regionalpetition.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 447

    Chapter 447: Guardian Scarab.


    ¡°I can check it outter.¡± ke put the package in his dimensional amulet before returning to his bed.


    ¡°What do you suggest I do?¡± ke asked the system.


    [Nothing.] The system said, surprising ke. [You are forgetting that you 3 have been through countless missions but they haven¡¯t asked about your life on Earth.]


    [Friendship is a 2-way effort, and every party involved are meant to understand that everyone has their own issues. In this case, you have put in way more effort by sacrificing a lot of things just for them, carrying through difficult missions, and even risking your life for them.]


    [So if there is someone that is meant to be putting in more effort it should be them. That is why I said you should do nothing.] The system said.


    ¡°You do remember that on multiple asions, they have reached out to me for extracurricr activities but I had turned them down because I was cultivating. I feel those were the chances I had to further bond with them.¡± ke said.


    [That is why I said both parties should understand that everyone has their own issues. Besides, the reason you guys have survived up to now is because of the countless hours you spent training and cultivating.] The system said leaving ke speechless.


    .....


    ¡°You are right, I won¡¯t do anything.¡± ke said as he stood up and brought out the package from his dimensional pocket.


    In the package was a dimensional amulet that contained the gold coins, and what seemed to be a metallic scarab shell.


    ke first moved the gold coins to his card, before picking up the scarab shell and scanned it with the system.


    [Name: Guardian scarab


    Grade: Epic tier


    Type: Artifact


    Abilities:


    Ingurgitate: The Guardian scarab absorbs all forms of precious metals to increase its mass and reinforce its strength.


    Transmutation: Guardian scarab can take the form of whatever the user imagines.


    Spell channeling: The user can channel spells through all parts of the Guardian scarab.]


    ¡°It¡¯s more of a utility kind of artifact, but it isn¡¯t bad at all.¡± ke said as he poured his mana into the artifact.


    Once ke bonded with the metallic scarab, 3 legs came out of both sides and it began crawling on ke¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Erm...¡±


    The guardian scarab artifact didn¡¯te with a manual and neither did he know what was happening. So in fear of interrupting whatever was going on, he just watched it climb up to his shoulders and then to his back.


    When it was directly on the upper part of the spinal cord, all 6 legs dug into ke¡¯s skin.


    ¡°What the fuck!¡± ke felt a sharp sting before feeling a little bit light-headed.


    To enable it to transform into ke¡¯s imagination, it needed to be able to know what he was thinking. That was why it was connecting to his nervous system and mind.


    In less than a minute, the second andst phase of the bounding process wasplete and ke had returned to normal.


    ¡°Alright, time to test it out.¡± ke left his room for one of the training rooms.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see...¡±


    ke imagined 6 spider legs, and immediately the guardian scarab at his back shot out 6 channels of liquid metal that instantly solidified and took the shape of iron spider legs.


    ¡°That¡¯s incredible!¡± ke was astonished by the scarab¡¯s speed of transformation that took less than a second.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how responsive it is?¡±


    ke tried moving the metallic spider arms with his mind but it turned out to be much easier than he thought.


    Just like how moving one¡¯s body wasn¡¯t done by actively thinking, the arms were no different. It was as if the scarab knew his next thought.


    ke began using the spider legs to start climbing the walls of the training, but that was when another thought came into his mind.


    When he got to the top of the ceiling that was over 10 meters tall, ke removed the spider legs out of the walls and began free-falling.


    With just a thought the spider legsbined to form metallic wings and began pping.


    ¡°I can believe it!¡± ke screamed in shock when he saw that he was no longer falling.


    Common sense told him that there was no way metal wings would be able to fly, but he felt that if it couldn¡¯t then there would be no difference from a regr mechanical device.


    For close to half an hour ke continued extensively testing and training with the scarab.


    He tested the size limit of what they could transform into, and also the durability of the transformations.


    ¡°The only problem now is that I can¡¯t have it sticking at my back all the time.¡± keined, but that was when the scarab turned into liquid and went into his body.


    ¡°The fuck?!¡± At first, ke was shocked but he quickly understood what was going on.


    He once again thought of the spider legs, and instantly the liquid scarab came out of his body and solidified.


    ¡°That¡¯s awesome, now for the final part.¡± ke said as he brought out all the silver and bronze coins in his inventory.


    If it was a few years ago, ke would have cursed the heavens for making the royal family send something that would drain his money, but things were different now.


    His ¡®inventions¡¯ manufactured by hispany called Science, had be so popr among both nobles andmoners that they had spread to all parts of the Synder empire.


    At this point, ke was richer than many noble families, but the best part was that nobody knew about his wealth or even the connection between him and Science.


    The silver and bronze coins totaled roughly 2k gold coins which still made ke quite uneasy, but after spending thousands of beasts cores on Ebony and Ivory he knew epic-tier weapons and artifacts were worth spending so much.


    ¡°How to do it now.¡± ke thought causing the scarab to detach and roll to the pile of silver and bronze coins.


    Once it was a few inches away from the pile, the coins began turning into liquid and began moving to it.


    ¡°That¡¯s way more effective than I could ever imagine.¡± ke said as the scarab was absorbing the liquid metal.


    In less than 2 minutes, it was done but it hadn¡¯t increased in size or changed color.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting any increase in strength, but at least it should change color or do something.¡± ke helplessly shook his head because things like this didn¡¯t have progress bars like video games.


    Once ke was done, he returned to his room before taking a bath.


    ¡°What next.¡± ke said as he check his to-do list but that was when he heard a knock on his door. On opening he saw it was Cami.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ke made sure no one else was outside the door, before closing the door and kissing her.


    They had agreed to keep their rtionship a secret to not make things weird in their friend group. Apart from that, they had no idea how both noble families would react to the news.


    ¡°Nothing just wanted to spend some time with you.¡± Cami said as she stared at the shirtless ke who was on his bed.


    ¡°Come.¡± ke said when he noticed that Cami was lost causing her to snap out of her reverie and hug him.


    ¡°Have you made a decision about joining the ash corps?¡± Cami asked as shey on his chest with his hand on her waist.


    ¡°Yes, I have decided to take the position of a captain, but I think the question here is why are you joining the ash corps. You basically have everything?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s the problem. I have the potential to achieve a lot of things, so why just waste my skills doing things that won¡¯t be appreciated by the main family.¡±


    ¡°Besides, since you are also the ash corps, it means we would still get to regrly see each other.¡± Cami said.


    Apart from that if she were to stay in her family, she would most likely get married off or be forced to marry early, but the thing was that the only person she had ever been attracted to was ke.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to know that you want to achieve more and that you are making such an important decision just because of me.¡± ke kissed her forehead.


    The main reason he liked Cami was that she was smart and cunning. So it was nice that she remained that.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 448

    Chapter 448: House hunting.


    The school gave the students until the end of the semester for them to permanently vacate the school. This was to make sure they didn¡¯t feel pressured about their future ns because this was the most important part of their life.


    As for ke, he had no ns of waiting that long because not only did he not have time, but he also was now sure of the next step of his life.


    There were only a few things left for ke to do and after that, he would be out of the school for good.


    ¡°Good day professor Hoffenheim.¡± ke greeted as he entered the professor¡¯sb.


    ¡°You came at the right moment because I was just a few minutes away from starting another experiment that would make me unavable for at least a week.¡± Hoffenheim said as he dropped vials of potions before turning to ke with a beaming smile on his face.


    ¡°Congrattions! I heard that you won the regionalpetition.¡± Hoffenheim said as he took a seat.


    ¡°You didn¡¯te to the capital to spectate thepetition just like other professors?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    .....


    ¡°Yeah, I was busy with research that was aplete failure. Besides what is the need of spectating thepetition when I already know that you would win, especially with both of them.¡± Hoffenheim said referring to Ebony and Ivory.


    ¡°About them.¡± ke brought Ebony and Ivory out of his dimensional pocket before making them transform to their Haiti and Skoll forms.


    Once both wolves were no longer in their sword form they both rushed Hoffenheim and began licking him.


    Hoffenheim was the only person ke had shown Ebony and Ivory. In the past 2 years, ke and the professor had grown quite close, so he had been keeping him updated on the sword.


    ¡®They never act this way with someone else, only him.¡¯ ke thought.


    (AN: Yes, ke has no idea that Hoffenheim is Zultra. I made a mistake that has long been corrected.)


    ¡°Wow! They are stronger than I thought they would be.¡± Hoffenheim said after finally making Ebony and Ivory to calm down.


    ¡®How is their first phase stronger than I can remember? After this, I would report it to dad.¡¯ Zultra thought.


    ¡°I bet this isn¡¯t the only reason you came to me.¡± Hoffenheim said as he continuously stroked the smooth fur of the wolves.


    ¡°Yeah, I wanted to ask you about me joining the ash corps as a captain of a special ops unit?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see...¡± Hoffenheim said in a pondering tone.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any experience concerning the ash corps because I rejected all their offers to join them, but I think the most important thing is knowing what you want.¡±


    ¡°Unlike me, that is only interested in my research, you are a born leader and high achiever. The ash corps would be a perfect stepping stone for anything you want to achieve.¡± Professor Hoffenheim exined.


    ¡°What of the aspect of freedom?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°If you are not into research like me, then it is worth it, especially when considering the benefits you would get from the ash corps.¡± Hoffenheim answered.


    ¡°Thanks for the advice.¡± ke said.


    They chatted a little bit more about Hoffenheim¡¯s research before ke moved to his next stop.


    ¡®Where the hell am I meant to find instructor Zirrack?¡¯ ke thought after knocking on thebat instructor¡¯s office door and receiving no answer.


    ¡®I will check up on himter today, after getting some things done.¡¯ ke turned to leave, but that was when Zirrack appeared in front of him.


    ¡°Let me guess you are here to thank me for me being hard on you guys?¡± Zirrack asked.


    ¡°Yeah, but I also wanted to ask for your advice.¡± ke said not surprised by Zirrack¡¯s words.


    ¡°From everything I have seen so far, you are very ambitious or have a particr goal you want to achieve.¡±


    ¡°So my advice is that if it has something to do with fame and power, you should join the ash corps. If not continue your life as an adventurer.¡± Zirrack said.


    ¡°As for thanking me for training you all, you are wee. I don¡¯t get thanked that much.¡±


    ¡°Lastly, I have to say that I am proud of you and wish you the best in whatever choice you take.¡± Zirrack said before vanishing.


    ¡®Since that is done, time for the most important thing of the day.¡¯


    ke returned to his room before taking out hismunication amulet and calling prince Bryon.


    ¡°How may I be of help, ke?¡± Prince Bryon cut to the chase.


    ¡°I have decided to join the ash corps, and I wanted to know if there should be anything I should know?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s great news! Commander Darius would be exining the details to you right after this call.¡±


    ¡°As for your second question. You would receive a certain level of protection to both danger and politics of the nobles to a certain extent just like Rayzer had promised.¡±


    ¡°Also, promotions and rewards are mostly based on achievements. So if you keep up like you usually do then you have no problem rising in rank.¡± Prince Bryon exined.


    After a few more questions, the call was over and almost instantly ke received another call.


    ¡°Commander Darius speaking. First off I would like to congratte you on your victory in the regionalpetition and I will also like to personally thank you for making the region proud.¡± The heart-shaped-face, ever-smilingmander said.


    ¡°Now over to the serious stuff. In a week you will be assigned to a team as their captain, but before then you have to undergo self-training and learn about the rules of the ash corps.¡±


    ¡°Also, as a captain, you are entitled to a house that would be fully covered by the empire.¡± Commander Darius exined.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need a house so can I get it in a different form?¡± ke asked with a sheepish smile on his face.


    ¡°No.¡± Darius chuckled at ke¡¯s shamelessness.


    ¡®At least I tried.¡¯ ke shook his head in disappointment causing the system to want to hide even farther in ke¡¯s mind.


    Normally, he would haveined about ke¡¯s shamelessness but after close to 3 years ofining, he knew it was useless. It even felt that the more heined the worse he got.


    ¡°Everything you would need will be sent to your current address. So if that¡¯s all the questions this call is over.¡±


    Commander Darius cut off themunication link when he saw that ke had nothing else to say.


    ¡°I am really that special?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask because he had never heard a recruit speaking to both the councilor and themander on the same day through amunication amulet.


    ¡°Thest problem now is amodation.¡± ke began to think of a way to get around it.


    He couldn¡¯t stay in the academy for obvious reasons. His only option now was to move into the city.


    He didn¡¯t ept the ash corps¡¯ offer because although it granted a certain level of protection, it would be highly monitored. Also, the location of the house would be randomly selected same as other little things like furnishing.


    This meant he would go house hunting on his own, but that came with the problem of making a decision.


    He had 2 options; the first was to stay in the center region alongside other nobles and noble families, while the second option was to stay in the middle region.


    The first option came with the problem of security and being monitored. Although the central region had an almost zero percent crime rate, ke didn¡¯t feel safe because he would be surrounded by nobles who hated him.


    So he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if one of them were to send their demigods or angels to attack him, then me it on something else.


    As for the middle region, the security wasn¡¯t something ke couldn¡¯t handle, but the problem was things like privacy, noise and other small things.


    [A little noise and problems from gangs around are better than demigods or angelsing for you.] The system said.


    ¡°Yup.¡± ke couldn¡¯t agree more.


    ¡°Thest problem now is getting a house agent for a tour.¡± ke opened hismunication amulet and called Susan.


    He could have asked Luciano or even Cami but he wanted to keep his future address a secret just for security purposes.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 449

    Chapter 449: Not renting, I am buying it.


    Once ke contacted Susan, she immediately informed the real estate agent and they set up a meeting point at the park in Central park on the north side of the middle region.


    Without wasting time, ke boarded a carriage and in less than 20 minutes he had gotten to the destination.


    ¡°That makes things easy.¡± ke said as he stepped out of the carriage and spotted a man with a warm- beige skin tone wearing a 3 piece suit. He didn¡¯t need to use the locator spell because the man stood out like a sore thumb.


    ¡°Are you the real estate agent Susan rmended?¡± ke asked as he approached the man.


    ¡°Yes, good day sir...¡± The real estate agent was shocked when he turned only to see an 18-year-old.


    ¡°Hi, I am ke.¡± ke stretched forth his hand for a handshake, and the still confused real estate agent had no choice but to shake his hand.


    ¡®That name sounds familiar.¡¯ The real estate agent thought, but almost immediately he realized who was in front of him.


    .....


    ¡°Mr ke, congrattions on winning the regionalpetition.¡± The real estate agent said as he continued shaking ke¡¯s hand.


    Most people, including nobles couldn¡¯t make it to the Capital to watch the regionalpetition. So they had only heard the news about ke and his friends bringing victory to the east region, but that meant not many knew him in person.


    ¡°So what kind of house are you looking for?¡± The real estate agent asked as he finally let go of his hand.


    ¡°I am looking for a duplex.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°A duplex? They are very...¡± The real estate agent was about to mention that the price of a duplex was very costly, but that was when he remembered that ke had been awarded arge sum of gold coins.


    ¡°They are very much avable.¡± The real estate agentpleted.


    ¡°What part of the city would be the ideal location for your future house?¡± The real estate agent asked.


    ¡°I have no particr ce in mind, but I would like it if all options were within the upper area of the middle region. Also, I wouldn¡¯t want it to be a ce that stands out¡± ke said.


    The middle region was divided into 3 areas. The lower middle region, the mid-central region and the upper middle region.


    The lower area of the middle region had a lower standard of livingpared to the other areas in the middle region. The area was seen as an extension or an upgraded version of the slums in the east by many even though it wasn¡¯t half as bad as the slums.


    The next area was the mid-central region which was the busiest among the 3 all because of the markets, mid-sized factories andpanies littered all around the area.


    As for the upper area of the middle region, it was the most expensive in terms of cost of living. It was the closest to the central region, making it the perfect location for all top and luxuriouspanies and factories.


    Its streets were not only clean but also less busy because many couldn¡¯t afford the things there.


    ¡°Do you have a budget we could work on?¡± The agent asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything in mind.¡± ke answered.


    ¡®Does he think that the real estate business is child¡¯s y where you can just waste someone¡¯s time?¡¯ The real estate agent thought.


    If it was a noble that made the same statement it meant he could afford any option or offer thrown at him. But for someone like ke who just won 5 million gold coins, it felt like he was wasting his time.


    ¡°Alright then, I do have the perfect houses for you.¡± The real agent said as he nned on putting ke in his ce.


    Leaving ke would only tarnish his image, so instead he was going to take him to multiple high-valued houses. As ke will continuously rejects the houses, not only would his self-esteem drop, but he would end up looking like a fool.


    Both of them boarded a carriage before moving to the upper middle region of the west side of the city.


    ¡°You are in luck because this house just opened up a week ago. The previous tenant was a merchant that only left because he moved into the central region.¡± The real estate agent said as they came down from the carriage.


    The duplex stood at a 1500 square feet space and its yard was moderate. As for the neighboring houses, they were all the same height and all had simr designs meaning his didn¡¯t stand out.


    ¡®The color would surely be changed.¡¯ ke said as he saw the brown paint used on the house.


    The real estate agent led the way into the house. They walked through the passage that led directly into the empty living room.


    At the top, left corner of the room was the staircase that led to the upper floor and to the right corner of the room was arge door that led to the bed and also into the kitchen.


    ¡°Over here is the kitchen.¡± The real estate agent said as he opened the double door to their right that led into the kitchen.


    ¡®Either they go off or I go for sliding ss doors.¡¯ ke thought.


    On entering the spacious kitchen, ke saw the kitchen cabs and table top which he straight up marked as gone.


    At the far right corner end of the kitchen was the dining section which was not too far from the three sliding ss doors that led outside


    The second stair leading to the upper floor was located at the top left corner some meters away from the dining section.


    The door that connected the passage that led to both the living room and the bedroom was direct to ke¡¯s left.


    After checking out the bedroom, ke and the agent went upstairs.


    Theyout of the upper floor was not much different than that of the ground floor, but the only problem ke had was that it wasn¡¯t getting enough natural lighting.


    ¡°So what do you think about it?¡± The real estate agent asked after the tour was over.


    ¡°I love everything about the house and I would like to take it. So what is the price?¡± ke asked.


    The real estate agent smiled as this was the moment he had been waiting for.


    ¡°240k gold coins a year.¡± The real estate agent said with a smirk.


    ¡°You misunderstand me. I am not nning on renting, I want to buy the property.¡± ke said wiping off the smirk on his face.


    ¡®Did I just hear him right? No, this has to be a bluff.¡¯ The agent thought.


    ¡°The price of the property is 12 million gold coins including the agent fee.¡± The agent said as his smirk returned to his face but that was when ke brought out his ck card causing him to be dumbfounded.


    ¡°I will take it.¡± ke said to the real estate agent whose jaws were apart.


    ¡®How is this possible?¡¯ The agent couldn¡¯t help but ask himself.


    He wasn¡¯t shocked by the fact that ke could pay 12 million without even thinking. What had him star-struck was the ck card in his hand.


    The ck card given to ke by Luciano, couldn¡¯t be gotten by just anybody and that included nobles. Both extreme wealth and power were needed before one could get their hands on one.


    ¡°Do you have the contract with you?¡± ke asked, snapping the real estate agent out of his reverie.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The agent said as he quickly regained hisposure and brought the contract out of his dimensional amulet and handed it over to ke.


    ¡®The ck card exins how he can afford the house, but how did he get his hand on one of those ck cards?¡¯


    The ck cardmanded respect and with it, in ke¡¯s hand, he didn¡¯t bother knowing if the supposed amount was within it.


    ¡®I need to carry out a background check on him.¡¯ The real estate agent thought as he patiently waited for ke to read through the contract.


    ¡°Everything is good here.¡± ke said as he signed the contract before swiping the ck card on the payment device and sealing the deal.


    ¡°Nice doing business with you.¡± The real estate agent shook his hand once again before leaving.


    ¡®Thank the heavens that I didn¡¯t make any mistake, else my career would have been over.¡¯ The agent thought as he boarded a carriage and left the area.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 450

    Chapter 450: Renovation.


    [I still don¡¯t get why you decided to buy the house instead of renting it?] The system asked as the real estate agent left the building.


    ¡°I might be cheap, but I don¡¯t hesitate to spend when ites to things that would help my progress or cultivation.¡± ke said.


    If he had rented the house he wouldn¡¯t have the right to make any permanent changes like converting a room to a forge or cutting open the walls to putrge ss windows for more natural sunlight.


    Although the renovation would cost nothing less than half the price he paid for the house, ke still thought it was still worth it. This was because he would still be able to continue forging and it would also provide security to a certain extent.


    Also, if he was to end up leaving the city, he could still sell it off at a very high price.


    ¡°The forge room should berge and the walls should be more reinforced than the rooms.¡± ke said.


    He nned on breaking the kitchen, passage and bedroom walls on the upper floor which would leave him with more than enough space for forging.


    .....


    The next area he nned on making changes was the living room on the upper floor. He was nning on recing the walls with full ss windows and converting them to his bedroom.


    As for the bedroom on the ground floor, ke was nning on changing it to a library or study room even though he currently didn¡¯t have any need for storing physical copies of books.


    Also, since the passage also led to a staircase at the dining it would be very easy for him to move up to the forge above.


    ¡°Using the stairs is quite troublesome, I should create something like a mini elevator.¡±


    ¡°Also, a secret escape route woulde in handy, but I will think about that er in the future.¡± ke thought.


    With all the ns for the interior being arranged, it was now time for ke to head to the adventurer association for the things he needed.


    The reason he was going to the adventurer association was because the materials he needed could not be found in normal stores or warehouses.


    For example, the ss windows he nned on getting were not only physically and magically strengthened to resist the spells of a nascent demigod. Also, no one outside would be able to see through it no matter the time of the day.


    Materials of such quality were only bought by nobles, and the only people that could produce or even import them were only a few toppanies and factories that were located in the central region.


    ¡®It would be nice to break the entire house down, and build it from scratch, but I have only a week to do so and that won¡¯t be possible.¡¯ ke thought.


    The 2 major problems he had was that with the building, there was theck of a basement he could use as a secret escape passage and the normal walls that won¡¯t be as strong as the ss windows he was about to purchase.


    [You are forgetting that it would also draw a lot of attention to you.] The system reminded ke.


    ¡®Yeah, the renovation I am about to carry out would already draw some attention to me.¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but facepalm.


    He had been carried away by the thought of creating something close to his dream house that he had forgotten aboutying low.


    ¡®Nothing I can do about it. Besides it isn¡¯t much.¡¯ ke thought.


    [More like you don¡¯t want to do anything about it.] The system shook its head as ke gave himself an excuse to continue the renovation.


    After 2 hours of going through the adventurer association¡¯srge catalog and picking the items he wanted, he paid for them.


    ke had only purchased the materials for the renovation and not the furniture, but the total cost was above 7 million gold coins.


    The main reason for therge amount was the forgemastery equipment which cost almost 4 million gold coins in total.


    When he was done shopping, it was already getting dark. So ke decided he would begin the renovation the next day.


    So he boarded a carriage and went back to school to have dinner with his friends.


    Just like him, everyone nned on leaving the school exactly in a week. So ke decided he would be ending his renovation early so that he could return and spend more time with them.


    ...


    After breakfast the next day, ke wasted no time heading to the upper area of the middle region.


    Once he got to his house, ke immediately went to work and started by tearing down the walls that obstructed his forging room.


    The reason ke was confident about finishing the renovation all by himself in a week was because he had telekinesis granted by the space element.


    Using the precision and prative ability of the lightning element ke made short work of the walls before cing them into his dimensional pocket.


    From there he moved to the upper floor of the living room and did the same.


    When cutting out the walls of the living room and using mana control as well as telekinesis to lower them to the ground, those outside were confused about what was happening.


    ¡°Who are you and what do you think you are doing? Who granted you ess or the permission to tear down the walls?¡± A man who was in histe 40s asked as he came running out of the duplex closest to ke.


    The middle-aged man who was his neighbor was also a mid-sized merchant.


    ¡°Answer me or I will be calling the ash corps!¡± The merchant barked at ke who was looking down on him.


    ¡°I now own the property, and I am part of the ash corps.¡± ke said as he brought our both the contract to the house and the captain badge that had been delivered to him the previous day.


    ¡°So kindly leave my property or I will have to take action on you.¡± ke said as his eyes began glowing with mana.


    ¡°S...sorry.¡± The merchant quickly apologized and ran back into his house.


    [He does not mind his business, but he is also a coward. What a very badbination.] The system burst out inughter as he saw the merchant running back to his house.


    Not dwelling on the little episode that just took ce, ke carried on with installing the full ss windows and after that, he went straight to the ground floor.


    He first took off the doors connecting the living room to the kitchen before taking out the door leading to the yard.


    After that, he also cut out part of the wall close to the door before installing a long full ss sliding door.


    Since the walls were weaker whenpared to the reinforced ss, ke wanted to rece as much of it as possible with the ss.


    As for the walls, ke nned on using arrays to strengthen them, but that was for another day because it was just an hour from the evening.


    He returned to the school and freshened up before meeting up with his friends.


    ...


    The next day was for reinforcing and integrating every part of the house with arrays, and that included also included the already reinforced sses.


    For 8 hours straight, ke was continuously inscribing arrays to the rooms of the house, but even at that, he wasn¡¯t able toplete it.


    What was left was the forging room and creating a central power source as a backup for the arrays.


    Although it was only 2 tasks they were still the most difficult to carry out. He couldn¡¯t create a central power source without finishing up the forging room.


    The problem with the forging was that he had to put a lot of things into consideration. For example, therge amount of heat produced would need something like a chimney or some kind of cooling array.


    Also, there were failed processes or experiments that could have reactions other than a simple explosion.


    Apart from that, the arrays were meant to be ced in a way that wouldn¡¯t affect the costly equipment when they were connected to the central power source.


    All these needed nning but it was something ke could do in a single night. So he wasn¡¯t worried about it disturbing his schedule.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 451

    Chapter 451: Just the beginning.


    The next morning, ke returned to his house with a slightly different n. Instead of creating a chimney, ke decided to go for a modern design.


    The room and the roof truss would be imbued with cooling arrays that would cool the hot gases from the forging room and expel them through the t vents he would make at the top and sides of the building.


    ke first started by carving out the holes for the vents before creating the venttion channels.


    Once the venttion channels wereplete ke began inscribing arrays on them. Apart from the cooling arrays, ke also adds detection and traps to prevent anything both small and big from getting in.


    With the ventpleted, ke continued reinforcing the forging with arrays before installing the furnace, forge, array circle and other forging equipment.


    This took him almost 6 hours of nonstop work and after that, he went straight to installing the power source.


    The energy crystal he managed to get his hand on was arge chunk of a light green tier 2 crystal called estrium.


    .....


    There were countless types of energy crystals which also included elemental crystals, but they were all grouped into 5 tiers.


    The grading was based on a lot of things like; the amount of energy in a size, the ability to regenerate itself, special features that they grant when used to make items, amplifications to arrays and so on.


    estrium which was a tier 2 crystal was light years below thranium which was the only tier 5 crystal known to man.


    The light green crystal couldn¡¯t regenerate its lost energy like thranium, but ke bought it because not only was it among the cheapest crystal but he was just using it as a backup in case the power being supplied by the city went out.


    Besides if the house was to get attacked by a demigod he would be too busy trying to escape and wouldn¡¯t be able to take the crystal with him. So this way it wouldn¡¯t be a lose-lose situation.


    ¡°Only if I had a house in the void where I can just teleport to, I won¡¯t be worried about losing everything in an attack.¡± ke let out a sigh as he began working on the power core.


    In the next 2 hours, ke was done setting up the estrium crystal as the power core. All that was left for the interior were the furniture and decorations.


    ¡°I already know how I want to ce everything in the rooms and the painting for the building. What I need to n for is the yard itself.¡± ke said as he activated all the arrays in the house before locking up and leaving.


    ...


    On the morning of the 4th day, ke went straight to the adventurer association to purchase paint, a bed and furniture. Also, he ordered a few golden humidifiers and lights from hispany.


    He waited for the ordered items at the adventurer association before getting back to his house and begin painting the walls.


    With telekinesis ke did not need to touch the paint brushes, but he was able to paint multiple walls at the same time. This drastically reduced the time he spent painting to 3 and a half hours.


    After that ke used the next hour to clean up the house and ce everything in his desired location before moving to the exterior.


    ¡°Guess I would bete today.¡± ke wanted to finish the renovation that day meaning he would be returning to the schoolte.


    Without wasting time, he started painting the building¡¯s exterior. That took him 2 hours toplete and another 2 hours for inscribing arrays on the walls and gates.


    The arrays made sure that anyoneing in contact with any of them would alert him. The alert range of the arrays also stretched to the atmosphere of thepound in form of a dome.


    ¡°This was worth it!¡±


    ke wiped out the sweat on his forehead as he looked all around the living room which was lit by the colorful lightsing from the bulbs and RGB light strips.


    ¡°The best part of this is that even if I am to be investigated about how I could afford this, my payments from my time as an adventurer would be enough.¡± ke said.


    [It is advisable that you have a business that everyone can see. It would prevent being investigated in the first ce.] The system said.


    ¡°I have already thought of that. I have something in mind, but I will need to discuss it with Castiel and Brian.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Too bad I can¡¯t enjoy it now. See you in 2 days.¡±


    Once he confirmed that everything was in order, ke boarded a carriage that took him back to school.


    ...


    Thest day of the week had arrived and it was now time for them to go their separate ways.


    ¡°Why are you guys acting as if most of us are not living in the same city.¡± ke said when he saw that everyone¡¯s mood except him, Damon, and Luciano was gloomy.


    ¡°We have been together for almost 3 years now. So it would be hard getting used to not seeing you guys during mealtime.¡± Tessie said as she began hugging everyone with tears in her eyes.


    Her words made the 3 of them realize what was about to happen, making them emotional just like the rest.


    ¡°We can always set up a date for a reunion.¡± Castiel said as he hugged Tessie.


    ¡°That¡¯s a nice idea! I have no problem with that.¡± Cami said.


    ¡°Same here.¡± Damon said.


    ¡°I will surely be able to make time for you guys.¡± Luciano said.


    After a few minutes of chatting, the group hugged themselves for thest time in a long while before boarding different carriages.


    Damon and Luciano were heading to the pce in the center region to warp to the capital, Tessie and Cami to their family mansions, and the trio to their new houses.


    This was the official start of their life in the real world.


    **********************************************************************************************


    This is the end of the 2nd volume, hope you all are enjoying MSTS so far.


    Hope you stick around because this is just the start, the mysteries of the Infinite realm are about to be revealed.

 Chapter 452

    Chapter 452: First day of work.


    After he hadpleted renovating his house, ke now had enough time to do other things especially reading and learning all the information that was sent to him by the ash corps.


    Today was his first day at work and he was currently in a carriage that was making its way into the central region where the only ash corps building for the city was located.


    ¡®Although I have interacted with the ash corps countless times in thest 2 years, I have never been here.¡¯ ke thought as he saw the in design of the building.


    The ash corps building was a in square building covering 2 million square feet ofnd. It was ash in color and had 7 floors, 3 below and 4 above the ground floor.


    ke walked into the building and took an elevator to the top floor before opening the manual sent to him by the ash corps.


    It contained the map of the square ash building which gave directions to important parts of the building.


    Each floor had 3yers, and because the building was sorge, they had to move around on a tform or teleport to certain key points.


    .....


    Knock! Knock!


    ¡°Come in!¡±


    With permission granted, ke entered the general¡¯s office. Sitting at the far end of the room was the heart-shaped face and the ever-smiling Darius.


    The entire wall behind him was a screen that shuffled between live feeds of the parts of the forest, while to the right side of the room was arge table screen for nning.


    On the left side of the room was a 3-seater couch and a table with flowers on it.


    ¡°Reporting for duty sir!¡± ke saluted.


    ¡°It¡¯s been years since I saw you in person.¡± General Darius said as he got up from his chair.


    ¡°Thank you for joining the ash corps, your talent would make a huge impact in the force.¡± Darius shook his hand before returning to his seat.


    ¡°Recently promoted ash corps as well as recruits would be assigned to your team. You all would be on probation and depending on your performances in missions toe, you all would be an official unit.¡± Darius exined.


    ¡®I know that this job is teamwork oriented, but I hope that the uselessness of certain individuals wouldn¡¯t be overlooked.¡¯ ke thought.


    Darius went on to exin the job of the special ops unit, which ke had already read in the manual sent to him.


    ¡°Unlike the normal force that carries out investigations, clean-ups and so on. The special ops are always sent to where the action is.¡±


    ¡°From gang and illegal activity crackdowns to hostage situations, beast-rted issues to even problems of other cities.¡± Darius exined, but it was at that moment that a knock on the door was heard.


    ¡°Come in.¡± Darius said.


    ¡°Sir, the gathering of information at the gang war scene has been concluded. The only things we were able to recover were 24 corpses.¡± Ashley who entered the room reported.


    ¡®Are my eyes ying tricks on me or is that ke in uniform? The winner of the regionalpetition and the adventurer with the 100% mission sess rate?¡¯ Ashely was shocked but still kept herposure.


    ¡°Captain ke what do you think about the report?¡± General Darius asked.


    ¡°From my knowledge and the little information given, it is clear that the 24 corpses that were found at the crime scene are all from the same gang.¡±


    ¡°Also, from the number of deaths, I think it is a gang wipeout because gangs don¡¯t leave the bodies of their fellow members after a fight because they see every member as family.¡± ke exined.


    ¡°So how do you suggest we track them down?¡± Darius asked.


    ¡°I will need more information on the case before I will be able to make any further moves.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Alright then, hand over the investigation and execution of the case to captain ke and his team. Also, introduce him to the newly formed special ops team.¡± General Darius instructed.


    After checking ke¡¯s record of both his life as a student and an adventurer, he had nned on using ke¡¯s full potential even though he was in another field.


    ¡°Dismissed!¡± With that, ke and Ashley left the office before teleporting to the general office located on the 3rd floor to find out the office assigned to him.


    Once it had been confirmed, they teleported back to the 4th floor and got on the moving tform to get to their destination.


    ¡°Here is your office.¡± Ashley said as she opened the door that had his name on it.


    The office could fit up to 10 people at a time, but it was very generic. ke could swear that the wooden desk, chair, 3 seater couch, table and their positions were no different from the ones in other offices.


    The only differences were the names and numbers on the doors, but ke didn¡¯t care that much about it.


    ¡°Your team has been notified about your arrival and they are currently making their way here.


    Since all special ops were on the same floor, it took them less than 5 minutes to reach his office.


    ¡°10?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask as he watched 10 people dressed in uniforms walk into the room.


    He preferred going solo and had prepared himself for 4 extra people just like his days in the magic school, but 10 was another story together.


    ¡°Yes. A year ago, the corp had changed the number of members in a unit because 5-man formations were bing ineffective and putting the lives of the special ops in danger.¡± Ashley exined.


    ¡®At least it is better than having 60 under me.¡¯ ke thought.


    Although ke controlled fewer people, he was happy that he was still at the same rank as those who controlled up to 60 ash corps.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 453

    Chapter 453: [Bonus chapter]Underground floors of the square.


    On entering the room, the eyes of 10 ash corps darted around the room. They saw the gorgeous dark-skinned Ashley, but beside her was an 18-year-old boy.


    ¡®Is he our captain?!¡¯


    This was the same question that was on the mind of almost every one of the ash corps that entered the room.


    ¡°Good day everyone, I am captain ke and you all have been assigned to my unit.¡± ke said.


    ¡®So he is our captain.¡¯


    ¡®What were the higher-ups high on when they thought of putting a kid in charge of a special ops unit?¡±


    ¡®Then he says his name is ke? My junior at the magic school?¡¯


    .....


    ¡®So he is the one that won the regionalpetition. I never knew I would be assigned to his team.¡¯


    All 10 ash corps had different views on ke being their captain. Most thought that he wasn¡¯t fit to be a captain, while the rest were indifferent about it, but he didn¡¯t care about their micro-expressions as he continued.


    ¡°I would have loved to assess each of your strengths and weakness, set certain rules and create a form of synergy between us, but we have already been assigned a mission.¡± ke said shocking everyone.


    ¡°A gang war had urred in the slums, and we have been tasked to investigate and wipe out both gangs.¡± ke said causing even more confusion.


    The 10 ash corps were confused about the investigation aspect. They were usually given information about the investigation and then tasked to n and eliminate the target.


    ¡°I know all are thinking of how we are going to investigate the case when you have no experience. Well, leave that to me. So all you have to do is be ready to act when need be.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Dismissed.¡±


    When all of them were out of the room, ke turned to Ashley and asked.


    ¡°Can I get all the information concerning the case? Also, I would like to take a look at the corpses.¡± ke said.


    ¡°The case file would shortly be sent to you. As for the corpses, do you want to see them now?¡± Ashley asked.


    ¡°Yes. Please lead the way.¡± ke said as they left the office.


    They stepped on one of the many moving tforms, and then made their way to the closest teleportation room before warping to the 1st floor below the ground floor.


    The underground floors were bigger than those above in size even though there were no offices.


    The 1st underground floor was dedicated to storing and analyzing pieces of evidence and things alike. Although it was not as heavily guarded as the other 2 floors, only those that had cases were granted ess to the areas concerning their case.


    The 2nd floor was dedicated to inventions, research and other top-secret activities. Teleportation to this floor wasn¡¯t allowed unless one was a top-ranking official.


    Also, the only entrance to the floor was through the elevators that were heavily guarded right from the elevators to different points of the floor.


    Finally, the 3rd floor was the area where all artifacts used by the corps were stored. The guards of the floor were nothing below the demigod realm, and this was because of two reasons.


    The first was obviously for security, and the second was because of how dangerous the floor was. With the presence of so many powerful and cursed artifacts, one could easily lose their life without knowing what killed them.


    Even though all of the artifacts were sealed, some were so powerful that they couldn¡¯t be properly sealed causing them to affect the outside world to a certain degree.


    That was why all the guards were specially trained to identify and control any issues that may arise.


    As for how artifacts were gotten from the 3rd underground floor for missions. The ash corp in charge of the mission would request to a higher up and when granted, a message would be sent down to the floor.


    Then depending on the power level of the artifacts, those in charge of bringing them out for use would unseal them before delivering them to the person that had requested it.


    The process one had to go through to get their hands on an artifact was one of the reasons why ke had to scan the corpses.


    ¡®Although I have never felt ufortable at the sight of blood, I am too young to be doing this.¡¯ ke let out a sigh of helplessness.


    He would have wished he could use Beholder to find out the culprits but after reading the manual that was sent to him he realized that artifacts were only given out depending on the importance of the mission.


    Gang violence in slums was considered one of the lowest grades of crime especially since it happened often.


    ¡°Captain ke, what exactly are you looking for in the corpses?¡± Ashley couldn¡¯t help but ask as she felt the request was weird.


    ¡°Some gangs make use of weapons with shapes unique to them. So I am looking for stab wounds so that I could scan the wounds and figure out if all the dagger injuries are all the same.¡±


    ¡°If they are all the same we could track all the ces that could have sold, produced or even imported the weapons. From there we could also track their customers, which could lead us to the culprits.¡±


    ke exined as he didn¡¯t take his eyes off the corpse he was currently scanning, but he had no idea that he had left Ashley speechless.


    ¡®His thought process is so deep. So that is how he had been solving all the cases that came his way.¡¯ Ashley thought.


    ¡°Captain ke, there is a problem with that.¡± Ashley said causing ke to straighten up and look at her.


    ¡°Yes?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°The ash corps doesn¡¯t have the info of everything produced and imported into the city.¡± Ashley said.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 454

    Chapter 454: Fooling the higher-ups.


    ¡°Ah, that means I have been wasting my time here.¡± ke said as he began closing the bag that previously covered the corpse.


    ¡®Guess I would make the suggestion in my report after Iplete the mission.¡¯ ke thought as he began leaving the room.


    ¡®I should have known that this world database is nothingpared to that of Earth.¡¯ It was then that ke¡¯s thought process was interrupted by Ashley.


    ¡°Sorry if I am being intrusive, but what are you nning on doing next?¡± Ashley couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    After seeing ke solve multiple cases over the years, and now having a glimpse of his thought process. She was excited that it was now happening in person and couldn¡¯t resist not being carried along.


    ¡°I will take the rest of the team with me and investigate the crime scene again, but that would be after reading the report.¡± ke said.


    He soon returned to his office and began reading the report while Ashley returned to her office.


    .....


    ¡®The report is really what she said it was. There is literally nothing apart from the 24 corpses.¡¯ ke said as he put down the file that contained the report.


    ¡°Guess I have no other choice but to visit the area.¡± ke said before contacting his unit using the ash corp badge beneath his ck cloak.


    In 5 minutes 10 of the corps were in his room, and that was when ke began stating their next course of action.


    ¡°We would be going to the crime scene to make inquiries. So which of you has goodmunication skills?¡± ke asked.


    The room was silent for a while, but soon 2 of the 10 raised their hands.


    The first ash corp to put his hand up was Radley. He was in his early 30¡¯s and stood at a height of 5¡ä 9¡å feet tall.


    He had a creamy skinplexion with dark brown eyes, bony cheeks, arge nose and a narrow face. His curly grey hair, stoic expression and ckwork tattoos on his arms were clear indications that he wasn¡¯t new to danger.


    The second ash corp to raise his hand was Yavin. Not only was he 21 years, but he had graduated from the magic school when ke was in his 2nd year.


    He was a slender pale-skinned man with blue eyes, a small nose,rge ears, smooth cheeks and small lips. His age and physicality made ke think he was the exact opposite of Radley.


    ¡°You will do the questioning.¡± ke said as he pointed at Yavin.


    He chose Yavin because his appearance would be friendly to those being interrogated. Also, he would look like a weak target which would invite the gangs to attack him when they find him snooping around.


    ¡°As he interrogates people and business owners in the area, our job is to remain undercover and keep an eye out for any kind of suspicious movements.¡± ke said.


    After exining his intentions, they all changed into their normal clothes and boarded separate carriages to the slums.


    Their first destination was the Brotherhood pub. Although it was not the location of the gang war, the pub was a hub for information.


    They entered the establishment at different times and once they took their positions at different points in the pub, Yavin began his interrogation.


    He started small and began asking questions to those drinking by themselves before going to tables with 2 or more people.


    ¡®The saying snitches get stitches is a universal concept. So I was never expecting them to give any relevant information.¡¯


    ¡®What I am looking for are the reactions when people find out about what he is doing.¡¯ ke thought as he opened pin-sized spatial tunnels to listen to their conversations.


    After moving to 3 tables, Yavin had already attracted quite a lot of attention to himself. So they just need to watch out for those that would spread the information of his inquiries.


    Sure enough, in less than 5 minutes of moving out of the third table, ke had picked up something.


    ¡°When he moves over to the next table, go spread the news to the rest that someone is snooping about.¡± A man 2 tables behind Yavin¡¯s current position whispered to the man beside him.


    ¡°Remain in position.¡± ke said through theirms as he immediately stood up and left the pub.


    ¡®Why the fuck is he leaving?¡¯


    ¡®What were they thinking when they put an 18-year-old in charge? Well, I will just enjoy the beer and wait for the failure to be announced.¡¯


    ¡®I can¡¯t wait for this mission to be a total failure. I am pretty sure the higher-ups would waste no time to reconsider their decision.¡¯


    ¡®I might not know much about investigations, but this is clearly not working.¡¯


    The thoughts of the 9 undercover ash corps were all negative and it even became worse as Yavin moved to another table without any sess.


    They had no idea that ke did not need 9 of them in the first ce. He just wanted to involve them to make things look more professional and make the higher-ups think he is a team yer.


    When Yavin had moved on to another table, the man had gotten up and left the pub in an unsuspecting manner.


    Immediately, he left the pub and moved a few meters down that was when ke bumped into him.


    ¡°How dare you!¡± the gang member said as he grabbed ke by the cor and brought out his dagger.


    ¡°I am so sorry sir! Please take all I have, just let me go.¡± ke said as he emptied his pocket and brought out 2 silver coins.


    ¡°You are lucky I am in a good mood!¡± The gang member said as he collected the silver coins and let him go.


    ke immediately ran off, leaving the gang member who had a brimming smile on his face.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 455

    Chapter 455: Mimunication.


    ¡°How can a kid be with so many coins? Well, it¡¯s not as if I care, more beer for me!¡± The gang member said with a brimming smile on his face as he went on toplete the task given to him.


    [It still surprises me how your nned interactions always work to thest detail.] The system said because this wasn¡¯t the first or 10th-time scenarios like this were going as nned.


    ¡®Humans im to be special and higher animals, but the truth is that only a few are special while the rest are just higher animals.¡¯


    ¡®So since all of them are no different from each other, all you need is to learn a few behavioral patterns and you will be able to predict and manipte them.¡¯ ke exined as he went into an alley and opened up a detailed map of the city.


    ¡®Where is the man that took my silver coins?¡¯ ke asked as he activated the locator skill.


    Over the years, ke learned that certain factors affected the locator spell both positively and negatively.


    The power level of the person being tracked affected its sess rate as well as the use of anti-tracking artifacts and magical devices.


    .....


    As for its increase in sess rate, if the item being tracked belonged to ke the sess rate would skyrocket.


    That was why ke had staged the encounter just to give him the silver coins because this was the only lead they had and he didn¡¯t want to take chances.


    Once the locator spell was activated, a moving light dot appeared on the map representing the gang member. ke watched as he moved to an area 2 streets away from where the gang war urred.


    ¡®I think we¡¯ve got the gang hideout.¡¯ ke thought as the light dot entered a horse rental building, but that was when something unexpected happened.


    The light dot in the horse building had somehow made its way into the carriage rental building beside it.


    ¡°Well, that makes sense.¡± ke said as it didn¡¯t take him a second to realize that there was an underground channel that connected both buildings.


    After a few more minutes, the light dot exited the building and was returning to the pub. Immediately ke closed his map and activated the.


    ¡°I have gotten all the information I need. Cautiously exit the premises and meet up at the square.¡± ke instructed his team.


    ...


    When he and his team returned to the square, ke went straight to Darius office to update him on their progress.


    ¡°That was quicker than I thought it would be.¡± Darius said as he gestured for ke to give his report.


    ke wasted no time to report everything including his method of investigation and the location of the gang hideout.


    ¡°That¡¯s great. So when are you nning on wiping out the gang?¡± Commander Darius asked.


    ¡°We will be striking tonight to make sure that we get most of them.¡± ke answered.


    With the report over, ke returned to his office and informed his unit before meditating as he waited for it to get dark.


    ...


    4 hourster it was almost dark, and even though they wouldn¡¯t be raiding till it waspletely dark, they still needed to scout the location. So they wasted no time getting to work.


    In less than 30 minutes, the unit arrived at the slums and immediately took over the roofs to reach the buildings.


    ¡®Just the perfect time.¡¯ ke thought as they saw that the activity in both the horse and carriage rentals had increased.


    The reason ke had chosen to attack at night was because it was the time gangs regrouped to either merry, n and execute a raid, or count the hauls they got after terrorizing members of the public.


    ¡°In the next half an hour, both businesses would be closing. So the task is to eliminate any living thing in the area.¡± ke said through hismd in their ears.


    ¡°The horse rental is almost twice as big as the carriage rental, making it the best space to build a hideout.


    ¡°So I will be leaving you guys with the carriage rental, make sure no one escapes.¡± ke said shocking everyone.


    ¡®Isn¡¯t it meant to be the other way around?¡¯ The ash corps couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡®Because he won a kids¡¯petition he thinks he can take on the whole world?.¡¯ Radley thought.


    During the afternoon when ke informed them out of nowhere that he had discovered their hideout. At first, they were shocked by the news because they thought that it would be a failure, but they soon began wondering how he did it.


    They read the report he gave which made them, even more intrigued, and caused them to search for more information about him.


    That was when they read that he won the regionalpetition, but since there were no videos for them to watch they had no clue of his powers or the power level of hispetitors.


    This gave them room to make up excuses about school and real-life experiences not being the same thing.


    ¡®Well, it will be nice to see how he fails miserably.¡¯ Some of the ash corps thought.


    30 minutes went by quickly and both businesses closed up, meaning it was time to act.


    Ebony and Ivory appeared in his hands as well as his night veil. Without wasting any second, ke jumped down from the building in his camouged state causing the others to follow suit.


    Once they touched the floor, they split into 2 groups and made their way to the different entrances, but that was when arge fireball crashed into the door of the carriage rental building.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± They turned to see that it was Yavin who fired the spell but he was confused about why they were looking at him that way.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 456

    Chapter 456: Captain ke to the rescue.


    Using the knowledge he had gotten from being a normal ash corp for almost 2 years, Yavin had gotten used to blowing apart the entrance of any building about to be raided.


    That was why he was confused by how the others were looking at him, but it didn¡¯t take time for him to realize his mistake.


    This was the special ops unit and their job wasn¡¯t to make arrests but to wipe out entities or groups that were dangerous to the public, and the best way of doing that was covertly to not disturb the public.


    ¡°You guys have no other option than to continue. So make sure no one escapes and if things get bad, try and stall them till I am done.¡± ke said as he handed a void dagger to Yavin.


    ¡°Hold on to this and make sure nothing happens to it. Also, remember that your lives are more important than the mission.¡±


    Immediately ke was done, he activated lightning reinforcement and dashed into the horse rental building.


    ¡®Scan the building.¡¯ ke instructed the system as he entered the reception the building.


    .....


    He thought that because of Yavin¡¯s mistake, the gang member would be leaving the area. So he wanted to block the direction of their escape and as well know how many of them were in the building.


    That was when 7 gang members ran into the reception with weapons and spells in their hands. 3 of the 7 were in the champion realm while the rest were all warriors, but they were all the same to ke.


    With Ebony and Ivory in his hands, ke dashed at the 7 gang members and before they realized that he had moved, their heads were already on the floor.


    [At first, I thought they were sending people to slow you down, but it seems that no one is even trying to escape. They are actually moving toward the carriage rental building.] The system said surprising ke.


    ¡®Maybe they think this is an attack from another gang.¡¯ ke said.


    [That is the only exnation I can think about.] The system said.


    ¡®That¡¯s good news, but I still have to make sure no one escapes.¡¯ ke said.


    [Then you should begin with the storage of the building.]


    ording to the building n he had gotten from the ash corps, the horse rental was divided into 4 sections. The reception which he was currently in, a horse stable, ring and the fourth a storage area.


    ¡®Already on it.¡¯ ke said as he sped down the corridor while mowing down everything that came his way.


    On getting to the cross intersection that led to the other 3 sections of the building, ke took the right path which lead directly to the storage section and the second entrance.


    This was where food, supplies and so on for the horses were brought in from. This meant it was meant to be the busiest area, but to ke¡¯s surprise there were not up to 20 gang members in the region.


    [Considering the fact that most of them are on the other side of the building and that they can¡¯t be so quick to respond. It is safe to say that the underground hideout and passage to the other building are over there.] The system exined.


    ¡®Here I was thinking I would be taking the building with the most people.¡¯ ke thought.


    It wasn¡¯t as if he cared about them, what he was worried about was the sess of the mission.


    The gang members in the deeper parts of the horse rental building were just there to protect and alert the rest in case of intruders tried to nk the main force. As for the main force they were already or on their way to face his team.


    ¡®Hope they are holding out well.¡¯ ke said as he wasted no time massacring the 13 unsuspecting gang members.


    Once he was done, he went straight to the horse ring which was empty but also connected both buildings.


    The reason for the connection was because legally, both business were owned by different people. It was more of a partnership business where a customer would rent a horse and then a carriage.


    The horse would be led through the ring and be taken to the carriage before both horse and carriage would dive out the driveway demarcating both buildings.


    [The carriage area is empty so, it would be a waste of time to go through there.] The system reported after scanning the area ahead.


    With that, ke went straight to the horse barn which had only 3 people protecting the entrance to their hideout.


    With the concealment of night veil still active, the 3 gang members weren¡¯t aware of how they passed on. Even the horse just saw heads falling to the ground, followed by fountains of blood being squirted out from the necks.


    [The entrance as well as other areas in the hideout have traps.] The system informed ke after scanning the area.


    ¡®Fighting in tight spaces isn¡¯t advisable, also disabling the traps would take time. So I should help them out first.¡¯ ke said as he went to mark the ground before opening a spatial corridor that led to the void dagger he had given Yavin.


    ¡®Let¡¯s hope he isn¡¯t in the middle of a crossfire.¡¯ ke said as he walked through.


    ...


    In the carriage rental building.


    The moment Yavin and his team had gone into the building, they were met by over 40 gang members who wasted no time opening fire at them.


    The ash corps were wondering why and how the gang had reacted so quickly, but that was when they remembered that they just took part in a gang war the previous day.


    So they were prepared because it was a normal thing for another gang to try and wipe them out because they thought they were weakened.


    This series of unfortunate events forced them to take a defensive position as a rain of spells was fired at them.


    That was when they heard a familiar voice.


    ¡°Why are you guys hiding, instead of wiping them out?¡±


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 457

    Chapter 457: Ash corps briefing.


    The reception room of the carriage rental building also served as a runway for rented carriages to both leave and enter the building.


    When ke stepped out of the spatial tear and saw his team hiding behind the pirs of the building.


    ¡°Why are you guys hiding instead of wiping them out?¡± ke asked shocking his team.


    ¡®How? Where did hee from?¡¯ His team unanimously asked as they reinforced their barriers.


    ¡°Clean this up, I still have to return to the other side. Also, don¡¯t destroy the building.¡± ke said as both swords in his hands moved out and transformed into ck and snow-white wolves.


    AWOO!


    Both king-rank wolves howled causing all fire and water spells to change direction and return to the casters.


    .....


    ¡®Are those king-rank beasts?¡¯


    The team couldn¡¯t help but ask as waves of fire and ice erupted from both wolves and precisely wiped out all the gang members in the room.


    ¡®Are my eyes ying tricks on me?¡¯ The entire team was star-struck because everything that just happened now seemed unreal.


    From appearing out of a portal to summoning 2 king-rank beasts that instantly killed more than 40 people. This was the story that could only be heard when high-ranking ash corps went into the field!


    ¡°Ivory stay here and make sure no one escapes the building, Ebonye with me.¡± ke said as Ebony returned to his sword form, but that was when he saw that his team were not moving.


    ¡°Why are you all standing there? Take care of those that would being soon and clear out their hideout, while I wipe them out from the other side.¡± ke said to his team, but that was when Ivory shot out shards of ice.


    Ahh!


    The scream of a gang member being impaled by the ice shards echoed from deeper parts of the building.


    ¡°Good girl!¡± ke petted Ivory before walking into a spatial tear that took him back to the horse barn.


    ¡°...¡±


    The 10 ash corps couldn¡¯t help but stare at the snow-white wolf that had taken a resting position.


    ¡°Hope it won¡¯t attack us?¡± A female ash corp asked, but that was when they began hearing footstepsing in their direction.


    The footsteps soon came to a halt before changing to sprints. The gang members had not only seen the dozens of corpses, but they had seen the king-rank beast that was responsible for their deaths.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it going to do anything?¡± Yavin asked as Ivory¡¯s eyes were still shut.


    ¡°The captain gave an order, so why are we still wasting time.¡± Radley said as he began chasing the escaping gang members.


    ...


    When ke returned to the barn, instead of entering the entrance he decided to wait.


    ¡®The entire area is now quiet, so it¡¯s just a matter of time till the rest realizes that everyone has been wiped out.¡¯ ke thought.


    He was right because in less than 5 minutes gang members were running out of the hideout and waiting for them was the grim reaper himself.


    ...


    Once it was confirmed that every gang members in the building were dead, ke took back Ivory before calling in the normal ash corps to take care of the scene.


    With that done, the special ops team which had just sessfullypleted their first mission returned to the square to give reports on the mission.


    In ke¡¯s report, apart from mentioning how he carried the entire team. He made sure to highlight the weakness of his team and request some time to train them before going on another mission.


    After submitting the report, ke went to the cafeteria for dinner before returning to his house and calling it a day.


    ...


    When ke reported for work the next day he was informed about a meeting withmander Darius and all captains in the next 2 hours.


    ¡°I wonder what the meeting would be about.¡± ke thought.


    That was when a message from Darius reached him; permitting him to go ahead with his team training. Seeing this ke wasted no time informing his team about a training session that would take ce after lunch.


    After that, it didn¡¯t take long for the time for the meeting to reach. ke left his office and warped to the top floor before going to the briefing hall.


    On entering the hall ke could see both captains and their second-inmand. Some of the captains were conversing with fellow captains, while some were seated and patiently waiting for the meeting to begin.


    ¡®I wonder who my second-inmand should be. It would not be Yavin, for the fact that he made such a mistake means that he is not someone that thinks outside the box.¡¯ ke thought but it was then that he sensed someoneing from behind.


    ¡°You can¡¯t be here without your captain, so leave now ande back with him.¡±


    ke turned to see a solidly-built man in his mid-twenties. The man was 6¡¯2ft tall with cream skin color, distrustful dark brown eyes, a triangr face and a pointed chin.


    His white hair, thin hips, and glossy skin were a dead giveaway that he was from a wealthy background.


    ¡°...¡±


    Without saying a word ke pointed at his captain badge before turning around and walking away.


    This shocked everyone that saw the scene because everyone his age that was currently in the room was all lieutenants.


    It was then that they remember about the newly graduated strongest student of the empire, ke.


    As for the white-haired captain that approached ke, not only was he shocked like the rest but he felt embarrassed by his failed attempt to bully a lower-ranking ash corp.


    He couldn¡¯t do anything about it especially since special ops captains were slightly higher than them in rank. So all he could do was take a seat and wait for the meeting to begin.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 458

    Chapter 458: Ash corps briefing 2.


    ¡®Where do all these morons get the energy to harass people? Is it that they don¡¯t have better things to do?¡¯ ke shook his head in disappointment as he was looking for a good seat, but that was when he saw a face that put a smile on his face.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect us to be seeing each other so soon.¡± ke said as he approached Cami who seating beside ady in her early 20s.


    ke had been informed by Cami that she would be taking the role of a captain. She was on probation, but unlike him who was given his full squad, only 30 officers were put under her.


    (AN: Officially the captain rank of both special ops and the normal force are the same thing, but captains of special ops units have more power. So it is an unspoken rule that they were higher in rank.)


    ¡°ke!¡± Cami was surprised to see ke and wasted no time hugging him.


    ¡°Are my eyes ying tricks on me or did your hot family member just hug that guy?¡± A captain sitting next to the white-haired captain that tried to harass ke.


    Just like when she was back at the magic school, Cami had been the center of attraction. It took high levels of both willpower and discipline for males to stop themselves from proposing, let alone not stare at her jaw-dropping curves.


    .....


    Apart from her irresistible curves, her reserved demeanor and movement made guys go crazy. This made most girls envious of her because ever since the previous day she had been taking all the attention.


    ¡°What?!¡± The white-haired man was shocked to ser Cami¡¯s hands around ke, but he had managed to hold back his outrage just in time.


    ¡°She had always been indifferent to every single man that came her way, even when it came to those from the capital. So why is she reacting this way to him?¡± The white-haired man was confused.


    ¡°I need to look know more about him.¡± The white-haired man as well as every other male in the room thought as they saw the scene that just took ce.


    It had been apetition on who would get her attention and everyone had been preparing lines and nning out multiple scenarios in their heads, but this had shattered everything.


    They now wanted to know what made ke so interesting and do better to win her heart.


    ¡°Remember where we are.¡± ke whispered to Cami causing her to let him go.


    ¡°This is my second inmand, Lauren.¡± Cami pointed to the red-haireddy beside her, who wasted no time saluting.


    ¡°Where is yours?¡± Cami couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°My unit was assigned an investigation and extermination mission yesterday. So I didn¡¯t even have enough time to know their names let alone pick a second inmand.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°A mission already?¡± Cami as well as Lauren were surprised to hear this.


    ¡°Yup.¡± ke nodded.


    ¡°How is it going so far?¡± Cami asked as she gestured for him to take a seat beside hers.


    ¡°We found the gang during the daytime and exterminated themte that night.¡± ke replied.


    ¡®Who is this person and what charm is he using to make her believe such a tant lie? I can¡¯t wait to go to the general office and pull up proof that he is lying.¡¯ Lauren who was listening to the conversation thought.


    ¡°I am d to hear that your first mission went well.¡± Cami said with a genuine smile.


    ¡®This is the first time I am seeing her smile this way. Who is this guy?!¡¯ The lieutenant was screaming in her head.


    ¡°We didplete the mission but it didn¡¯t go as well as I wanted it to be all thanks to my team¡¯sck of knowledge and synergy.¡±


    ¡°So I had to informmander Darius about it and he granted me some time to train my team.¡± ke exined.


    ¡®He even dare to lie with the Commander¡¯s name. He is surely losing his position.¡¯ Lauren thought as an evil smile appeared in her head.


    ¡°Good day everyone, sorry for the dy.¡± Darius appeared in the room, causing everyone to stand and salute before taking their seat.


    ¡°Today¡¯s briefing is about the city¡¯s future ns.¡± Commander Darius announced.


    ¡°As you all know, captain ke over there was the main reason for the eastern region¡¯s victory in the regionalpetition.¡± Darius pointed at ke causing everyone to turn to him.


    ¡°Thanks to him the eastern region has been allocated a lot of the resources, and as the capital of the east, Calton would be getting arge portion of the resources.¡±


    ¡°Using the resources, prince Bryon hasid out arge list of ns he has for Calton city. The most important 2 are building morendmarks and most importantly expanding the city.¡± Commander Darius said causing everyone to be confused.


    ¡°You all are quite young, that is why you are not aware that the city wall is an artifact that can expand once fed the right materials.¡± Darius exined.


    ¡®I always knew it was an artifact but I never thought something thatrge can move or grow in size.¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡°For all the projects to be a sess our job is to wipe out as many gangs as possible. Both big and small, if any information is to be gotten about any of them they should be taken out without dy.¡± Commander exined.


    He went on to give more detailed ns before ending the meeting just a few minutes before lunchtime.


    ¡®This is the worst time to be a gangster.¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but feel pity because the ash corps which had been indifferent to most of their activities were now nning on actively hunting them down.


    ¡°Where are you heading to?¡± Cami asked.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 459

    Chapter 459: Rendering them useless.


    ¡°Where are you heading to?¡± Cami asked.


    ¡°To the cafeteria for lunch.¡± ke replied.


    ¡°Same here.¡± Cami replied.


    Although they were not quite hungry, they wanted to spend some time with each other. The best ce to do that without furtherplicating matters is by staying in the open.


    The cafeteria was on the 4th floor and was meant for the captains and their second inmand.


    ¡°Did Lauren tell you where she was going to?¡± ke asked as he scanned the menu.


    ¡°No, why do you ask?¡± Cami asked with an ¡®interested¡¯ look.


    .....


    ¡°Well, when we I was talking to you about the mission her micro-expressions were all over the ce. So if my guess is correct then she is most likely going to confirm if all I said was true.¡±


    ¡®If not she would report me and try to get me punished.¡¯


    ke didn¡¯t say thest part because he was sure it would affect Cami¡¯s rtionship with her 2nd inmand even if he was wrong.


    ¡°How are you so sure?¡± Cami asked.


    ¡°When talking to people in public, I always keep an eye out for the faces around. From there you will be able to catch some involuntary facial expressions.¡±


    ¡°If you want to go further, you can listen to their breathing pattern and heartbeat.¡± ke exined as he finally decided on what he was having for lunch.


    ¡°Howe you don¡¯t know this?¡± ke was surprised when he saw Cami surprised about his exnation.


    ke had read a lot of psychology books back on Earth, but it was only after meeting Luciano and Cami who were not only smart but also cunning, that he decided to start applying the things he learnt.


    So it came as a shock to him that she didn¡¯t know about it.


    ¡°Well, my family has thought me to not only control my emotions, but also that of others, especially men. So I am able to notice something, but not to this extent.¡± Cami said.


    [Why do I feel like you have empowered a possible future enemy?] The system said.


    ¡®First, the chances of that happening are now very low. Secondly, it is just a matter of time till she learns how to do it.¡¯ ke said to the system.


    When their food was warped to their table, ke noticed 2 men with their traysing to their table.


    ¡®Where do people find the energy to disturb others.¡¯ ke shook his head after seeing that the table the 2 men wereing from had 3 people currently sitting with 2 free seats.


    Also, from the looks on their faces, it was more than clear that they wereing to cause trouble.


    When they got to their table, they pulled out the chair, but as they were about to sit, ke summoned Ebony and Ivory. They instantly reduced into miniature sizes and took the chairs.


    This left one more seat open, but after seeing and feeling the bone-chilling auras of the 2 miniature wolves they quietly and shamefully moved past their table and sat on an empty table causing a lot of captains in the cafeteria to burst out intoughter.


    ¡°I am so sorry for the re, looks and harassmenting our way.¡± Cami said in a helpless tone.


    Although sometimes she loved the attention, most times it was annoying especially when she is enjoying her time with ke.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize, I already knew what I was getting into when I agreed to date the most beautifuldy in the ash corps.¡± ke said causing Cami¡¯s face to turn beet red and making every guy that saw her blush even more angry at him.


    ¡°Besides a good portion of the looks areing from thedies. So you better watch your back.¡± ke said with a smirk.


    He wasn¡¯t lying, almost every captain both male and female was angry because the most attractive people of both genders were very close.


    ...


    After lunch, the couple had to separate and deal with the issues of their units.


    Since he had fixed the training session in one of the training rooms on the 4th floor, ke went straight to the location.


    ¡®Assert dominance then gain their respect.¡¯ ke said to himself as he entered the training room.


    Just like the magic school castle, the Square was an artifact which protected and powered everyone and everything going on inside.


    As for the training rooms, they were no different from those of the magic school, even the golden barrier protection was still the same thing.


    The only catch was that they were protected from death only when they were inside the training rooms.


    ¡°Commander Darius has given us some days off to train our synergy and learn whatever is necessary for our future missions to be sessful.¡± ke said while staring at Yavin.


    ¡°So first, for us to improve we will have to find out our strengths and weaknesses. So to not waste time, you all will be fighting me.¡± ke said shocking everyone.


    ¡°To make things harder for me, I won¡¯t be using this.¡± ke brought out Ebony and Ivory before throwing it to the side.


    ¡®Is he crazy or what? That was the only way he could win us.¡¯


    ¡®I have to thank the heavens for giving me the opportunity to put this cocky bastard in his ce.¡¯


    ¡®Before I was indifferent to everything, but he is too cocky and has to be put in check.¡¯


    The entire unit took offense to ke¡¯s words and now wanted to put him in his ce, but they had no idea this was his n all along.


    ¡®The only time they would be willing to learn is when I make them realize that they are useless in both the small and big picture.¡¯ ke thought as an evil smirk appeared on his face, further infuriating the ash corps that couldn¡¯t do anything about it, at least for now.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 460

    Chapter 460: Teaching the unit a lesson.


    After giving them a few minutes to organise themselves, both parties stood meters apart before he gave the signal to begin the battle.


    Once the signal was given, 6 of the 10 ash corps began charging their spells while the remaining led by Radley were charging at ke.


    ¡®6 mages 4 closebatants, this should be easy.¡¯ ke smiled before throwing out 5 void daggers at the group.


    Seeing the void daggers, the unit remembered how it had helped ke warp to them during theirst mission. Since they had no idea of how it worked they decided it was best to dodge them, but this just made keugh.


    He opened 5 spatial corridors in front of him causing the 3 charging at him to pause, leaving only Radley still charging at him.


    ke didn¡¯t bother taking a second nce at him as he stepped back into a spatial corridor with an exit behind one of the mages at the back.


    ¡°You are looking in the wrong direction.¡±


    .....


    Once the mage heard the voice of his captain, she felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly tried to release a wind explosion to increase the distance between them, but before he could do that she felt ke¡¯s hand on her head.


    Zzzg! Zzzg!


    ke released high volts of electricity into her causing her to lose consciousness, but at the same time spells from the other mages were just a meter away.


    Void shift!


    ke smiled as spatial corridors opened for the spells to go through and exit at the marked area that Radley was currently standing on.


    Ah!


    The screams of Radley being bombarded by spells were heard, but they didn¡¯t dare take their eyes off ke because he released arge electromaic field that not only expanded but also retracted.


    The 8 ash corps were forced to defend themselves, but that was when they saw the void daggers returning to ke.


    They were about to let all hell lose, when ke opened another spatial space and dragged out Radley who somehow survived the spells and was still recovering.


    This caused them to pause for a few seconds before resuming fire.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ke didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry, either way he kicked Radley forward making him hit the spells before they got to him.


    At that time 3 of the closebatant had reached him, causing ke to activate lightning reinforcement to dodge a stab from the one at the right before grabbing his arm, twisting it and pulling it to the ground.


    Once he was on the floor, ke stomped his shoulder, cracking it and causing the ash corp to wail in pain.


    Looking up, ke saw both ash corpsing from both front and behind him. He took a void dagger to block the greatsword before smiling at the ash corp without caring about the attack from behind.


    ¡°Got you!¡±


    The ash corp behind screamed as he thrust his katana at ke¡¯s back but when it was just a few inches away, a spatial tear opened with the exit behind the ash cop in front of ke.


    Ahh!


    The ash cop in front screamed as the katana went for the skull, but at the same time, spells were already flying towards them.


    Without turning, ke opened a spatial corridor that led the spells to the ash corp behind, causing the golden barrier to protect him.


    ¡°Time to deal with you guys.¡± ke said as he fired a me burst to the ash corp still wailing on the ground.


    With all the closebatants incapacitated, ke couldn¡¯t help but grin at the 5 mages.


    It wasmon knowledge that the weakness of mages was closebatants because they wouldn¡¯t give them any breathing space to cast spells.


    Weaving through the spells, ke reached Yavin before using a meburst-propelled punch to break through the earth wall that he had hurriedly cast before grabbing him and electrocuting him.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Knowing that Yavin wasn¡¯t surviving that, the other mages had wasted no time raining spells on the area, but ke had already sensed it long and had moved out of the way.


    ¡°Where did he go?¡±


    The mages couldn¡¯t help but ask as ke was nowhere to be seen, but that moment was when one of the ash corp saw the outline of a figure right in front of him.


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    He tried to distance himself when he understood what was going on, but ke¡¯s right hand was already on his face.


    ¡®He is a monster!¡¯ One of the ash corps thought as she helplessly stood still, while the other 2 began running away.


    ¡°Where the hell are you guys going?¡± ke didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry as he saw the 2 running.


    He quickly ended the girl standing, before chasing down the remaining 2 and ending the one-sided thrashing.


    Once everyone was down, ke sat in a crossed-leg position and began meditating as he waited for everyone to regain consciousness.


    In a little bit past half an hour, the entire team were up and were now looking at ke with different thoughts running through their heads.


    All of them were in shock when they recounted how ke had demolished them, and even those that were hating on him had no other excuses to think he was weak.


    ¡°Now that you all are awake, let¡¯s watch how the entire one-sided beatdown happened and learn from it.¡± ke said as he stood up and yed the recording of the fight.


    The fightsted for less than 15 minutes, and after watching the ash corps were even more mind blown.


    ¡®He didn¡¯t even take one hit from 10 people!¡¯


    ¡®How can someone so young be able to do this?!¡¯


    ¡®Monster! He is a monster!¡¯


    The unit used different words to describe ke¡¯s skills, but one thing for sure was that it would be bad news if he was on the opposing team.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 461

    Chapter 461: Catching bigger fish.


    After watching how ke had defeated all of them without taking a single hit, the unit still found it unbelievable.


    What even blew their mind more was that he didn¡¯t use Ebony and Ivory or even much of his elements. It was mostly his skills that he used to take down the unit.


    ¡°The first thing I would be talking about is this.¡± ke yed back the video to the beginning of the match when Radley had charged at him all alone.


    ¡°The first rule of battle is assessing the enemy. They...¡± ke paused before looking at the name tags on their vests.


    ¡°Andrew, Jerry, and Christopher stopped when they saw the spatial tears, but you continued even though you had no idea of how dangerous they were or what they did.¡±


    ¡°I knew what I was doing when I decided to take all of you on, so you should be cautious of everything you don¡¯t understand.¡± ke said before moving over to the next topic.


    ¡°The next thing I would be talking about is teamwork. When you wasted no time firing at Radley it was clear that you all didn¡¯t care about each other. instead, you just wanted to defeat me.¡±


    .....


    ¡°The key to victory for you guys was your numbers since youcked quality, but when you started taking down your teammates the battle was already over before it started.¡±


    ¡°Finally, your formation was okay but it would always end up useless if not used properly. As closebatants, you four are meant to asionally give room for the mages to also join the attack.¡±


    ¡°This would not only increase the damage dealt, but it would also save your energy and would reduce chances of mistakes happening.¡±


    ke¡¯s exnation made everyone understand what they did, but it was now time to inform them on how to improve.


    ¡°First step in improving is that everyone would be undergoing intensive physical and closebat training. Yes, that includes you guys.¡± ke said referring to the 6 mages in the unit.


    ¡°The weakness of every mage is close-quartersbat. So instead of being useless, you will be learning how to survive till your teammates arrive or create space to continue casting spells.¡± ke said knowing exactly what they were thinking.


    [It is nice to see you investing so much in others.] The system said after seeing the training ns ke hadid out for them.


    ¡®LOL, the only reason I am training them is that they would y a major role in the sess of my future missions. Besides that, I wouldn¡¯t bother to help those that were too quick to judge me.¡¯ ke said to the system.


    [I understand.]


    ...


    Colonel Darius had given them 5 days toplete their training, but thankfully ke¡¯s unit had only needed 3 to learn the most important things like teamwork, formation, and so on. As for improving the team¡¯s physicality andbat skills, it was something they did anytime they were not assigned a mission.


    The reason they were so fast was that they already knew the fundamentals ofbat, all that was left was a little guidance.


    Also, after ke had humbled all of them, he gained their respect and they were now willing to learn and improve.


    As for ke, he was even busier than his team. Apart from nning and leading 3 sessful gang wipeouts, he was also part of the investigation team because it turned out that the nned crackdown on gangs in the city was more serious than he had thought.


    Darius had added him to the investigation department, and not wanting to waste such an opportunity to rack up achievements he went to work.


    Using both the locator skill and his high intellect, ke alone had tripled the speed and sess rate of the investigation department.


    This in turn provided a lot of missions for the special ops unit which was why his team had been able to wipe out 3 gangs in the space of a week.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know how he is so good in both investigation and battle, but he has to do it again.¡± Harry, the second inmand of the investigation department thought as he knocked on ke¡¯s door.


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    ¡°Captain Harry, how may I be of help?¡± ke asked.


    Harry was a 6¡ä 3¡å tall, fair-skinned man with friendly blue eyes, a buzz cut, a small nose, and thin lips. His friendly smile coupled with his smile made it unable for one to hate him.


    He was the second inmand to the Major in charge of the investigation department, so he was doing most of the work.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Harry let out a helpless sigh as he was finding it hard to exin. ¡°The higher-ups want us to catch big fish.¡± Harry said in the simplest exnation.


    In the first week, the ash corps had wiped out a total of 15 gangs throughout the city of which ke was involved in solving 13 of them. 7 of them had beenpleted solely by ke while the remaining 6 were solved while partnering with others.


    The only problem with this was that only 3 of the 15 were mid-rank gangs while the rest were low-rank gangs, but even at that his contribution was mind-blowing and that was why they wereing to him with a bigger problem.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time.¡± ke said in a pondering tone shocking Harry.


    ¡°How do you know? Where you already informed.¡± Harry couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°The city wants to carry out a lot of major projects and wants us to deal with anything that would hinder them. So it is obvious that they are talking about top gangs.¡± ke exined.


    ¡°Any leads or information that can be of help?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Nothing at all, every gang now knows about the crackdown and is bing more cautious.¡± Harry said as he adjusted his sses.


    ¡°Alright, I will see what I can do.¡± ke said.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 462

    Chapter 462: Catching bigger fish II.


    ke was added to the investigation department only for now, but it didn¡¯t me he could be bossed around like everyone else there.


    It was more of a consultancy rtionship and of course, he was being paid extra for the extra work even though he did not need it.


    [So what do you n on doing?] The system couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    He had no idea why ke confidently epted the mission even though he had no clue or direction to take.


    ¡°On Earth, there are 3 top criminal sectors; weapons, human trafficking and drugs. These are things that are also in infinite realm so my guess is that the top gangs would be leading these sectors.¡± ke exined.


    [So which would you be going after?] The system asked.


    ¡°The weapon industry is the richest and most powerful among the 3. So if I was to go after them, I would need a lot of manpower and resources which would be troublesome and tiring to request for.¡±


    .....


    ¡°So it means I would be going after the human trafficking and hard drug industry.¡± ke said making the system wonder if he was alright. Tracking one of them was already difficult let alone going after 2 at the same time.


    ¡°It¡¯s not asplicated as you think. Those being trafficked are mostly used as sex ves in brothels and hotels and so on, but the good or bad thing about it is that sex and drugs go hand in hand.¡±


    ¡°So all I need to do is put in the normal effort and I would have information concerning any of them.¡± ke exined.


    [Don¡¯t you think that the investigation department already knows about these things and still hasn¡¯t made any progress?] The system said.


    ¡°They most likely know of it, but you forget there are certain factors that are halting their progress. The main one being the top gangs having informants in the ash corps, especially in the investigation department.¡±


    ¡°As for how I will solve the case, it is very simple. I am a locator and I will only release important information when I am ready to weed out all informants.¡± ke said with a grin on his face.


    ¡°I can only do that through Darius¡¯ help.¡± ke got up from his chair and left for the Colonel¡¯s office.


    ¡°Captain ke, how may I be of help?¡± Colonel Darius asked with a wide smile on his face as ke entered his office.


    ke wasted no time in exining most of his n to colonel Darius, before making a few requests necessary for the mission.


    ¡°So you are saying that in 2 days from now, I should announce that we have a lead on human traffickers to only those in the investigation department and that we would be striking arge base in less than 30 minutes. Then we keep a close eye on each of their moves and calls?¡± Colonel Darius asked just to make sure.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ke confirmed.


    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s hope this works out.¡± Darius was excited and impressed by ke¡¯s n.


    [You know he and the royal family is the reason the top gangs haven¡¯t been caught?] The system said.


    ¡®Yes, and I put that into consideration. His approval is one of the main reasons I spoke to him in the first ce.


    His approval was what I needed, and if he had told me to back out, I would have done so without question.¡¯ ke said.


    They were right, the royal family was the main reason the top gangs were still existing. Why colonel Darius had given them the go-ahead was because the royal family wanted to send a reminder to the top gangs that they were still at the top and shouldn¡¯t think about interfering with the uing projects.


    The investigation was to randomly select the unlucky scapegoat to be used as an example to the rest.


    ...


    Once ke was done with colonel Darius, he moved straight to the training room to check on his unit that was currently training their physicality andbat skills. He stayed with them and gave pointers till it was dark.


    Immediately after dismissing all of them, ke changed to his casual wear before exiting the Square.


    ¡°Take me to the Mystic strip club.¡± ke said to the carriage driver as he took a seat.


    The Mystic strip club was a mid-sized strip club located in the middle region of the city, so it was only a little less than 25 minutes before they arrived at the location.


    After paying the gate fee ke walked into the club and was immediately hit by the strong scent of alcohol and smoke.


    ¡®Dim lights and alcohol abination that leads to many mistakes.¡¯ ke shook his head as he weaved his way through the crowd.


    ¡®They are enticing, but not only will I not cheat on Tessie and Cami, but I have standards and they are below them.¡¯ ke thought as he walked past poles and went towards the private room.


    ¡°Hey, handsome!¡± A slim but busty blonde approached ke, but before she could touch him he grabbed her hand before paying for a private room and leading her in.


    ¡°Straight forward, I like that.¡± The blonde stripper said in a seductive tone, but ke grabbed her hand once again as she tried to touch him.


    ¡°All I need is your blood, and nothing else.¡± ke said.


    The stripper was confused at first but seeing that this was an opportunity to get more coins she decided to get the most out of it.


    ¡°That will cost you a lo...¡± Before she could finish ke took out a silver coin and tossed it to her before taking out a syringe.


    She was flustered for a second before surrendering her arm to ke who wasted no time extracting her blood.


    Once done, ke left the club and returned to his house.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 463

    Chapter 463: Catching bigger fish 3 (Phase 2).


    Early the next morning ke took the blood sample to the Square before calling and meeting up with Cami in her office.


    ¡°I am currently on a mission to investigate the top gangs and I can¡¯t let anyone except you know my next move because they might be traitors.¡± ke whispered because he was afraid that even the walls of the offices were being monitored.


    ¡°So please help me send this to the forensic unit, I need the blood to be tested for hard drugs. I want to give the impression that I have no clue yet.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Sure thing babe.¡± Cami said as she gave him a long kiss before he left for his office.


    In less than 30 minutes, ke received a call from Cami who informed him of the test results. The stripper¡¯s blood tested positive for multiple hard drugs.


    ¡®Time for phase 2 of the n.¡¯ ke thought with a grin on his face.


    At the same time as the previous night, ke changed into his normal clothes before boarding a carriage that took him back to the same strip club.


    .....


    On entering the club, ke searched for the same stripper but couldn¡¯t find her. So he bought a drink and decided to patiently wait.


    After close to half an hour, the stripper came out of one of the private rooms with a customer.


    ke wasted no time approaching her, before paying upfront for the private dance and entering with her.


    ¡°Do you want my blood again?¡± The blonde stripper asked with a bright smile on her face. It was rare to see someone that would pay so much for something as simple as drawing blood, let alone meeting him 2 days in a row.


    ¡°No, just dance.¡± ke said with a stoic expression leaving her disappointed but she still had to do her job.


    ¡®Try and check if there are any magical operations going on around the building.¡¯ ke instructed the system as he watched the stripper do her job without feeling any sexual arousal.


    After 10 minutes of continuously scanning the environment and still not finding anything, ke stopped her and left the private room.


    ¡°Why did he leave?¡± The blonde stripper couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°does he not find me attractive?¡± The stripper soliloquized as she began doubting herself, but after thinking about herst customer¡¯s reaction she concluded that he was weird.


    ¡°That just means more time for more customers.¡± The blonde said as she began preparing to leave the room, but that was when she saw a coin on the couch ke was sitting on.


    She immediately picked it up and lo and behold, it was a gold coin!


    ¡®Are my eyes ying tricks on me?!¡¯ She didn¡¯t want to make any noise for fear of alerting ke or the bouncers outside the room.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time someone forgot valuables on the couch but this was the first time it was something as valuable as a gold coin!


    Without making a sound, she left the private room and went straight to the locker room to change.


    She gave the excuse of not feeling fine, before leaving the club through the backdoor and heading to an alley to meet up with her drug plug.


    The best way to celebrate such a haul was with some goodies!


    ¡°Regr, but 2 of the biggest size you¡¯ve got.¡± The blonde said as she showed the gold coin.


    The dealer was shocked at first but quickly snapped out of it and checked his dimensional amulet.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got only 1, but the rest are equivalent to a big one.¡± The dealer said.


    ¡°Alright, pack it up.¡± The stripper said as she still held unto the gold coin.


    Once the exchange was made and she had gotten her bnce she quickly left the spot and went straight home.


    ¡®Just as nned.¡¯ ke thought as he watched from the top of a building close by.


    [We didn¡¯t know she would being to buy everything, but that means we won¡¯t have to wait anymore.] The system said as they watched the dealer walk deeper into the alley before opening a manhole and entering the sewer.


    ¡°Where is my gold coin?¡±


    ke wasn¡¯t worried about losing track of the dealer, so he just brought out his map and activated the locator spell.


    He had worked to legally get the gold coin, and since he just misced it, the coin was still his so he was still able to track it.


    Once the light on the map had gone quite a distance, ke made his way down the sewer and continued following him a safe distance.


    ¡®I guess we are near.¡¯ ke thought when he saw the light circling the area before entering a secret passage.


    When he was sure that the coast was clear, ke went to the secret entrance before scanning it with mana vision.


    ¡®This isn¡¯t difficult to crack, but I am not too sure it will be the right decision.¡¯ ke thought.


    After a few minutes of thinking, ke decided not to disable the arrays. He had no clue of the hideout¡¯syout or the number and power level of people inside. So entering would be a very bad decision.


    Besides, this wasn¡¯t the final goal so any form of detection would ruin his entire n.


    ¡®I would have loved to see the identities of all those involved, but on the bright side the hideout doesn¡¯t block the locator spell.¡¯ ke thought before returning to a safe spot.


    To make sure that they didn¡¯t go through another part or somewhere else ke continuously watched the map.


    For close to 20 minutes he didn¡¯t take his eye off the map, but it was at the 19th minute that the light moved a little bit.


    5 minutester, the dealer as well as a few other people made their way out of the secret entrance, but the light on the map didn¡¯t move an inch.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 464

    Chapter 464: Drug depot.


    ¡®My guess is that they have a boss that they work for. He supplies them with the drugs, they sell it and he gives them a cut.¡¯ ke said.


    The dealer was now useless to him, so instead of following him out of the sewer, ke began waiting for the boss to leave.


    [He is most likely waiting for the other dealers to finish selling their stash. So you might be here for a long while.] The system said.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not as if I have any better thing to do.¡± ke said as he gotfortable and began meditating.


    In the space of 3 hours ke had watched more than 20 dealers walk in and out of the secret entrance, but they were of no use to him. It was 30 minutes after thest dealer had gone out that the light on the map began moving.


    ¡®It definitely is the boss.¡¯ ke said as he immediately got up from his position and moved away from the entrance.


    The reason he had ¡®mistakenly¡¯ dropped the gold coin was that it was the highest currency and couldn¡¯t be given to just anyone as change. That was how he was certain that it was the boss that was on the move.


    .....


    As for why he had moved away, ke had no clue of the power level of the boss or artifacts that might be in his possession, but he was sure that he had to be the strongest amongst all the dealers. So to make sure nothing goes wrong he had to y it safe.


    The light moved out of the entrance and soon out of the sewer. ke followed behind and on leaving the sewer he saw that it was a woman and not a man.


    ¡®That¡¯s something we don¡¯t see every day.¡¯ ke said as he saw the boss waiting for a carriage.


    Once she boarded a carriage and left, ke activated the guardian scarab and made it turn into metal wings before flying high up into the sky.


    He decided not to use a carriage because it could be easily spotted and he had no idea where they were heading to.


    With the wings acting to his thoughts, all ke needed to do was look at the map and follow the light.


    [The buildings and area below are lit by multiple arrays. Seems we are at the right ce.] The system reported to ke after using mana vision.


    This was the same situation he came across when they were investigating de, the difference was that the arrays covered arger area.


    This not only assured ke that he was dealing with a higher gang than that of de, but it made him thank the heavens that he hadn¡¯t used a carriage because it was already veryte and the road was scanty.


    ¡®Seems so, she has begun circling the area.¡¯ ke said after watching the light on the map.


    ¡°Getting close would be difficult let alone following to the main supply hideout.¡± ke said as hended on a building outside the detection range.


    The only good thing about the situation was that due to therge coverage range of the arrays they were very expensive to implement and maintain. This led to them being mid-tier arrays and not sophisticated ones.


    Once the carriage had finally stopped, and the female boss had dropped she entered an alleyway before entering a manhole.


    Flying wasn¡¯t an option because he was pretty sure that there would be some people that would be on the lookout for flying objects.


    This left him with scaling the buildings and making his way towards the area, but this came with the problem of the arrays. Although the arrays weren¡¯t top-notch, ke couldn¡¯t go disabling every array in the area.


    The silver lining to the situation was that some of the building tops were not totally covered by arrays, and he didn¡¯t have to hide the space element from anyone.


    ¡®Inform me when anything strange happens.¡¯ ke instructed the system before cloaking himself.


    He dived from the side of the 5-story building he was on to the 3-story quite a distance away. 5 seconds away from crashing on the building top the wings of the scarab opened allowing him tond in the safe spot.


    ¡®6 more to go.¡¯ ke thought as he looked at the top of the 4-story in front of him before opening a spatial tear above it.


    He had used the same process to cover the next 4 buildings, but he began noticing that the closer he went the stronger the arrays.


    Seeing nowhere tond on the building, ke opened another spatial tear at the edge of the building before conjuring a space tform on which he stood.


    The next building was twice asrge in terms of width, meaning that ke had to open 2 spatial tears to get across it.


    ¡°ording to the map, she hasn¡¯t gone far so I can still catch up.¡± ke said as he arrived at the building top directly beside the manhole she had entered.


    [My advice is not to enter.] The system said causing ke to frown.


    ording to his mana vision, the arrays protecting and surrounding the area were as strong as the 2 buildings he just passed, but it still wasn¡¯t something he couldn¡¯t handle. So he had to listen to the system¡¯s reason.


    [The arrays here are not a problem but past this point, they are so strong and many that they are blinding both my mana vision and detection skill.] The system exined.


    The system¡¯s detection skill worked by picking out the disturbance or imbnce in the calm environment to detect things, but the area was akin to a storm in the sea.


    The amount and randomness of mana in the area were preventing it from making sense of whatever was happening, both normal and unusual.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 465 - 465 Cobra mob drug depot.

    465 Cobra mob drug depot.


    ¡®That is all I need to hear.¡¯ ke said as he immediately stepped away from the manhole and back into the building.


    The plus side to the situation was that the tracking light on the map was still active, but had dimmed. This showed that the area had anti-tracking arrays that prevented finding out the hideout by tailing the customers.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time ke had experienced something like this, that was why when it came to serious missions his n would include giving the target an item of his.


    ¡®Not to sound as if I am in a hurry, but isn¡¯t she too slow?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask after seeing how slow the light dot was moving.


    [I suspect that the entire sewer is lined up with gang members and checkpoints to make sure no one can infiltrate the area.] The system said.


    The system was more than correct, but unknown to them the underground hideout was more massive than they thought.


    The hideout covered the sewer of the entire area, meaning there were multiple entrances that also had hundreds of arrays and mid-to-high realm cultivators protecting the area.


    After passing 4 checkpoints with a hero realm cultivator who hadn¡¯t taken his eyes off her since the moment she entered the sewers, they had now reached the final one.


    What seemed to be a dead end opened up, revealing stairs that led lower into the ground. As she walked down the flight of stairs, the entrance behind her closed shut and she felt the walls by the sides scanning her.


    .....


    This wasn¡¯t her 1st nor 30th time she had visited the area but she still felt ufortable just like the first time she had walked down the flight of stairs.


    ¡­


    The moment the boss had walked down the flight of stairs, the tracking light dot on ke¡¯s map had vanished.


    ¡®Seems we are really dealing with a top gang.¡¯ ke said.


    Since he started making use of his items to track people, this was the first time he hade across anti-tracking arrays or artifacts that nullified the locator spell.


    [We still have no idea what this ce is.] The system said.


    ¡®I have 3 ideas. The first is that she is here to answer to her boss or give her daily quota of earnings. 2nd is that she might be here to resupply her drugs.¡¯


    ¡®The 3rd option is that a group of drug dealers are having some kind of meeting, but I highly doubt that because her hideout and number of people that work for her show that she is a small fry.¡¯ ke said.


    The 3 guesses were all usible, but the correct guess was the 2nd. This wasn¡¯t any drug depot, it was thergest in the entire city.


    It was ran by the cobra mob which was the 3 strongest gang in the city and majored in everything rted to hard drugs.


    The hard drugs were cooked in one of the mountains north of the city, and then they would be smuggled into the city and brought to the depot.


    They chose to have only one depot for the entire city to reduce the number of resources and manpower they spent. This enabled them to reinvest the resources into expanding and making the depot even more secure.


    [What do you n on doing now?] The system asked ke after 20 minutes of no oneing out of the manhole or not taking his eyes off the map.


    ¡®At this point, I am quite confused, what if she is actually part of the gang and resides here? This means waiting here would be a waste of time, but if I am wrong it means I would lose track of her next destination.¡¯


    ke was weighing his options when a thought came into his head.


    He immediately cast the locator spell and instead of searching for the coin he went for the boss.


    To his surprise, the white light had reappeared on the map but it was currently moving away from his current location.


    [Seems she had gone out through another passage.] The system stated.


    The drug depot had tens of entrances, so they usually sent customers away from a random one to throw anyone following them off their senses.


    ¡®Time to chase.¡¯ ke activated the spatial mark and immediately warped out of the range of the arrays.


    ¡°Thank the heavens the guardian scarab doesn¡¯t run on mana else things would have been more difficult.¡± ke said.


    Although he had way more mana than normal mages of the same realm, casting space travel costs a lot of mana and mental energy, especially when done without the void daggers.


    [She seems to be returning to her hideout.] The system stated when they saw the direction in which the light dot was moving at.


    When they returned to the southern part of the middle region the boss had gone done the same manhole and back into the secret hideout. This time she didn¡¯t take up to 5 minutes and she was out of the area.


    ¡®I can always track her so it¡¯s best I find out what is inside now that no one is around.¡¯ ke said.


    Once confirmed that the boss was nowhere close, ke disabled the arrays protecting the doors and made his way inside.


    Apart from the single chair and low-tier dimensional amulet in the single room, it was empty.


    ke wasted no time grabbing the amulet before disabling its security arrays and essing it. Once opened ke found loads of different types of hard drugs. They ranged from edibles to powders and liquids of different colors.


    ¡®I wonder what these drugs would have to contain to be able to affect cultivators.¡¯ ke said in an intrigued tone but had no ns of finding out.


    [Are you going after her?] The system asked.


    ¡®There is no need, if my guess is correct she is returning home to call it a day.¡¯ ke said.

 Chapter 466 - 466 Baiting snakes.

    466 Baiting snakes.


    From the contents of the dimensional amulet, ke was able to deduce that the north was her resupplying point, and judging from the size and arrays it should be one of thergest if not thergest.


    ¡°This is all I need for now. Time to get some rest and prepare for tomorrow.¡± It was already way past midnight.


    To make sure no one knew of his appearance close to the area, he decided to use the guardian scarab to fly back home.


    ¡­


    Thanks to the body of a Hero having a lot more vitality than normal humans, ke wasn¡¯t disturbed by theck of sleep.


    He went straight to the canteen for breakfast and met Cami along with her 2nd inmand, Lauren.


    ¡°Has the investigation department gotten any lead on their next target?¡± Cami asked as she sipped her coffee.


    She couldn¡¯t talk about ke¡¯s investigation or personal topics when Lauren was with them. So the only thing left to talk about was the investigation department since it was currently the most active.


    ¡°Still no lead on anything except for small gangs. What about you?¡± ke said pointing at the file beside Cami.


    .....


    ¡°I just received the case immediately after I entered my office. It¡¯s about a woman in the southern region who died from an overdose of narcotics.¡± Cami said causing ke to furrow his brows.


    Since the investigation department was focused on tracking down gangs, she was tasked to confirm it was a drug overdose and not murder.


    ¡°Can I see the file?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Cami said as she passed the file over to ke.


    ke saw the name Sophia before moving over to the upation which said, Stripper. To further make sure, ke turned the page to see the photo of the stripper.


    ¡®It¡¯s her.¡¯ ke thought as he continued to turn the page seeing the photograph of the dead body with pink powder on her nostrils.


    [I knew she bought way too many.] The system said after remembering the quantity the stripper had purchased.


    ¡°Do you know her?¡± Cami asked after seeing how much ke was invested in the case.


    ¡°Nope, I was just intrigued by the case because this is the first time I am hearing about it.¡± ke said as he handed over back the file.


    ¡°What do you think about the case is it really a drug overdose?¡± Cami asked. ke was the best investigator she knew, so his opinion mattered a lot.


    ¡°Of course, it is an overdose.¡± ke said without a change in expression.


    ¡°How are you so sure?¡± Cami couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°I happened to have been in the vicinity at the time of the purchase.¡± ke said.


    ¡°You were at a strip club?¡± Lauren blurted before realizing what she had done and apologizing.


    ¡°Yes.¡± ke answered without caring to exin.


    His reply left Lauren bbergasted, but what even made it worst was turning to Cami and finding out she wasn¡¯t even bothered about the matter.


    ¡®I don¡¯t understand. From what I have seen so far, even if they are not dating she should still feel disgusted or disappointed that he went to a ce like that?¡¯ The more Lauren looked at both of them and thought about it the more confused she became.


    ¡°If you need something to make a good report, you can use the report from the blood test.¡± ke said instantly making Cami understand everything while still leaving Lauren clueless.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Cami said as he had saved her a whole lot of stress.


    [Hope you don¡¯t feel guilty about her death?] The system asked.


    If ke hadn¡¯t dropped the gold coin she wouldn¡¯t have purchased such arge quantity, thus not overdosing.


    ¡®Why should I be? Although I knew that she would have most likely purchased the drug, everything was her decision.¡¯


    ¡®She got a chance to change her life with the gold coin but she chose to buy the drugs. Apart from that, she was still the one that took way more than she could handle, so her death is in no way my fault.¡¯ ke said.


    [That¡¯s nice to hear.]


    ¡­


    After breakfast, all ash corps had gone straight to work, especially the investigation department.


    Amongst all departments, they were currently the busiest. Apart from working on the crackdown on gangs, they still had to look into other major crimes.


    ¡°Good day everyone.¡± Colonel Darius said as he appeared in the investigation department.


    ¡°How may we be of help?¡± Major Watson asked after saluting the colonel.


    Watson stood 6¡ä 3¡å tall and looked like he was in histe 60¡¯s. He was a honey-skinned man with an angry feel about him, and he had a distinctive birthmark on his head that made his receding hairline noticeable.


    ¡°I have received intel concerning human trafficking operations at different sites. I need you guys to quickly verify the info because there would be a strike on the locations in 20 minutes.¡± Colonel Darius said.


    ¡°Whenever you are ready, sir.¡± General Watson said as he waited for Darius to present the intel he had received.


    ¡°You would need to inform everyone because I am sure that those here won¡¯t be enough.¡± Colonel Darius said as he scanned the room.


    ¡°How many would be needed?¡± Watson couldn¡¯t help but ask because almost all personnel were currently busy. So he was nning on recalling all those on lesser tasks.


    ¡°All. We are about to catch big fish.¡± Colonel Darius said without his signature smile on his face.


    If this was anyone else, he wouldn¡¯t have taken it seriously, but this was the colonel himself.


    ¡°Alright sir, but it would take 5 minutes for all of them to return.¡± The major said.


    ¡°Then I hope you all will be able to get the job done on time.¡± Darius said before taking a seat,


    Without wasting even a second more, Watson began contacting every investigation agent and informing them of the current situation.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Reborn in a Magical World: From Cultivator to Mage.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. Hope you like it.

 Chapter 467 - 467 Strolling at the enemy hideout.

    467 Strolling at the enemy hideout.


    In less than half a minute info had been passed to all members of the investigation department to return.


    The message contained the exact words of Darius showing how important the matter was. This caused most to drop whatever they were doing and head to the nearest warp room, while fear went into secluded ces.


    Seeing how urgent it was and how all of them were being mobilized, there was no doubt it would be the biggest operation of the year.


    The bad thing about the info was that they had no clue of where or which gangs were the targets. So they all had to inform the human trafficking gangs that they were in contact with to warn them of the dangering their way.


    30 minutes might not be enough time for the gangs to clear everything, but it would enable the gangs to erase all traces of evidence and mitigate their losses.


    To not gather any suspicions, the gang informants didn¡¯t waste time with the calls, but the moment they opened the doors of wherever they were they saw 2 captains each in front of them.


    ¡°You are under arrest.¡±


    The captains said to the informants who were shocked at first but ended up surrendering themselves to the captains.


    Even if they were somehow able to defeat the captains what next? Stronger people or units would be sent to capture them, and even if they didn¡¯t, the arrays of the Square could kill or capture them in seconds.


    .....


    Also, if they were to resist arrest their punishments would get only worse. So surrendering was the best option.


    ¡­


    ¡°What is going on here?¡± Major Watson asked in an angry tone as he saw members of his department in handcuffs and being brought into the room.


    They were alreadyte and whatever was going on was only taking more of the little time they had to analyze the evidence.


    ¡°These here are traitors.¡± Colonel Darius said as he finally stood up from the chair he had been sitting in.


    ¡°What?¡± Watson as well as everyone else in the building said when they heard the Colonel¡¯s words.


    ¡°The evidence as well as the strike were all a ruse to bait these snakes out.¡± Colonel Darius said as he walked to the 17 traitors currently on their knees.


    ¡°For gold coins, you lot have decided to endanger the lives of yourrades and also render their efforts useless on multiple asions.¡±


    ¡°I would have loved to kill you all myself, but I would be leaving the court to decide your fate.¡± Darius said before warping them to the prison cells he had prepared beforehand.


    ¡°Sorry for the inconvenience. You all can return to your previous tasks.¡± Darius said with a smile before warping back to his office and summoning ke to his office.


    As for everyone in the investigation department, they were both shocked and confused, but for major Watson, he felt ipetent.


    ¡°How did he find out about the traitors without us even knowing?¡± Major Watson couldn¡¯t help but whisper to his second inmand, Harry.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know sir, but I feel captain ke had something to do with it.¡± Harry said as he adjusted his sses.


    They already knew that colonel Darius and ke had a special kind of rtionship, so the idea was not far-fetched.


    ¡­


    ¡°Your n worked out well, 17 traitors were captured. So what next?¡± The colonel asked as ke entered the room.


    ¡®Wow, that was a lot more than I expected.¡¯ ke answered before exining his ordeal with the drug dealer and his boss.


    ¡°Interesting¡­ Let¡¯s go check out this ce you are talking about.¡± Colonel Darius said as he stood up from his chair.


    ¡°Now?¡± ke was too shocked to realize his absence of decorum.


    ¡°Yes, or are you busy with something else?¡± Darius asked on seeing the shocked expression on ke¡¯s face.


    ¡°Not at all, I was just surprised by your reply.¡± ke said with a sheepish smile before taking out his map and pointing at the north part of the middle ring


    ¡°Alright, stay close to me.¡± Colonel Darius said.


    ke was about to ask if they weren¡¯t going to the area on a carriage when everything seemed to be in fast-forward.


    In less than a second, ke found himself in the sky above the area he had visited the previous night.


    ¡®What happened, that is definitely not warping.¡¯ ke was confused, but before he voice his question Darius spoke.


    ¡°I see.¡± Colonel Darius said after scanning the area and sensing all the arrays ke had mentioned. ¡°Let¡¯s take a closer look then.¡±


    Just like a few seconds ago, the buildings below began drawing closer to them at light speed and instantly they had appeared underground.


    ¡°Not bad.¡± Darius said as they appeared in front of the entrance of the staircase that led to an underground.


    ¡®Shit! There are people here!¡¯ The gears in ke¡¯s head immediately began moving as he began searching for the best scenario, but that was when he remember who was beside him.


    ¡°This is just one of the many ces in the area that deals with new orders. So we should move to the main area.¡± Darius exined.


    ¡®The fuck is wrong with him, why does he want to alert everyone?!¡¯ ke felt like cursing Darius for talking in his normal tone even though they were currently people right in front of them.


    ¡°Why are you so quiet?¡± Darius couldn¡¯t help but ask after seeing ke strangely look at him.


    ¡®Why shouldn¡¯t I!¡¯ ke felt like screaming.


    Although he knew Darius could handle anyone in the city, he was afraid of him alerting everyone and causing the important people to escape before they got to them.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Not wanting to make noise, the best ke could do was point at the people in front of them with both hands.


    ¡°Oh, forgot that this is your first time.¡± Darius couldn¡¯t help but chuckle on seeing ke¡¯s reaction.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 468 - 468 Commencement of city projects.

    468 Commencement of city projects.


    ¡°They can¡¯t see or hear us.¡± Darius exined to him.


    ¡°Is it the effect of an artifact?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask because even how they got here was still a mystery.


    ¡°Not at all. At my level, I can control allponents of nature to a certain extent. So all I did was manipte the light rays hitting us and the wind that carried the sounds we make.¡± Colonel Darius exined with a smile on his face.


    ¡°Thanks for the exnation.¡± ke gave a bow as the exnation had given him a form of insight into his year-long bottleneck.


    ¡°You are wee.¡± Darius said.


    Once again the area in front of them beganing closer and in an instant they found themselves in the main depot located at the heart of the region.


    The area was littered with workers in masks packaging drugs and conveyor belts carrying packaged drugs to all resupply points in the area.


    ¡°This was wayrger than I thought.¡± ke said as they saw therge containers that released the different substances that the workers packaged.


    ¡°What do we have here?¡± Darius said causing ke to turn to see someone looking in their direction.


    .....


    ¡°From the look on his face, I don¡¯t think he can see or hear us, but he can sense something.


    The system quickly ran a scan on him and he turned out to be in the mid-tier person of the Demigod realm.


    Although it was nothingpared to that of Angels, Demigods had a connection to nature which was why he felt something was out of ce even though he wasn¡¯t too sure.


    ¡°What is your next move, sir?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Arresting everyone, except you have any other thing in mind?¡± Darius asked.


    ¡°No sir!¡± ke replied.


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Darius said before stretching forth his hand in a gun position.


    Water bullet!


    A droplet of water left his index finger instantly going through the skull of the demigod staring in their direction.


    Thud!


    The demigod¡¯s body dropped to the floor causing everyone to turn in his direction to see a pool of blood. Immediately, everyone in therge room turned to ke and Colonel Darius who were floating in the air.


    Some of them wasted no time releasing their spells at the duo, while those who recognized the Colonel began moving toward the escape routes.


    ¡°God says kneel!¡±


    With a single angelic pronouncement everyone in the room, including the few demigods dropped to their knees.


    ¡°I nned on arresting everyone, but it seems the demigod had an rm in his heart. Now the entire depot has been alerted and everyone is fleeing.¡±


    ¡°Why have they decided to make life hard for all of us?¡± Darius shook his head as he let out a helpless sigh.


    ¡°I will be back.¡± Darius said before vanishing from the spot.


    ¡®So he thinks like me, but just aloud.¡¯ ke thought but that was when he realized something.


    ¡®Why would he leave me with all these people here?!¡¯ ke screamed in his head as he was now alone with hundreds of heroes and demigods.


    [Rx they are unable to move.] The system said after scanning everyone in the room.


    ¡®Not as if I amining, but how is that possible, he didn¡¯t make a pronouncement apart frommanding them to kneel?¡¯ ke said.


    [It is moreplicated than it is, but all I can say is that pronouncements deal with will of the user, and not necessarily the words.] The system said causing ke to ponder on its words while still keeping an eye on everyone just in case something was to happen.


    ¡°Sorry I wasted so much time, they were all hell-bent on escaping.¡± Darius said when he returned just a minuteter.


    ¡®What the fuck!¡¯ ke had seen the power of the colonel but it was still shocking to have killed hundreds of people in different areas all in under 1 minute.


    ¡°This would be a massive cleanup and arrest, so send in everyone you can to my coordinates.¡± Darius said to Ashley who in turn sent the message to everyone else.


    ¡°What do you think would be the way to go from here?¡± Colonel Darius asked as he turned back to ke.


    ¡°¡­¡± ke was confused by the question.


    ¡°I mean, how would you handle the cleanup, arrests and everything to reduce the power and reach of drug gangs in the city.¡± Darius asked. ke was the smartest person he knew for his age, so he wanted to see things from his perspective.


    ¡°Firstly, I will interrogate those captured and they would provide info about others.¡±


    ¡°Second, I will improve health care because eliminating such arge depot will mean a shortage of drugs, thus a lot of withdrawal symptoms from addicts.¡±


    ¡°Third, I will still be on the lookout for other drug gangs because such arge power vacuum means resources and customers to expand their range of activities.¡±


    ¡°Finally, I will buff up the security at the walls because from there we can eliminate more than half of the city¡¯s supply.¡± ke said.


    ¡°That was more than brilliant!¡± Colonel Darius was so impressed that he had no clue when he began pping.


    ¡°Thank you sir.¡± ke said.


    ¡°I am not sure all of them can be implemented but I will surely inform His Highness prince Bryon about this. He would definitely make them part of his ns for the city.¡± Colonel Darius said.


    In less than 10 minutes, the ash corps had arrived at the scene and began making arrests and seizing every ounce of drug in the depot.


    After 4 days of thorough cleanup, all that was left now was deciding what the depot would be converted into.


    This also meant the 80% wipeout of the cobra mob and the go-ahead for the projects for the city to begin.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 469 - 469 Expansion.

    469 Expansion.


    A week after wiping out the cobra mob, the crackdown on gangs hade to an end. With more than 30 gangs and one of the top gangs being wiped out, the ash corps had sent a message to every gang to not mess around or interfere with the ongoing projects.


    This was necessary because most of the ash corps forces would be positioned outside the city.


    So in the case that gangs and terrorist groups like the league of assassins were to pull off a crazy stunt, colonel Darius had decided to not partake in the expansion so that he could deal with them personally.


    As for the expansion itself, for it to begin prince Bryon was the one to activate the arrays that would begin the process. From there, the wall which was an artifact would continuously be fed with thranium crystals at certain intervals.


    During this process, the city wall wouldn¡¯t be able to generate its barrier, and also it would be in a weakened state.


    Apart from it not being able to withstand as much damage as before, it would require more energy to heal. This meant the more damage it took, the more resources it would expend, and also the longer it would take toplete the expansion process.


    The process involved 3 stages; the first was when the wall expanded past the cleared area currently in front of the wall.


    The second was when the wall expanded into the forest, and the final stage was setting up a safe zone alongside both its barrier and that of the city.


    The first stage involved clearing the trees in the area, but for that to be done they had to make sure the area was safe.


    .....


    That was where the 200 special ops units came in. They were to kill all the beasts within a certain range in order to enable them to terraform the area.


    ¡°Do you think your team is prepared for the task?¡± ke asked Cami as they were making their way to their units.


    Unlike him that was handling only 10 ash corps, she had to train and deal with more than thrice that number.


    ¡°Not too confident, especially if I am not around to give orders.¡± Cami answered.


    ¡°What of yours?¡± Since their days in the magic school, she knew that ke didn¡¯t like working with people except for his close friends. So she was worried because their performance would also end up affecting ke.


    ¡°If all things are equal, which I doubt would be, they should be fine.¡± ke continued. ¡°In the case that something unexpected is to happen, then I am more than enough to handle it.¡±


    ¡°I guess we would be depending on you guys.¡± Cami said.


    Unlike the random selection usually done in the magic school tests and exams, the ash corps selection prioritized the synergy of teams.


    So since ke and Cami were known to be very close they had been paired together alongside a few other teams.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry, my job is to protect you.¡± ke said staring into her eyes but unfortunately was unable to kiss her in fear of someone watching them.


    They soon walked out of the corridor and into the massive teleportation room which was the primary means of transportation of the ash corps.


    Since the ash corps had only one office throughout the city, moving around on carriages would not make themte but it would easily announce their movements to everyone.


    So what they did was construct certain teleportation terminals throughout the city which included the walls.


    Both captains stood in front of their units before they were all teleported to the southern part of the wall.


    ¡®Thest time I was here I never thought I would be wearing this uniform.¡¯ ke thought as he experienced one of thergest beast tide in a decade.


    [But life hit you.] The systempleted.


    ¡®Sad.¡¯ ke let out a helpless sigh before looking around.


    Since the city was currently not under attack, the cannons and towers were invisible. Instead, there were numerousrge crates holding thranium crystals.


    ¡®When did thranium crystals be fruits that can be gotten anywhere? I thought they were scarce?!¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t believe his eyes.


    There were more than 100 of them on just the southern wall, making him think of how the other walls would be.


    [From how long this mission is meant tost, it is safe to say that this isn¡¯t all of it.] The system said.


    ¡®Too bad I can¡¯t study the wall.¡¯ ke thought.


    [You should be thanking the heavens because you would most likely have a heart attack after seeing how much it takes to run and maintain it.] The system said causing ke to snigger.


    ¡°This is an important event in the history of Calton city. So let¡¯s make sure we don¡¯t fuck this up.¡± Major Reeves said drawing everyone¡¯s attention.


    ¡®The same looks, same wall, not a single change.¡¯ ke said as he saw the Major.


    Major Reeves still looked muscr with his white hair and ever-constant mean-cold expression on his face.


    ¡°You all have been briefed on your tasks. So without wasting time, special ops units move out!¡± Major Reeves ordered.


    Without wasting a single second, ke and his team alongside other special ops units jumped down the 100-meter tall wall.


    Using their different spells, they reduced their speed of descent andnded safely on the ground before sprinting past the cleared area and into the forest.


    Immediately, ke¡¯s team changed formation from a pyramid to a straight line as they moved forward and annihted every beast in sight.


    Since this was the outskirts of the wall there weren¡¯t many beasts in the area, making their work easier.


    In less than 20 minutes, the area waspletely scanned and the perimeter was secured and ready for the next group to begin.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 470 - 470 Hit and run tactic.

    470 Hit and run tactic.


    The moment the special ops unit had secured the perimeter, a signal was given to the majors at the walls which in turn was sent to prince Bryon.


    The inscriptions as well as the city walls began glowing with a hint of purple. The thranium crystals in therge metal crates began levitating, before being pulled down to the surface of the wall.


    Once the crystals came in contact with the wall, they began vibrating and those on the wall watched as the crystals melted and seeped through the wall.


    ¡°Go!¡± Major Reeves said as all the ash corps units made their way down the wall.


    A group of them were tasked with clearing the area which included falling trees, pulling out their roots and transporting them back into the city to be used as lumber.


    The second group was tasked with terraforming the area and protecting it. They set up protective arrays and weapons in case beasts were to attack since the wall weapons couldn¡¯t be used.


    Also, they used magic to change thend to a specified type, making the city walls expansion seamless.


    Deep inside the forest, the mass killing of beasts and the falling of trees had alerted the kings of the Mina forest.


    The king rank beasts had no problem with the mass murder of weak beasts, but the line was drawn when the humans began cutting down trees and destroying their homes and territories.


    .....


    Although there were currently no emperor rank beasts in the area because of the beast tide that was not too long ago. The beasts were still confident in winning the battle because they had the environmental advantage, while the humans were out of their walls andcked their war weapons.


    ¡­


    With the use of air magic to cut down the trees, the ash corps hadpleted their part of the first stage of the expansion.


    All that was left was for the wall to expand to a marked location before starting the next stage. So in the meantime, they kept their eyes peeled and watched out for beasts.


    When it was getting dark, a group in the units were tasked to begin setting up dimensional tents, while the other was on the lookout.


    Unlike during the beast tide when they were still within the city wall, they were forced to stay outside since they had to defend the wall.


    ¡°Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the higher-ups felt it would be a waste of resources and manpower to go around asking everyone what they would eat. So they had given everyone the same meal which consist of rice balls and vegetables ¡± Cami said as she met ke currently sitting on a tree branch.


    ¡°There is no problem, I alwayse prepared.¡± ke said as he began selecting what he was going to have for dinner from his dimensional space.


    Cami had forgotten that ke had a rule of always storingrge quantities of food in his dimensional amulet just in case something happened and they were stranded somewhere.


    ¡°Do you want some or are you nning to eat that?¡± ke said as he offered her half of the cottage pie he had taken out from his dimensional pocket.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Cami said as she quickly put away the ash corps food and epted the cottage pie.


    ¡°What do you think about the operation so far?¡± Cami asked ke as she stared at him munching at the pie.


    ¡°Nothing yet. If beasts were tounch an attack it would most likely be during the night time and not during the day.¡± ke said.


    The couple continued chatting, but after close to 5 minutes the rms were heard in the camp.


    ¡°Hope whatever is attacking has said theirst prayers.¡± ke said in an annoyed tone as he had to ce his food back in his dimensional pocket.


    ¡°I will be back soon.¡± ke said to Cami before going to the forefront.


    ¡°Sir, the sensory arrays have detected 26 elite rank beasts, 7 knight rank beasts and a king rank Koodron.¡± Radley reported in a bothered tone.


    ¡°As long as you properly make use of your battle arrays and elements, this would be like a walk in the park.¡± ke said to his team before turning to the direction the beasts wereing from.


    ¡°Just leave the Koodron to them.¡± ke said in an annoyed tone as they drew closer.


    In less than a minute, the battalion of beasts had reached the special ops. The king rank Koodron scanned the area.


    Their mission was to disrupt the process as much as possible. If they were able to wipe out everyone it would be good, but it had to make sure it wasn¡¯t captured. That was why it was scanning for any threat.


    Once it saw that there were demigods around it, the Koodron ordered the rest to begin the attack on the humans.


    ¡°So this is the fool that decided this was the perfect time to attack.¡± ke said as he saw the King rank beast.


    The Koodron was a 5-meter-tall komodo dragon-type beast with rock-hard scales and had tallrge emerald crystals protruding from its back. This was a sign that it had awakened the earth element.


    ¡°Make him pay for annoying daddy.¡± ke said as he threw out Ebony and Ivory.


    Awooo!


    The 5-meter-tall Haiti and Skoll howled in anger as they turned to the unfortunate soul that annoyed their owner.


    The Koodron felt chills run down its spine as it heard the anger-filled howls. Its instincts began screaming at it to run as far away as possible, and without thinking twice it turned its back and scrammed.


    In the space of a second the Koodron had covered 40 meters, but even at that pirs of fire and ice shot past it.


    In front of it were Haiti and Skoll and they were even madder than before.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 471 - 471 Hit and run tactics (part 2).

    471 Hit and run tactics (part 2).


    Instead of standing and epting their judgment, the koodron had decided to run thus making Ebony and Ivory even madder.


    Seeing how it took them no time to get to it, the koodron knew there was no use running.


    Immediately, therge emerald crystals behind its back began glowing and instantly a dome of chromastone erupted from below and covered it.


    Knowing that the chromastone would only buy it some time, the king rank beast began using the earth element to simultaneously dig the ground and create an underground passage.


    If it were going against any other beasts this n would have worked because the moment the chromastone dome had appeared, Ivory froze the entire area including the tunnel it was digging while Ebony¡¯s body had lit up in mes.


    Instantly it had turned into a spinning ming hurricane that crashed into the chromastone dome and broke right through it.


    BOOM!


    Ebony had used the koodron to break right through the other side of the chromastone dome.


    The king rank reptile was trying to recover from the attack when Ebony bit it by its neck and threw it high into the air.


    .....


    Before it could understand what was going on a 15 meters tall ice zier had pierced right into it, killing it on the spot.


    All these had happened in less than 30 seconds, sending fear into the hearts of both the beasts and the humans in the area.


    On seeing the death of their assigned leader, some of the beasts wasted no time trying to escape, but their fates were sealed when ke gave Ebony and Ivory the order to not let any escape.


    At the same time, another special ops unit had arrived on the scene and was helping ke¡¯s unit take care of the beasts that were still fighting.


    ¡®Why is he just standing there and just watching?!¡¯ The leader of the ash corps unit thought as he saw ke standing on a tree branch.


    After they were done taking down all the beasts, ke jumped down from the tree and went to meet up with his team but that was when the leader of the special ops unit approached him.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you help your team in defending against the beasts?¡± The captain asked.


    ¡°Because I was testing them since this is their first time taking part in an operation as big as this.¡± ke said to the captain.


    ¡°Bullshit! I have seen a lot of captains use this silly excuse to get their team to do the entire work!¡± The special ops captain red up.


    ke¡¯s team that was watching the event unfold by the side would have loved to exin that he was really testing them. But not only could they not talk with permission from the captain but that was when Ebony and Ivory appeared beside ke in their Haiti and Skoll form.


    Both king rank beasts lowered their heads at the captain before exhaling streams of hot and cold air, sending chills down his spine.


    ¡°You guys should handle the corpses and be careful in case of another surprise. Also, good job guys.¡± ke said before recalling Ebony and Ivory to their sword forms and returning to the tree he was at with Cami.


    ¡°Do you think you will get in trouble because of that?¡± Cami couldn¡¯t help but ask after hearing about the episode between him and the captain.


    ¡°Not at all. As long as none of them was hurt in the process of the test it is alright. Besides I am basically the one that took down the king rank beast.¡± ke said as he continued munching down on his cottage pie.


    ¡°So how did they perform?¡± Cami asked


    ¡°They were more organized than I expected and they made the right call of staying on the defense. If the other unit hadn¡¯t arrived, it would have been a few minutes and they would have gone on the attack.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Although I can¡¯t do the same, the expansion would enable them to get a lot of experience.¡± Cami said.


    Unlike ke¡¯s team, her team¡¯s strength was more in quantity than quality meaning the same test would have a higher chance of failing.


    ¡°The battlefield should be cleared up by now. Time to go report this to major Reeves.¡± ke said just after he was done with his dinner.


    ¡­


    It turned out that it wasn¡¯t only ke¡¯s unit that had been attacked. 10 king rank beasts had attacked the humans but ke¡¯s team was the only one that wiped out every beast including the king rank beast.


    The other units not only suffered a lot of injuries and few deaths, but the reason they had survived was because they got help from the special ops units close by and the normal ash corps unit behind them.


    When more of the humans arrived, both injured and uninjured beasts wasted no time retreating, making it more than clear that they were employing the hit and run tactic on the humans. This made the higher-ups change their tactics for the city expansion.


    Instead of the normal ash corps unit staying behind, they were now tasked with joining the special ops unit.


    This would enable the special ops unit to focus and immediately take out the biggest threats, while the others support them and take care of the normal beasts.


    ¡­


    ¡°I can¡¯t me the higher-ups for the few casualties because no one would have expected the beasts to be so united even after the beast tide.¡± ke said to Cami as they stood watch.


    ¡°Yeah, even I wouldn¡¯t have thought they would send 10 king rank beasts.¡± Cami said.


    ¡°I fear that this is just the beginning.¡± ke said.


    The expansion was still at the outskirts of the Mina forest, so he was expecting things to get worse the deeper went.

 Chapter 472 - 472 Not taking chances.

    472 Not taking chances.


    Throughout the night and far into the day the beasts hadn¡¯t attacked again. The human camp was filled with so much trepidation in the air that it was palpable.


    They had no clue if or when the next attack would take ce, making it impossible for them to do certain things.


    By noon it was time for ke as well as other captains to report on what they were doing so far.


    The meeting was very brief because nothing had really happened so far in all parts of the southern wall.


    The most interesting part of ke¡¯s visit to the wall wasn¡¯t that the wall had moved 40 meters, but the attributes of the wall.


    The batch of thranium crystals needed for the first stage of expansion had beenpletely absorbed and now metals with other natural resources were currently being fed to the wall.


    ¡®Why does this expansion process make me feel like the wall is being fed?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask as the wall was letting out low rhythmic hums as it was breathing.


    He would have loved to ask a lot of questions about the wall; like how it was created, how there were more of it in top cities, its living characteristics and so on but they were confidential information currently above his rank.


    8 hourster, it had already gotten very dark and way past dinner time, but still, the beasts hadn¡¯t attacked yet.


    .....


    This further increased the tension that had been piling up on the ash corps especially since it was night.


    ¡°It¡¯s both scary and amazing that beasts can apply such a level of psychological warfare.¡± ke said.


    ¡°What makes you think it is psychological warfare when they can still attack this night?¡± Cami asked.


    ¡°The question is why should they attack this night? They can just wait out for the tension to cripple everyone before attacking and fleeing again.¡± ke said.


    ¡°¡­¡± Cami wanted to argue her point but that was when she really thought about it.


    The lowest-ranking ash corp was at the peak of the champion realm, so they could go days without sleeping. The case was different for psychological stress because it would affect their decision-making on and off the battlefield.


    ¡°It¡¯s not as if we can do anything about it. The fact that there is a possibility of being attacked tonight, we have to be on the lookout.¡± Cami said.


    ¡°True. I would have loved to tell everyone to rx but it can be used against me if things were to go wrong.¡± ke said.


    ¡­


    A dayter, the wall had 80%pleted its first stage of expansion but they hadn¡¯t still been attacked by beasts.


    It was now time for the special ops and ash corps to clear both the beasts and trees in the next area.


    This was most likely the period that the beasts would attack since they would be at an environmental disadvantage, but it wasn¡¯t as if they had any other choice.


    In order to increase their sess rate the higher-ups decided that both groups would go into the forest together. If the beasts were to attack the special ops would deal with the high-ranking beasts while the normal corps take care of the normal beasts.


    ¡°Everything about this is screaming it is a bad n.¡± ke said as he led both groups into the forest. The downside of the n was that so many people being around meant a lot of liabilities and ineffectiveness since they were separate teams.


    If things were to go wrong because of their foolishness or ipetence it would surely affect him in one way or another.


    Since they were entering into unmarked areas and had no detection arrays, they had to move in slowly.


    After 4 hours of running, jumping through the trees and digging the ground for beasts. They had decided it was time toe to a halt and begin cutting the trees behind.


    ¡®If we are able to cut down all the trees before an attack then the beasts would lose their environmental advantage.¡¯ ke said.


    [I guess they were also aware of that because they are here.] The system reported to ke


    ¡°Take your battle positions!¡± ke announced and without thinking everyone including Cami¡¯s team got into formation.¡¯


    ¡®What are we dealing with?¡¯ ke asked.


    [3 king rank beasts, 10 knight rank, 80 elite rank beasts and more still entering my detection range.] The system reported.


    ¡®What the fuck?! How did they go from 1 to 3?!¡¯ ke cursed his bad luck.


    ¡®Let¡¯s hope we can deal with a king rank beast.¡¯ ke said as he took out Ebony and Ivory from his dimensional pocket and threw them to the enemy.


    AWOOO!


    The wolves howled as they took their Haiti and Skoll form.


    ¡­


    On the opposite part of the battlefield.


    After the first attack on the humans, only one group hadn¡¯t returned and that was those sent to ke. Not even a single beast had made it out alive meaning they had no idea of what or how they had been killed.


    To make sure that that scenario didn¡¯t repeat itself they sent triple the previous number.


    The first king rank beast was an ant queen, the second was a raptor kite and the final was an armored gori.


    When they saw the wolves appear, the group immediately knew what happened to the koodron and other beasts.


    Although the auraing from Haiti and Skoll wasn¡¯t as ferocious asst time, it involuntarily made them shiver.


    The only reason they hadn¡¯t retreated was that the wolves were outnumbered and they were not nning on fighting them to the death.


    Since they were 3, the ant queen which had the strongest defense amongst the 3, and the raptor kite which had the highest mobility would stall them while the armored gori massacred the humans.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 473 - 473 Cold shoulder.

    473 Cold shoulder.


    The main aim of the beast¡¯s attack was to disrupt and waste the resources of the humans. That was why the ant queen and the raptor kite had engaged Ebony and Ivory while the armored gori attacked the ash corps.


    ¡®Hope this serves.¡¯ ke said as he took out Reaper from his dimensional pocket.


    It has been 3 years since ke had gotten Ebony and Ivory, and ever since then, he hasn¡¯t used the high-quality tier weapon Reaper. He has held onto it for situations like these, and it wasn¡¯t as if he needed money.


    ¡®Normally I would be escaping with Cami but now I have people to protect.¡¯ ke let out a helpless sigh as he channeled the space element into Reaper before activating both lightning reinforcement and mind boost, then dashing at the armored gori.


    He was the fastest and only one that had a chance of surviving a king rank beast up close. So he had to be the one to engage the king rank beast if not, it would make short work of their formations and arrays.


    ¡®All we have to do is stall it.¡¯ ke said as his team activated the tier 2 battle array, an elemental cannon and shot a lightning spear at the rock-skinned gori.


    Although the armored gori was a bulky beast it still had all the attributes of a king rank beast. All it took was a slight turn to the right to dodge the spell.


    ¡®What the fuck!¡¯ ke¡¯s team cursed as they began charging another lightning spear.


    The armored gori instantly resumed its charge, but that was when it sensed a void dagger aimed at its left eye.


    .....


    It took the king rank beast almost no effort to dodge the dagger, but that was when it heard the humanmander screaming something.


    ¡°Fire!¡± ke screamed to his team.


    Without hesitation the team aimed the elemental cannon at ke and fired, confusing the armored gori and everyone that had witnessed it.


    Just as the elemental cannon lightning spear was about to crash into ke, a spatial corridor opened in front of him. Almost instantly, the exit opened right in front of the armored gori¡¯s head.


    BOOM!


    The tier 2 battle array spell had crashed into the king rank beast creating a loud explosion and thick smoke around its head.


    Without a doubt, they knew that it was nowhere enough to one-shot a king rank beast let alone a bulky one.


    That was why even when the gori tried to use the smokescreen tounch a deadly attack, it discovered that not only was the formerly solid ground now quicksand, but branches from the trees nearby had ensnared it.


    ¡°I just received a report that the other units are also being attacked by the same numbers asst time.¡± Cami reported to ke as she joined him.


    With Ebony and Ivory dealing with the other 2 king rank beasts, it was very important that they took care of the armored gori if not it could wipe everyone out.


    As for her team, they were faring well against the army of beasts. Those in the hero realm went up against the knight rank beasts while the rest of the unit handled hundreds of beasts.


    ¡®2 extra for me?¡¯


    ¡®Why is my case now different?¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s most likely because I was the only one that killed mine, meaning if these ones end up dying they would only send more.¡¯


    ¡®kill or let them escape? Nah, it won¡¯t change anything.¡¯ ke¡¯s thoughts went rampant as he ask and answered his own questions.


    He immediately snapped out of his reverie when the armored gori roared in outrage and tore the vines and branches holding it.


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    ¡­


    On the other side of the battlefield.


    Ivory continuously fired water and ice spells at the raptor kite, but unfortunately its wings, the trees, and the wind element that granted it even more mobility were making things more difficult for Ivory.


    Not too far from Ivory was Ebony who wasnding most of its hit on the humanoid queen ant. The problem was that the exoskeleton as well as the earth element constantly protected it.


    The fight had started less than 3 minutes ago but Ebony and Ivory were already tired of it.


    AWOO!


    They howled in anger as the temperature of the area around them began rising and dropping at the same.


    Around Ebony, the trees instantly dried up before catching fire. The air around Ivory went from being frosty to instantly freeze all the trees within a certain range.


    The chilled atmosphere not only made it easier for Ivory to cast more spells but also gave them more range.


    Immediately, Ivory started raining spells at the raptor kite, but unlike before it was now finding the attacks more than twice as hard to dodge.


    This was because the cold had prated the raptor kite bones, making every p of its wings difficult and painful. It resulted in a massive decrease in its speed, forcing it to rely mostly on the wind element to save it.


    Grrr!


    Ivory growled as the bird¡¯s resistance made Ivory even madder. Its eyes and blue markings on its body started glowing causing the temperature to further drop.


    Hundreds of meter-thick icicles swarmed at the raptor kite from all sides, not only had the spells doubled in size but also in strength.


    Seeing the spells following it no matter how much it maneuvered, the king rank beast cast a mobile wind domain thatprised hundreds of wind des and arge tornado protecting it at the center.


    Both powers shed releasing a devastating explosion that sent trees flying and covered the entire battlefield with mist.


    Thud!


    Seconds after the sh of powers, the 5-meter-tall raptor kite crashed into the ground.


    AWOOO!


    Ivory howled instantly clearing the mist and revealing it standing on the body of the decapitated raptor kite.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 474 - 474 No choice.

    474 No choice.


    Not too far from the frigid zone was a furnace, and in it was the Ebony and the humanoid queen ant.


    The environment was reacting to the rage of Ebony, heating to the point that all trees in the area had been reduced to ashes and the ground the queen ant stood on a crater.


    Unlike the koodron, the exoskeleton of the ant queen was 3 times as hard. Its humanoid form granted it greater mobility which allowed it to evade spells.


    Thanks to chromastone and its exoskeleton, the queen ant was able to survive this long, but unfortunately for it, Ebony was done ying.


    Instantly, 50 fire spells appeared all around the queen ant, and on Ebony¡¯smand, they all fired at it.


    Seeing the sea of spells just a few meters away, the queen ant didn¡¯t have the space to dodge or time to cast high-tier spells. So it conjured 3yers of chromastone in the shape of a dome.


    The sea of spells broke past the 1styer of chromastone but didn¡¯t have enough power to go past the 2ndyer, causing it to decrease in strength.


    Sensing no other attackinging its way, the ant queen was able to conjure 2 more chromastone domes when Ebony shot fireballs 3 times its size.


    BOOM!


    .....


    The collision created an explosion sorge that every beast close to them was instantly killed while pushing away the humans and beasts inbat.


    The gigantic spell had broken past the domes, sending the queen ant flying through the other side but even at that, it was still breathing.


    As it was recovering from the attack, Ebony appeared behind it before stomping on it and howling.


    The markings on its body began glowing and out of nowhere, a pir of fire crashed down on both of them.


    The intense heat from the 5-meter-wide fire pir which could hardly be considered tanning for Ebony, was boiling the queen ant from the inside.


    After a minute of continuous heating, the steel-like exoskeleton had begun melting, allowing Ebony to bite off the queen ant¡¯s head.


    ¡­


    ¡°Shit!¡± ke cursed as the armored gori tore the tree branches, but that was when Ebony¡¯s prior attack sent them flying.


    ¡®Ebony, what the fuck!¡¯ ke cursed as the barrier of the rampant armor absorbed most of the shockwave from colliding with a tree.


    The shockwave had put everyone in a bad position but hadn¡¯t affected the armored gori that much.


    Ou! Ou! Ou!


    Seeing the humans on the floor, the armored gori beat its chest in joy as it dash at ke who was the closest.


    ¡®Shit!¡¯ ke cursed for the umpteenth time as he ignored the vibrations caused by the armored gori and threw out 2 void daggers to the sides.


    ¡°Are you shitting me?¡± ke was shocked when hundreds of earth spikes shot at the path of the void daggers without the armored gori slowing down.


    ¡®I need help guys!¡¯ ke said through his mind link with Ebony and Ivory.


    The only reason he was confident enough to face the king rank beast at first was because of his speed and most importantly void shift.


    Now that he was currently on his butt, and void shift being rendered useless by the intellect of the armored gori, any wrong move would be hisst.


    ke¡¯s usage of soul call was sessful as Ebony and Ivory returned to him.


    Immediately, ke stretched out his right hand and instantly a barrier of ice blocked the path of the armored gori.


    Using the earth element, the armored gori came to a halt before turning to the Ivory that just walked out of an ice fog.


    The presence of Ivory meant the death of the raptor kite. So without thinking, the king rank armored gori turned and began fleeing.


    Although the rest of the beast army would die, it was still a win situation because it now knew exactly what killed thest set.


    The armored gori couldn¡¯t help but smile as Ivory wasn¡¯t giving chase, but the smile instantly vanished as Ebony appeared in front of it.


    Immediately, the armored gori smashed its fists on the floor as it roared, causing arge barrier of chromastone to erupt in front of it.


    Unfortunately for the armored gori, it had no idea of how the koodron died.


    Ebony jumped into the air and turned into a ming tornado that broke through the chromastone and crashed into its chest while carrying it into the air.


    When they were 20 meters into the air, Ebony moved out of the way and a gigantic ice cier pierced its already mangled body.


    ¡®This is the 2nd time I am seeing thisbo.¡¯ ke thought.


    [Although it looks excessive, it actually isn¡¯t. Just like the koodron, the armored gori is most powerful when on the ground.


    So Ebony takes it high up in the air where it is powerless, and then Ivory finishes it off.] The system exined the simple but top IQ y that just took ce.


    ¡®It is scary and at the same time awesome that Ebony and Ivory have so much battle knowledge in such a short time.¡¯ ke said.


    [Remember the other beasts are still alive.] The system said as the beasts were now retreating since their leaders were dead.


    ¡®That¡¯s true!¡¯ ke said.


    He was currently on the outskirts of the battlefield, so all he needed to do was give Ebony and Ivory the order to not let any escape.


    This time he wasn¡¯t going to do that, instead he intercepted a sde and stabbed his void dagger into it before allowing it to escape with a few others.


    Although he would have loved to ughter all, there was no point in that. Whether he does or not they woulde back with a bigger army.


    So the best choice was to find out exactly what was going on because these beasts were too organized.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 475 - 475 Terrifying mana density.

    475 Terrifying mana density.


    ¡°Take care of the rest, I am going to check out where these beasts areing from.¡± ke said to Cami just after the beasts had gone quite some distance.


    He didn¡¯t want to be so close just in case there was a high-level beast or another beast not far away waiting for their return. At that distance, he could be discovered and a lot of unexpected events may ur.


    ¡®Just like I suspected.¡¯ ke said.


    Instead of the beasts scattering since they were all different, they all converged to the southeast further reaffirming his suspicion that something was up.


    For 10 minutes ke tailed the group of beasts, and as they were moving, other beasts retreating from other parts of the wall were joining them.


    This made ke to start marking trees after covering a certain distance just in case something went wrong. Fortunately for him, not long after he had begun marking the system sensed a king rank beast joining the group.


    Once the system had confirmed its location and path, ke waited for it to move away from hisst checkpoint before warping to it.


    ¡®I just hope I don¡¯t have to frequently do this.¡¯ ke said as he came out of a spatial corridor.


    ke¡¯s main source of anxiety was king rank beasts or higher, that could detect him even though he was high up in the trees. So he had to leave the area immediately, but the problem was that the mana cost of void shift was dependent on the distance covered.


    .....


    If ke stick around and more king rank beasts were to keep showing up, he would be forced to abort the mission or take mana potions and wait but that might be toote.


    ¡­


    Back at the battlefield not too far from the city wall.


    With the beasts no longer pouring in and the death of the king rank beasts, the ash corps didn¡¯t have many problems to deal with.


    Although the beasts were now more ferocious since they knew their fates were sealed, it didn¡¯t change much. To make matters worse for the remaining beasts, another special ops unit had joined the fray.


    Unlike ke¡¯s team which had been attacked by king rank beasts, Evans¡¯s team was only attacked by knght and elite rank beasts. So they were able to finish them before going to other teams that were in need of help.


    The first thing Evans did was to search for the king rank wolves that scared him shitless. Once he confirmed that they were not around he began searching for ke, but that was when he noticed his absence.


    ¡°Where is your captain?¡± Evans asked Radley.


    ¡°He seemed to have chased after the retreating beasts.¡± Radley replied.


    ¡®Is something wrong with him, why would he leave his team to chase after fleeing beasts instead of helping his team?!¡¯


    ¡®This has gotten too far, major Reeves has to hear of this.¡¯ Evans said to himself. Not only was ke still making his team do the entire work, but he had left them alone.


    Having made up his mind, Evans and his team helped ke¡¯s team to deal with every beast in the area before returning to their previous post and waiting for the meeting.


    ¡­


    Luckily for ke, only 2 more injured king rank beasts hade his way, leaving him with enough mana to continue his mission.


    During 30 minutes of tailing the beasts, ke had passed through rocky terrain and even came across a river.


    5 minutes past the river, the beasts seemed to havee to a halt causing ke to move a little bit closer to see what was going on.


    ¡®The king rank beasts are nowhere to be found, but I still can¡¯t move in anyhow because of the birds and climbing beasts in the area.¡¯ ke thought.


    Using the system¡¯s detection range, ke scanned the area and found the area on the trees with the least amount of beasts.


    Once that was done, ke began sneaking up on the elite rank beasts and killing them before they could even make a sound before storing their corpse in his dimensional pocket.


    When he got close enough, ke was now able to see clearly. There were 3 underground tunnels in the arearge enough to fit king rank beasts, and all around them were knight and elite rank beasts resting.


    There was no doubt where the injured king rank beasts had gone, but ke felt there was something odd about the ce.


    ¡®Is it me or does this ce have more than quadruple the mana density a normal ce should have?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask as the thickness of the mana present in the area made the air very moist.


    ¡®Just a little bit more and I swear that the mana in the air would condensate.¡¯ ke said as he couldn¡¯t stop imagining what it would feel like to meditate in such an area.


    [You are right, the mana in the area is very high, and there is no other exnation other than a mine being located underground.]


    [Also, if the mana density is so high at this level, I wonder how it would be underground.] The system said.


    ¡®Now I understand what is really happening.¡¯ ke said as he saw the injury of the sde from the void dagger healing after being pulled out.


    ¡®Not only are their injuries healing at astonishing rates, but the exposure to such density of mana means they would get to evolve at a very fast pace.¡¯ ke said.


    ¡®We know their location, so the question now is why and how are they so united, the beast tide ended months ago.¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡®Also, I wonder if there are any emperor beast underground.¡¯ After seeing how organized they were, ke found it very hard to believe that an emperor wasn¡¯t leading the rest.


    ¡®Time to return and report my findings to major Reeves.¡¯ ke said before teleporting away.


    *************************************************************************************


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    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 476 - 476 Taking the fight to the beasts.

    476 Taking the fight to the beasts.


    The attack of the beasts hade to an end all around the city, and the humans had counted their loss and were treating their injuries.


    Now that everything had been taken care of, it was time for the special ops captains to report the situation to the majors.


    The 49 captains stood in front of major Reeves, and without a doubt, he noticed the absence of ke.


    ¡®I would have continued with the meeting and punish himter, but from what I know he isn¡¯t foolish. So we will wait.¡¯ Major Reeves thought.


    Major Reeves as well as the 49 captains stood in the same position for the next 25 minutes before ke finally arrived and took his position.


    Without asking any questions or uttering a word, major Reeves gestured and the special ops captains began reporting the oue of the event that just took ce.


    Just likest time, they were attacked by the 25 king rank beasts. Some units just like that of ke were unfortunate to be chosen by the king rank beasts, while the others only had to deal with elite and king rank beasts.


    This was why captain Evans was always able to arrive at ke¡¯s area just when the battle with the king rank beasts was over.


    The casualties recorded were only 5 out of all 50 units, and this was only thanks to the addition of the normal ash corps.


    .....


    When it got to Evans¡¯s turn to report, he first started with the report on his unit before continuing with when he entered ke¡¯s region.


    ¡°By the time I and my team came to support captain ke¡¯s unit, the 3 king rank beasts had been dealt with, but quite a lot of beasts were still present.¡±


    ¡°That was when I noticed their captain wasn¡¯t present. So after making inquiries, I found out that he had given chase to the fleeing beasts.¡± Captain Evans was so merciless, that he mentioned that this wasn¡¯t the first time that ke had left his team.


    ¡°Captain ke, what do you have to say about these allegations?¡± Major Reeves asked without a change in expression.


    ¡°I don¡¯t deny leaving my unit to fend for themselves, but that was because on the first asion they were in no danger and I was on standby just in case things went wrong. It was a way for them to safely gain experience since my unit is rtively new.¡±


    ¡°As for that of today, my team was the only one that had been attacked by 3 king rank beasts. This got me thinking that the beasts were too organized, and there was also a chance that they would only increase.


    ¡°So I informed captain Cami before following some of the fleeing beasts.¡± ke said finally causing major Reeves to react for the first time throughout the meeting.


    ¡°Did you discover anything?¡± The major general asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± ke answered before continuing. ¡°It turns out that there is a gathering of beasts Southeast of the city. At the top are low-ranking beasts, while underground was filled with knight rank, king rank and possibly an emperor rank beast.¡± ke said causing everyone to furrow their brows.


    ¡°How sure are you that an emperor rank beast is present, did you see one?¡± Major Reeves asked without a noticeable change inposure.


    ¡°If I did, I surely wouldn¡¯t be standing here, but there are 2 reasons I think so. The first was the mana density, it was so high that injured beasts above ground were healing at a rate visible to the eye let alone those underground.¡±


    ¡°The second reason is because of how organized they are. Their attacks are not random, and they are employingrge-scale hit-and-run tactics which can only be orchestrated by an emperor rank beast or at best a king rank close to evolving.¡± ke exined.


    From ke¡¯s exnation, it was clear that the beasts were camping at a crystal mine, which exined how the same injured king rank beasts werepletely healed and able to attack them on such short notice.


    With the presence of the mine confirmed, it meant that the issue was a serious one. The king rank beasts would keep healing anding back to wreak havoc if they are not killed.


    To make matters worse, each time they attack the humans, the more prepared they would be and the harder it would get to kill them, thus the more damage would be done.


    All the captains couldn¡¯t help but start thinking of how they would deal with the problem. Not everyone was ke who could summon 2 powerful king rank beasts.


    Also, from how they did so well against this wave of beasts. They were more than sure that the number of king rank beasts and the army would only increase, if not triple.


    As for major Reeves, his main focus was on the possibility of an emperor rank beast being present in the mine. If it decided to attack any of the walls, then there was no doubt that everyone there would be wiped out.


    ¡®We would most likely have to attack the mine, but first I have to report this to general Darius.¡¯ Major Reeves thought before turning to ke.


    ¡°Your quick thinking has indirectly saved a lot of lives and resources.¡± Major Reeves said to ke.


    ¡°As for you captain Evans, it seems you have a lot to learn from captain ke and also an apology to render.¡± Major Reeves said.


    ¡­


    After the meeting was over, major Reeves wasted no time forwarding the message to Darius who in turn forwarded it to prince Bryon.


    A meeting among the higher-ups was called, and after half an hour of nning, they came to a conclusion to take the fight to the beasts rather than sitting around and waiting.


    *************************************************************************************


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    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 477 - 477 Taking the fight to the beasts (part 2).

    477 Taking the fight to the beasts (part 2).


    After the meeting was over, major Reeves wasted no time forwarding the message to Darius, who forwarded it to prince Bryon.


    A meeting among the higher-ups was called, and after half an hour of nning, they came to a conclusion to take the fight to the beasts rather than sitting around and waiting.


    The strike force was to consist of all special ops units and the 4 major generals on the wall. The ash corps wanted to ensure the mission would be sessful even if an emperor beast was in the mines.


    The only problem with this n was that the absence of 4 peak demigods at the gates of the city would reduce the defensive capabilities of the wall.


    So the ash corps higher-ups could only hope that beasts didn¡¯t attack in their absence, and even if they did, they hoped that it was what the normal units could handle.


    ¡­


    The meeting took less than half an hour and immediately after the oue of the meeting was announced the news was ryed to the captains of the special ops who further ryed the news to the rest of their unit.


    Since it hadn¡¯t been long since the beasts attacked, they were given an hour to rest up before they moved out.


    The squad of over 2000 ash corps seamlessly weaved through the trees and made their way to the mine. This was all thanks to the 4 demigods that ughter beasts without them knowing how they died.


    .....


    Since their path was clear and they had no reason to hide, the journey to the mine had taken less than 20 minutes even with theirrge numbers.


    When they got to a considerable distance away from the mine, the army halted while the peak demigods flew over the mine before casting massive detection arrays.


    They had to confirm the number of beasts underground and their power level before they could proceed with any of their ns.


    In less than 5 minutes the arrays had gathered all the info they needed without being detected, and in a matter of seconds, they had returned to the army.


    ¡°There are little about 50 king rank beasts, with over 300 knight rank beasts below and above. As for the emperor rank beast, the beast detection array was unable to pick anything up. This means we are most likely dealing with a peak king rank or one close to evolution.¡± Major Reeves warned.


    The beast detection array wasn¡¯t dead-on urate. Its job was to categorize the power level of beasts in the area into different ranks.


    The problem with this was that no matter the tier or sub-rank of a rank of the beasts, they were all grouped together.


    ¡°Moving over to the n, we are blowing the entire area up.¡± Major Reeves announced, shocking everyone.


    Unmined energy crystals were vtile and highly explosive because of the energy stored within them. So blowing the mine could cause a massive chain reaction that might blow up the entire mine.


    ¡®Are my ears ying tricks on me or are the higher-ups nning on blowing up a thranium mine?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t believe his ears.


    The human race coveted the pink crystals because of their insane energy capacity and properties, but they couldn¡¯t get their hands on enough of them. So, it was crazy to hear them casually talk about blowing what they usually sacrificed lives to get.¡±


    Seeing the massive confusion Reeves had caused, Briggs shook his head before speaking up.


    ¡°The mine is a dualyered mine, so even if we are to blow the area up not much of the thranium mine will be destroyed by the explosion.¡± Briggs announced, instantly silencing the murmurs.


    ¡®For the topyer of the mine to be a lower-tier energy crystal and still contribute to changing the mana density, it means it¡¯s arge one. So why are they still chill about blowing it up?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [With the number of beasts in the area, dealing with them the normal way would be very difficult, especially with the number of forces present and the uncertainty of a peak King rank beast.]


    [Also, you have to remember that the resources expended for the expansion are worth 10 times this mine. So, if this mission was to fail and the casualties are too much, the city would be in danger.] The system exined.


    Since the special ops were already trained on what to do, they wasted no time springing into action.


    Using mana constructs, more than 2000 humans moved high above the trees before surrounding the mine.


    Once the signal was given all 200 special ops units began casting their team battle arrays. Before the beasts could realize what was going on, the sky had been blocked out by thousands of spells.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    In an instant, the first volley of spells had ttened the forest, and 40% of the beasts at the top.


    Many parts of the mine had copsed further killing hundreds of beasts underground and turning them into mincemeat.


    Once the first volley of spells had crashed into the ground, the king rank beasts underground immediately sprang up into action, but that was when the mine began copsing and the crystals exploded.


    Some were caught in the explosion and copsed, but unfortunately, their insane vitality kept them alive long enough for the second volley of spells to crash into them and cause arger chain reaction.


    ¡­


    Back at the top.


    Hundreds of beasts were caught in the explosions from the mine and although not all of them were killed, the second volley of spells had finished the job.


    Due to the copsed mine, the second volley of spells was able to make its way into the deeperyers of the mine.


    Another round of explosions, thrice asrge as the first rang out, turning the already leveled forest into a massive crater.


    *************************************************************************************


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    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 478 - 478 Race against time.

    478 Race against time.


    Once the dust had finally settled, ke saw that the entire forest had been reduced to a massive crater. the shredded trees and corpses had been reduced to ashes by the chain reaction caused by the second volley of spells.


    ¡°No way anything down there is still alive.¡± Radley whispered receiving nods from every other person in the group, except for ke.


    Although thebined strength of more than 2000 spells was nothing to y with; Radley was more confident because the high mana density of the area drastically increased the strength of their spells.


    ¡®I need to teach them how to keep their mouths shut.¡¯ ke cursed.


    If there was one thing that ke had understood so far, it was that whatever could go wrong would definitely go wrong.


    With the major generals not moving an inch, the rest of the army did not make a move. They stood mid-air for close to a minute 5 minutes before a pir of fire shot through the ground.


    The scorching pir of mes was not only incredibly fast, but was sorge that it could cover an entire special ops unit.


    ¡°Shit!¡± The special ops unit in the path of the mes cursed as they tried to get out of the way, but the pir of mes was too fast for them.


    Just as they were about to get drowned in the sea of mes, a mana pir twice the size of the mes blocked its path.


    .....


    ¡°More areing, brace yourselves.¡± Major Briggs warned the special ops.


    Just a few seconds after they had given the warning, tunnels began appearing and more spells were shot out.


    This time the special ops units were more than ready to evade them, but it was also at that moment that a pir of mana fell from the sky.


    ¡°What the???¡±


    It wasmon knowledge that a pir of mana was a beast evolution, but the evolution processsted for hours. So, for one to appear at such a time meant that the beast was nning on going berserk.


    Berserk beasts were stronger than proper newly evolved beasts because they fought without a care of their lives even if that meant burning their own core.


    The function of the mana pir in a beast¡¯s evolution process was to heal and supply the beast with mana as its body was continuously torn apart and rebuilt.


    So as long as they didn¡¯t take the evolving peak king rank beast out of the mana pir then it was basically undying.


    ¡°We are going for the evolving beasts.¡± Gareth, the major general in charge of the eastern wall said as a fireball 10 times his size appeared.


    ¡°You forgot to tell them to back off!¡± Major Briggs facepalmed at the recklessness of the generals, but he could understand his decision because they were in a race against time.


    Although the evolution process had begun, they still had a little bit of time before the beast would begin getting the physical properties and spells of its evolved self.


    That was why they were doing everything necessary to blow up the ground and get to it.


    Sunfire pir!


    Instead of throwing the gigantic fireball as everyone expected, major Gareth held it up with one hand as a pir of me shot down.


    The pir of mes shot into the mana pir and onto the ground; instantly sting through 10 meters of rock while creating a shockwave that sent both king rank beasts and a few unlucky humans flying.


    ¡®As long as it killed some of them, I have noints.¡¯ ke said as he jumped down from a tree top and let Ebony and Ivory loose.


    AWOOO!


    The wolves howled as they crashed onto the ground in theirbined form, causing the 30-plus king rank beasts in the area to turn in their direction.


    Without wasting time, the now 7-meter grey wolf with both red and blue markings charged at the closest beast.


    Sensing the terrifying auraing from the grey wolf, the king rank knox knew it had no chance of beating them alone.


    The king rank knox roared for help as it stood on its hind legs before the green markings on its body began glowing. Its brown fur turned to still while it simultaneously conjured a thick wall of chromastone.


    Seeing the chromastone only made Ebony and Ivory increase their speed. The blue markings on their body turned red changing their grey fur to ck. Ebony and Ivory burst into mes as they jumped into the air and began spinning toward the knox.


    ¡°They never learn.¡± ke shook his head in pity as he watched Ebony and Ivory tunnel through the chromastone and into the brown bear before mping on its neck.


    Thanks to the hardened fur of the king rank knox, Ebony and Ivory weren¡¯t able to take off its head in one bite; unfortunately for the knox, it had unknowingly chosen a more gruesome death.


    With their teeth centimeters into the knox¡¯s neck, Ebony and Ivory¡¯s ck skin changed to pure white. The red marking turned to blue and instantly the king rank beast began freezing from the inside out.


    In less than 5 seconds, the 6-meter-tall king rank knox had be a block of ice which they shattered with a stomp.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡±


    Both humans and the king rank beasts were beyond shocked by what happened because this was a battle between 2 king rank beasts, but it hadn¡¯tsted up to 20 seconds.


    The king rank beasts that were on their way to help the knox immediately halted in their tracks, because if a naturally defensive king rank beast was taken out so easily, what would happen to them?


    ¡®What rank is his weapon and where the hell did he get it from?!¡¯ The ash corps who had watched the fight couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 479 - 479 Race against time (part 2)

    479 Race against time (part 2)


    At the center of the massive dualyered mine were the 4 major generals that surrounded the massive mana pir falling from the sky.


    While major Gareth sent a sunfire pir crashing into the ground, major Scott who was in charge of the northern gate cast the demigod fusion spell thundercloud.


    Thundercloud was a fusion of wind and lightning elements that created charged clouds that moved with the caster. The clouds sent out demigod-level thunderbolts at the ground, tearing through it much quicker.


    As for major Reeves, he was the one dealing with all the beasts that escaped the special ops and tried to interrupt them while major Briggs he was on the ground fighting over the control of the ground with the peak king rank beast below.


    This was necessary because it prevented it from further hardening the floor and making the drilling even more difficult, but if Briggs was to win the tug of war, then getting to the beast would be a breeze.


    After close to 10 minutes of constantly pouring out mana, the major generals were through the rubbles and had finally reached the deepestyer of the mine.


    Immediately, major Briggs and Reeves floated back into the air, as they readied themselves to engage the evolving beast.


    With one final round, they had destroyed the finalyer revealing a 15-meter tall and massive tortoise shell. On its ck shell were hundreds of meter-long retractable spikes with chromastone tips.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± The four major generals simultaneously cursed their rotten luck as they were about to fight the worst thing one could possibly face in a short period of time.


    .....


    ¡®That makes a lot of sense.¡¯ ke said as he saw the evolving king rank ck tortoise.


    The reason he had suspected that an emperor-rank beast was behind the beast attacks was that it was something that required an intellect higher than that of normal king rank beasts.


    Seeing the tortoise answered the question because tortoises were not only known to be intelligent but they also lived very long lives that fostered knowledge acquisition.


    Since itsyers of protection were all destroyed, it was now time to face the humans that came for it.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Its thick armored legs came out of its shell followed by its horned head and spiked tail.


    Although staying in its shell was the safest, it would make it easier for the humans to push it out of the mana pirs range, thus canceling the evolution.


    ROAR!


    The king rank beast stood up on its hind legs before letting out a roar filled with both anger and madness.


    Immediately, the spikes at the back of its shell retracted before moving to its underbelly and firing at the major generals.


    Sensing that the spikes had no traps, major Scott stretched forth his hand and cast a raging cyclone.


    Immediately, the air in the environment quickly gathered to form a massive 15-meter-tall cyclone in front of them. The hundreds of spikes aimed at them were swallowed by the wind funnel before being redirected back to the ck tortoise.


    At the same time, major Reeves and major Gareth simultaneously bombarded the cyclone with a sea of mes, instantly turning it into a ming cyclone before major Scott sent it toward the evolving beast.


    Wasting no time, the ck tortoise stomps its right hind leg on the ground sending all the rubbles into the air andbing them into thickyers of walls.


    BOOM!


    The ming raging cyclone crashed into the massive wall releasing a massive explosion of mes and rocks that stretched past 20 meters, but both parties were in no way affected.


    ¡°We need to step things up!¡± Major Scott said with a frown as his eyes began glowing white.


    Hundreds of lightning arcs began squirming all around his body as he flew higher into the air. The bright sky turned dark, and a thunderstorm began brewing.


    ¡°On it!¡±


    Major Reeves and major Gareth said as they activated berserk mode, causing their entire body to light up in mes, but they were not done yet.


    A water wheel that constantly absorbed the water in the atmosphere appeared behind major Gareth, while major Reeves cast earth guardian causing the huge chunks of rocks to start floating around him.


    Earth guardian was the equivalent of water wheel, it constantly attracted and absorbed the rocks and particles in the environment. This enabled a geomancer to generate and control earth even when they were not close to the ground.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Major Briggs said as he cast water wheel and earth guardian before leading the charge.


    Hundreds of meter-long ice spikes condensed all around the ck tortoise while the water wheel continuously mystic mist that quickly filled the area.


    With a flick of his wrist, the thick ice spikes lunged at the open areas of the ck tortoise but without looking, the floating rocks around formed armors around its exposed parts.


    The ice spikes broke through the rock armor however they weren¡¯t enough to pierce its steel-like skin, but out of nowhere hundreds of exploding me spears assaulted the now exposed parts.


    ROAR!


    The ck tortoise roared in pain and madness as its staggered, but it was then that a thunderbolt the thickness of 2 men crashed into its head.


    ¡°Bet you didn¡¯t see thating.¡± Major Briggs said with a smirk.


    The aim of the mystic mist wasn¡¯t to trap the ck tortoise in an illusion, rather it was to obstruct its vision.


    When the smoke created by the explosion cleared, they saw a hole so deep andrge that the damaged brain was now visible.


    ¡°Shit!¡± The major general cursed as they saw the brain healing at an astonishing speed.


    ¡°We need to get it out of there!¡± Major Reeves said.


    They had thought they would be able to kill the evolving beast while it was still in the mana pir but it seemed that they had underestimated the healing power of the mana pir.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 480 - 480 Race against time (part 3)

    480 Race against time (part 3)


    ¡°Why are you guys staring, don¡¯t let it get up!¡± Major Reeves said snapping the rest out of their reverie as they began raining spells on the ck tortoise.


    ¡­


    On the other side of the battlefield¡­


    The battle between the major generals had gotten more than the attention of everyone and everything in the area.


    The collisions of their spells not only destroyed the environment, but they also constantly affected the fights of those around them both positively and negatively.


    [At this rate things would get ugly.] The system said as they watched the fight between the demigods and the ck tortoise.


    ¡®How do you mean?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡®It is obvious that the only thing still keeping the ck tortoise alive is the mana pir.¡¯


    ¡°Besides, during the beast tide, it took only 2 peak demigods to take down an emperor-tier beast, let alone 4 working together. So even if they are not able to take it down before its evolution isplete, they would do so after.¡± ke exined.


    [You are right about them being able to handle an emperor-level beast, but you are overlooking several things.] the system continued with its exnation.


    .....


    [The first is that the ck tortoise is basically undying at the moment, and even after the evolution process, they wouldn¡¯t have enough mana to kill it, especially at this rate.]


    [Secondly, you have to remember that it is turning berserk, meaning it would be stronger than a newly evolved emperor beast, thus further reducing their chances of victory.]


    [Finally, what I am most worried about is you guys, not them. If it eventually goes berserk, I am not sure they would be able to protect themselves and all of you at the same time.] The system said making ke realize what was really happening.


    ¡®What do you suggest I do cause from the looks of things I don¡¯t think we have much time?¡¯ ke asked the system as he saw that some patches of the ck shell had turned to chromastone.


    For the evolution to start appearing on the outside it means it has progressed quite a lot even though its evolution would continue for about an hour or more.


    The reason ke felt they needed to rush was that as the evolution process went on, not only would the ck tortoise get stronger, but it would unlock new physical and magical abilities and attributes; thus making the task more difficult.


    [If you get involved, you wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the shockwaves from the shing of spells. So the only thing you can do at the moment is send Ebony and Ivory to help them.] The system said.


    ¡®Are you sure they would be useful to the fight?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [From what I can see, Ebony and Ivory are exactly what they need to win this battle.] The system said.


    The main reason the battle had gone on for so long was that the major generals were unable to get physical with the ck tortoise, and this was because of the mana pir.


    The mana pir was a catalyst that increased the sess of a beast¡¯s evolution and also a form of protection given by nature.


    The mana being absorbed by the beast during evolution was used to rapidly heal their body as it was being torn from the inside out, but in a case where nothing needs to be repaired; a human would end up exploding due to mana overload if they were to enter.


    As for other beasts, thanks to their size and massive mana capacity, they would be able to enter but that also didn¡¯t mean they could stay there all day.


    So, if Ebony and Ivory were to join the battle, they would be able to get close and help the major generals to take the ck tortoise out of the mana pir.


    ¡®Alright guys, you have to go help them.¡¯ ke said through their mind link causing the grey wolf to immediately turn in the direction of the mana pir.


    Awoo!


    Releasing a howl, Ebony and Ivory dashed toward the ck tortoise, and on reaching the peak king rank beast they separated.


    Ebony jumped into the air and turned into a spinning ming tornado and arrived directly above the fallen ck tortoise and released a me burst twice its size before spinning out of the mana pir.


    BOOM!


    The explosion of the mes not only made sure that the ck tortoise was grounded, but it also cracked its thick shell.


    ROAR!


    The ck tortoise roared in pain as the floating rocks all around itbined and expanded into a massive earth dome that protected it.


    ¡°It¡¯s trying to run into the ground.¡± Major Briggs announced to everyone.


    Although the ck tortoise was going through agonizing pain because of the evolution process and the humans, it was still no fool. With Ebony and Ivory joining the fray it knew that staying in the open was a greater form of suicide than what it was already doing.


    Immediately the blue markings on Ivory¡¯s body began glowing, instantly turning the area frigid before sending a trail of ice that went underneath the earth and froze the whole space.


    ¡°What the?!¡±


    The major generals were bbergasted by the power being disyed by the king rank wolves but didn¡¯t waste time to shatter the earth dome and once again reveal the tortoise that was now in its shell.


    Bringing out its head and legs would only grant it a quick exit from life. So, the ck tortoise could only stay in its shell and hope for the best.


    ¡°We need to try and get it out of there!¡± Major Briggs said to Ebony who grunted at him causing Ivory to roar at her brother for being rude.


    ¡®What the hell is going on here?¡¯ Major Briggs was confused by their actions but couldn¡¯t care much since they had gotten his message.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 481 - 481 We???

    481 We???


    Having known the intentions of the human, Ebony and Ivory immediately went into action.


    Ebony jumped right through the mana pir and fell directly into Ivory causing them tobine into their grey wolf form.


    Although separating allowed insanebos and an edge when facing a single enemy in terms of versatility, their grey wolf form was their strongest.


    Not only did they be much stronger and faster whenbined, but the strengths of their spells multiplied and allowed them to draw mana from each other to cast veryrge spells.


    With theirbined form, their grey fur turned snow white, and the markings blue. The temperature of the environment began dropping to the point that it began affecting the strength of the mes produced by major Reeves and major Gareth.


    In an instant, theyer of ice that had prevented the ck tortoise from escaping had begun rising. In a matter of seconds, the ck tortoise that was in its shell was more than 15 meters high in the air.


    For them to properly deal with the ck tortoise they had to make sure that it was out of its element because even though it was still in its shell it could still manipte the earth around it.


    ¡°What rank are they?¡± Major Reeves was bbergasted by the amount of ice Haiti and Skoll were able to conjure in such a short time.


    Nheless, the major generals had no ns of letting such an opportunity get to waste, so they immediately moved to the side of Haiti and Skoll before casting their charged spells.


    .....


    The major problem they had with moving the ck tortoise outside the mana pir was its massive size. Now that Ebony and Ivory had lifted it, all they needed to do was push it off and it would fall off the mana pir.


    With its body off and far away from the ground, the ck tortoise could no longer sense its environment, let alone ess to manipting the earth. So it had no other choice than to take its head out of its shell to understand what was going on.


    Immediately after its head left the ck shell, the evolving tortoise saw explosive me and wind spellsing its way.


    In less than a heartbeat it already understood what their n was, and as ast-ditch effort, it controlled the floating rocks around it to form a barrier, but it was already too little toote.


    The spells from Haiti and Skoll as well as the major generals shattered the earth barrier and sted the ck tortoise off the mana pir.


    BOOM!


    The ck tortoise crashed into the ground causing the ground to quake for kilometers away.


    When the dust cleared, Haiti and Skoll as well as the 4 major generals were already meters away, but they weren¡¯t attacking.


    With the absence of the mana pir, the unbearable pain of evolution had consumed the mind of the ck tortoise leaving it basically useless.


    If left like this it would end up dying, but seeing how it was writhing in pain while looking at the mana pir, major Scott wasn¡¯t going to take any chance.


    He stretched forth his hand and instantly, a thunderbolt from the thunderstorm immediately shattered through its skull, ending its life.


    With the ck tortoise dead, Ebony and Ivory immediately left the area and returned to ke.


    ¡°Why do I have the feeling that they would have been able to kill it by themselves.¡± Major Briggs said causing the rest to think about it.


    ¡°The volume of fire and ice that they can generate is beyond scary, especially for their level.¡± Major Scott said.


    ¡®At the moment theybined and began charging the ice spell, it felt like it was the king of ice.¡¯ Major Briggs said as he recounted how the ck tortoise had been lifted.


    Although major Briggs¡¯ words sounded silly, the other major generals weren¡¯tughing at all because they had also felt it.


    ¡°Where the hell did he get the artifact from?¡± Major Gareth couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Apart from their power disy, it was more than obvious that they were not regr beasts. The ability to turn from weapon to beast was unheard of, let alone the ability tobine and separate at will.


    ¡°My guess is his highness, prince Bryon.¡± Major Reeves said as he recalled the first time he had seen ke use the sword.


    ¡°¡­.¡±


    The mentioning of Bryon immediately killed all thoughts to covet the artifact, but it made them wonder what was the rtionship between the special opsmander and the prince for him to have received such a powerful artifact.


    With the death of the king rank ck tortoise, the mission was basically over. The 4 major generals helped to finish up the few remaining king rank beasts before gathering the corpses and returning to the wall.


    The major generals returned to their positions on the wall before sending in their reports.


    As for ke and the other special ops unit, they had returned to their posts to rest, especially since the chances of another beast attack were slim.


    ¡°How did it go?¡± Cami asked.


    ¡°It would have gotten bloody if not for Ebony and Ivory.¡± ke went on to narrate the entire operation and how Ebony and Ivory were the MVPs of the mission.


    ¡°Thank the heavens for them!¡± Cami said wishing she could pet them but they weren¡¯t so weing to her.


    ¡°I just hope this would be thest of the beast attacks.¡± ke said as he let out a helpless sigh.


    ¡°We need a vacation after all of this.¡± Cami said, but it was only after that he realized the ¡°we¡± in her sentence.


    ¡°We?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Yeah... You don¡¯t have to worry about my family because I will be staying with you throughout.¡± Cami said further shocking ke.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 482 - 482 Learning how to have fun.

    482 Learning how to have fun.


    The death of the ck tortoise marked the end of the beast¡¯s attacks on the humans. This allowed the expansion of the city walls to go unhindered for the next 13 days.


    After it was over, a special group of ash corps were sent to the mine to extract what was left of the doubleyered mines.


    The process was dangerous because mistakes could lead to further explosions and there were still the chances of attacks from beasts. So the mining process was estimated to take around a month.


    Cami¡¯s unit as well as other ash corps units had been immediately redeployed to protect and assist in the mega constructions taking ce all around the city.


    As for ke and other special ops units, they had been ced on standby to tackle any problems that might ur especially from external factors like gangs.


    The expansion of the city walls enabled a lot of things. The first was space for new constructions like themed parks, a city park, more hospitals, and so on.


    The second was that it allowed the city to rearrange the city, literally. With the help of the earth element and other magical devices, they were able to move buildings to different locations.


    The slums was moved out of the eastern part of the middle region and moved to the now bigger outeryer of the city. This created a lot of space in the middle region and also opened up a lot ofnd for investors and anyone that wanted to start a business or build anything.


    One would say the movement of the slums would further make themoners feel even more marginalized, but prince Bryon hadn¡¯t just moved them for moving sake.


    .....


    Not only did the area have upgraded and affordable medical facilities, but he had upgraded some of their houses. Also, he passed a bill that increased the minimum wage and the working conditions of themoners.


    For the ash corps, not only had more personnel been hired but their wages had also increased by a substantial amount and that was apart from the massive bonus they would get for such a hectic period.


    Also, the number of teleportation points in the city had increased, meaning faster reaction time to crimes.


    In general, Calton city had undergone an upgrade so massive that it made ke wonder how much was the empire¡¯s so-called excess resources that were distributed to the winner of the regionalpetition.


    ¡­


    The city upgrade had taken a little above 3 months even with the help of earth magic and other magical devices, and immediately after that, a good number of the ash corps had gone on vacation.


    ¡°What are your vacation ns?¡± Cami asked as they came out of the briefing hall.


    ¡°I need to break into the peak of the hero realm, still looking into the reason for the beast tide. Also, I wanted to¡­¡±


    ¡°I meant fun vacation ns.¡± Cami facepalmed as she interrupted him.


    ¡°That was what I was listing out before you interrupted.¡± ke said causing Cami to shake her head in helplessness.


    ¡°Guess I have to teach you how to have fun and most importantly rest.¡± Cami let out a helpless sigh.


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ke said with furrowed brows, but Cami ignored him and continued.


    ¡°The good thing is that I will be staying with you for 2 weeks.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about that? What about not letting your family know about us?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Although he didn¡¯t care what people or the Karius family would think, he wasn¡¯t too sure that he was ready for the problems that mighte because of it.


    ¡°Yes, I am very sure. Besides once I state that I am on vacation then they wouldn¡¯t care about me, especially since it¡¯s none of their business.¡± Cami exined.


    ¡°If you say so.¡± ke said.


    They both parted ways to speak to their teams before finally meeting on the ground floor.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s the n?¡± ke asked Cami as he leaned on a pir not too far from the entrance.


    ¡°I am starving so let¡¯s go get something to eat.¡± Cami replied.


    ¡°What happened to the cafeteria?¡± ke asked in a confused tone.


    ¡°I prefer eating where I don¡¯t have to worry about people staring and trying to eavesdrop on our conversations.


    ¡®Why will I care about stares when I get free food.¡¯ ke mentally shook his head before following her out of the building and boarding a carriage.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think we are underdressed for a restaurant?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask as he looked at his ck leather pants, white t-shirt, and ck leather jacket.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry, it¡¯s nothing too fancy.¡± Carmi reassured him.


    In less than 20 minutes the carriage had stopped in front of a beige cored 3-storey building. ke paid with a silver coin and told the driver to keep the change.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t know you were so generous.¡± Cami said with a smirk.


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ke asked once again but she ignored him again.


    ¡°Wee to Ace of Steak.¡± The Host said with a light bow as he gestured them in.


    Just like Cami had said, the restaurant wasn¡¯t anything fancy. The restaurant didn¡¯t have a live band or fancy decorations, rather it had well-spaced walnut tables and a lovely atmosphere.


    Immediately they took a table, they went through the menu and shortly after a waiter arrived.


    ¡°Good evening, what will I be serving you?¡± The waiter asked as he pulled out a pen and jotter.


    ¡°I will be having the creamy steak fettine and the crock-pot pepper steak.¡± ke said.


    ¡°I will have the same thing.¡± Cami said.


    ¡°What would you like to drink?¡± The waiter asked.


    ¡°We would take the Noche Cava.¡± Cami said with a smile.


    ¡°Why the stoic expression?¡± Cami asked as the waiter left the table.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 483 - 483 Learning how to have fun (part 2)

    483 Learning how to have fun (part 2)


    ¡°Why the stoic expression?¡± Cami asked as the waiter left the table.


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t feel safe in public, anything could happen at any time. Also, I generally don¡¯t like being around humans they disgust me.¡± ke said causing Cami to chuckle.


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you have the same expression when you are in the cafeteria?¡± Cami asked.


    ¡°In the cafeteria, the fact that the food is free helps me ignore everyone else. As for security, it is only someone with a death wish that would attack or even attempt to cause trouble close to the square let alone at the square itself.¡± ke said.


    ¡°You know I would like to see you loosen up and smile more or at least change your stoic default expression, especially at work because you are chasing everyone away.¡± Cami said.


    ¡°That has always been the n because the more you smile with people the more they take you for granted.¡± ke said as the waiter arrived with 2 sses and a bottle of wine.


    ¡°Besides I don¡¯t need new friends because you guys are already more than enough.¡± ke said with a smile causing Cami¡¯s heart to melt.


    Shortly after the wine, the food finally arrived, and without wasting time they both dived in, but that was when ke noticed Cami wasn¡¯t enjoying the food.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the food?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask because they ordered the same food and so far, it was delicious.


    .....


    ¡°There is nothing wrong with the food, especially the meat, it¡¯s just that I would prefer a different kind of meat in my mouth.¡± Cami said with a seductive smile causing ke to almost choke.


    ¡°You got me there.¡± ke said as he finally recovered causing Cami to let out a lowugh.


    ¡°Did you choose to eat here just to say that line?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Maybe...¡± Cami said with a smirk that made ke facepalm.


    After 30 minutes of chatting and eating, they were done with their food and it was now time to pay the bills.


    ¡°That would be 22 silver coins.¡± The waiter said as he gave the bill to ke.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry I will pay the bill.¡± Carmi said before taking out her golden card.


    ¡°Are you sure because I can handle it?¡± ke asked receiving a nod of confirmation from Cami and a poorly hidden disappointed look from the waiter.


    The waiter was disappointed at ke¡¯sck of gentlemanliness because he should have strongly insisted but he didn¡¯t.


    Unknown to him ke had noticed the disappointed look, but he didn¡¯t evene close to giving a shit about his feelings.


    ¡°You said something about investigating the beast tide.¡± Cami asked as they left the Ace of Steak.


    ¡°Yes.¡± ke replied.


    ¡°Why are you so invested in it?¡± Cami asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know but I have a hunch that something is off about the beast tide.¡± ke said as they approached the sidewalk.


    ¡°Everyone feels the same, that is why investigations are still going on for centuries now.¡± Cami said while she leaned on ke as they waited for a carriage.


    ¡°My hunch is beyond that. For example, why were the beasts so united during the expansion of the city walls when the beast tide ended months ago?¡¯ ke asked.


    Just like humans, beasts fought themselves for resources and territory. So, it was extremely rare to see different beasts working together, let alone hundreds of them.


    As for the ck tortoise being the cause of the unity, it even raised more questions because it was only a high-level emperor ranked beast that could dream ofmanding so many beasts.


    ¡°You have a point. So, what leads do you have?¡± Cami asked when she realized she had no answer for it.


    ¡°I got some data today, all that is left is for me to study them and piece things together.¡± ke said.


    ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± Cami kissed ke as a carriage finally arrived.


    ¡°Thanks for the dinner.¡± ke said as he waved goodbye.


    Cami boarded the carriage and headed for the central region, while ke waited for another carriage that took him to his house.


    When he got home, ke began taking out all the reports and data he had collected from the ash corps database.


    He had not only collected info rted to the beast tide but also info concerning other parts of the empire and Infinite realm atrge.


    ¡­


    ¡°Who the fuck is calling me at this ungodly hour.¡± ke cursed as he picked up hismunication amulet and saw it was Cami.


    ¡°Thought you would be awake by this time.¡± Cami asked after seeing ke¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I was up all night reading.¡± ke said as he rubbed his eyes.


    ¡°So, I am officially free, what¡¯s your address?¡± Cami asked.


    ¡°Oh, forgot about that.¡± ke told her his address and immediately began his daily workout.


    Just 15 minutes after the call with Cami, his doorbell rang causing him to stop his push-ups and rush downstairs.


    ¡°How did you get here so soon?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask because the distance between the Karius estate and his house was at least a 25-minute drive.


    ¡°I was already out of the central region when I called.¡± Cami said as she couldn¡¯t stop staring at ke¡¯s sweaty muscr body.


    ¡°Oh...¡± ke said as he leaned in for a kiss.


    ¡°You never told me you live in such a beautiful ce. It¡¯s so different from anything I have seen.¡± Cami said as she was captivated by the interior design.


    ¡°Did you customize your house?¡± Cami couldn¡¯t help but ask as she walked through the double sliding door that led to the kitchen and saw the full ss door that led to the yard and also brought ample natural lightning into the kitchen.


    ¡°Yes...¡± ke replied.


    ¡°You are really making me consider having a ce of mine.¡± Cami said as she walked up to the full ss door.


    ¡°How much does it cost to rent a ce like this?¡± Cami asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ke replied leaving her confused.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 484 - 484 Learning how to have fun (part 3)

    484 Learning how to have fun (part 3)


    ¡°How do you not know the price of your rent¡­ Unless!¡± Cami said with her eyes wide open.


    ¡°You bought the property?!¡± Cami asked in a shocked tone receiving a nod from ke.


    At first, she had thought that it was a very unique duplex, but after ke had told her that he had done some customizations it made her realize that almost everything was customized.


    For a rented duplex, permanent customizations like the full sliding ss doors were not possible because thendlord wouldn¡¯t agree.


    Also, it was unwise to spend so much on a ce that you will eventually leave. So, the only option left was ke actually buying it.


    ¡°What¡¯s the cost?¡± Cami asked as she was seriously considering doing the same.


    ¡°Of what exactly. The duplex, customization, or both?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Both.¡± Cami said.


    ¡°The house was 12 million. Paint, customized windows, full ss doors, forge, and so on 7 million. Then customized furniture roughly 2 million. So the total is 21 million gold coins.¡± ke said leaving Cami awestruck.


    .....


    ¡°You spent the price of a decent epic tier weapon on a house, but you are a cheap stake?¡± Cami said as she was trying to make it make sense.


    Although she came from one of the top 3 families and was daughter to the branch leader of the city, Cami didn¡¯t dare to throw that kind of amount on a house.


    ¡°¡­¡± ke would have loved to retort her ims, but even he knew that she was right.


    ¡°Why do I feel like I chose the wrong job.¡± Cami said with a wry smile causing ke to burst out inughter.


    ¡°You know, if being an adventurer paid that much there would be literally no one in the ash corps.¡± ke said.


    ¡°You have a point.¡± Cami said as she began walking up the stairs close to the dinning.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to ask how I made so much money?¡± ke asked in a surprised tone.


    ¡°Does it really matter?¡± Cami said as she continued going up the stairs.


    ¡°What if it was gotten from an illegal source?¡± ke asked as he followed behind.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing new to me since, everyone especially almost all noble families are into illegal activities in one form or another. So legal or not it doesn¡¯t affect my love for you.¡± Cami said without turning.


    ¡°Besides, if it is illegal, the less I know the safer I would be.¡± Cami said as she entered the corridor on the top floor.


    Investigations were mostly carried out by reading the mind of the suspects or using a lie detector. So if she didn¡¯t know she would be safe.


    ¡°You know, this is one of the many reasons I love you.¡± ke said with a small but loving smile.


    ¡°Are you talking about my ass that you have been staring at or me being a badass?¡± Cami asked with a raised brow.


    ¡°Both.¡± ke said with a sheepish smile as he was caught in the act.


    He went on to show her his forge and library before finally getting to his bedroom.


    ¡°I had seen the full ss window, but I never expected the view to be this good!¡± Cami said as she walked up the window.


    Although she couldn¡¯t seepletely past the other duplexes opposite her, the view of the quiet street was beautiful.


    ¡°So, what do you think, is it worth 21 million gold coins?¡± ke asked as he stood right beside her.


    ¡°Worth every coin.¡± Cami said as shey down on his king-size bed.


    ¡°So, what would you like to drink?¡± ke asked but he soon regretted it.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to know?¡± Cami said with a naughty smile that made ke smack his forehead.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind me, a ss of water would be okay.¡± Cami said with a triumphant smile.


    After serving her the chilled ss of water, ke went down on his knuckles and continued with his push-ups.


    ¡°Why did you even leave the life of an adventurer?¡± Cami asked as shey on the bed and watched him.


    ¡°The life of an adventurer is for those who don¡¯t have a goal or are searching for a goal. For me I already know my goal, all I need is guidance and information, and that is what I will get from the ash corps.¡± ke said.


    Afterpleting his exercise, ke hit the shower and soon after began dressing up.


    ¡°What¡¯s the n for today?¡± ke said as he joined her on the bed.


    ¡°I nned a get-together with all of our friends but Damon and Luciano are too busy to make it, while Castiel and Brian are currently on a mission and would be here at the end of the week.¡±


    ¡°As for Tessie, she should be here any time soon.¡± Cami said as she looked at the clock.


    ¡°It¡¯s sad that everyone is too busy to meet up, but I expected it.¡± ke said.


    ¡°You would have been the busiest even though you are on vacation.¡± Cami chuckled.


    ¡°I am not that far gone.¡± keughed.


    They chatted for a few more minutes before the doorbell rang and they went downstairs.


    ¡°Hey, Tessie!¡± ke said as he opened the door.


    Tessie who is 5¡¯7 feet (1.7 meters) tall was dressed in a simple yellow dress and a sparkling sapphire that gave her oval face an irresistible glow.


    Without saying a word, Tessie lunged at him and gave him a tight hug.


    ¡°I missed you!¡± Tessie said as she hugged the air out of ke.


    Unlike Cami that got to see her once in a while, Tessie couldn¡¯t see or enjoy hispany.


    ¡°I¡­ missed¡­ you¡­ too.¡± ke said as he struggled for air causing Tessie to reduce her strength.


    ¡°That¡¯s way better.¡± ke said as he returned the embrace and kissed her hair head.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 485 - 485 Picnic at the Bulian hills.

    485 Pic at the Bulian hills.


    After hugging ke to her heart¡¯s content, Tessie finally let ke go and walked over to Cami with her hands open.


    ¡°How have you been?¡± Tessie asked with a brimming smile as she hugged Cami.


    ¡°Stressed out by the development of the city but I am okay.¡± Cami said. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°Life has been quite boring for me, but I have noints.¡± Tessie said with smile that could light up the room.


    ¡°Nice house you¡¯ve got here.¡± Tessie said to ke as she began to move past the sliding double ss doors and into the kitchen.


    Sure enough, ke began another home tour which ended in the master bedroom, in front of the full ss window.


    ¡°The view is magnificent; I wish I could have one in my room.¡± Tessie said as she appreciated the view.


    ¡°With so many peopleplimenting my house, it is safe to say that Earth¡¯s architectural designs would be popr here. This is an opportunity for another business idea.¡± ke thought.


    He had learned so far that nobles always made use of any chance they had to disy their wealth and put others in their ce.


    .....


    So once again, he could use this to his advantage and begin making custom renovations and redesign for them.


    ¡®Nah.¡¯ ke quickly discarded the idea when he imagined something unexpected dying a mission, and he ended up missing his appointment with a client.


    His life in the ash corps, coupled with managing the affairs of hispany, didn¡¯t leave him with much time to do the things he usually did in school. So, adding renovations and architectural customizations to his to-do list was not possible at all.


    ¡®If I didn¡¯t have a mission, then I wouldn¡¯t have hesitated to indulge in all types of business ventures, but I don¡¯t belong in this world.¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡°What¡¯s the n for today?¡± ke asked as he sat on the sofa. He didn¡¯t feelfortable staying idle, especially when he had a thousand things he could be doing.


    ¡°The n is to have a pic at the Bulian hills. Also, we brought food and drinks from our family kitchens, so you don¡¯t have to spend.¡± Cami said causing ke to smile.


    ¡®The bestbination, food and no bills!¡¯ ke thought with a brimming smile.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s start heading out.¡± ke said as he stood up from the sofa.


    ¡°Hold your horses, Tessie just arrived. Besides it¡¯s too early for a pic, we have till waiting till noon. ¡± Cami said causing ke to let out a low grunt.


    After hours of chatting or torture in ke¡¯s words, the girls decided it was time to get going.


    They boarded a carriage that transported them out of the city, and then from there they began making their way to the Bulian hills on foot.


    ¡°In situations like this, having a personal carriage isn¡¯t a bad idea.¡± Tessie said as the thought of walking and killing beasts just for a pic made her tired already.


    ¡°It would have been perfect if not that adding a carriage to the lists of things to be protected puts the owner at a disadvantage.¡± Cami said.


    ¡°True.¡± Tessie said in realization.


    ¡°No need for a personal carriage with them around.¡± ke brought out Ebony and Ivory from his dimensional pocket.


    With the presence of Ebony and Ivory in their Haiti and Skoll form, not even king rank beasts would want to attack them.


    ¡°Are we riding them?!¡± Tessie asked in an excited tone.


    ¡°Yes, but both of you would be on Ivory. Ebony isn¡¯t a fan of people.¡± ke said causing Ebony to furrow its brows and grunt.


    ¡°He reminds me of someone.¡± Cami burst out inughter causing ke to furrow his brows, forming a perfect resemnce between the beast and its master.


    With 3 of them holding tight to the wolves, they quickly began weaving through the trees at astonishing speed.


    In less than 15 minutes they were already in the Bulian hills, but it was only because they had reduced their speed to make sure their riders didn¡¯t fall off.


    The only problem now was selecting a hill for the pic. The girls wanted to stay on top of a high hill for a very nice view, but the tallest hills were at the deeper parts of the Bulian hills which were more dangerous.


    ¡°Moving any deeper would turn the pic into warfare.¡± ke alongside Ebony and Ivory were annoyed by the indecision of the girls.¡±


    Although Ebony and Ivory could handle most king rank beasts, it didn¡¯t mean ke would want to stress them, and the situation could get out of hand if multiple or more beasts were to appear.


    Besides, the deeper they went into the Bulian hills, the higher the chances of meeting an emperor rank beast, and Ebony and Ivory were no match for that.


    ¡°Alright.¡± The girls finally a hill which Ebony and Ivory carried them to.


    They spread the pic nket before taking out the food baskets from their dimensional amulets, while Ebony and Ivory remained in their Haiti and Skoll form as they stood watch.


    ¡°The atmosphere is so peaceful.¡± Cami let out a long sigh as her nerves rxed and her mind was free from all burdens.


    ¡°I still wonder how you do it?¡± Cami said to ke.


    ¡°Do what?¡±


    ¡°You do basically twice of everything I do, but you never get tired or need to rx.¡± Cami said.


    ¡°Yeah, even back in school, not only were youpleting adventurermissions, but you were still ahead of the ss.¡±


    ¡°The crazy part was that you maintained the same energy for 3 years without showing any weakness or breaking down. You act as if you have only 5 years to live.¡± Tessie said.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s because I feel empty whenever I am idle. I always have this feeling that I am not doing enough, and when I don¡¯t aplish anything I feel depressed.¡± ke said shocking Cami and Tessie.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 486 - 486 Back together.

    486 Back together.


    It was not every day that one saw someone as hardworking as ke, let alone have a feeling like his. So, they weren¡¯t sure on how to approach their problem.


    The main problem was that he didn¡¯t enjoy anything that didn¡¯t directly or indirectly increase his strength. So asking him to try out other hobbies would be useless.


    ¡°Well, we love you the way you are, and we are not asking you to change. Just take it easy and learn to cherish moments like this.¡± Cami said as Tessie nodded in support.


    ¡®They don¡¯t really understand, but it¡¯s not their fault.¡¯ ke thought.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time he had been lectured on cherishing moments. It was just that everything he was doing was just to see the most important person in his life.


    Also, he had no idea of the time difference between both worlds. 1 year on Infinite realm could mean decades on Earth or the other way around.


    Besides, he didn¡¯t belong in this world, and everything here would most likely not matter if he ended up seeding.


    ¡®What if I don¡¯t seed, then not only would I lose mom but I would end up losing them, especially at this rate.¡¯ ke thought.


    His rtives hadn¡¯t helped nor cared about him and his mom since the death of his father, so he didn¡¯t even consider them as family. This meant in both worlds, the only people ke held dear were his mom and his friends here.


    .....


    While ke was lost in his thought, Cami and Tessie stared at him, wondering what were theplex thoughts going through his head.


    ¡°Tessie, what have you been up to?¡± ke quickly changed the topic as he saw that he was ruining the mood of the pic.


    ¡°Apart from managing the alchemy department of my family, I am now the one in charge of managing the matters of the Invisionpany in Calton city. Also, I have been apanying my dad and brother for almost every business meeting.¡± Tessie said with a proud smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s great, good for you!¡± Cami congratted Tessie.


    From how Tessie talked and acted, it was more than evident that her newfound responsibilities had improved her demeanour and confidence especially when it came to expressing herself.


    ¡®I am still wondering how the Winchester family had gotten the contract to be the sole distributor for the Invisionpany.


    ¡®If it was for Calton city alone it would have been understandable, but they are the sole distributors to all parts of the empire!¡¯ Cami thought.


    ording to what she knew about the Invisionpany, it had started in Calton city and is the first and sole producer of customized humidifiers.


    The craziest part of their short history was their almost instant expansion to all cities of the empire and the mystery founder of such a sessful business.


    ¡°You need to switch your life up, but it is really boring. At least I get to have fun when chasing down criminals or fighting beasts.¡± ke said causing Cami to frown at him.


    ¡°Kettle calling pot ck. If anyone is to advise anyone it should be me.¡± Cami facepalmed.


    ¡°Unfortunately, ke is right.¡± Cami ignored ke who furrowed his brows and continued. ¡°You need to switch up your life, it is really boring.¡±


    ¡°That is exactly what I just said!¡± ke protested but the girls ignored him and continued their conversation.


    The trio¡¯s conversationsted for hours and had to stop as they watched the beautiful sunset from the magnificent view provided from the top of the hill.


    After 30 minutes of silence, the group decided it was time to return to the city since it was getting dark.


    Once back in the city, Tessie had to return to the Winchester manor, leaving both of them alone.


    ¡°So tell me, wasn¡¯t that fun?¡± Tessie said to ke as they walked into the house.


    ¡°You are right, it feels nice taking a break, especially spending time with the ones you love.¡± ke said after he used both the arrays in the house and the system to scan the duplex for intruders.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to get lost chasing your goals and end up losing your friends.¡± Cami said as she wrapped her hands around his neck and came in closer.


    ¡°I promise I won¡¯t.¡± ke said as he grabbed her ass and passionately kissed her.


    ¡°I know you have been waiting for this all day.¡± Cami said as ke swooped up her leg and held her in a princess carry pose.


    ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t?¡± ke said as he began carrying her up the stairs.


    Till the end of the week, ke, Cami, and Tessie spent a lot of time together both indoors and outdoors.


    They visited interesting areas of the city like the city park, the city museum that was much better than their history ss, the city amusement park that wasn¡¯t as exciting as that of the capital, and so on.


    Even though some of their outing experiences were not top-tier, their presence made up for it.


    As for Tessie, she got few chances to sleep over with ke and Cami, multiplying the pleasure given and gotten.


    ¡­


    By the weekend, Castiel and Brian had returned from a mission in a neighbouring city Duststar. They were in need of rest, and what better way could they rest than to join ke and Cami on their vacation.


    ¡°So nice to see you guys.¡± Tessie said as she hugged Brian and Castiel before letting them into the house.


    ¡°The design is amazing right?¡± Tessie said as she saw Castiel and Brian looking all around the house.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Castiel and Brian replied as nostalgia from seeing things from Earth hit them like a truck.


    ¡°What¡¯s up guys, it¡¯s been a while since I heard from you guys.¡± ke said as he came down the stairs with Cami¡¯s hands in his.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it

 Chapter 487 - 487 Back together (part 2).

    487 Back together (part 2).


    ¡°What¡¯s up guys, it¡¯s been a while since I heard from you guys.¡± ke said as he came down the stairs with Cami¡¯s hands in his.


    ¡®He really is one lucky bastard.¡¯ Castiel couldn¡¯t help but envy ke¡¯s rtionship with both Cami and Tessie.


    ¡®What still amazes me is how he is able to get all thedies without even trying!¡¯ Brian thought as he saw ke and Cami.


    It was already extremely difficult to see ady that couldpare to Tessie and Cami in terms of beauty, let alone be in a rtionship with both of them at the same time.


    ¡°Recently we have been on back-to-back missions and most of them have been away from not only Calton, but civilization in general.¡± Castiel said as he sat on a single sofa and let out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°How are the missions going?¡± ke asked as he walked into the kitchen and got a bottle of wine.


    ¡°So far we have been able to maintain our 100% sess rate, but to be honest, things haven¡¯t been easy since you left.¡± Brian said.


    ke¡¯s absence was a huge blow to the team. They no longer had the cheat code that was the locator spell, so they had to stay away from investigation missions.


    Apart from that they no longer enjoyed the versatility of the space element that drastically reduced the difficulty and danger of the mission. Most importantly, they missed ke¡¯s leadership and nning skills.


    .....


    ¡°How has the ash corps been treating you guys?¡± Castiel asked ke and Cami.


    ¡°Unfortunately, we joined the ash corps at the busiest time of the year.¡± Cami let out a sigh as she remembered the nerve-racking stress she had to pass through in thest 3-4 months.


    ¡°I bet that level of stress would have been a piece of cake for ke.¡± Brain said causing everyone tough.


    ¡°I still wonder how he was able to live the life of an adventurer and still top the ss in all categories.¡± Tessie said.


    ¡®Me too.¡¯ Castiel thought.


    If one was to say ke was lucky because of the system, Ebony and Ivory, and the space, they would be dead wrong.


    For the 3 years they had been with ke, they had seen the sacrifices and crazy amount of effort he put into everything he did. He literally didn¡¯t have any social life outside them because of it.


    Even his so-called blessings came with their own problems. For example, his extra element meant more time, energy and beast cores would be needed to advance to the next still ke was ahead of the ss where top nobles with almost unlimited resources were ever-present.


    For Ebony and Ivory, not only did ke spend a lot of time and fortune to bring them up to this level, but the process of acquiring the legendary sword almost took their lives.


    ¡°Because I make it look easy doesn¡¯t mean it is. Besides having to answer and deal with people, especially foolish ones is stressful.¡± ke said.


    ¡°How is that stressful? You only have to deal with 10 people, while I have 50 people under me.¡± Cam sniggered.


    ¡°I wanted to know, how are you so good at leading people?¡± Castiel couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°It depends on my rtionship with them.¡± ke said as he opened the bottle of wine, and poured it into everyone¡¯s cup. ¡°If I don¡¯t know them then I would try to know their individual weaknesses and strengths to boost our synergy and make incorporating them into my ns easier.¡±


    ¡°Then when ites to making ns, I will always expect the worst and create multiple backup ns for every scenario I can think of.¡±


    ¡°The major difference between you guys and randoms is that I would have fewer backup ns.¡± ke exined.


    ¡°That¡¯s so many backup ns, don¡¯t you get headaches?¡± Tessie asked as she picked up her ss of wine.


    ¡°Better than being six feet under.¡± ke said as he picked up his ss cup and made a toast.


    ¡°To friendship and to love!¡±


    They chatted for a bit longer before Cami and Tessie went into the kitchen to cook.


    With the girls gone, they went up to the bedroom where Ebony and Ivoryy to discuss personal things.


    ¡°I am currently investigating the cause of the beast tide, and I have a feeling that it would give us at least a hint about our goal on this.¡± ke said as he activated his mind link with them.


    ¡°From the reports I have seen, I have been able to notice a kind of pattern.¡± ke said as he handed over different papers.


    ¡°Beasts that stay around or inside thranium crystal mines not only have higher intellect, but they tend to be more united even after the beast tide.


    ¡°Also, I discovered that it is during the beast tide that the ash corps discover and mine the most thranium mines.¡± ke exined.


    ¡°Are you saying, thranium crystals are responsible for the beast tide?¡± Castiel couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°I can¡¯t verify my ims, at least for now.¡± ke said.


    If ke¡¯s hunch ended up being correct, it would only lead to even more questions; like how the pink energy affected the beast¡¯s anatomy, how it had escaped detection all these years, why it didn¡¯t affect humans even those that were constantly exposed to it, how to end the beast tide for good, and many more.


    ¡°Any luck on your side?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Nope.¡± Castiel answered causing ke to furrow his brows.


    ¡®From the way he replied so nonchntly it feels like they are not even trying.¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡°Since you guys are not able to get any info, why don¡¯t you guys join me at the ash corps. I can request prince Byron to assign you guys to my team.¡±


    ¡°With 3 of us, we wouldplete missions easily, get promoted quickly, and be able to ess higher pieces of information¡± ke said.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it

 Chapter 488 - 488 Betrayal.

    488 Betrayal.


    ¡°With 3 of us, we wouldplete missions easily, get promoted quickly, and be able to ess higher pieces of information.¡± ke said.


    ¡°We have already talked about this before, we don¡¯t want to join the ash corps.¡± Castiel said.


    ¡°At this point, it is not about what you want, it is about what we have to do to get back to Earth.¡± ke said receiving silence from both Brian and Castiel.


    Right from when he had won the magic school entrance exam and was being approached by the ash corps and all the noble families. ke never epted any of their offers because he was against serving anyone but himself.


    When life hit him, ke¡¯s view changed; he realized that if he continued as an adventurer, he would be no different from a headless chicken traveling the entire Infinite realm.


    Silence filled the room as Brian and Castiel were trying toe up with a reasonable excuse, but this made ke¡¯s eyes widen in shock.


    ¡°I see what is going on here, you guys don¡¯t want to leave Infinite realm.¡± ke said in realization, and further silence from the 2 confirmed his suspicions.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this¡­¡± ke crashed into his king-sized bed andy there feeling betrayed by the 2 people that were the closest things to being family.


    ¡°Why?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask as he didn¡¯t take his eyes away from the white ceiling.


    .....


    ¡°How do I put this¡­ There is nothing to go back to for the both of us.¡± Brian said.


    ¡°How do you mean?¡± ke rose from the bed as he realized that he didn¡¯t know much about their lives on Earth.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how good your family was for you to want to return to them so badly, but ours weren¡¯t good.¡± Brian said before going ahead to exin.


    ¡°For me, I am the 1st child of a poor family of 6. We are so broke to the point of barely being able to avoid 3 square meals let alone afford to further my education.


    ¡°So having 1 less mouth to feed would make things easier for my family, and my ¡°death¡± should get them donations that would improve their condition.¡± Brian exined from the point of view that they were not returning with their powers.


    ¡°I am thest child of a Japanese family of 4. My elder brother recently became a certified doctor, and my parents who only see us as only investments want me to take after him.


    ¡°The problem with this was that I wanted to take the path of a pro gamer, and when I made that clear, my parents were obviously against it. They made my life miserable and threatened to disown me.


    ¡°Luckily, I mentioned this to them a few days before the Lords of Legend tournament; so I was able to sneak out to the tournament. My aim was to win the tournament to try and convince them that I had a bright future as a pro gamer, but you know how the rest of the story goes.¡±


    ¡°So, tell me would you want to go back to a life like that?¡± Castiel asked causing ke¡¯s anger to subside.


    Their life stories were truly sad, and after putting himself in their shoes, ke realized that he would have done the same thing.


    Their lives in Infinite realm were the dream of every gamer. Not only did they notck funds to carry out any project they had in mind, but they could basically take whatever path they wanted and achieve whatever goal they had in mind with the help of magic.


    ¡°I must confess, if I was in your shoes I would have done the same thing, but one thing I am sure that I wouldn¡¯t have done is wasted your time or make you all think that we are all working towards a goal.¡± ke said in a disappointed tone as he stormed out of the room.


    Grrrr!


    On sensing the negative emotions of its master, Ebony stood from its resting position and growled at Castiel and Brian before following ke with his sister.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Cami couldn¡¯t help but ask when she saw ke¡¯s sad expression as he came down the stairs.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± ke said as he and his pets walked past her and went for the door.


    ¡°Where are you going?!¡± Cami asked in a worried tone but the only reply she got was the door banging.


    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Cami asked in an utterly confused tone causing Tessie to leave the kitchen.


    ¡­


    ke left the house to take a walk to clear his head.


    [What exactly are you bothered about?] The system asked ke who ignored it.


    [Your ns are in no way affected by them because they aren¡¯t taking part in your current investigation and most importantly you don¡¯t have a concrete n, yet.]


    [As for the feeling of betrayal, I have nothing to say because their actions were shitty. I just want to remind you that even though your goals no longer align, it doesn¡¯t mean you should allow them to slow down or hinder yours.] The system said.


    ¡®Thanks though, but I was thinking about something else. ¡® ke said.


    [So much for trying to cheer you up.] The system shook its head, but ke ignored it.


    ¡®I was thinking about something else¡­ My thought all these while is just returning to Earth but I have never thought about the consequences, at least not all of them.¡¯


    ¡®If I am to return to Earth, will I just start over again building wealth?¡¯ The thought was already making ke tired.


    Although he had won the tournament, the cash prize wasn¡¯t enough tost him and his mom a lifetime. That meant he had to start all over again to look for ways to increase his wealth


    ¡®I have only been here for 4 years, and I still don¡¯t know how long I will be here, but I am already exhausted. I don¡¯t think I have the strength to start all over again or will everything reset to the moment I won the tournament just like in webnovels.¡¯ ke thought as he held his head.


    ¡®I guess I should stop here.¡¯ ke said as he noticed how people were looking at him as if they were staring at a ghost.


    It was when he turned to return to his house that he noticed Ebony and Ivory that had been following him all this while.


    ¡°Thank the heaven that you guys were not your original size, if not they would have called the ash corps on me.¡± ke said as he ruffled their fur and began walking back home.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it

 Chapter 489 - 489 Next step forward.

    489 Next step forward.


    It was after getting his thoughts and emotions in check that ke realized how long and far he had walked. He immediately increased his pace and in no time, he was already back home.


    Once in, ke ignored everyone and went straight up. Not caring about anyone except their master, Ebony and Ivory followed him up.


    ¡®It seems no one is ready to talk.¡¯ Cami and Tessie couldn¡¯t help but let out a helpless sigh.


    ¡­


    ¡®Now I know I am alone in this, it means I should look for ways to be efficient to not sacrifice the time I spend with Tessie and Cami.¡¯ ke said as he walked into his room and went straight into a crossed-leg position.


    ¡°Since I know beasts that stay around or inside Thranium crystal mines have higher intellect and are more united even after the beast tide. I have to test my theory.¡±


    ¡°The question is how?¡± ke said.


    For him to test out his theory, ke had to find a normal energy crystal mine that was inhabited by beasts. The problem with the n was that crystal mines were very few, talk less of undiscovered mines inhabited by beasts.


    ¡°Going about searching for mines is not even an option.¡± ke said as he let out a helpless sigh because he knew even the locator spell wouldn¡¯t help him.


    .....


    Not only would the mines be out of the spell¡¯s range, but the possible number of undiscovered mines in the area could be in the hundreds even thousands, thus further reducing the effectiveness of the spell.


    [Have you noticed something.] The system said derailing ke¡¯s line of thoughts.


    [Thranium crystals are meant to be the rarest type of crystals and mines, but all through your stay you have only seen 1 normal crystal mine.] The system said shocking ke.


    Calton city had quite a number of normal crystal mines, but from how the city was discovering new thranium mines almost every beast tide, ke could swear the total would be greater than normal mines.


    ¡°That even raises more questions.¡± ke held his head a he felt a headache brewing.


    ¡°The only 2 things I can do is wait for the ash corps to discover a beast-inhabited crystal mine, then read up the report or try out the locator spell anytime I am outside the city.¡±


    ¡°As for now, I should focus on advancing to the peak of the Hero realm.¡± ke as he began thinking back to Colonel Darius¡¯ exnation during the drug gang burst.


    [They can¡¯t see us because, at my level, I can control allponents of nature to a certain extent. So all I did was manipte the light rays hitting us and the wind that carried the sounds we make.] The system reyed the memory.


    ¡®For him to be able to do that his control over the other elements had to be greater than that of Champions if not Heroes of the pathways!¡¯ ke was awed by the insurmountable power of a peak Angel.


    ¡®So, one thing for sure is that at one point I will have to start learning the other elements.¡¯ ke let out a helpless sigh as the thought of starting from square one in another pathway was tiring.


    ¡°What if that¡¯s what I am actually meant to be doing!¡± ke said aloud as he abruptly opened his eyes.


    ¡°All this while I have been trying to sense nature all at once, but I think it is best to increase my understanding of one element first.¡± ke said.


    Although his theory wasn¡¯t confirmed, ke was going to give it a shot especially since he had wasted a lot of time studying mana.


    It was then that Cami walked upstairs to inform him that the food was ready, and without wasting even a second, ke stood up and began heading downstairs for Lunch.


    ¡®That¡¯s a good sign.¡¯ Cami thought as he took her hand.


    Food was one of ke¡¯s favorite things in the world; so as long as he didn¡¯t reject food, the problem with him, Castiel and Brian wasn¡¯t too serious.


    Cami and Tessie had prepared lemon garlic shrimp pasta and butter chicken with rice.


    Knowing ke, they had prepared a lot and even though the atmosphere was awkward ke didn¡¯t care at all.


    Brian and Castiel were the first to leave the table, leaving Cami and Tessie who happily watched ke eat.


    When it was time to sleep, Brian and Castiel took the guest room while ke and the girls remained in the master bedroom.


    ¡°It¡¯s alreadyte, aren¡¯t you nning on sleeping?¡± The girls asked ke who remained in his meditative pose with a fireball in his hand.


    They had joined ke to meditate but even after they were done, he had remained on the floor for more than 2 hours.


    ¡°I am.¡± ke said as he extinguished the mes and climbed onto the King size bed.


    ¡­


    The next day, the awkward atmosphere was almost gone, but that was only because Brian and Castiel avoided asking ke questions.


    The girls noticed this but they chose to ignore it. They had already agreed to not ask questions until both parties were ready to exin what happened.


    ¡°How is your cultivation going, any clues of the next step to advancing to the peak of the Hero realm?¡± Cami asked causing everyone including Brian and Castiel to turn to ke.


    ke had always been ahead of everyone in terms of cultivation and had been the one everyone turned to for assistance when they got to a bottleneck.


    Also, they had noticed how he had been meditating with either a fireball or electric arcs in his hands. So they felt if anyone was to have the key to advancement it should be him.


    ¡°Nope, I am still testing the theory that I previously shared with you guys.¡± ke said.


    Sharing the key to advancing with others was not only useless in most cases but also dangerous. This was because everyone had different tests from the Mother-stream and also different ways of understanding concepts and definitions.


    So an exnation might end up dying them even further, especially since their strengths and weaknesses were not the same.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 490 - 490 Back to work.

    490 Back to work.


    ¡°Cami can you exin to me your view on the lightning element?¡± ke asked surprising Cami.


    ¡°You mean what I think about it?¡± Cami was a little bit confused by the question.


    ¡°Yes, but also how you use it in and off the battlefield.¡± ke said.


    ¡°In battle, I see lightning as the tool of destruction to take down enemies quickly and efficiently. As for off the battle I hardly use it, instead, I make use of the water element.¡± Cami said making ke deeply ponder her words.


    ¡®In my case, I make use of the utility of the lightning and not its destructive nature.¡¯ ke thought but he soon realized something. ¡®In fact, the same could be said for all of my elements!¡¯


    ke mostly used lightning reinforcement and neuron overload in battles, while the fire element was mostly for making quick maneuvers using mebursts. As for the space element, nothing about it was destructive, yet.


    ¡®Oh well, it makes sense. When you have a sword that can cut through basically everything why would you stress yourself using inferior things.¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± ke said to Cami before leaving the living room and returning to his bedroom.


    ¡°Is the problem that I haven¡¯t extensively explored the destructive part of my elements?¡± ke asked himself as he crossed his legs.


    .....


    ¡°Well, it actually makes sense. My theory involves studying the elements so I should be studying both the destructive and utility aspects.¡± ke said to himself as he conjured a fireball.


    The good thing about the situation was that ke and the girls had already visited most of the major spots in the city; meaning he had more time to cultivate.


    ¡­


    During the rest of theirst week of vacation, ke had been spending nothing less than 8 hrs a day meditating and switching between lightning and fire elements.


    Since he was to start from the foundations, ke first started by examining the nature of a fireball.


    He noticed that the fireball had a calm and majestic flow to it. It was only when a foreign object or particle entered the fireball¡¯s range that its peaceful flow was disturbed, causing the mes to attack andtch onto the foreign object.


    From the little but important phenomenon, ke understood that fire was only violent when something messed with it. Fire was ready totch onto and burn to ashes foreign objects that came in contact with it, even if it meant getting extinguished at the end of the day.


    ke realized that this was the exact principle the royal family used. They didn¡¯t care about whatever the underground organizations, gangs, and even noble families did, but the moment they interfered with their ns intentionally or not, they would be immediately wiped out to thest member.


    When he understood the principle he couldn¡¯t help but facepalm because the answer had been right in front of him for 3 years.


    He had always found it surprising that all members of the royal family were calm although they were practicing the most violent pathway.


    Luciano had always been calm and indifferent to things, but ke had witnessed when he had instantly turned ruthless when nobles tried to mess with his friends.


    The downside of the fire element was that its hunger for vengeance could lead to madness or death, but that was not an issue for the wielders of the golden mes.


    As for the lightning element, ke noticed that, unlike the fire element, lightning was nothing close to being calm.


    Out of all the elements it was the coldest, most energetic, and most destructive that once given a chance would not waste a single second destroying anything in its way.


    Unlike other elements that could be easily controlled when released, the emotionless and destructiveness of the lightning element made it difficult for even its master to control.


    The only way to tame the ravaging demon that was the lightning element was by keeping it within.


    Unfortunately, after spending most of the rest of his vacation understanding the principle of the fire and lightning element, ke didn¡¯t feel any change in his body; regardless he continued with the Space element.


    He was well aware that understanding the principles of the elements was different from practicing them. So he was in no way bothered.


    On thest day of their vacation, Brian and Castiel were the first to say their goodbyes as they went on newmissions.


    ¡°Thanks for the vacation, you guys really made it fun.¡± ke said to Cami and Tessie.


    ¡°Sorry for Castiel and Brian. If I knew that this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have invited them in the first ce.¡± Cami said as she felt guilty for the awkward situations that urred during thest week of the vacation.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be, it was none of your faults. You actually did the right thing by bringing us together.¡± ke said as he hugged her before kissing her on the forehead.


    ¡°Come here.¡± ke opened his hand for Tessie to join the embrace.


    ¡°I will miss your cooking.¡± ke said as he led them to the door.


    ¡°At least you no longer need to spend on cooking. You can now return to having dinner at the canteen.¡± Cami said causing them to chuckle.


    ke gave them one more kiss before they finally left, returning the house to its default state.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s only us left.¡± ke said as he took out beast cores from his dimensional pocket and fed them to Ebony and Ivory.


    ¡­


    The day soon came to an end, and ke had to return to The Square to resume his duties as a Captain.


    ¡°The vacation was awesome but I won¡¯t say it is something I would be dying for.¡± ke still couldn¡¯t get himself to befortable with being ideal.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what we have here.¡± ke said as he sat on his chair and picked up one of the files on his table, but that was when a knock was heard on his door.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 491 - 491 Journey to Duststar.

    491 Journey to Duststar.


    ¡°Come in.¡± ke said as Ashely walked into the office, with 2 folders in her hands.


    Ashely was a beautiful dark-skinned woman in her early twenties, Standing tall and proud at a height of 5¡¯10 feet.


    She had almond-shaped eyes and full lips, with jet-ck hair that cascaded down her back.


    ¡°Colonel Darius is summoning you to his office.¡± Ashely said to ke.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t he just contact me directly? ¡± ke asked.


    ¡°I was to drop these files a few offices away, so he said I should call you on my way. Don¡¯t know why he did so.¡± Ashely shrugged.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be on my way then.¡± ke said as he closed the file on his table and stood up.


    ¡®I wonder why he is calling me.¡¯ ke thought as he knocked on the Colonel¡¯s door before walking into the office.


    ¡°You sent for me Sir!¡± ke saluted.


    .....


    ¡°Yes, please take a seat.¡± Darius gestured for him to a seat.


    ¡°We recently discovered that the drugs smuggled in by the Cobra mob came from the north. Also, we have received info about the increased use of drugs in the city of Duststar which is also north of the city.¡± Darius said.


    ¡®That¡¯s great news, but why the hell is he telling me?¡¯ ke thought as Darius continued.


    ¡°His Highness Prince Bryon wants you to investigate the possibility of a drug cartel in the city of Duststar, and wants you to eliminate them if possible.¡± Darius exined.


    If the drug issues weren¡¯t handled from the root, it was only a matter of time till another drug depot came to Calton.


    ¡°Alone?!¡± ke asked with a dumbfounded look.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Darius said with his signature smile on his face, but instead of giving ke assurance, it made him look like a madman.


    ¡°It should be an easy mission for you especially since Duststar is less than half the size of Calton and less developed.¡± Darius was forced to exin causing ke to calm down a little bit.


    ¡°Is there anything I need to know?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Yes. Prince Bryon suspects that the nobles as well as the ash corps of Duststar city are also part of the drug deals. So trust no one.¡± Darius said as he handed the royal seal to ke.


    ¡®That even makes things worse! It is basically me against the entire city. Easy my ass!¡¯ ke screamed in his head but maintained in stoic expression.


    ¡°For this mission, you only answer to Prince Bryon himself, so you owe no one an exnation. As for the royal seal, it will grant you ess to anywhere you want in the city.¡± Darius exined.


    ¡°Any other question?¡± Colonel Darius asked.


    ¡°When do I start?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°When will you be ready?¡± Darius asked.


    ¡°Tomorrow.¡± ke replied.


    ¡°Then it is setteled.¡±


    With that ke left the colonel¡¯s office and returned to his office to think about the mission.


    [You seem happy for someoneining not too long ago.] The system said.


    ¡®At that moment I was only thinking about the mission and not the benefits.¡¯ ke said with a smile glued to his face.


    [And that is?] The system asked.


    ¡®I would have a high chance of testing most of my theories, If not all. Also, not only will I make new discoveries but if I am able toplete the mission I will most likely get promoted.¡¯ ke said.


    Although he had been part of the Ash corps for a little over 6 months, ke had aplishments greater than that of all those in the same rank.


    His team¡¯s gang raids had the highest sess rate, he was the main reason behind the fall of the Cobra mob. Also, he yed an important role in the expansion of the city walls by helping the Majors take down the evolving ck tortoise.


    So if he was able to do the same thing all alone in a different city, his promotion could not be opposed by anyone.


    ¡®Even if I am not able to do it on my own, I can still call Brian and Castiel for help. Worstes to worst I ask Luciano for a favor.¡¯ ke said to the system.


    ke soon called Cami on hermunication amulet and informed her about his meeting with colonel Darius before they met up in his office when they were both free.


    ¡°How long do you think the mission wouldst?¡± Cami couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ke was the closest person she knew in the Ash corps so she was definitely going to miss him.


    ¡°I can¡¯t know until I get there and see how serious things are.¡± ke said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll miss you.¡± Cami said as she walked up to him and hugged him. She knew asking ke to not go would be selfish of her, so the best she could do was wish him well.


    ¡°Same here.¡± ke said as he kissed her.


    ¡­


    The next day.


    ke was done making his preparations and was now in Colonel Darius¡¯ office.


    ¡°Alright, time for you to get going.¡± Darius said after handing him a detailed map of Darius, gold coins, and everything he could possibly need.


    With a snap of his finger, ke and Darius appeared on the lower floors of the square where a carriage and a driver were waiting for him.


    ¡®And I was here thinking I would be warped straight to Duststar.¡¯ ke was disappointed when he saw that they didn¡¯t deem him as important.


    Warping to different cities was only meant for very important people and asions. This was to prevent the security risks that came with such technology.


    [This would be your first time traveling to another city without warping. So I think you should enjoy it.] The system said.


    ¡°This is Jerry your driver for the next 3 days.¡± Darius introduced the carriage driver who was a Champion.


    ¡°3 days? ording to the map it is meant to be a 5-day journey.¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°That is if you were to use normal horses.¡± Colonel Darius exined causing ke to notice that it was 2 magical beasts in front instead of horses.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 492 - 492 Journey to Duststar (part 2).

    492 Journey to Duststar (part 2).


    The beasts pulling the carriage were called Brunx (singr and plural). They were magical beasts that had the same physique as horses but they were bigger, stronger, and faster.


    Unlike horses, the Brunx were omnivores that possessed razor-sharp teeth and short ck manes that could instantly turn to hard spikes at will.


    Their thick ck skin, coupled with twice the endurance of a donkey and twice the speed of a horse made them the perfect beasts for long-distance journeys.


    ¡®No wonder the journey reduced from 5 to 3. They are bulls on steroids, if not more.¡¯ ke thought as he took a closer look at the brunx.


    ke turned to the carriage, noticing that it wasn¡¯t just ordinary stagecoaches. The ck stagecoach was on the same level as that of Taliesin. It was fitted with offensive and defensive arrays, as well as detection and sensory arrays and many more to keep the passengers aware of their surroundings.


    ¡°Any other questions?¡± Colonel Darius asked.


    ¡°No, sir!¡± ke answered.


    ¡°May the mes of the lord of chaos light up your path!¡± Colonel Darius saluted.


    ¡­


    .....


    They soon left the Square, and in less than 45 minutes they were out of Calton city and that was only because of the traffic in the city. If not all they would have needed was a max of 10 minutes.


    ¡°Finally!¡± ke heaved a sigh of relief as they left the northern gate of the busy city and were now moving through the Mina forest.


    ¡°What do you guys think about the view?¡± ke asked Ebony and Ivory that were sitting on the chairs and looking out the windows.


    Awoo!


    Both wolves howled in joy as their eyes were glued to the windows.


    ¡°3 days of sitting in a carriage shouldn¡¯t be that bad.¡± ke tried to convince himself as he took a look at the spacious carriage.


    The carriage had dimensional properties that increased the size of the interior but not to the level of dimensional tents.


    Also, due to the incredible speeds that the brunx could attain, the carriage possessed arrays for venttion and stabilization, making the ride extremely smooth for the passengers.


    As for the carriage driver, he was also protected by barriers to prevent assassinations and was also provided with proper venttion of his own.


    In 30 minutes, they were out of the Minna wood and were now in the Bulian hills.


    ¡­


    ¡°I am tempted to tell the driver to move out of the trading route.¡±


    They had been traveling for 10 hours now and were now very deep into the Bulian hills, but so far they hadn¡¯t been attacked by any beast.


    ke was well aware that the reason for this was that everything in the area around trading routes was constantly cleared by Ash corps, adventurer associations, and other agencies. So if he wanted to test out the weapons of the carriage they really had to move off the road.


    [I doubt he would obey your instructions.] The system said.


    The driver was tasked by Colonel Darius to transport ke to Duststar city. So he wouldn¡¯t do otherwise unless it was for a good reason.


    [Besides, who in their right senses would be praying for beats to attack them?!] The system yelled but ke simply ignored it.


    After 20 more minutes of traveling, it was already dark so the carriage came to a halt to feed and rest the beasts.


    ¡°Captain, we would be stopping here for today, the brunx need to rest and eat. Our journey will resume in 5 hours.¡± The carriage driver said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± ke answered as he alighted from the carriage.


    Having been seated for more than 10 hours, and knowing he would spend even more hours in the carriage. ke decided it was best to stretch his legs and take a stroll.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t go too far.¡± The driver said in a tense tone.


    Seeing the 2 King rank wolves walking beside him, the driver was not worried about ke but himself.


    Although the carriage had barriers to protect him, they could still end up breaking especially if a strong beast was attacking.


    ¡°I won¡¯t go too far.¡± ke assured the driver as he disappeared into the darkness of the night.


    ¡®What are the chances that you will be able to discover a mine?¡¯ ke asked.


    [With just a little distance away from the road? Definitely 0.] The system said.


    ¡®I expected that, but just be on the lookout fro one.¡¯ ke said to the system.


    The reason ke had left the carriage wasn¡¯t to search for mines but to explore the area.


    He had never been this far away from Calton city. So he was hoping to learn and discover new things.


    [You know you are literally a beacon.] The system said to ke who lit the area with multiple floating fireballs.


    Just like every hilly region, the area was sparsely vegetated. So the fireballs literally made him a beacon just like the system said.


    ¡®That¡¯s the n.¡¯ ke said confusing the system.


    [What do you mean by that?] The system was checking if it had mistakenly missed when ke got a concussion.


    ¡®With Ebony and Ivory beside me, I am not worried at all. Besides, I marked the carriage, so I can easily warp back if things get out of control.¡± ke said as he caressed the fur of his pets.


    ¡®As for why I am doing it. I would like to see what the beasts and nts in the region look like.¡¯ ke said.


    [You really want to go through all the possible stress because you want to see new nts and beasts?] The system couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡®Yes. We have been bored for more than 10 hours. So it¡¯s necessary we have some fun, especially them.¡¯ ke said referring to Ebony and Ivory that howled in agreement.


    Seeing that even the wolves were on ke¡¯s side, the system could only facepalm and ept defeat as it watched them y and explore the area around the carriage.


    ...


    An hour and a halfter...


    Just like ke had thought, Ebony and Ivory¡¯s aura had scared away all the beasts in the area, leaving them free to do whatever they wished to.


    ¡°I really hoped that at least a King rank beast will be courageous enough to show attack us.¡± ke said as he threw a stick for Ebony and Ivory to fetch.


    Awoo!


    The wolves howled in joy as they ran after the stick at normal speed before Ebony caught it and returned it to ke.


    ¡°I guess it isn¡¯t a total waste of time since you guys are having fun.¡± ke said with a genuine smile as Ebony and Ivory continuously wagged their tails while waiting for him to release the stick.


    [Even if there were King rank beasts brave enough to face Ebony and Ivory, they would most likely be underground or high up in the hills.] The system said making ke realize that he had no chance at all since going climbing the hill wasn¡¯t even an option.


    ¡°Alright guys, it¡¯s time to return to the carriage.¡± ke said to Ebony and Ivory as he fed them so beast cores.


    They had been away from the carriage for an hour and a half. So withoutining they followed him back to the carriage.


    ¡°You are back.¡± The carriage driver heaved a sigh of relief as ke walked back into the carriage.


    Once inside the carriage, ke sat in a cross-legged position and began making a void dagger float using telekinesis.


    So far ke hadn¡¯t even found a single clue about the direction he was meant to take in terms of understanding the space element. This was because, unlike the fire and lightning elements, hecked both information and second opinions.


    Books about the space element were rare due to the insane rarity of Chronomancers that discouraged studying the element. As for the few books that were avable, they were being hoarded by the top noble families.


    So that left the system as ke¡¯s only option of guidance in the space pathway, but it wasn¡¯t nning on giving him any clues.


    The only good thing about this was that ke had long since expected this, that was why he had left the space element for thest.


    Once the five hours break was over, the carriage driver informed ke and they immediately took off.


    ¡®I might as well sleep.¡¯ Since it was still dark and there was nothing he could see, ke decided it was best to rest.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 493 - 493 Journey to Duststar (final part)

    493 Journey to Duststar (final part)


    Once it was daybreak, ke as well as Ebony and Ivory were up and looking out the windows. He had only rested for less than 3 hours but thanks to being in the Hero realm that was more than what he needed.


    When it was time for breakfast ke took out food he had stored in his dimensional pocket, while also giving Ebony and Ivory beast cores to munch on.


    [I am surprised that you of all people are willing to spend so much on feeding them.] The system said as it watched Ebony and Ivory made short work of more than 20 knight-rank beast cores.


    Ebony and Ivory were artifacts, so they actually didn¡¯t hunger, thus having no need for beast cores to survive.


    ¡°Firstly, they are my closest friends so I have to take care of them.¡± ke¡¯s heart was pained as the mention of friends reminded him of the 2 that betrayed him.


    ¡°Secondly, I have more than enough resources to constantly feed them knight-rank beast cores for more than 10 years.¡±


    The only reason ke was taking it slow and hadn¡¯t purchased hundreds of King rank beast cores was that the advancement of beasts wasn¡¯t that straightforward.


    Just like humans, beasts are also required to pass certain tests orplete certain tasks to advance. Also, they still had to intensely train their bodies more than that of humans to enable them to survive the next advancement process.


    ¡°Lastly, feeding could be said to be another form of investment. So, it¡¯s a win-win situation.¡± ke smiled, but Ebony and Ivory barked at him for seeing them as investments.


    .....


    ¡­


    After another 10 hours and 30 minutes of traveling the carriage had to stop again, but this time the Sun was still high up in the sky. They were far out of the Bulian hills and were now in the Kasten mountain range.


    The area Kasten Mountain range was basically a rainforest with mountains, and ording to the map; it was so huge that it stretched past Duststar city.


    ke once again tried exploring the forest, but it was now more than clear that having Ebony and Ivory out in the open was no different than beast repellents; if they existed.


    The worst part was that almost all the nts and trees in that area were the same as those found in the Mina woods.


    After the 5 hours resting period, it was evening and they were back in the carriage.


    The carriage moved for less than 30 minutes before Ebony and Ivory suddenly stood up and began barking in the direction in front of them.


    ¡°Stop the carriage!¡± Using the mind link between him and his pets, ke quickly understood what was going on and wasted no time instructing the carriage driver to stop.


    ¡®Why is he telling me to stop?¡¯ The carriage driver couldn¡¯t help but ask as checked the detector arrays and found nothing. Nheless, he pulled the reins causing the Brunx toe to a halt.


    ¡°Captain ke, what is the problem?¡± The carriage driver asked.


    ¡°There is danger up ahead.¡± ke answered as he and Ebony and Ivory alighted from the carriage.


    ¡°I just checked the detection arrays, there is nothin¡­¡± Before the carriage driver couldplete the sentence, the carriage¡¯s rms went off.


    The driver quickly looked up in front and lo and behold, 10 wind bombs were dropping from the sky.


    ¡°What do we do?!¡± The carriage driver asked in a terrified tone.


    The 10 wind attacks were from a King rank beast, so he was not confident that the barriers of the carriage would be able to block it.


    Awoo!


    Ebony howled in anger as its marking began glowing and its body increased to its original height of 5 meters before jumping forward and producing 10 me bursts of equal power.


    BOOM!


    Both sets of spells shed, producing violent shockwaves that bent trees 15 meters away.


    ¡°Take the carriage out of here, we will deal with this.¡± ke said to the dazed carriage driver.


    Snapping out of his reverie, the carriage driver pulled the reins, dragging the Brunx away from the battle.


    [The attacking beast is a King rank steel beak Bald eagle.] The system reported.


    ke was about to think of the quickest way to take down a flying beast, but that was when Ivory roared in the direction of the trees to ke¡¯s left.


    Seeing that its cover had been blown, the King rank sabertooth jaguar dashed out of the forest.


    Ivory immediately turned to its original height and conjured hundreds of ice spears that shot at the Jaguar.


    ¡°I thought Sabertooth Jaguars awakened the earth element, so how the hell is it so fast?!¡± ke was shocked to see the Sabertooth Jaguar continuously evade the ice spears while inching closer.


    At the same time, 3 earth waves of earth spikes began erupting from the ground as they made there way to Ivory and ke.


    With a stomp of its paw, Ivory conjured 3 waves of ice spikes that countered that of the Sabertooth Jaguar, but the panther had already repositioned to their side and lunged at ke.


    An ice wall appeared in front of ke, but that was when the steel beak bald eagle sent out wind des at ke.


    ¡®Is it me or are these things trying to kill me?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask as he warped behind Ivory.


    [You don¡¯t mean it? Why don¡¯t you tell me more!] The system said a sarcastic tone and ended up screaming thest part.


    ¡°You know what I mean!¡± ke screamed back at the system.


    During his previous fight against King rank beasts, the beasts usually focused on fighting Ebony and Ivory since ke would be an easy kill once his pets were taken care of.


    In this case, the Sabertooth Jaguar and steel beak bald eagle were using their insane mobility to constantly evade Ebony and Ivory and attack him. It was as if they were tasked to kill him.


    [Now you mention it, what are the chances that 2 King rank beasts would team up just to attack you.] The system said.


    There were a lot of things wrong with the situation, and the system¡¯s words raised more questions.


    ¡°We can think of thatter, for now, let¡¯s focus on the battle.¡± ke said.


    The good thing about the situation was that there was no one around, so ke was free to use his full strength.


    ¡®They think I am a sitting duck. It¡¯s time to show them what I can do.¡¯ ke said to Ebony and Ivory using the mind link.


    Ivory opened its mouth and fired an ice beam at the Sabertooth jaguar who easily evade the attack, but that was when a spatial tear opened in its path.


    Dodging the ice beam, the King rank Jaguar repositioned itself, but that was when a spatial tear opened at its side and the ice beam shot out from it.


    Luckily for the jaguar it had sensed the spatial disturbance in time and had conjured an earth pir that slowed the beam, giving it enough time to jump out of the way.


    Grrr!


    The panther let out a low grunt as it stared at ke in annoyance. The human was even giving it even more reasons to kill him.


    The Jaguar activated Earth guardian by stomping its feet on the ground; causing rocks to fly into the air and float around it.


    Seeing this, Ivory conjured a wave of water thrice the size of the jaguar, before firing hundreds of ice spikes at the sides to prevent it from evading the wave.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ke was confused when the wave of water and ice spells didn¡¯t hit their marks, but that was when Ivory informed him that the Jaguar had gone underground and wasing at them.


    The jaguar erupted from the ground behind ke as it wed at him, but it was also then that Ivory shot a beam of water at him.


    Void steps!


    Without turning around, spatial tears appeared in front and behind ke causing the beam of water to pass through him and crash into the Jaguar.


    The jaguar was sent flying, but the bald eagle was already diving toward him with it steel beak.


    ¡°Give me a break, will you?¡± ke remained calm as he opened a spatial corridor and Ebony jumped out of it.


    Grr!


    Ebony growled as it lunged at the bald eagle before mping on its beak and mming it to the ground.


    ¡°Back to you.¡± ke said as he threw out a void dagger at the still recovering Jaguar.


    Seeing how dangerous the human could be, the Sabertooth jaguar decided it was best to dodge, but to its greatest surprise, ke walked out of the spatial corridor that opened behind it.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 494 - 494 Duststar.

    494 Duststar.


    Seeing the human leave the protection of Ivory surprised the sabertooth jaguar, but could only make it grin from ear to ear.


    Immediately, Ivory conjured a tunnel of ice straight at the Jaguar, but the King rank beast questioned why should it dodge it when it could outrun it and still eliminate its target.


    Without wasting time, the sabertooth began dashing toward ke, but that was when it noticed that the speed of the tunnel approaching it had doubled, shocking the hell out of it.


    In an instant, the ice tunnel had caught up to the king-rank beast. The slippery ground as well as the intense cold from the ice drastically reduced the speed of its charge toward ke.


    The sabertooth jaguar was wondering how Ivory¡¯s power had increased on short notice, but that was when it realized something was wrong with the situation.


    It was currently in a thick ice tunnel, and although it wasn¡¯t being attacked, the fact that Ivory and ke were standing at both exit points spelled danger.


    Returning to Ivory, which had gotten an unknown power spike, was more dangerous than going for the human. It was an obvious trap, but it didn¡¯t have any other option so it continued its dash at ke.


    ¡°You might be a King rank beast but your intellect is still below mine.¡± ke said to the cornered beast as he raised his right hand and summoned Ivory.


    Answering the call of its owner, Ivory changed back to its sword form and began flying at an incredible speed toward ke.


    .....


    SWISH!


    Just as the sabertooth Jaguar was 6 meters away from ke, the legendary sword effortlessly passed through it like a hot knife through butter.


    The sabertooth jaguar roared in pain as the sword went into its back and through its heart.


    Knowing it had no chance of surviving, the King rank jaguar made ast attempt and lunged at ke with its razor-sharp ws.


    ¡®Nice try.¡¯ ke thought as Ivory in his hand turned to her Skoll form and blocked the attack before mping onto the neck of the Sabertooth Jaguar.


    Once the jaguar was confirmed dead, ke and Ivory turned in Ebony¡¯s direction to see the steel-beak bald eagle twitching in his mouth.


    ¡°That was fun!¡± ke said causing Ebony and Ivory to howl in agreement.


    They had been traveling for more than a day now and the only way they had fun was by ying fetch. So the fight with the King rank beasts was the perfect opportunity to have fun.


    [Was it necessary to waste so much time taking them out?] The system asked.


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be fun would it?¡± ke chuckled causing the system to frown.


    ¡°On a serious note, I found it weird that 2 King rank beasts attacked us with the sole aim of killing me. My guess was that this was the work of a beast tamer who was somewhere around here.¡±


    ¡°So I asked Ebony and Ivory to pull back their punches so that I can figure out everything while giving the enemy the illusion that they had a chance of winning.¡±


    ¡°When it was clear that nothing else was going on, I decided to end it in a fun way.¡± ke said as he watched Ivory turn the ice that littered the battlefield to water.


    [What do you n on doing?] The system asked.


    Although they had easily taken down the 2 rank beasts, they were not sure that this was thest of the attacks.


    ¡°I have a hunch that this was an assassination attempt, but it¡¯s not as if tamed King rank beasts are cabbage that can be gotten anyhow; so I don¡¯t think there would be more attacks,¡± ke said.


    [If this is really an assassination attempt, then it means that the ash corps of Duststar city are working with the drug dealers.] The system said.


    It was only the ash corps of both cities that knew of ke¡¯s movement. They also knew about the beasts that were pulling his carriage, thus knowing his estimated time of arrival.


    So since the trade route connecting both cities was basically a straight line, that day was the perfect day to attack in order to make it look like an ident.


    ¡°You are right.¡± ke said. ¡°We are currently not too close or far from Duststar city, making it perfect to assassinate me while also making it look like I was attacked by beasts.¡±


    One may ask why they had sent only 2 King rank beasts to eliminate him when they had so much info on him. The answer was simple, no one except ke knew the true strength of Ebony and Ivory.


    So with the info the assassinators had about Ebony and Ivory, they had thought that the insane mobility of the sabertooth jaguar and steel-beak bald eagle would have been enough to take care of ke.


    ¡°This is not part of a mission. So you guys are free to take their beast cores.¡± Immediately after ke said those words, Ebony and Ivory tore through the chest of the King rank beasts and consume their cores before eating their bodies.


    ke wasn¡¯t surprised by this because this wasn¡¯t the first time that something like this was urring.


    ording to the system, the bodies of King rank beasts contained vital nutrients that not only increased the chances of a sessful advancement but also affected the results of evolution.


    For example, the highest evolution of a sde was a dragon, and the type of dragon it would evolve into depended on the environment, materials, and beasts it consumed.


    If the sde was in a volcanic area which usually had very high fire mana density or it consumed the core and body parts of a lot of fire beasts. The chances of evolving into a fire dragon were very high.


    ¡°Oh, I almost forgot about our ride.¡± ke shot a fireball into the air, signaling the carriage driver it was safe toe out.


    ¡°Let¡¯s resume our journey.¡± ke said to the driver after Ebony and Ivory were done eating.


    ¡­


    The journey continued, but instead of being tensed that another attack might ur, the driver noticed that ke and his pets were acting no different from when the journey started.


    They would still go out to y fetch and explore the area when the carriage was parked.


    ¡®I just can¡¯t wait to reach Duststar.¡¯ The carriage driver thought as he was longing for thefort of a soft bed.


    ¡­


    At high noon of the next day.


    ¡°We are almost there.¡± The carriage driver said as they arrived at the foot of the Herekasing mountain which was the tallest among the tens of and mountains in the area.


    The city of Duststar sat at the top of the mountain making it extremely difficult to siege by both humans and beasts.


    ¡°This is one hell of a view, Cami and Tessie would definitely love it.¡± ke said as he took out his goldenmunication amulet and began recording the beautiful valleys and streams.


    In no time, the carriage had reached the top of the mountain and stopped for a check at the city gate.


    ¡°This is a serious letdown.¡± ke was disappointed by the number of personnel and little defensive equipment that was mounted on the city wall.


    Apart from that, the city walls were not as tall as that of Calton city, and the number of towers was not even up to half of Calton¡¯s.


    [Their position at the top of the mountain gives them a massive defensive advantage. So they don¡¯t see the need to spend more on defense.] The system said.


    Once Jerry the carriage driver disyed the seal of the ash corps, they let them into the city.


    ¡°Finally!¡± The carriage driver let out a sigh of relief as he drove the carriage toward the ash corps station located at the center of the city.


    ¡°This is a bigger letdown.¡± ke said as they drove through the city.


    ke had pictured the city of Duststar to be an epitome of beauty. Its position at the top of the Herekasing mountain gave it the best view and also a cool temperature that facilitated the growth of exotic nts.


    However, as they drove through the city streets, all ke could see were poverty and unhappy citizens.


    He had seen quite a lot of homeless people in the alleyways, and even the existing buildings werecking in terms of quality.


    ¡°I was thinking of having our next vacation in Duststar, but I can¡¯t bring Cami and Tessie here.¡± ke shook his head in disappointment.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 495 - 495 Duststar 2

    495 Duststar In terms of size, Duststar city wasn¡¯t even up to half of Calton city, making ke¡¯s journey to the central region quick.


    Unlike Calton city which was divided into 3 regions, Duststar city only had 2; Normal region and Central region.


    There was little to no difference between what was meant to be the slums and the middle region, but the moment ke¡¯s carriage entered the central region, it was like going from 0 to 100 in a second.


    Most of the buildings in the central region consisted of luxurious manors and beautiful story buildings that made the marginalization of themoners outrightly clear.


    ke didn¡¯t have any issues with the buildings in the central region being beautiful because those of Calton was even better. The problem he had was that the living conditions of themoners were below standard.


    ¡°I wonder if this is the same thing in other cities?¡± ke thought.


    Calton was the capital city of the eastern region of the empire, so it was meant to be the best in terms of development. It was just that ke hadn¡¯t expected the difference between it and a city like Duststar to be so huge.


    [Why do I have a feeling that this is why Prince Bryon sent you here?] The system asked.


    ¡°How?¡± ke was confused by the system¡¯s statement.


    .....


    [Think about it. From what we have seen so far, it is more than clear that the nobles in Duststar are corrupt. So there is a high chance that you will end up exposing them in the course of your investigation.]


    With how marginalized themoners of Duststar city were, the system could swear on its main body that the nobles were heavily involved in the crimes going on in the city.


    ¡°How does that have anything to do with Bryon sending me here?¡± ke was even more confused.


    [Imagine a situation where amoner exposes the evil doings of nobles in a city, which would end up improving the standard of themon citizen.] The system painted a picture for ke.


    ¡°It would not only further his agenda of givingmoners equal rights, but it would also boost themon man¡¯s confidence.¡± ke said in realization.


    [Exactly.] The system said. [My guess is that once the activities of the Cobra mob and corrupt nobles are exposed, Prince Bryon woulde in and fully restructure the city.]


    ¡°We are here!¡± The voice of the carriage driver snapped ke out of his thoughts.


    ¡°Finally.¡± ke said as Ebony and Ivory returned to their sword form before cing them back into his dimensional pocket.


    Just like every other thing in the city, The Square was way smaller than that of Calton city, but it made sense.


    Since Duststar wasn¡¯t as big as Calton, it would require a lesser number of Ash corps to police the city, meaning a smaller station.


    ¡°Now that we have arrived at our destination, what will you be doing?¡± ke asked Jerry.


    ¡°On request, I can take you to any part of the city you want. Also, I am the one to take you back to Calton when you are done with your mission. ¡± Jerry replied.


    ¡°Alright then.¡±


    ke left Jerry and walked into the square before going straight to the top floor.


    Knock! Knock!


    ke knocked on the door of Major Garret, before walking in.


    Major Garret was themanding officer of the Ash corps in Duststar. He was 5¡¯9 in height with a receding hairline and a frown stered on his face.


    On entering the office, Major Garret lifted his eyes off the piles of documents on his desk before moving them to ke.


    ¡°Wee to Duststar Captain ke!¡± Major Garret said with a stoic expression that was in no way weing.


    ¡®He is the opposite of Colonel Darius in all aspects. ¡® ke thought.


    ¡°Is there any way I can be of help to your investigation?¡± The Major asked with an underlying tone of bitterness which ke didn¡¯t miss.


    The fact that they sent someone from a different city to investigate a matter in his own city was a clear indication that the higher-ups saw him as ipetent.


    The worst part was that it was not someone of higher or the same rank, but a Captain. This pissed him off but the worst part was that there wasn¡¯t much that he could do about it.


    He was aware that ke was in possession of a royal seal, so if he tried to interfere in the investigation or even try to make ke¡¯s life hard, he would be in big trouble.


    ¡°Yes, I just need a detailed map of the city.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°Then that won¡¯t be a problem at all.¡± Major Garret replied as he called his secretary to bring ke a map.


    ¡°If that is all, then I hope you enjoy your stay in Duststar.¡± Major Garret said with a forced smile.


    ¡­


    The moment ke left his office Major Garret took out amunication amulet from his dimensional amulet and made a call.


    ¡°He is here. Inform everyone to y safe till he has left the city.¡± Major Garret said before cutting themunication link.


    When he had first been informed of ke¡¯s mission in Duststar he had wasted no time looking into his profile.


    Apart from the well-known feet of winning the Regionalpetition and bringing glory to the Eastern region of the empire, Major Garret found extra information that made him fear ke.


    He found out that when ke was still in the magic school, he was the leader of the order of chaos adventurer party that had a 100% sess rate in investigations.


    One of his greatest feet as an adventurer was discovering the hideout of the notorious gang leader, de.


    Then as he joined the Ash corps, his team busted multiple gangs, with the highest bust being the Cobra mob that just happened some months back.


    With so many investigative aplishments, Garret was afraid that even with his help his associates would still be caught. That was why he had informed them to reduce all their activities until ke returned to Calton.


    ¡­


    Once ke left the Major¡¯s office, he went back to the carriage before opening the map that was given to him.


    ¡°Seems both maps are the same thing.¡± ke said afterparing the map given to him with what he had gotten from Colonel Darius.


    The request for the map was a test to know if Garret was against him.; he had passed the test but ke still didn¡¯t trust him one bit.


    With that done, ke moved over to the next agenda on his list, amodation.


    He told Jerry to drive him around the city to see a few hotels in the normal region.


    ke wasn¡¯t looking for the best hotels, instead, he was looking for a hotel where he couldn¡¯t be monitored so easily.


    After close to 2 hours, ke finally settled for one named Serene Angel hotel. It was a 4 story building located not too far from the Central Region.


    ¡°I have been in Duststar multiple times, and I have heard a lot of bad things about this ce. Are you sure this is the ce you want to stay in?¡± Jerry couldn¡¯t help but ask when ke made his decision.


    ¡°It¡¯s perfect, you don¡¯t have to worry about me.¡± ke said to the carriage driver as he alighted from the carriage and went into the hotel.


    The theme of the reception was white and blue which ke thought was genius, but the decoration and arrangement of the reception were a major letdown for him.


    He went straight to the receptionist before requesting a room with a view of the city.


    He got a room on the 2nd floor, and without wasting any more time, ke moved into the room.


    ¡®At least the room arrangement isn¡¯t as bad as their reception.¡¯ ke said as he sat on his bed.


    ¡®Where are the monitoring devices in my room?¡¯ ke activated the Locator skill and began scanning the room in an inconspicuous manner.


    The irvoyance lights instantly pointed out the locations of the hidden monitoring devices, and without making a move, he used telekinesis to destroy them.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 496 - 496 Commotion at the stripe club.

    496 Commotion at the stripe club.


    The presence of ke in Duststar could spell bad news for any gang that he came in contact with, especially since gangs were connected in many ways. So, until he was gone, all gangs had to put their differences aside and work together.


    Once the owner of the Serene Angel hotel heard that ke had lodged in one of his rooms, he immediately picked up hismunication amulet and called the manager.


    ¡°Has he done anything out of the ordinary?¡± The owner asked.


    ¡°About that¡­¡± The manager said in a tense tone causing the manager to frown.


    ¡°Spit it out. What happened?!¡± The owner said in anger as the manager wasted his time.


    ¡°Sir, the monitoring devices ced inside his room were all destroyed.¡± The manager answered.


    ¡°How?¡± The manager said in shock.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any clue. He just entered the room and sat on his bed, then before we knew it all of them were destroyed at once.¡± The manager said.


    ¡°Shit!¡± The owner cursed.


    .....


    nting monitoring devices in the rooms of customers was an illegal act that could bring serious trouble, especially since it involved an ash corp.


    ¡°We are lucky that he didn¡¯t make a report. So don¡¯t even n on nting new monitoring devices when he is gone.¡± The owner said.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± The manager asked causing the manager to deeply ponder.


    The hotel owner was a drug pusher, and as the one housing ke, monitoring him in the hotel was his job. So this development would only make others think he was ipetent.


    ¡°There is nothing else we can do except for watching his movements out of his room.¡± The owner said before cutting themunication link.


    Usually, problems like this would have been settled by eliminating the investigator, but the situation was an entirely different one.


    If ke was to be eliminated, not only would Major Garret be in serious trouble, but killing someone with a royal seal would be the beginning of the end of every gang and aplice in Duststar city.


    ¡®Let¡¯s just hope he doesn¡¯t find anything.¡¯ The owner thought as he let out a helpless sigh.


    ¡­


    ¡°I wonder what the food in Duststar would taste like.¡± ke said as he took out food from his dimensional pocket.


    [Too bad you won¡¯t be trying it.] The system said.


    Colonel Darius had told him to trust no one, and ke was going to take his advice to the very end.


    He knew that there was a chance that the gangs he was trying to investigate would work with the hotel and try to eliminate him by poisoning his food. Besides, with the bad reviews about the Serene Angel hotel, ke was also afraid that he could be unintentionally poisoned.


    Now, one would ask why he chose the hotel since he could stay in Ash corps housing. The simple answer was that he wanted the troubles.


    Hotels with so many bad reviews werewless to a certain extent which in turn attractedwless people. It was either that the owners were alsowless and involved in shady activities or it was a safe spot forwless people because no normal person would let their business fall to this extent.


    Besides staying in the ash corps housing area meant even more surveince on him since he also didn¡¯t trust them.


    ¡­


    When it had turned dark, e decided it was time to begin his investigation, and his first target without a doubt was a strip club.


    ¡®If something works, why change it?¡¯ ke thought.


    Up till date, no one knew how ke had found out about the Cobra mob deport in Calton and that was one of the reasons criminals of Duststar were afraid of him.


    ke locked his door and walked downstairs to the reception where he noticed sneaky nces at him. He feigned ignorance and boarded Jerry¡¯s carriage before being taken to the top strip club in the normal region.


    Once ke left the building, the receptionist informed the manager who in turn informed the owner who sent people to trail him.


    In less than 15 minutes, ke¡¯s carriage had arrived at The Essence strip club.


    ¡®I would have loved to treat him to a good time, but this is work.¡¯ ke thought as he paid the entrance fee and entered the club.


    Unlike the random strip club he had visited in the middle region of Calton city, this club was better. The club was not only bigger in size but it had way more vibes to it.


    Not caring about the strippers or the men that watched them, ke went to the VIP section on the 1st floor.


    Without hesitation, he paid to enter the VIP section which had privacy and better-looking performers.


    ¡­


    The moment ke had stepped into the club, the owner of the strip club had been informed of his arrival causing tension to rise.


    ¡®Why am I so unlucky, didn¡¯t he see other clubs?¡¯ The club owner couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Drugs and sex worked hand in hand with the entertainment industry. So it was hard to not find any implicating things in a stripe club.


    ¡°Sir, I just received info that he went up to the VIP section.¡± The informant said, shocking the club owner.


    ¡°For one to carry out an investigation he/she needs to observe the environment for clues and interview people. So why is he in the VIP section?¡± The club owner was confused.


    ¡°Maybe he actually just wants to have fun.¡± The informant said causing the club owner to nod in agreement.


    It was amon urrence that foreigners woulde to stripe clubs to watch and feel the women of the city.


    ¡°Just keep an eye on him, and alert me if anything happens.¡± The club owner said before sending the informant out of his office.


    ¡­


    Once inside the VIP room, ke ordered a drink as he acted to enjoy the performance of the performer.


    When the drink came, ke warped sand from his pocket into the drink without the waiter knowing. So when he picked up the cup he took a close look at the bottom of the cup before he abruptly stood up from the chair with a frown on his face.


    ¡°Are you guys trying to poison me?!¡± ke said in a loud and angry tone.


    ¡°Of course not. Why will we want to do that.¡± The waiter said in confusion.


    ¡°Then what is this this I am seeing in my cup?!¡± ke shouted as he pointed at the sediments at the bottom of the ss.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t there when I brought it.¡± The waiter said in an anxious tone.


    ¡°Then tell me how it got there because you didn¡¯t see me put it in.¡± ke said.


    At this point, the stripper stopped performing and the informant informed the boss of what had just happened.


    ¡°What is going on here?¡± The boss asked as he walked into the room. As the problem was with a VIP customer, the boss had to be the one to settle the issue in person.


    ¡°What is happening is that you guys are trying to poison me.¡± ke said causing the boss to frown. A poisoning allegation wasn¡¯t something small, especially when it had to do with an Ash corp.


    ¡°What happened?¡± The boss asked the waiter.


    ¡°I have no clue, sir. When I brought the sparkling wine it was clear, I don¡¯t know how all these got into the drink.¡± The waiter became even more anxious now that the boss had joined the fray.


    ¡°I am so sorry for the misunderstanding. There is no reason why we would ever dream of poisoning anyone talk more of our customers.¡± The boss said. ¡°Please let¡¯s get you another bottle and an extra for the inconvenience.¡±


    From the exnation by the waiter, it was clear that ke hadn¡¯t been the put it into the drink. So all he could do was apologize and offer more drinks.


    ¡°Alright, but make sure nothing happens to me.¡± ke said before returning to his seat.


    In less than 2 minutes, the waiter had returned with a clear cup and 2 bottles of sparkling wine. This time, to make sure that nothing happened and to also show his sincerety, the boss was the one to pour out the drink for ke.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 497 - 497 Too easy.

    497 Too easy.


    Once he confirmed that ke had no otherints, the boss left the VIP room as he thanked the heavens that things did not get out of hand.


    [Nice acting.] The system said to ke who was sipping the sparkling wine and grinning on the inside.


    ¡®Not my best performance, but thanks.¡¯ keughed on the inside as he maintained a straight face on the outside.


    The reason he had started amotion was that he wanted to get in contact with the manager without being suspected in any way.


    When the boss entered the room and asked about what happened, ke had opened multiple tiny spatial tears that cut and warped small pieces of his hair unto different parts of the boss.


    ¡®I guess it is time to go.¡¯ After finishing the first bottle of sparkling wine, ke decided it was time to leave even though his time in the VIP room hadn¡¯t expired yet.


    ¡®Unfortunately, I don¡¯t even like the wine.¡¯ ke thought as he left the extra wine that had been offered to him by the boss.


    [Says the person that finished an entire bottle all alone.] The system snorted.


    ¡®I had to get my money¡¯s worth!¡¯ ke said in his defense.


    .....


    ke left the club and boarded a carriage that took him back to the Serene Angel Hotel.


    ¡­


    The moment ke left the VIP room, the boss was informed about everything including his annoyed expression as he walked out. This caused the boss to let out a sigh of relief because things couldn¡¯t have gone any better.


    ¡°Thank the heavens he is out of here.¡± The boss said as he lit a cigar and let out puffed smoke from both his nose and mouth.


    Although there was an altercation, the boss couldn¡¯t be happier because it had resulted in ke leaving the club fast.


    He felt that the more time ke spent in the club the higher the chances of something bad happening.


    As for the business consequences of pissing off a highly valued customer, the boss couldn¡¯t care less because he was from Calton and wouldn¡¯t be staying here for long. So, this might be his only visit during his stay in Duststar.


    ¡­


    Once ke got back to his hotel, he once again ignored the sneaky looks that came his way and went straight to his room.


    On entering the room, ke first checked the position of things before he left to make sure no one entered, before using the locator spell to check if new monitoring devices had been nted.


    ¡®Guess they know when to back out.¡¯


    ke locked his door and took a crossed-legged position on the bed before spreading out a detailed map of Duststar city.


    On the map was a white dot representing the current position of boss of The Essence stripe club, and it was still in the club.


    The reason ke had nted pieces of his hair on the boss was to track him, and since it was something that was part of him. The locator skill was even stronger than when it was just an item of his.


    [I have to admit that using your hair was ingenious. Apart from it being difficult to find them, it is even more difficult for one to not think it isn¡¯t their hair, talk less of tracing it back to you.] The system said.


    The chances of detecting a strand of hair were abysmally low, making it the perfect way of tracking anyone, but ke didn¡¯t feelfortable with the idea of continuously losing his whenever a new missiones up.


    As for why he decided to change his approach a little was because he was aware that every criminal organization in the city was on high alert, especially since they had tried to kill him before he even got there.


    So even if he had gone for the stripper or small-time drug dealers it wouldn¡¯t yield anything fruitful, because everyone was cautious about being implicated.


    Knowing that the boss wouldn¡¯t be leaving the club till it shuts down for the day, ke decided to make good use of the time to understand the space element.


    ¡­


    Early the next morning, the light on the map began moving and instantly ke who was still in a crossed-legged position opened his eyes.


    He watched as the white light moved from the normal region into the central region before stopping at a mansion located in the western part of the central region.


    ¡°That is all I need.¡± After waiting for an hour without the light moving, ke was able to confirm that this was the boss¡¯ residence. So he closed the map and went straight to sleep.


    The next step of the n was to invade the mansion and search for vital information that could give him a lead on the Cobra mob.


    Since it was the weekend, the boss would surely leave the house early to make sure the club was ready for the massive amounts of customers that would pour in that day.


    ¡­


    Having not heard any update about ke¡¯s movement for over 12 hours made him anxious. So, to make himself feel better, the owner of the Serene Angel hotel picked up hismunication amulet and called the manager.


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t I received any report?¡± The owner asked.


    ¡°Sir, it¡¯s because nothing has happened so far.¡± The manager answered.


    ¡°How do you mean?¡± The owner asked in a confused tone.


    Although ke had gone to a nightclub the previous day, he had returned early. So he was meant to be awake by now, especially since he had an investigation to carry out.


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t contacted room service neither has he left his room today.¡± The manager replied.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± The hotel owner pondered in silence.


    With the monitoring devices in the room destroyed, they had no clue if he snuck out or if he was still in the room.


    Also, they couldn¡¯t use the excuse of room service because it might piss him off and cause him to bring up the matter of the monitoring devices.


    ¡°There is nothing we can do about it, just continue keeping an eye on him and report to me immediately if something happens.¡± The hotel owner said as he let out a helpless sigh.


    ¡®Why am I so unlucky?¡¯ The hotel owner felt his head ache thinking about ke.


    ¡­


    Once ke woke up, he ate food from his massive stockpile in his pocket dimension before taking a shower and finally calling room service to clean up the room.


    It wasn¡¯t that he couldn¡¯t do it by himself, but he wanted to give his stalkers the impression that he was still around before sneaking out.


    ke waited for it to get very dark before turning off his light and peeking out his window.


    Using the locator spell, ke saw the location of the tens of people from different organizations monitoring his room.


    ¡®Wow, am I that important?¡¯ ke chuckled and remained unbothered by the revtion because there was a reason he requested to stay on the 2nd floor, vision.


    Being 2 floors higher than his stalkers, ke had a very vast range of vision, meaning more ces to warp to.


    ¡®This is too easy.¡¯ ke said as he entered a spatial tear and exited at an empty alley.


    Once he confirmed that no one had spotted him, ke activated Nightveil before summoning the Guardian scarab from inside his body and transforming it into wings.


    With all eyes on his room, none of his stalkers noticed him flying into the night sky and moving toward the central region.


    Thanks to the absence of traffic in the air, it took him less than 10 minutes to arrive at the wall that demarcated both regions.


    The entrances were guarded by ash corps, while the top was protected by a barrier, but ke wasn¡¯t bothered.


    The royal seal given to him wasn¡¯t just a simple item. It was a magical item that had a few functions, with one being the ability to override all types of arrays of the city.


    Activating the royal seal, ke flew past the barrier without being detected or blocked, and soon he arrived at the target¡¯s mansion and began analyzing the area and defenses.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 498 - 498 Too easy (part 2)

    498 Too easy (part 2)


    Using mana vision, ke found the weak points of the arrays of the wall, and in a matter of seconds, he disabled them.


    With the cloaking effect of Nightveil still active, ke scaled the wall with ease and began scanning for traps in thepound.


    ¡®This would be easier than I thought.¡¯ ke said after the systempleted the scan of thepound and reported to him.


    Compared to the arrays he had in his house that of the boss was in.


    Every inch of ke¡¯s house andpound had atmospheric and vibration detection arrays that could sense when someone walked or flew into the area, but that of the boss was just traps at certain spots in thepound.


    [He is at the champion level so definitely, he isn¡¯t capable of inscribing arrays in thepound. Also, I don¡¯t feel he could afford to hire an array master something at the same level as yours.] The system said.


    Magical items of all types were costly, but hiring an array master was on another level of costly even though they required no material to get the job done.


    What made the service very expensive was that the knowledge of an array master could only be gotten from the magic school, but even at that; attending the magical school for 5 years didn¡¯t guarantee one would be a good array master.


    So instead of gambling on the safety of themselves and their families, they would grit their teeth and pay up the exorbitant amounts the array masters charged.


    .....


    ¡®My paranoia is telling me that this is too easy to not be a trap.¡¯ ke thought as he strolled past the guards that were all in the champion realm.


    [Firstly, the guards are few because some of them are most likely to be with the boss. Secondly, you don¡¯t expect a club owner to be able to afford an army.] The system said.


    When ke got to a safe area, he began climbing the wall of the building and when he reached the final floor, he began moving around to locate the master bedroom.


    ¡®What is the point of going through the front door when I can do directly into the room.¡¯ ke thought as he climbed into the Master bedroom.


    Using the windows, he first took a look before scanning the inside for anyone before warping into the room.


    ¡®How many people are present and what is their position?¡¯ ke asked the system.


    Although he didn¡¯t n on triggering any rm, ke wanted to have a backup n just in case this was really a trap.


    [Scanplete: there are a total of 20 guards on all 3 floors of the building, 10 alone are scattered all around this floor, while the 5 are on the other floors.] The system reported.


    ¡°Couple with the 10 outside, I should be able to deal with all of them without exposing my identity.¡± ke said to himself.


    Once he was sure that he was safe even if this was a trap, ke returned to the main aim of the mission.


    He began scanning the room for important documents that could give him a lead in his investigation, but there was not even a single piece of paper or ink in the room.


    ¡°This should mean that he does his reading in the library, but I doubt he would put something important in a ce where anyone can just walk into.¡± ke thought as he began looking at the walls.


    If there was one thing, he knew about rich criminals it was that they always had a secret safe or room for storing important documents.


    ke activated mana vision, but all he could see was the blue color of mana flowing in the entirety of the walls.


    The thing with having a safe was that the arrays needed to be powered by a power source. So all one had to do was search for an area where mana was flowing into, but in this case, there was no way to find out, especially with mana vision.


    ¡®The array master is clever, but not clever enough.¡¯ ke smiled as he activated the second stage of mana vision.


    The first stage of mana vision allowed the user to see mana in its raw fluid form in arrays, but the second stage of mana vision allowed the user to zoom into the mana flow of all the arrays and see its nodes.


    This was the mana vision the system had shown him back at Azkelwart¡¯s base and it wasn¡¯t taught by the magic school.


    The area in front of ke had changed from a blue sea to hundreds of blue lights which were the nodes of the arrays on the wall.


    ¡°What do we have here...¡±


    By being able to see the nodes, ke quickly identified the ones that consumed the most energy and the direction they flowed.


    ke started from the most power-consuming array, which was the strengthening array that made the walls more robust, before moving over to another one.


    Luckily for him, on tracing the 2nd highest power-consuming array, ke found out that the nodes led to the empty wall opposite the king-size bed.


    ¡°Got you!¡± ke said as he confirmed that that was the location of the safe, but then he noticed a series of nodes that led to another area not too far from the safe.


    On looking at the linked array ke found out that it was a switch that required the biometrics of the boss to open the safe.


    ¡®Not bad. If I was in a hurry and went straight for the safe, an rm would have alerted everyone in the mansion.¡¯ ke thought.


    ke checked around to make sure there wasn¡¯t anotheryer of the trap before bypassing the biometrics and causing the secretpartment to open.


    ¡®Wow!¡¯ ke was shocked to see that behind the wall was a mechanical safe.


    [His paranoia reminds me of someone. I wonder who that is?] The system said in a sarcastic tone, but ke ignored it.


    After confirming that the safe wasn¡¯t connected to any rm system, ke ced his fingernail on the safe and began heating specific parts of the area behind the dial, while absorbing the natural heat of the safe.


    With thatpleted, the system activated heat vision, and the inner working of the safe became clear to him.


    Using telekinesis, ke pressed all the drive pins, causing the fence to open, and thus the safe.


    ¡°Easy peasy...¡± ke said as he once again used telekinesis to take the documents out of the safe.


    He didn¡¯t want to leave any time of evidence that would make the boss notice that someone had breached the safe.


    ¡®I didn¡¯t know, that criminals kept receipts for their drug purchases.¡¯ ke chuckled as he read the documents


    Among the documents was one that was the receipt for a request for the purchase of arge quantity of drugs and contraband.


    The request had been made long before information on ke¡¯s mission had been passed to the Ash corps of Duststar city.


    This was the reason why the boss had been tense about ke¡¯s arrival at the club. He had thought that ke had already found something against him.


    ¡®The trade would go on in 3 days. Maybe I might not spend much time in Duststar after all.¡¯ ke thought as his mission in Duststar was to find the main drug channel of the Duststar city and destroy it.


    Even if this wasn¡¯t the main drug supplier, he would still be able to find out important info like how they smuggled the contraband into the city and their top customers.


    ke brought took out hismunication amulet from his pocket dimension and took pictures of the documents before using the system¡¯s memory to ce them exactly how they were.


    After that, he closed the safe and reactivated the biometrics scanner, before sneaking out of the room and returning to his hotel without being noticed.


    ¡°I have to wait 3 days for the next action.¡± ke said as he sat on a chair. ¡°That means I have to put on a show for my stalkers.¡±


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 499 - 499 Visit to the wall.

    499 Visit to the wall.


    While ke was reported to be in his room for the 2nd day in a row, Major Garret saw this as an opportunity to cause trouble and get him out of the city faster.


    ¡°You Highness.¡± Major Garret saluted. ¡°I have a report pertaining to Captain ke¡¯s stay in Duststar.¡±


    ¡°Go on.¡± Prince Bryon said with a smile.


    ¡°On the day he arrived at Duststar, he was spotted in a strip club, then he spent the rest of the next day sleeping. Even as we speak, he hasn¡¯t left his room to begin the investigation.¡± Prince Bryon nodded to Garret¡¯s report making him feel happy that his report was being acknowledged.


    ¡°From the reports I have gotten so far it is more than clear that he is taking this investigation lightly.¡± Major Garret said.


    ¡°I have heard yourint, but let me ask a question.¡± Prince Bryon said.


    ¡®His days are surely numbered in the city.¡¯ Major Garret was grinning on the inside as he imagined ke being asked to return to Calton.


    ¡°How many years have you been themander of Duststar?¡± Prince Bryon asked, snapping Garret out of his reverie.


    ¡°12 years, sir.¡± Garret answered as he slightly furrowed his brows.


    .....


    ¡°You have been here for 12 years, so why disturb someone who has only been here for only 2 days? Don¡¯t you think we should give him at least 6 years before questioning his action?.¡± Bryon said instantly turning the Major¡¯s inner grin upside down.


    ¡°You were assigned themander position of Duststar because of the increased crime rate in the city, but instead of solving the problem, you let it escte to this level. So what gave you the audacity toin about others when you are the worst?¡± At this point, Bryon¡¯s smile had turned to a slightly suppressed anger.


    ¡°Await your punishment, and don¡¯t ever contact me for useless matters!¡± Bryon cut themunication link leaving Major Garret in shock.


    ¡°What the hell was I thinking when I decided to call him?¡± Major Garret sank into his chair.


    He had been so eager to make ke leave the city that he had forgotten that the reason they sent ke here was because of his ipetence.


    BANG!


    ¡°FUCK!¡± Garret cursed as he smashed his desk into 2 halves, causing documents to fly all around the room.


    ¡­


    The next morning, ke was woken up back a call from hismunication amulet.


    ¡°Who the fuck is calling at this ungodly hour of the day?!¡± ke cursed as he took out hismunication amulet from his dimensional pocket.


    ¡°SHIT!¡± ke cursed as he saw it was Bryon. ALmost instantly, the sleep was wiped off his eyes.


    ¡°How may I be of help?¡± ke said as he saluted Prince Bryon.


    If it was when he was still a student, ke only needed a light bow to greet the prince, but now that he joined the ash corps he was obligated to salute.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you would still be asleep by this time.¡± Prince Bryon said.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had much sleep in days now.¡± ke sheepishly smiled.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem at all, I just wanted to know the situation of Duststar and how your mission is going.¡± Prince Bryon said with a warm smile.


    ¡°To be honest I am disappointed.¡± ke said. ¡°The marginalization of themoners is beyond ring. The city infrastructure is poor and the living conditions of themon man are below standard.¡±


    ¡°As for the mission, I have already gotten a lead on a major drug transaction that would be carried out in 2 days. From there I should be able to find out how the drugs are being smuggled into the city.¡± ke reported.


    ¡°That is great news!¡± Prince Bryon said as he decided to further increase Major Garret¡¯s punishment. ¡°So what are your ns for your free time?¡±


    ¡®Why does he sound as if he wants to take me out on a date?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°In the eyes of my stalkers, I have been inactive, and if I continue like this, they would begin suspecting that I am able to evade them. So, I will be going out to make them feel that they are still in control.¡± ke answered.


    ¡®I made the right decision to send him to Duststar.¡¯ Bryon thought as he further increased Garret¡¯s punishment.


    ¡°You are doing well. I shall let you carry on with your sleep.¡± Prince Bryon said before cutting themunication link.


    ¡°What is the time?¡± ke asked just before he jumped back on his bed.


    [An hour before noon.] The system answered causing ke to freak out.


    ¡°How did I sleep so much?!¡±


    Although he had spent most of the night trying to understand the space element, ke was in the Hero realm and didn¡¯t need much sleep to function.


    He quickly took a shower and dressed up before calling Jerry to take him to the wall for some interrogation.


    Just like ke told Prince Bryon, he was going to make his stalkers feel they were in control, but he was also going to make them feel a little bit scared.


    For one to be able to smuggle drugs into the city, it had to get through the guards at the city wall. So he was going to find out how.


    ¡°Good day Captain, how can I be of help?¡± The captain of the southern wall of Duststar asked ke with a stoic expression.


    ¡°Nothing much. I just came to ask a few questions that would help my investigation.¡± ke said with a smile.


    ¡°You are free to ask anything.¡± The captain replied.


    ¡°No need to rush, I will be starting with your unit. You will be thest person I will interrogate.¡± ke said as he began moving without even getting the consent of the captain.


    The statement of the captain was the most important; by meeting others first, the captain would feel pressured that his team might mistakenly out him and might end up making a mistake that could implicate him.


    Without wasting time, ke began his interrogation with members of the unit.


    He asked questions like ¡°Has there been any time that your captain hasn¡¯t followed due protocol?¡±


    ¡°Do you think your captain is corrupt?¡±


    ¡°What was thest time a drug smuggler was caught?¡±


    ¡°Has any odd thing happened in thest 2 months?¡±


    Once he was done questioning the units, ke moved to an empty part of the wall and began observing as people and carriages entered and left the city.


    ¡®What is he doing?¡¯ The captain was ufortable seeing ke observing and once in a while taking notes.


    With his presence, not only could they not ept bribes, but they might end up exposing a high-value smuggler because they were now doing their work properly.


    ¡°Captain ke, what about the questioning?¡± Although he didn¡¯t want the questioning, the captain had to meet ke so that he could end the visit as quickly as possible.


    ¡°There is no need for it, I have gotten all the information I need.¡± ke said with a grin that sent chills down the spine of the captain.


    Without saying anything else, ke left the wall leaving the Captain rooted to the spot.


    ¡®Did someone mistakenly say something implicating?¡¯ The captain couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡®We are all in this together so they won¡¯t dare to make any mistake.¡¯


    ¡®Maybe he is just bluffing.¡¯ The captain said but he doubted his own words. ke¡¯s investigative achievements were not something to take lightly.


    A part of him was telling him that one of his team members had messed up without them even knowing.


    ¡­


    ¡°One thing about telling multiple lies is that since they never happened, it would be even more difficult for the mind to perfectly register them.¡±


    ¡°All that is left is a couple more visits and they will make a mistake.¡± ke said as he looked at the statements he had scribbled down.


    He was done giving a scare to the units at the wall and the smugglers. Now it was time to do the same to the corrupt Ash corps and gangs.


    Immediately he reached the square, ke asked to be taken to the Ash corps¡¯ branch event catalogue.


    They wanted to first seek Major Garret¡¯s permission but he didn¡¯t have the time to waste. So he showed them the royal seal and they immediatelyplied.


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    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 500 - 500 Package delivery.

    500 Package delivery.


    Once he got his hands on their catalogue, he began checking all events rted to drugs. That included things like catching smugglers, gang wars that had drugs found at the scene of the crime, busting small-time dealers, and so on.


    Normally, something like this would take hours to read all the info, but all ke needed to do was have a nce at them and the system would be able to bring it back up.


    After getting all the info he needed, he began questioning the ash corps in both the investigation department and border control.


    ¡®He was at the wall some minutes ago, now he is questioning ash corps. What is his aim?¡¯ Major Garret was trying to understand what ke was doing so that he could begin cooking up a countermeasure, but everything was confusing.


    The confusion caused fear to rise in his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it until he understood what was going on.


    Once ke was done with questioning some ash corps, he quickly left the square and returned to his hotel room.


    ¡­


    The next day, ke began visiting the locations where the incidents or arrests had urred and questioning the area¡¯s residents.


    From the information ke got from the catalogue, the total of drug-rted cases for the past 2 months wasn¡¯t up to 10.


    .....


    This would have been good news only if the ash corps had adequate measures for tackling these cases. So low numbers were a result of not even knowing about them in the first ce.


    Once he confirmed that there was no other useful info he could get, ke would leave the area, move to another location, and repeat the same thing.


    By the time he had visited all the areas listed in the catalogue, it was already dark so he began heading back to the hotel.


    ¡®It was just like I expected.¡¯ ke sighed.


    Out of all the 40 people he had questioned that day, no one had given him important information. Most of them were beating round the bush while some were unwilling to cooperate, but they all had something inmon, fear in their eyes.


    They had been afraid to speak about gangs and dealers in the area because of fear that they would be attacked or even killed for snitching.


    ke had expected it since the system had alerted him of people hiding in the shadows close to the area wherever he was questioning people.


    Besides he didn¡¯t expect anyone to want to risk their lives for a foreigner, because if he didn¡¯t bring the criminals to book just like the Ash corp, they would be risking their lives for nothing.


    As for those that were monitoring those he questioned, ke could have gone after them, but he had he saw no point in that, at least for now.


    ¡°If I had gone after any of them, not only was there a chance that they couldmit suicide but capturing them would still alert those that sent them if they did not report back.¡±


    ke didn¡¯t want to do anything that could possibly make the club boss cancel the trade deal that would take ce the next day. So, it was better to y it safe because he could always capture themter.


    ¡­


    The next day came, and the time for the deal was scheduled by high noon.


    ¡°They n on using the bustling city as a cover to easily disappeared in case something was to go wrong with the deal.¡± ke said as he thought of the time of the deal.


    [So, what is your n?] The system asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the rtionship between both parties, but if I was in their shoes I woulde way before the time to scan the area and set up some things in case it is a trap.¡±


    ¡°That means I would have to go even earlier to make sure that this isn¡¯t a trap for me.¡± ke said.


    He still hadn¡¯t forgotten about how easy it was for him to get the info. So, it was natural for him to think that it was a trap to lure him to the meeting point.


    The next problem was escaping the room without anyone finding out, but that wasn¡¯t too much of an issue.


    Although it wouldn¡¯t be as easy as leaving at night, all ke needed to do was remove the part about flying with the guardian scarab.


    Using both the system¡¯s detection skill and the locator spell to find out the position of all his stalkers, ke opened the curtain a little bit before warping to a safe area.


    This time, instead of flying, ke activated Nightveil and began running to his destination.


    Jerry couldn¡¯t drive him to the area because his movement from the Ash corp housing area would be monitored. Also, the option of riding on Ebony and Ivory was out of the question because seeing a man riding a wolf was a dead giveaway of his presence.


    The meeting point was on the east side of the normal region while his hotel was at the southern part. On foot, the journey would take nothing less than 30 minutes especially since ke didn¡¯t want to get spotted by anyone.


    ¡°I should still have enough time to rest before the trade begins.¡± ke said as he got to the edge of an alley and warped into the next one across the road.


    [You would be able to recover your full strength but at this rate, you won¡¯t have enough mana for a full fight.] The system said.


    ¡°Good thing I have no ns for fighting, and even if I am forced to fight, Ebony and Ivory are at full strength.¡± ke said.


    ¡­


    Just as estimated, ke had gotten to the eastern part of the city in 30 minutes and was currently panting in an alley.


    The meeting point was at a small restaurant which luckily for ke hadrge open windows.


    ¡°Time to get down to business.¡±


    He first ced a spatial mark at a farther area before carefully checking the buildings around the restaurant for traps or people.


    After that ke used the locator spell to know the current location of the boss.


    ¡°Where is the owner of The Essence nightclub at?¡±


    Fortunately for him, the boss never had an anti-tracking item or array from the start, so his position lit up at his mansion in the city¡¯s central region.


    Once that was done, ke rested and began waiting for both parties to appear before or at the specified time.


    An hourter, ke who was cloaked at the top of a building nearby saw the boss walk into the restaurant and took a seat close to one of the windows.


    [I guess he is too paranoid even to think straight.] The system said.


    Usually, if an illegal trade was to go on, it was meant to be in a secluded area of the restaurant, but it seemed that the boss also wanted to be on the lookout for anyone that could be monitoring them.


    ¡°I can¡¯tin if things work in my favor.¡± ke said.


    ke¡¯s n was to open a tiny spatial corridor close to the boss¡¯ table so that he could listen to their conversation, but that all depended on the strength of the second party.


    If the second party was in the Hero realm, he might be lucky enough to not sense the tiny spatial corridor, but if it was a demigod then he had no chance at all.


    If that was to happen it wouldn¡¯t be too much of an issue since all ke needed was his identity.


    ke began watching closely at the table, and soon enough someone walked past and dropped a dimensional amulet which the boss quickly put away.


    [I see what is going on. He was stationed close to the window to monitor the outside, while the dealer who had been there right from the start monitored the inside.] The system said.


    ¡®It means that they totally trust each other, and that level of trust could only be gotten from trading for a very long time.¡¯ ke thought as his target switched from the boss to the dealer.


    *************************************************************************************


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    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 501 - 501 Master planner.

    501 Master nner.


    Having collected the package, the boss went on to ce an order with the waiter while the dealer left the restaurant.


    ¡®That¡¯s my queue.¡¯ ke said as he stood from his hiding position and began tailing the dealer while remaining hidden.


    After less than 10 minutes of following the dealer, he finally began circling an area before entering a hotel in the area.


    [He is at the peak of the Champion realm, so we should be able to get useful info from him.] The system said.


    Although being at the peak of the champion realm seemed to be nothing special, it was quite impressive that someone that didn¡¯t attend the magic school was able to get to this level.


    Also, the fact that the delivery man was at the peak of the champion realm meant that the people he was working for were not low-time drug dealers.


    After 20 minutes of waiting to see if he woulde out, an idea popped into ke¡¯s head.


    ¡®I need to confirm something.¡¯ ke took out a map and used the locator spell to find the position of the man.


    The light lit up on the map and it was currently on the area he was in, meaning that the man didn¡¯t have any form of anti-tracking items on him or in his room.


    .....


    ¡°Why is the locator spell working way better than before?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask, and it didn¡¯t take time for him to begin thinking that it was something rted to understanding the space element.


    [Hold your horses.] The system said. [First thing is that you have gotten too used to criminals in Calton possessing anti-tracking items, and you have forgotten that Duststar is a backwash city.]


    [Secondly, you are literally the only thing that scares criminals in Duststar. So since they think that they know everything about your movements, they feel they have no reasons for things like that especially when you are supposedly in your hotel at the moment.] The system exined.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that they are all working together?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    [In one way or another, everything in the underworld is somehow rted. So since exposing one might implicate another, why wouldn¡¯t they work with themselves.] The system said.


    ¡®I didn¡¯t know I was that scary.¡¯ ke thought with a smirk on his face causing the system to facepalm and shake its head.


    It just exined how things would be harder for ke, but the first thing that came to his mind was bragging.


    With how long the dealer stayed in the hotel, it was more than safe to say it was his residence for now, so it was time for him to return to the hotel.


    The problem now was that he still had no ride, and he was even farther away from the Serene Angel hotel.


    ¡­


    For the rest of the day, ke was keeping an eye on the position of his target, but it wasn¡¯t moving at all.


    [What exactly do you want from him?] The system asked ke.


    ¡°I need him to lead me to a drug depot.¡± ke answered.


    [So, what will you do if the drug depot is not in the city?]


    Duststar city barely had a standard drainage system, meaning the chances of having a huge underground depot were low.


    On the other hand, the city was surrounded by smaller mountains and hills making it the perfect hiding spot for all types of hideouts.


    So rather than building a depot in a small city where they could be easily monitored, the drug lords decided it was best to build their hideouts out of the city. There they could both store and produce more drugs without being discovered.


    The only problem was smuggling it into the city, but all that could be resolved by bribing the ash corps at the gates of the city.


    ¡°If he was to leave the city I will no longer be able to track him with the map, but I will still be able to track him just that it would be a little bit difficult.¡±


    ¡°The problem is how to leave the city without being detected, because there is a chance that the dealer can be informed of my presence causing him to lead me into a trap.¡± ke said as he began pondering on how to solve the problem.


    If the target began moving out of the city in the daytime, there was no way ke would be able to keep up with his carriage on foot, undetected, talk less of leaving the city.


    ¡°To solve this problem I need to break it down into smallerponents.¡±


    ¡°The first problem is leaving the city undetected. I can mark a carriage that would be leaving the city, then warp inside it when it leaves. The problem is being able to mark a carriage that would be leaving in both the direction and exact time the dealer would be leaving the city.¡±


    ¡°That would be close to impossible to find, but why should I look for one when I can create it.¡± ke said with a grin as he came up with a n.


    [The next problem is getting to the wall without being detected.] The system said.


    If ke was somehow able to get to the outskirts of the city, there was arge space between the wall and the living areas. So, he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep hiding with the buildings.


    Also, if he was to leave his hotel just when the dealer was making his way out of the city, he would be suspicious thus ruining everything so far.


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡± ke said with a smile as he couldn¡¯t believe how his problem-solving skills had increased by so much.


    *************************************************************************************


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    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 502 - 502 The master plan.

    502 The master n.


    All of ke¡¯s ns would be for naught if he didn¡¯t know when the target would be leaving the city; his n was to force him to leave.


    Right now, everyone monitoring him had noticed the pattern of taking a day off after 2 days of work, So ke was nning on using it to his advantage.


    Early in the morning the next day, ke visited a flower shop to purchase flowers for his n.


    ¡°Wee, how may I be of help?¡± The old florist asked with a warm smile.


    ¡°I am from Calton city and I have heard a lot about the beautiful flowers that grow in this region. I would like to see them and buy some for my friends back at Calton.¡± ke said.


    ¡°I would be more than d, please follow me.¡± The florist said as she took ke on a tour around the shop.


    After receiving a lecture thatst for close to half an hour, ke made a veryrge purchase that literally left the shop empty. This shocked the old florist and moved her to tears.


    Due to the low standard of living in Duststar that kept on getting worse as the day went by, the demand for flowers and nts was very low; and to make matters worse the noble would rather import the flowers than buy them frommoners.


    At that point, all she just wanted to do was reduce her loss before closing her shop for good and finding a better trade. Now that ke had literally emptied her stock she was over the moon.


    .....


    ¡°I will get some people toe and pick it up.¡± ke said to the woman who continued thanking him.


    He left the flower shop and headed for the west side of the city to meet with a transportationpany.


    Just a few minutes after he left the store, 3 men walked into the flower store.


    ¡°What did hee here to do?¡± The 3 men asked.


    The old florist turned to see the 3 men, and immediately she knew that they were from the local gang in the area. So she wasted no time answering their questions.


    ¡°He came here and asked me to show him some flowers that he wanted to buy for his friends in Calton.¡± The woman exined.


    The 3 gang members looked at each other before looking around the shop to see packaged flowers.


    It was more than evident that she was telling the truth. So they left the store and reported it to their boss.


    ¡­


    Once ke got to the transportpany, he asked to meet the boss.


    ¡°How may I be of help?¡± The boss asked.


    ¡°I want to employ yourpany to transport a carriage worth of nts to Calton city.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°We can do that.¡± The boss¡¯s face of the boss lightened up at the mention of business. ¡°What day and time would you want the journey to begin.¡±


    ¡°I am sending it to my friends, but I still need to get their confirmation before I send it. So I don¡¯t know yet.¡± ke said causing the boss to frown.


    ¡®Then why don¡¯t you meet me when you are ready to send it, why waste my time?!¡¯ The boss cursed at ke but didn¡¯t dare to say it out.


    ¡°So why don¡¯t you meet us when you have gotten the confirmation?¡± The boss said in a polite manner.


    Even though the customer was annoying, ke was still a potential customer so he didn¡¯t want to lose him to hispetitors.


    ¡°That is the problem. I have already purchased the flowers and I have nowhere to store them. So I want you guys to store it for me and I will foot the bills.¡± ke said.


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be a problem at all.¡± Once again, the boss¡¯s face lit up because the more time the flowers were stored, the more money he would be receiving.


    ¡°I have one more request.¡± ke said. ¡°I want the carriage that would transport it to be on standby and ready to move at any time per my request, and yes I would also be paying for that.¡±


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡± The boss couldn¡¯t help but smile as coins continued rolling in.


    After making all the necessary payments, he gave them the address of the flower shop so that they could pick up the flowers.


    Once all that wasplete, Jerry transported him to the western wall.


    Unlike the southern wall where he interrogated only a few ash corps, ke was interrogating everyone on the western wall.


    This time, ke¡¯s questioning had be aggressive, and he would twist their words to makemit even more mistakes.


    This alerted all those watching from the shadows. For ke to be this aggressive, it either meant that he had been given a deadline that was about to pse or that he had found a lead and was waiting for someone to break.


    The chances of the former happening were very low, especially since had only been in the city for less than 2 weeks.


    As for thetter, the chances of it happening were very high especially since almost every ash corp at the borders was corrupt.


    The next day, ke visited the eastern wall before moving to the northern wallter in the day.


    By the time he was done, it was already evening and ke began returning to his hotel.


    ¡­


    Once he was informed that ke was making his way back to his hotel, the target whose hotel was at the east decided it was the perfect time to leave the city.


    It was ke¡¯s second day of being active, meaning the next day was his day off. So, it was best he left because he felt this was the silence before the storm.


    *************************************************************************************


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    My Lust system: War Against The Heavens will be out soon!


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 503 - 503 Out of the city.

    503 Out of the city.


    After he confirmed that ke was returning to the Serene Angel on the south side of the city, the target packed up his little belongings and left the hotel. He quickly boarded a carriage that would take him to the eastern wall.


    At the same time inside his carriage, ke felt a slight pull in his consciousness causing him to open up his map and see that the target was on the move.


    ¡°Jerry, the target is on the move. You know what to do.¡± ke said to the carriage driver.


    Without asking any questions, Jerry changed their direction to the transportpany.


    The journey from the north to the south wasn¡¯t a straight journey because of the central region. So since ke¡¯s carriage was going through the western part of the city, those monitoring him wouldn¡¯t notice his slight detour.


    ¡°I have received confirmation from my friends, the journey should start immediately.¡± ke said to the manager immediately after he alighted from his carriage.


    ¡°Just like you requested, the driver has been on standby. Let me inform him now.¡± The manager said.


    ¡°I would like to inspect the carriage that would be transporting the flower to make sure everything is in order.¡± ke said.


    ¡°That is not a problem.¡± The manager didn¡¯t find anything wrong with the request. It was very normal that a customer would want to make sure that his properties would be taken good care of.


    .....


    The manager gave a signal and some of his employees opened up the caravan and ke climbed in.


    While ke acting as he was double-checking the positions of the nts, ke ced a spatial mark before exiting the caravan.


    Once it was closed up, ke gave the signal for it to move before returning to his carriage.


    ¡°I will leave the rest to you.¡± ke said to Jerry through themunicator before warping into the caravan that was already on the move.


    He had given Jerry instructions on only the things he needed to know, and since he couldn¡¯t what was going on inside the carriage, ke¡¯s secret was still safe.


    Using the map in his hand, ke was able to track both his position and that of the target.


    There was a 20 minutes distance between them, and there was no way the caravan would catch up, but ke wasn¡¯t bothered.


    ¡­


    When Jerry left the transportationpany he did not return to the Serene Angel just like everyone thought. Instead, he began randomly moving all around the western part of the city.


    If he was to return to the hotel, those monitoring ke would know he wasn¡¯t in the carriage since he had to walk out of the carriage and into the hotel.


    So his crazy movement was to confuse the stalkers and make them think that ke was still in the carriage; while taking off any form of attention away from ke.


    ¡­


    ¡°What is going on?¡± The target asked as he received a call from one of his informants.


    The informant told him about ke¡¯s movement from the northern wall to the transportationpany, and then to the random movement in the west.


    The target felt ke¡¯s movement was very weird, thus justifying his suspicions that something serious was about to happen.


    ¡°Once I leave the city, all I can just wait till the situation calms down before returning.¡± The target wasn¡¯t bothered about ke because not only was ke on the opposite side of the city, but he had just arrived at the eastern gate.


    Since he just delivered to the boss of The Essence Nightclub thest shipment of contraband that he had smuggled into the city. It didn¡¯t take time for him to get scanned and allowed out of the city.


    ¡­


    20 minutester, the caravan arrived at the eastern gate and was immediately gged down for a scan.


    Due to the invention of dimensional amulets manual searching had be obsolete, especially since it didn¡¯t make sense to tell someone to empty their dimensional amulet.


    So to solve this problem, scanners had been invented to simultaneously scan everything inside a vehicle, including humans and their dimensional amulets for contrabands. In special cases, they could be set to scan for a particr person or even an item.


    The scanners had a weakness, and that was their inability to scan dimensional pockets.


    Dimensional pockets and dimensional amulets both consisted of dimensional spaces used to store items. The main difference was the method used to ess those spaces.


    Dimension amulets made use of arrays to ess the dimension spaces, and the size of the space was dependent on the strength and quality of the arrays. They were invented in the era when researchers were trying to reproduce the spells of the space element using arrays.


    As for Dimension pockets, they could only be created and essed by high-level Chronomancers and space-rted artifacts.


    The scanners worked by using the same arcane spells used to create the dimensional amulets to bypass the arrays protecting them, but it wasn¡¯t possible for dimensional pockets.


    The scan began and instantly the contents of the caravan were disyed to the ash corps on the wall.


    ¡°Just a bunch of flowers, let him pass.¡± The captain in charge of the wall ordered.


    ¡®Just as nned.¡¯ ke smirked as he ced the royal seal back into his dimensional pocket.


    Once the carriage had gone into the forest on the mountain and out of sight, ke cast void shift.


    He warped to his current position, and since the carriage was on the move ke appeared on the road.


    Without wasting time, ke activated the locator skill and a white trail that led into the forest appeared.


    ¡°let¡¯s hope I discover something interesting because I don¡¯t have a n of getting back into the city unseen. So pulling this off again would be extremely difficult.¡± ke said as he began running after the white trail. He was already 20 minutes behind so he had to catch up quickly.

 Chapter 504 - 504 Infiltrating the Cobra mob hideout.

    504 Infiltrating the Cobra mob hideout.


    While following the white trail, ke went down the mountain and into one of the valleys in the area.


    ¡°The more I explore the Duststar region, the more I get angry about the situation of the city.¡± ke thought.


    The Duststar region was rich in numerous resources thanks to the forests, mountains, and rivers all around. Apart from that, the beauty of the region alone would attract a lot of tourists, which will in turn generate a lot of revenue for the city.


    What vexed ke the most was that not much was needed to develop the region, it was just that the corruption in Duststar was on a whole new level.


    After 25 minutes of following the white trail, ke arrived at a river.


    ¡°What the¡­¡± ke was shocked to see the white trail enter the river.


    To make sure that it wasn¡¯t a trap, ke ced a spatial seal on a tree quite a distance away from the river. After that, he created a mana sphere for air before jumping into the river.


    ¡®If not for the space element and arcane spells, I would be no different from a normal human when fighting underwater.¡¯ ke thought.


    The fire element would be quenched by the water while using the lightning element was no different from suicide.


    .....


    Thanks to telekinesis, ke didn¡¯t need to waste strength moving against the current or moving in any direction.


    Following the white trail, ke reached the bottom of the river before moving to the opposite bank of the river where he saw an opening in the ground wide enough to fit only 1 person at once. He first checked for traps and rms before moving in.


    Once ke moved in, the white trail didn¡¯t keep going forward, but upward. The area forward was a dead end, but above was entirely free.


    ¡®This is a brilliant idea for a hideout, too bad I am not a fan of water.¡¯ ke thought as he moved upward until he reached what seemed to be another dead end.


    ¡®The trail is still pointing in this direction, meaning that there should be a form of passage.¡¯ ke wasted no time activating mana vision.


    Just like he thought, the rocks had mana passing through them. So, he went straight to deactivating.


    [What will you do if there are people behind it?] The system asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind alerting the entire base; My goal is to locate a hideout and capture important people for interrogation. So even if I set off the rms, I should still be able to get to some people before they escape.¡± By the time ke was done exining, he had taken over the arrays.


    Once he was ready, he controlled both sides of the secret passage to slide open for a second before closing it back up.


    With the small opening, ke was able to see the ceiling behind the secret passage and its spatial coordination, while the system was able to scan the area and find out the guards.


    [There was no reaction when the doors opened so they are not aware of your presence.] The system informed ke.


    ¡®Good.¡¯


    ke cast void shift and warped to the ceiling while using telekinesis to make sure that none of the water from his body or those that entered the spatial corridor dropped to the floor.


    Past the secret passage was an artificial cave with a closed tunnel that was being protected by 2 guards.


    ke first scanned the environment and confirmed that only 2 guards were present, before using mana vision to check for traps.


    ¡®The only thing that had mana flowing through it is the closed tunnel doors. So it¡¯s safe for me to act.¡¯


    Ssh!


    The guards instantly turned to the sound of water crashing into the floor, but before they could look up to see where the water hade from, a great sword had sliced through their necks.


    THUD!


    Ignoring the bodies that were spurting out blood, ke turned to the closed tunnel door and began inspecting it.


    ¡°Palmprint is needed¡­ I guess this could serve.¡± ke sliced out one of the hands of the guards before cing it on the door.


    The door lit up and slid open, revealing a tunnel with stairs leading upwards.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this.¡± ke said as he activated mana vision to inspect the tunnel for traps.


    Right from his days of raiding gang hideouts, ke never liked tunnels because his movements were limited, and there was only one way of escape.


    ¡°Not as if I have any other choice.¡± ke let out a helpless sigh and began cautiously climbing the stairs.


    The hideout was located on the left side of the mountain close to the river. The entrance was some distance away from the river bank, then the tunnel stairs led into the mountain.


    Luckily for ke, he didn¡¯t meet anyone on the staircase, but on reaching the end of the tunnel he saw another stone door.


    ¡®I guess holding on to this was right.¡¯ ke said to himself as he ced the decapitated hand on the stone door and got ready forbat.


    Using heat vision, the system had informed him about the 2 guards standing beside the stone door. So once the door slid open, ke grabbed them by the head before electrocuting them.


    ¡°Guess there is no more hiding from here on.¡± ke said as he looked around.


    He had finally arrived at the main hideout, but unlike most of those he had raided, this had a lot of open space that made sneaking around useless.


    At the other end of the area were 3 corridors, and from his experience of raiding hideouts, one was the living quarters, the second was the storage area, and the 3rd would be where they cooked the drugs.


    Just then 2 alchemists walked out of the 3rd corridor and nced in ke¡¯s direction for a second before returning their eyes to the original position and moving back to ke to make sure their eyes weren¡¯t ying tricks on them.

 Chapter 505 - 505 Infiltrating the Cobra mob hideout (part 2)

    505 Infiltrating the Cobra mob hideout (part 2)


    Without wasting another second, both alchemists activated the rms, informing everyone of the presence of an intruder.


    ¡°Shaking my head.¡± ke let out a sigh.


    He had the ability to take them out before they sounded the rm, the problem was the position of the alchemists. They were at the entrance of 3 corridors, so if he was to kill them there was a chance that someone would see him.


    Besides, ke didn¡¯t n on killing everyone in the hideout. So if he used space travel to kill them, and someone was to see him use the space element he would be forced to kill them if they were important or not.


    So the best course of action was to let them sound the rm so that he could end things quickly.


    ¡­


    In the boss¡¯ office of the Cobra mob.


    ¡°So far, the investigator hasn¡¯t found any lead, but his recent movements have created a lot of tension in the city. So, I think we should halt all our activities until the city¡¯s situation calms down.¡± The target Rahim made his report of his just concluded mission in Duststar.


    The person whom Rahim was reporting to was a man who looked to be in his mid-30s. He had short wavy brown hair, freckles on his olive skin, and a narrow chin that magnified his handsome face.


    .....


    This was Kaiser, the Cobra mob boss of the region. He was at the 2nd stage of the Demigod realm and had been in charge of the region for almost 15 years.


    He was the reason why the Cobra mob was king of the city in terms of drug production and distribution. Also, he was one of the main reasons the corruption in Duststar had gotten to such a level.


    ¡°If so, we shall follow your suggestion andy low for the main time.¡± Kaiser said before picking up a document that contained the recent orders they had received.


    ¡°We have received new requests, so we would only produce them and wait till¡­¡±


    At that moment, the rms of the hideout began going out causing him to enter panic mode.


    ¡®An intruder! How?¡¯ Kaiser couldn¡¯t help but ask but he soon turned to Rahim who just arrived some minutes ago.


    ¡°Fool, you were followed!¡± The boss screamed as he immediately stood up.


    ¡°That¡¯s not possible, I made sure that I wasn¡¯t followed.¡± Rahim said in his defense but Kaiser had stopped listening to him long ago.


    ¡®We have a lot of items in stock so it would be impossible to grab all of them and leave on time.¡¯ The Cobra mob boss began pondering about his next move.


    There were direct passages from his office that led to the other sections of the hideout, but even at that, he wouldn¡¯t be able to make it back to his office in time to use the secret passage.


    A thought suddenly popped into his head, as he quickly pulled up real-time footage of what was happening in the hideout.


    ¡°It¡¯s the investigator!¡± Kaiser mmed his hand on his desk in anger as he cursed at the stalkers that were meant to be keeping tabs on ke.


    ¡°How is that possible? He was in the west when I left the city, so how is he here?¡± Rahim was shocked, but he soon noticed a smile forming on the face of the boss.


    ¡°This is the perfect opportunity to end him for good.¡± Kaiser said with an evil grin.


    If it was someone else that found the hideout then his first thought would be to leave, but ke¡¯s case was different; he was only one man and at the Hero realm.


    As for the case of backup, Kaiser could contact Major Garret and ask him to dy the reinforcement. This would give him enough time to kill ke and empty the hideout.


    ¡°Mandel we are killing the intruder.¡± Kaiser said into hismunication amulet. ¡°I will make him pay for killing my pets.¡±


    ¡­


    Back at the entrance.


    Immediately the alchemists that spotted ke sounded the rms; members of the Cobra mob began pouring out.


    ¡°Guess it¡¯s time for you guys toe out and y.¡± ke said as he released Ebony and Ivory.


    Awoo!


    The appearance of 2 5-meter-tall wolves sent chills down the spine of the advancing mobs, causing them to stop in their tracks.


    With 90 percent of them being in the champion realm, facing 2 king rank beasts was already suicide, talk more of fighting them in an enclosed space.


    ¡°None of them seem to be important, you guys can have as much fun as possible.¡± ke said with a wave of his hand.


    The alchemists as well as the smugglers and high-ranking mob members were the people that held important info. So, the mobs were of no use to him and could all be killed.


    Once their master gave the order, Ebony and Ivory lunged at the members of the Cobra mob.


    Water vapor in the atmosphere began condensing into a water wall that blocked all their spells before changing into water bullets that fired at them.


    In a matter of seconds, everyone at the entrance were all dead.


    Awoo!


    Ebonyined to ke that Ivory hadn¡¯t left some for him, but that was when 3 people walked out of the central corridor.


    ¡°What the¡­¡±


    Kaiser, Mandel, and Rahim were shocked when they came out of the corridor and saw piles of dead bodies.


    The rm had gone off some minutes ago, so they were expecting the battle to be raging on, but they were met with dead bodies and a dark wolfining to a human while the white wolf had an unbothered look on her face.


    ¡°Rahim, go prepare for our escape. I and Mandel would handle this.¡± Kaiser said.


    Although they had lost a lot of men, kaiser wasn¡¯t bothered at all; the more people that died, the less he had to worry about being tracked when they leave the hideout.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 506 - 506 Trying to run?

    506 Trying to run?


    ¡°What took you guys so long?¡± ke said to the demigods as if he were talking to friends, and not enemies.


    ¡±He is in the Hero realm, so what is giving him so much confidence?¡¯ Kaiser couldn¡¯t help but ask as he scanned the area for people and traps.


    [Both are in the demigod realm; the first is in the Cardinal level (2nd stage), while the 2nd is in the Nascent realm (1st stage).]


    At this point, the system had already given reports about the enemy¡¯s power level, but ke still remained unbothered.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice that your pets are here, I would return the favor by killing.¡± The Cobra mob leader said with a grin.


    ¡°Oh, you were the one that sent the eagle and jaguar.¡± ke said in a surprised tone. ¡°Ebony, Ivory hurry up and thank this generous gentleman for the sumptuous meal he gifted you guys.¡±


    Awooo!


    Ebony and Ivory howled in joy toward Kaiser leaving him and Mandel angry and at the same time confused.


    ¡®What the hell is giving him so much confidence to be making jokes?¡¯ Kaiser once again scanned the area to make sure nothing had changed.


    .....


    ¡®He is most likely trying to buy time for the ash corps, but he has no idea that I have already spoken to Major Garret.¡¯ The mob boss sneered.


    ¡°We have to end this quickly before anyone else arrives.¡± Kaiser said in an attempt to make ke rush things and make a mistake.


    The n was simple, Since ke¡¯s strength would be insignificant in the battle, Kaiser and Mandel would eliminate Ebony and Ivory before going for himst.


    Only if they knew that ke¡¯s previous victims had the same thought.


    Without wasting another second, ke activated lightning reinforcement and Ivory who was standing in front of Mandel fired a barrage of ice shards at Kaiser While Ebony opened his jaw wide.


    Kaiser who awakened the earth and wind element erected a wall to protect himself, but as Mandel was about to dash at the enemy, a spatial corridor opened beside him.


    ¡®What the¡­¡¯


    Mandel was shocked by the sudden appearance of the spatial corridor and immediately cast a windburst at himself.


    Unfortunately for him, Ebony¡¯s jaws managed to bite onto his arm, tearing it off as the wind spell sted him back.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Mandel cursed as he watched the spatial corridor expand and Ebony walked out.


    He immediately covered the severed limb with water and froze it before casting Water wheel as he prepared to battle Ebony, but that was when he heard the growl of Ivory behind him.


    ¡®What the fuck!¡¯


    Before Mandel could react, another spatial corridor had opened behind him; Ivory¡¯s head popped out and mped onto his mid region before flinging him around like a rag doll.


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    Kaiser cursed as he turned to his 2nd inmand, but before he could help, Ebony rushed at Mandel and bit off his upper body.


    ¡®What the hell just happened?!¡¯ The mob boss was beyond shocked by how quickly Mandel had died.


    ¡®The spatial corridors!¡¯ Kaiser quickly pieced the 1 and 2 together and realized what had just happened.


    ¡®But how did he do it without his daggers?¡¯ he couldn¡¯t help but ask as he turned to ke who had a grin on his face.


    ording to ke¡¯s profile, the only way he could warp was using the spatial coordination of his daggers, but so far, he hadn¡¯t thrown out any.


    ¡®It has to be a space artifact; I have to be very careful.¡¯ Kaiser thought.


    The possibility of ke being a Chronomancer didn¡¯te to his mind, because he already knew he awakened the lightning and fire element.


    As for ke getting a space inheritance, it was impossible because the inheritance was even rarer than awakening the element itself.


    ¡®Killing the beasts won¡¯t be a problem, but I can¡¯t afford more surprises.¡¯ Kaiser thought as he dashed toward ke.


    Wind tunnel!


    A long wind tunnel with 2 currents pushed both parties to the center of the tunnel.


    Knowing he couldn¡¯t withstand the power of a demigod ke didn¡¯t resist; he let the wind current carry him.


    ¡°Die!¡± Kaiser screamed as a wind drill formed on his right hand, but just when were 4 meters away from ke a spatial corridor opened.


    ¡°Shit!¡± The mob boss cursed as he saw Ebony flying toward him.


    Havingplete control of the wind tunnel Kaiser flew out of it and moved to ke¡¯s side.


    ¡®This isn¡¯t good!¡¯ ke screamed in his head as the wind tunnel was still active and pulling him.


    Although the Lightning reinforcement was active, the speed of a Cardinal demigod was still greater, and to make matters worse the wind current was too strong for him to even move.


    ¡°Got you now!¡± Kaiser bellowed as he struck the Wind drill at the helpless ke.


    Mind boost!


    Neuron overload!


    ke¡¯s eyes began glowing blue, and instantly a spatial tear appeared by his side just when the drill was about toe in contact with him.


    ¡®Fuck!¡¯ kaiser cursed as the drill went into the spatial corridor and the exit opened just above him. At the same time, Ebony appeared at his back and wed at his mid region.


    Ding!


    An emerald dome appeared just in the nick of time blocking all the attacks before exploding and sending everyone flying.


    Bang!


    ke crashed into the wall at a terrifying speed, but thanks to the rampant armour¡¯s shock absorbing ability he came out with his ribs intact.


    As for Ebony and Ivory, thanks to their mass and power of their body, they were only pushed back.


    ¡®I need to get out of here!¡¯ Kaiser thought in panic after the close encounter with death.


    Not only did he greatly underestimate the strength and power of Ebony and Ivory, but ke who he thought was totally useless was creating an unstoppablebination of attacks.


    A part of him was telling him that ke¡¯s ¡®space artifact¡¯ had a limit, but he had to ns of finding out.


    The problem now was that he was now at the entrance of the hideout and far away from his office.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you are nning on running?¡± ke said as he stood up.


    *************************************************************************************


    Check out 3_Sins_Studios works: Deviants and Paragon Of Death.


    The ount is a group work from me and two other authors. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 507 - 507 Shocking discovery (part 1)

    507 Shocking discovery (part 1)


    Kaiser immediately shot for the entrance, and Ebony and Ivory went after him while firing spells at him.


    ¡°Shit!¡± kaiser cursed as he erected a chromastone wall that was almost instantly destroyed by the spells.


    If he focused fully on getting away running away the spell bombardment would drown him, while standing to fight was no different from suicide.


    To make matters worse, ke was no longer disoriented from the explosion and joined the fight.


    ¡®Fuck!¡¯ Kaiser cursed again as he continued with his decision to run.


    Seeing the ice spears and spinning Ebonying at him, He clenched his fist and activated the ring artifact which created the emerald barrier around him.


    Ding! Ding!


    The Ice spells crashed into the emerald barrier, and soon after Ebony collided with the barrier.


    The barrier absorbed all the energy from the collision, leaving kaiser unmoved, but he soon squeezed his fist again activating the 2nd part of the artifact¡¯s ability.


    .....


    BOOM!


    An explosion rang out and Ebony has immediately pushed away, but just when he was about to walk up to the entrance door a spatial tear opened in front of him.


    Ice erupted from the spatial corridor and instead of going for the mob boss, it began freezing the door.


    ¡®Bastard!¡¯ kaiser¡¯s face turned red as he turned and saw an evil grin on ke¡¯s face.


    When designing the hideout, the entrance doors were made to be stronger than the other parts of the building to prevent intruders from easily bursting through.


    The only way to easily open it was by using the biometrics, but even that was blocked by the meter-thick ice that encased the door.


    ¡®I must get out of here!¡¯ Seeing all his ns being foiled kaiser turned desperate.


    His ring artifact had the ability to produce an emerald barrier that couldn¡¯t be prated by even the spells of a peak Demigod. The barrier also absorbed the force of all attacks to make sure the user was totally safe.


    In addition, it was able to release an explosion that increased in power the stronger the attacks that were defended.


    As for the drawbacks, the artifact required massive mana to cast its abilities. Even with the vast mana capacity of a Cardinal demigod, Kaiser could only activate the artifact 3 times before running out of mana.


    If he was to use it a 4th time, he would be knocked unconscious because the artifact would drain arge chunk of his life force to power itself. The 5th time was death or at least leaving him at the verge of death.


    ¡°You will pay for this!¡± Kaiser screamed as he dashed toward ke and activated the ring artifact.


    This was his final n, fake attacking ke then when he tries to defend he would change direction. As for the spells, the emerald dome would protect him from everything.


    This was the perfect n, or so he thought.


    ¡°dly.¡±


    Unlike what he expected, ke sunk into a spatial corridor and moved to the entrance.


    ¡®Finally!¡¯ Kaiser said with a wide grin as he flew toward the central corridor.


    BOOM!


    Immediately he stepped into the central corridor, arge portion of the ceiling directly above him blew open, luckily for him the emerald barrier was still up.


    Ding! Ding! Ding!


    The falling ceiling couldn¡¯t stop his movement, but Kaiser was forced to halt and even move back because a King rank badgermole dropped down.


    Without wasting a single second, the badgermole stomped its paw on the ground and an earth wall erupted behind Kaiser, blocking him from retreating.


    ¡°Fuck me!¡± Kaiser cursed as the King rank badgermole began rushing toward him.


    He had been so focused on escaping ke and his pets that he didn¡¯t sense that something was moving above the hideout.


    He had left the frying pan and jumped into the fire.


    ¡®I have no other choice.¡¯ Kaiser said to himself having run out of mana and being stuck in the corridor that didn¡¯t allow any form maneuvers.


    Having no other option, Kaiser clenched his fist and activated the ring artifact just in time to block the w attack aimed at his head, before making it explode.


    BOOM!


    The Badgermole which didn¡¯t expect the attack was sent flying while the wall behind Kaiser was destroyed.


    ¡°That went better than I expected.¡± ke said as the wall exploded and he saw Kaiser¡¯s body on the floor.


    The system had warned ke about the presence of the beast moving above in the mountains, that was why he had wasted no time getting out of the way for Kaiser.


    ¡°We still need him alive.¡± ke said as he opened a spatial corridor that brought Kaiser to his side.


    ¡°Take me to jail¡­¡± Kaiser whispered as he finally fell unconscious.


    Rather than get killed by a beast, Kaiser preferred being sent to Duststar city¡¯s jail where the chances of escaping were high.


    ¡°After taking care of him we will find the rest of the cobra mob members.¡± ke said as he saw the badgermole getting back on its feet.


    ¡°keep an eye out for any movement around, he might not be alone.¡± ke said to the system.


    The battle between the badgermole and ke with his pets soon began.


    After close to 2 minutes, the battle hade to an end but it was way past the time ke had expected.


    ¡°Is it me or is that the strongest King rank beast we have seen?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Ebony and Ivory on their own could take down a king-rank beast within a minute, but even with the 3 of them acting together, the battlested past a minute.


    [I would say it was because it was fighting in its element, but even at that it shouldn¡¯t have been that long.] The system said.


    ¡°Its strength reminds me of the Wyvern that attacked us during the test back in the Magic school.¡± ke was reminded of the scene where 3 professors had faced off against the berserk wyvern but had still managed to escape.


    ¡°We can think about itter, as for now, we need to catch the rest of the mob members.¡± ke said.

 Chapter 508 - 508 Shocking discovery (part 2)

    508 Shocking discovery (part 2)


    Using the locator spell, ke went after the remaining members of the Cobra mob.


    Luckily for him, Rahim and the rest were confident that Kaiser and Mandel would take care of ke so they decided to wait for the battle to end.


    So once ke discovered their location, he let Ebony and Ivory loose on them, and thanks to 90% of them being champions it took them no effort to knock most of them out.


    Once all of them were rounded up, ke took out hismunication amulet and called Prince Bryon.


    ¡°Your highness, I have invaded the Cobra mob hideout and I have captured the leader of the branch as well as other important members.¡± ke said shocking Prince Bryon.


    ¡®So quick?!¡¯ Prince Bryon thought.


    ¡°Nice job Captain.¡± Bryon had a proud smile on his face as hemended ke. ¡°How may I be of help?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust the ash corps of Duststar, neither do I trust their efficiency because I suspect they are heavily involved in everything that has been going on. I request apetent team to handle the questioning and arrests.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be a problem, is there any other thing I can help with?¡± Bryon asked.


    .....


    ¡°I will be calling Major Garret toe to pick up the mob members. So, nothing for now.¡± ke replied.


    The main reason he had called Prince Bryon was that the Cobra mob was the top supplier of drugs and narcotics in the city of Duststar meaning they were linked to a lot of people which possibly included Major Garret.


    So by informing Prince Bryon of the current situation, he would ensure that Major Garret didn¡¯t try anything funny when he arrived at the crime scene.


    ¡­


    After close to 20 minutes of talking with Kaiser, Major Garret¡¯smunication amulet lit up. Immediately, he picked and the moment he saw it was ke, his heart fell into his stomach.


    When Kaiser had called him, he had requested that the backup should be dyed, but that left Garret confused because ke hadn¡¯t requested for backup in the first ce.


    It was after the call that he realized what was going on. So now that he saw ke was calling him 20 mins after the first call, there was only 1 thing that coulde to mind.


    Praying against this possibility, Major Garret epted the call.


    ¡°Captain ke, how may I be of help?¡±


    ¡°I have invaded the Cobra mob hideout and I have captured the leader of the branch as well as other important members. I am requesting backup to transport them back to the city.¡± ke said causing Garret to feel even sicker.


    ¡°Send in your location, we would be there in no time.¡± Major Garret said to ke before cutting themunication link.


    ¡°No one else knows about this so there is still a chance that I can salvage the situation.¡± Without wasting a single second, Major Garret began nning his next move.


    There were a number of things he could do; he could kill ke, kill the cobra mob members, or even course the hideout to copse on itself by bombarding the mountain with demigod-level spells, but all his ns were washed down the drain when hismunication amulet lit up for the second time.


    It was Prince Bryon!


    ¡°Your highness!¡± Major Garret said with a deep bow.


    ¡°Don¡¯t try anything funny!¡± Prince Bryon said before immediately cutting themunication link.


    ¡­


    Once ke was done contacting Major Garret, he made sure everyone was still unconscious before leaving Ebony and Ivory with them and moving to the hole the badgermole hade from.


    Using telekinesis, ke flew into the hole and lit the area ahead with a fireball.


    He followed the path up the mountain for a few minutes and soon arrived at an Estrium crystal mine.


    ¡°It really was alone.¡± ke was surprised as he found the cave empty. All the King rank beasts ke had faced had some kind of army that theymanded.


    What was even more shocking was that the badgermole inhabited a crystal mine but it still didn¡¯t have an army.


    [This confuses things a bit.] The system said.


    ¡°On the contrary, I think it clears things up and gives us something to makeparisons.¡± ke said.


    ¡°The king-rank beasts located at thranium mines all had an army of different beasts that they controlled, even if by nature they were meant to be solitary beasts.¡±


    ¡°As for the 2 normal King rank beasts we have seen, they were both physically and magically stronger, and still behaved naturally even though one of them upied a mine.¡± ke exined.


    [You have a point, but what you are implying is that thranium crystals are the cause of the beast tide.] The system said.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bold im but everything we have found out so far is pointing toward that direction.¡± ke said.


    All the thranium crystal mines that he hade across had a beast army upying them, and the only time the upants were of one race was when they were insects.


    ¡°I will check out Duststar¡¯s record to confirm my suspicions. As for now, let¡¯s return and wait for the ash corps.¡± ke said as he left the cave.


    ¡­


    After returning to the hideout, ke waited for 15 more minutes before the ash corps arrived at the river bank and called him for directions into the hideout.


    Once the ash corps got in, they quickly carted the mob members away, as Major Garret remained silent the entire process.


    When they got back to the city, ke wasted no time writing down aprehensive report of the mission, while also adding the discovery of the Estrium for extra merit points.


    The reason they had been attacked by the badgermole was that the explosions from the battle had woken it up from its hibernation.


    He handed the report over to the ash corps units that had been teleported into the city from Calton. They were the ones to carry out the interrogations and make arrests.


    After that, he essed the city¡¯s record and began looking into the number of discovered Thranium crystal mines, as well as their beast tides.


    ¡°This surely confirms my suspicion.¡± ke said after going through all the details.


    ¡°Not only are their discovered thranium mines few, but their beast tides are nothingpared to that of Calton city.¡± ke said.


    [I have to agree with you on this one because if there is a ce that is meant to have the most thranium mines it should be a mountainous region like Duststar.] The system said.


    [So it is safe to say that the thranium crystals are the cause of beast tides but the question now is what do we do about it?] The system asked.


    ¡®So even after uncovering the mystery, we can do nothing about it.¡¯ ke let out a helpless sigh, but that was when he remembered the vision he had when he absorbed the All-father¡¯s inheritance.


    ¡°Thranium crystals are not naturally urring, ording to the vision a pinket had crashed into infinite realm before pink lines began spreading all over the realm. That was the birth of thranium crystals!¡± ke said in an excited tone.


    [So how does that change anything?] The system couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Since thranium doesn¡¯t ur naturally it means it spreads, which also means that all thranium crystals are meant to be connected!¡± ke exined.


    When a thranium mine is discovered, the ash corps would first scan the mine for its extremities. So if they were connected one mine would lead to another.


    [So someone is nting them!] If the system had eyes, they would have been wide open.


    ¡°Exactly!¡± ke said.


    They had no clue about what made it spread or the speed at which it spread, but that wasn¡¯t needed now.


    ¡°The main question is who is nting them, but there is only one name thates to mind, The royal family.¡± ke said.


    The Royal family automatically owned and controlled all mines that were discovered within the borders of the Snyder empire. So if they mined the thranium mines, nothing stopped them from nting it in another area.


    *************************************************************************************


    I am nning on making a proper cover page for MSTS; currently learning photoshop cause Author-san is too poor for that ??


    An Instagram page will soon be up for announcements and memes concerning MSTS and other future works. So anticipate!

 Chapter 509 - 509 Promotion.

    509 Promotion.


    After checking Duststar¡¯s record, and confirming his suspicions ke had to return to the Serene Angel hotel to digest the massive discovery he had just made.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that millions of people die every beast just so that the royal for the royal family to profit.¡± ke said as he opened the door to his room and crashed on the bed.


    [What do you n on doing next?] The system asked.


    ¡°To be honest, I have no clue.¡± ke let out a helpless sigh. ¡°My original n was to uncover the mystery, share it with the rest of the world, and make a name for myself or get a reward.¡±


    ¡°Also, I thought that by uncovering the cause of the beast tide I would get a clue of my purpose here, but it turns out that all my effort had been for naught.¡±


    Spreading the news was not an option, instead, it was suicide. The beast tide affected all parts of infinite realm meaning the 3 empires were all involved in it.


    So releasing the news would not only make him a target of the 3 empires but it would send the entire realm into chaos because the citizens would massively protest.


    Every adventurer or ash corp that was killed by beasts was in one way or another rted to someone, so they would all be med on the empires.


    ¡°So gullible of me to think I would be the one to solve something that has been guing the human race since the beginning of time.¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but shake his head.


    .....


    [If you think about it, the royal family isn¡¯t using the thranium crystals for only their selfish ambitions, but they are being used for the benefit of the citizens. For example, the expansion of the walls that in turn improved the lives of the citizens.] The system said.


    ¡°I know, but that doesn¡¯t mean they are totally doing it for the citizens.¡± ke said. ¡°I guess I am just disappointed for not figuring out anything.¡± ke said.


    ¡­


    Back at Duststar¡¯s Square.


    Once the ash corps units from Calton had arrived at Duststar, they went straight to work. They first ced all the ash corps of Duststar under house arrest including Major Garret, before beginning the interrogation process on the captured members of the Cobra mob.


    The interrogating team used lie detectors on the mob members. As for those that didn¡¯t want to cooperate, they used a mind-reading artifact to forcefully extract the information from them.


    The mind-reading artifact was the final option because the forceful extraction of information damaged the mind of the victim.


    The extent of damage depended on the mental fortitude and will of the victim. Those with very low will and mental fortitude had a chance of bing braindead or deranged.


    Nheless, the extraction of information from the mob members was very quick and efficient. In no time, names were flying out from their minds and mouths.


    The ash corps unit from Calton had to request for more units to be sent over because the names were so many. The names not only included corrupt ash corps officials, but also other gangs, merchants, top business owners, and a lot of nobles.


    Once the backup arrived, they began making arrests and upying the empty positions of the arrested ash corps.


    With the arrests of new people, more names came out and more arrests were made. The names were so much that the citizens of Duststar thought that everyone in the city was being arrested, but that just showed how much corruption had eaten into the city.


    What was going on was turning Duststar city into a clean te and just like the system had predicted, it was why Bryon had assigned the mission to ke.


    ¡­


    After the arrest of Major Garret whose name was being sung by almost everyone that was arrested, ke¡¯s mission in Duststar was basically over.


    Once he was given permission to return to Calton, ke wasted no time informing Jerry about their departure.


    In 3 days, ke had returned to Calton and went straight to meet Colonel Darius who congratted him and informed him about his promotion that would be held a week from then.


    ¡°Finally, I get promoted but I don¡¯t know why it doesn¡¯t feel right.¡± ke said as he left the office and returned to his house.


    He was given a one-week break and didn¡¯t feel like staying around, so he chose to return home and fix a date we Carmi and Tessie that evening.


    ¡­


    On that same evening.


    ¡°We missed you so much!¡± Cami said as she rushed and gave him a tight hug.


    She had gotten so used to ke¡¯s presence at the square that when he was gone, she found it hard to chat with anyone else.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t even gone for 2 weeks¡­¡± ke said causing Cami to furrow her brows. ¡°Just kidding, I missed you too.¡± ke said as he gave her a kiss on the forehead.


    ¡°I was worried about you.¡± Tessie said in a low tone as she hugged ke.


    ¡°I am here now.¡± ke enjoyed the warmth of her embrace as he also gave her a kiss on the forehead.


    ¡°How was the mission? I heard that you are going to get promoted¡­ That reminds me, thanks for the flowers.¡± Cami said.


    Cami and Tessier were surprised when they were contacted by a transportpany and informed that ke had sent them a package, they were shocked to find out that it was an entire caravan filled with unique flowers.


    ¡°It was thanks to the gift that I was able to solve the case.¡± ke went on to exin how he had solved the case and the results of the investigation.


    He didn¡¯t mention his discovery about the beast tide because he didn¡¯t want to put them in danger. As for Brian and Castiel, ke had no ns of informing them because it was no longer any of their business.


    *************************************************************************************


    I am nning on making a proper cover page for MSTS; currently learning photoshop cause Author-san is too poor for that ??


    An Instagram page will soon be up for announcements and memes concerning MSTS and other future works. So anticipate!

 Chapter 510 - 510 Promotion ceremony.

    510 Promotion ceremony.


    One weekter, the Ash corp promotion ceremony arrived and it was taking ce at the General¡¯s pce.


    ke¡¯s assigned carriage made its way past the gate and into thepound of the pce before stopping in front of the pce where a red carpet was located.


    ¡®How many years hasn¡¯t it been since Ist came here?¡¯ ke thought as his eyes moved around the magnificent pce and finallynded on the statue of Emperor Cinder with his ming scepter of power.


    Although both the Square and the general¡¯s pce were located in the Central region, there was no need for ke to visit the pce especially since he could just call Prince Bryon if he needed anything.


    ¡°Please follow.¡± A pce staff said to ke.


    As one of the most important people on the asion, ke was personally escorted into the building and into the hall where the promotion ceremony was taking ce.


    ¡°Your seat is the 5th on the second row of the center column.¡± The pce staff said to ke.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± ke thanked the pce staff before walking into the hall that was filled with ash corps of different ranks.


    ke made his way to his designated seat where he found 4 other Captains. 1 out of the 4 was a special op, and just like him, they were all dressed in their all-ck uniforms with two ming crossed swords crest on the left side of their cloak.


    .....


    They were the 4 ash corps Captains that were to be promoted alongside ke.


    [Seems the demigod realm is the requirement for bing a Major.] The system said after scanning the captains.


    The ranks of Ash cops were dependent on their strength and achievements. The only time their years of service were put into consideration was in a case where there was a limited promotion spot and those listed for the position were in the same realm and had equal achievements.


    This method of promotion was to prevent a situation where a Demigod will be taking orders from a Hero.


    ¡®Seems I am the odd one out.¡¯ Seeing that he was the youngest in the group by far, ke felt proud of himself.


    After 20 mins of waiting, the doors to the hall were shut; soon after Prince Bryon walked out, marking the start of the ceremony.


    ¡°Greetings everyone.¡± Bryon said as he stepped unto the podium and began his speech.


    ¡°It is an honor and privilege to stand before you today as we gather to celebrate the promotion of some of our best soldiers to higher ranks. Each of these individuals has demonstrated exceptional leadership, unwavering dedication, and an unwaveringmitment to the mission, the Ash corps, and the Empire atrge.¡±


    ¡°I can say with absolute certainty that the soldiers we are promoting today are among the best of the best. They have proven themselves to be courageous, disciplined, and capable, and their aplishments are a testament to their hard work, sacrifice, andmitment to our Army.¡±


    ¡°Today, we recognize and honor these soldiers for their outstanding achievements and their continuedmitment to excellence. The promotion ceremony is a special asion, one that is steeped in tradition, and it serves as a reminder of the great responsibility thates with a higher rank.¡±


    ¡°It is a reminder that leadership is not just about titles, but rather it is about serving those under yourmand and the Empire with honor, integrity, and selflessness.¡±


    ¡°To the soldiers being promoted today, I say this: you have earned your ce among the ranks of our Army¡¯s leaders. You have proven yourselves to be capable,petent, and dedicated members of the corps, and your promotion is a reflection of your outstanding achievements.¡±


    ¡°Your new rankes with great responsibility, but I have no doubt that you are up to the task. You are now entrusted with the lives of the men and women under yourmand, and I challenge you to continue to lead by example, to mentor and develop the next generation of soldiers, and to remain steadfast in yourmitment to the Ash corps and the Synder empire.¡± A resounding round of apuse echoed all around the room as Prince Bryon ended his speech.


    ¡®That was beautiful.¡¯ ke thought as he pped.


    Once he was done with his speech, Bryon invited ke and the 4 captains to the podium to present their medals to them.


    Seeing ke on the podium caused a lot of people to look at each other in shock, but none of them dared make a sound.


    Doing so meant that they disagreed with the will of the Emperor and thought he was ipetent; the punishment for the offense was death on the spot.


    The promotion ceremony continued without a problem, and soon it was ke¡¯s turn.


    With a proud smile on his face, Prince Bryon stood in front of ke as the event narrator read out the promotion order.


    ¡°The Emperor of the Synder Empire, acting upon the rmendation of the Councilor Prince Bryon, has ced special trust and confidence in the patriotism, integrity, and abilities of Captain ke. In view of these special qualities and his demonstrated potential to serve in the higher grade, Captain ke is promoted to the permanent grade of Major of the Ash corps.¡±


    Once the narrator was done, an ash corp unbuttoned ke¡¯s ck cloak, while another handed Prince Bryon 2 insignias.


    The first insignia was for his excellent investigative achievements, and the second was for his outstanding contributions to the Ash corps.


    ¡°Congrattions!¡± Prince Bryon said with a proud smile as he pinned the medals on ke¡¯s vest before being handed a new cloak.


    The new ck cloak represented ke¡¯s new rank, and it had the insignia of the Synder empire on both halves of the cloak.


    Once Bryon buttoned the cloak on ke he saluted which ke immediately reciprocated.


    *************************************************************************************


    I am nning on making a proper cover page for MSTS; currently learning photoshop cause Author-san is too poor for that ??


    An Instagram page will soon be up for announcements and memes concerning MSTS and other future works. So anticipate!

 Chapter 511 - 511 Promotion party.

    511 Promotion party.


    At the ballroom of the General¡¯s pce, after Prince Bryon made a toast, the promotion party officially began.


    The guests wasted no time mangling with each other and forming groups at the party.


    As for the 4 new Majors they were all together chatting and constantly getting congratted by the guests.


    The aim of the party was for the newly promoted Majors to meet and get to know those of the same rank and even higher as well.


    ¡®Doesn¡¯t seem I am weed over there.¡¯ ke thought as he saw the res shot at him by the 4 Majors.


    ¡°You should have seen the looks on most of the people in this room when you were called up.¡± Cami said as she came up to him.


    Many were unhappy about ke¡¯s promotion because not only had he not advanced to the Demigod realm, but he hadn¡¯t even been in the corps for up to a year.


    The jealousy of someone way younger surpassing them blinded them to ke¡¯s numerous achievements.


    ke¡¯s investigative skills led to 100¡¯s of raids on gangs. He was the sole reason for the expulsion of the Cobra mob in 2 cities, which also led to the restructuring of Duststar and the arrests of hundreds of corrupt officials and nobles in the city.


    .....


    Apart from his investigative skills, ke and his unit had the highest contribution to the expansion of the city walls. Not only had his assigned area had the best performance, but he was the one that discovered the source of the attacks on the walls and had yed an important role in killing the ck tortoise through Ebony and Ivory.


    Also, he was the main reason the development of the eastern region was possible in the first ce.


    ¡°Humans and jealousy.¡± Cami shook her head as she saw that little to no one was approaching ke to congratte him.


    ¡°Although it might sound like I am trying to console myself, I kinda like it this way. I don¡¯t have to act like I care about their congrattions. Besides, I can¡¯t bother with people that I have no use for.¡± ke said making Cami even more proud of her boyfriend.


    Ignoring the crowd, ke and Carmi began continued chatting, but it didn¡¯t take long before Prince Bryon alongside Colonel Darius walked up to them.


    ¡°You and Luciano remind me a lot of each other.¡± Prince Byron said with a chuckle.


    ¡°I guess we rubbed off a lot on each other.¡± keughed when he realized that Luciano would have exactly done the same thing in this situation.


    Seeing Bryon and Darius approach ke attracted the attention of everyone in the ballroom.


    ¡°Luciano would have loved to be here but unfortunately he is currently on a mission at the southern.¡± Prince Bryon.


    ¡°He had already congratted me in advance and that is more than enough for me.¡± ke replied with a big smile on his face.


    ¡°Is it me or are my senses failing me?¡±


    The other guests as well as the 4 newly promoted majors were shocked to see how carefree ke was when speaking with Prince Bryon. The funny part of the entire situation was that even Colonel Darius and Cami who were beside them were shocked.


    From the tasks andmands that were given to him concerning ke, Darius knew that ke and Prince Bryon had some kind of connection, but he had no clue they were this close.


    After they were done talking, Darius congratted ke before he and Prince Bryon left the ballroom.


    ¡®Nobody messes with my people and gets away with it!¡¯ An angry voice in Bryon¡¯s head growled while he maintained his signature smile and walked out of the room.


    Prince Bryon¡¯s exit was silent, but it spoke volumes; it simply meant that no one else was worth his time!


    This made the newly promoted Majors feel embarrassed while the guests were thinking of how to get on ke¡¯s good side.


    After Prince Bryon was done talking with him, Major Reeves alongside Major Briggs came to congratte him, before leaving him and Cami alone.


    ¡°You know, I have always been very good at ignoring the existence of people, but you seem to have perfected the art.¡± Cami said.


    ¡°There is nothing special about me, it¡¯s just that I am too focused on my goals. So people that don¡¯t help me in one way or another to achieve them don¡¯t matter to me.¡± ke said as he shot an ash corp who was approaching a mean re, causing him to immediately change direction.


    ¡®Can¡¯t these guys take a hit?!¡¯ ke thought as he sensed someone elseing from behind. He immediately turned to give the person a death re but to his greatest surprise, it was a very familiar face.


    ¡®Orange-hair, Hazel, tom-boy vibes, thick thighs¡­ Michelle Nystrom!¡¯ ke immediately recognized one of the jaw-droppers back in Magic school.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were in Calton; howe I never saw you until now?¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Right from their days in the Magic school, everyone knew that Michelle was surely joining the ash corps. So ke was shocked to find out that she wasn¡¯t there.


    ¡°That was because I had joined the Ash corps at the capital. I was transferred back to Calton yesterday.¡± Michelle answered.


    ¡°By the way, congrattions Major ke, I look forward to working under you.¡± Michelle said with a smile.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± ke said.


    ¡°So why were you transferred to Calton?¡± Cami asked with a fake smile on her face.


    ¡°The capital is filled with many talents just like us. So I requested for a transfer because thepetition was now too unhealthy.¡± Michelle answered without taking her eyes off ke.


    ¡°What department are you in?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Special ops. As a matter of fact, I am actually a captain of a unit that would soon be assigned to you.¡± Michelle said, leaving both Cami and ke shocked for different reasons.

 Chapter 512 - 512 Promotion party (part 2)

    512 Promotion party (part 2)


    ke was shocked because only a few people knew about it, while Cami was shocked and even more annoyed because Michelle would be spending more time with ke.


    ¡°I am new here so this is my opportunity to get to know as many people as possible. So, if that is all then I would be taking my leave.¡± Michelle said as she finally took her eyes off ke.


    ¡®Is it me or does Cami look annoyed?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask as he turned to Cami who hadn¡¯t stopped staring at Michelle.


    [She is¡­] The system replied.


    ¡®Why?!¡¯ ke was confused.


    [Most likely because she sees her as apetition.] The system answered.


    ¡®I understand her feelings.¡¯ ke thought as he took a proper look at Michelle.


    If Cami was considered a seductress, Michelle was an Amazon and for some reason, ke found that hot.


    ¡­


    .....


    After close to 3 hours, ke decided it was time to leave the party since he had met every important person.


    ¡°So this is what it feels like to live in a mansion.¡± ke said as he admired the majestic pce grounds and the lightning that enhanced the beauty of the night.


    ¡°No, this is what it feels like to be in Prince Bryon¡¯s mansion.¡± Cami corrected him.


    ¡°You seem disturbed; what¡¯s on your mind?¡± ke asked.


    ¡°Can I join your team?¡± Cami asked.


    ¡°What?¡± ke was shocked by the request that came out of nowhere. ¡°Is it because of Michelle?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Cami was stunned that ke had noticed.


    ¡°Yes, but that isn¡¯t the only reason.¡± Cami ignored the look on ke¡¯s face and continued. ¡°Even before now, I have felt that my potential is being wasted as a Captain of a normal unit.¡±


    The normal Ash corp units were like the normal police unit on Earth, while the special ops were like the SWAT unit or the military. It was them that did the menial tasks like securing the perimeter and cleaning up the crime scene after the special ops were done with the main task.


    ¡°Also, with your new rank, you will asionally leave Calton for missions and I want to stay as close to you as possible.¡± Cami said.


    If the normal Major rank and the special ops Major rank was to bepared, thetter would be considered special although they were simr on many levels.


    Just like normal Majors, special ops units were assigned to special ops Majors in addition to their normal unit, and if need be they could request for extra units.


    The main difference between both ranksy in their range of activity. Unlike normal Majors that were most times confined to a certain area or city, special ops Majors could function in different cities and even other regions.


    This was because the special ops role wasn¡¯t something that could be handled with only one¡¯s strength; a higher level of intelligence and resourcefulness, among other skills, was paramount. That was why the number of special ops was way fewer than normal ash cops.


    A perfect example was ke¡¯s mission at Duststar, almost everyone in the city was working against him, and even though it was more than clear that a lot of the ash cops were corrupt, using brute force wouldn¡¯t have gotten him anywhere.


    ¡°You are right, I feel your strength is being wasted as a normal corp.¡± ke¡¯s words lightened up Cami¡¯s face.


    Back at the magic school, although Cami wasn¡¯t a threat to him thanks to being faster than her, however, she was still deadly and cunning and couldn¡¯t be underestimated. That was why she had been in the 5th position in their first year and still remained in the top 10 after the 2nd year students got demoted.


    ¡®If she joins the special ops, she would be able to rack in merits at a faster pace and achievements.¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡°Alright, I will make a request to Colonel Darius, but I can¡¯t make promises that he would ept my request.¡± ke warned her.


    ¡°Thanks a lot, that would be more than enough!¡± Cami said as he gave him a hug.


    If Cami had joined the special ops right from the start, she would have just been a normal special op because she wasn¡¯t the winner of the regionalpetition or even part of the team that made it to the finals.


    While chatting about her reaction to Michelle¡¯s news, ke and Cami finally walked out of the pce¡¯spound, and as the gentleman he was, ke stopped a carriage for her to take her home.


    ¡°Congrattions on your promotion.¡± Cami said as he took out a gift from her dimensional amulet and handed it to ke.


    ¡°I almost thought you forgot, thanks dear.¡± ke hugged her before she boarded the carriage and left.


    ¡°What a day, time to get home.¡± Almost instantly hismunication amulet soon lit up.


    ¡°Why the hell is Jerry calling me?¡± ke was confused and picked up the call.


    ¡°Congrattions on your promotion Major ke. I have been assigned to be your personal driver from now on.¡± Jerry said leaving ke stunned for a few seconds.


    ¡°Thank you, Jerry.¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Where are you now....¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Good night Major ke.¡±


    ¡°Good night to you too.¡± ke said to Jerry as he alighted from the carriage and went into his house.


    ¡°The only good thing about tonight is that I got to spend time with Cami.¡± keined as he let out Ebony and Ivory.


    [Isn¡¯t that enough?] The system asked.


    ¡°True, it¡¯s just that I am not a fan of social gatherings. I would have preferred spending that time alone with her, rather than receiving jealous res and chasing away ass lickers.¡± ke let out an exhausted sigh.


    ¡°That reminds me.¡± ke took out the gift Cami had given to him.


    *************************************************************************************


    I am nning on making a proper cover page for MSTS; currently learning photoshop cause Author-san is too poor for that ??


    An Instagram page will soon be up for announcements and memes concerning MSTS and other future works. So anticipate!

 Chapter 513 - 513 New rank preparations.

    513 New rank preparations.


    ke unwrapped the gift revealing a ck box that contained a watch.


    ¡°She must have wondered how I kept track of time.¡± keughed.


    He had never bothered to buy a watch because he had the system which always kept track of time, however, Cami had no clue of the presence of the system and had decided to get him a timepiece since he had none even at his house.


    ¡°I wonder how much she had spent on it.¡± ke was stunned as he inspected the watch.


    The watch had 2 dials, the main one disyed the time, while the small one was apass. The watch¡¯s case was made of titanium further strengthened by arrays, the aperture that depicted the time was lined with precious gems, and the strap was made of full-grain leather from a Rugor.


    ¡°This is so thoughtful of her.¡± ke was beyond impressed by the gift; the watch¡¯s sturdiness made it perfect for a soldier.


    ke tried it on and took a look at himself in the mirror before putting it away in his drawer. He would have loved to call Cami to thank her for the gift, but there was a chance that she would be asleep, so he decided to do it the next day.


    After freshening up, he decided to make good use of the rest of what was left of that day. He went into a meditative pose and began thinking of everything that had happened so far and the way forward.


    ¡°I am finally gotten the promotion I wanted, so what next.¡± ke thought as he began making an analysis.


    .....


    The major difference between a Captain and a Major wasn¡¯t by the number of people theymanded, but by the authority and responsibility they held.


    For example, the death of a captain during a mission or even the beast tide would be inconsequential, especially since the units were trained to function without them.


    In the case of a Major, their death would not only cause a massive drop in the morale of the soldiers and lead to chaos, but it basically meant the end of the mission since they were the ones that knew the detailed ns of the mission.


    As one of the 5 special ops majors in the eastern region, ke¡¯s range of action had expanded to the entire region and on rare asions to other regions, meaning he would get to travel more and discover new things.


    He first began with the cons of his promotion, which included having a bigger target on his back and being assigned to harder missions that might actually get him killed.


    ¡°It¡¯s no doubt that there are a lot of people that hate me, meaning with each progress I make, I am being seen as a bigger threat to them, and even though Prince Bryon¡¯s presence deters a lot of them someday someone will grow the balls to make a move on me.¡±


    ¡°The solution is to upgrade my defenses and increase my personal strength. I can¡¯t keep relying on Ebony and Ivory every time.¡± ke thought.


    His most visited locations were the Square and his house. The chances of getting assassinated at the Square were lower than the chances of a camel could passing through the eye of a needle.


    This left his house as the only ce where he would most likely get assassinated. With this ke began thinking of ways to improve his house defenses and create a hidden escape route.


    As for improving his strength, since his cultivation had reached a bottleneck the only thing he could do was improve his equipment.


    ¡°The good thing about the promotion is that I would be able to get my hands on even greater information.¡± ke thought. ¡°With more detailed info on things happening in Infinite realm as well as traveling around, it would make it easier for me to discover my purpose.¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but smile as he finally felt he was moving forward after a long while.


    When he was at the Captain rank, the only info ke could get was just a brief overview of things like the rtions of all empires, but now he would be able to know the past and recent actions of the empires, as well as the goals and ns of the Synder Empire.


    ¡®Once I have confirmed my purpose I here, I would immediately quit the Ash corps and go after it.¡¯ ke stood up as he was done nning.


    Normally, an Ash corp could not quit without serving a certain number of years, but ke¡¯s case was different. Prince Bryon was well aware that ke was not from Infinite realm, so he had made a special contract for him when he was brought into the Ash corps.


    ¡°Time to sleep, tomorrow would be a rough day.¡± ke said as he crashed on his bed.


    The Ash corps had given him 2 days to prepare for his new role. So ke nned on using them to upgrade his house and forge new equipment.


    ¡­


    The next day.


    Before the sun was out ke was already up. With him being in the Hero realm, his body could go a week without sleep, but of course, it wasn¡¯t advised because situations or missions might pop up and he wouldn¡¯t have the chance to rest.


    Once he was up, ke began with his routine exercise, and by the time he was done the sun was out. He quickly freshened up before calling Jerry to pick him up and take him to the Adventurer Association. He needed both building materials and forging materials because a lot of work was about to go down.


    Unlikest time, ke¡¯s bill didn¡¯t even reach the million mark, making him almost skip as he left the adventurer association building for home.


    *************************************************************************************

 Chapter 514 - 514 New rank preparations (Part 2)

    514 New rank preparations (Part 2)


    As ke¡¯s carriage made its way up his street, he spotted Ebony and Ivory running around the yard.


    ¡°I thought left them in the house so why are they out?¡±


    Since he wasn¡¯t going to take long, ke had decided to not go with Ebony and Ivory. So, he was surprised to see that they were outside.


    As they came closer, ke saw Tessie ying fetch with both wolves, bringing a smile to his face.


    Awooo!


    Immediately, ke¡¯s carriage stopped right in front of his house, Ebony and Ivory began howling in joy.


    ¡°I was only out for a few minutes.¡± keughed as he rubbed them while receiving kisses from them.


    ¡°You know, if not that I have seen them in action, I would have never believed that these cute furballs are King rank beasts.¡± Tessie said as she approached him and gave him a hug


    ¡°Get something for yourself.¡± ke said as he tossed a gold coin to Jerry who caught it.


    .....


    ¡°Thank you very much, Major ke!¡± Jerry said with a smile as he couldn¡¯t help but like ke more. Even though his pay had more than doubled after being promoted to the rank of a Major¡¯s driver, 1 gold coin was still a lot.


    With a smile stered on his face, Jerry left the mid-region and returned to the Square.


    ¡°Congrattions on your promotion! I brought you a gift.¡± Tessie took out a wrapped box and 3rge rectangles.


    No one apart from Ash crops was invited to the promotion ceremony; so since she had no idea when the party would be over, Tessie decided to give ke his present the next day.


    ke wasted no time tearing through the gifts. He started with 1 of therge rectangles and went soon discovered it was a picture frame without any pictures.


    ke was confused at first but quickly realized that all of the gifts were a set. So, he continued unwrapping them.


    The other 2rge rectangles were also empty picture frames, while thest part of the set was a fist-size ck box with what looked like a USB port.


    Almost instantly, ke was able to piece everything together and realize what the gift was.


    He first hung the empty picture frames on the wall before cing his hand on the ck box and activating it.


    A hologram popped up, disying a tutorial on how to use and set up the device.


    The gift was basically a picture album that used light magic to disy high-quality pictures inputted by the user onto the frames and even the box¡¯s hologram.


    If he wanted, ke could ce particr pictures on whatever frame(s) he wanted or he could turn everything into a slideshow.


    ¡°This¡­ is beautiful.¡± ke couldn¡¯t help but admit as he watched a slideshow of the times that he, Tessie, and Cami had spent together.


    ¡°Thanks a lot.¡± ke said in an emotional tone.


    ¡°Is everything alright?¡± Tessie noticed ke¡¯s change in tone but confused it for something being wrong.


    ¡°Nothing is wrong, it¡¯s just that the gift put me in my feelings.¡± ke said as he felt happy and sad at the same time.


    ¡®If I return to Earth what would happen to them?¡¯ ke asked himself a question that he had been avoiding for a long time now.


    After minutes of thinking, ke still didn¡¯t have an answer to the question. ¡®I guess when we get to that bridge, we will cross it.¡¯


    ¡­


    Luckily for ke, Tessie had onlye to give him the gifts so she didn¡¯t waste much time before leaving the house.


    Once she was gone, ke call Cami and thanked her for the wristwatch before getting to work.


    ording to the n of the house, ke had no space to create a passage from the 1st floor to the ground floor, talk more of making an underground tunnel. So his n was to create the space by expanding the backside of the house.


    This would not only increase the sizes of the rooms, but it would create a perfectly hidden space in empty areas like the steps.


    Using sma, ke took down all the walls in less than 10 minutes before using telekinesis to carry and mix everything required for the reconstruction. This took him a lot of mana and more than 4 hours toplete, forcing him to take a break once he was done.


    After chugging down a mana potion and having lunch, ke went back to work. He used telekinesis to quickly paint the walls before heading back inside to start with the escape route.


    ¡°First things first is that I need a hidden passage to ess the escape route. It should only be opened by me and should be able to withstand some strong attacks to buy me some time.¡± ke said as he inspected the other far end of his bedroom.


    He carved out a square in the floorboards which was directly above the area he just extended.


    ¡°I previously nned on installing some kind of lift, but on second thought there is no need for it since I can use telekinesis on myself.¡±


    ke nned on cing traps all around the escape route to prevent a situation where the enemy saw him enter the secret passage and decided to chase after him.


    All he would need to do was use telekinesis to stop his fall just when he was about to reach the ground, before moving forward. Then when the unsuspecting enemynded on the ground the first of the many traps would be activated which would buy him a lot of time if not kill the enemy.


    ke went down to the area between the wall and the extended area to start digging a tunnel that would end just some meters above the sewer.


    *************************************************************************************


    I am nning on making a proper cover page for MSTS; currently learning photoshop cause Author-san is too poor for that ??


    An Instagram page will soon be up for announcements and memes concerning MSTS and other future works. So anticipate!

 Chapter 515 - 515 New rank preparations (part 3)

    515 New rank preparations (part 3)


    ¡°Only if I could employ a Geomancer this wouldn¡¯t even take up to 2 hours, but that would mean I would have to kill him to make sure that the escape route remains secret.¡± ke thought as he was reminded about the conspiracy theory that all those that built the white house were eliminated to keep itsyouts a secret.


    ke soon began using sma to cut through the ground, but that was when a thought hit him.


    ¡°Why the f*ck am I doing this?!¡± ke quickly stopped the fusion spell and went upstairs to meet Ebony and Ivory who were staring out the full ss window.


    ¡°I need you guys to do something for me.¡± ke said causing Ebony and Ivory to look at him.


    Using the mentalmunication link, ke exined his n to them, but to his utmost surprise, they returned to looking out the window.


    ¡°I wonder what I should do with all the beast cores I nned on giving you guys?¡± ke thought aloud as he began walking away, but soon Ebony and Ivory chased after him.


    With the help of Ebony and Ivory, the time and energy needed for the excavation process were reduced to a fraction. To prevent alerting the neighbors about the ongoing construction, Ivory had used ice easily carve through the ground, while Ebony turned all the debris into ashes.


    The depth of the tunnel was meant to end some meters away from the sewers, while the length of the tunnel went through the front side of the house, past his opposite neighbor¡¯s house, and into the sewer.


    After 4 hours of continuous digging, Ebony and Ivory had finally reached the marked-out area. ke fed them 2 king-rank beast cores and tens of Knight rank beast cores.


    .....


    ¡°Anyone that dares to attack will be in for a surprise!¡± ke thought as he returned to the tunnel.


    While Ebony and Ivory were digging the tunnel, ke wasn¡¯t idle. The traps he nned on setting in the tunnels required the knowledge of dimensional arrays, so he took out the books on dimension magic given to him by Professor Hoffenheim.


    The books contained the theory and steps needed to create dimension arrays, void daggers, and to turn one¡¯s body into a dimensional array.


    It was from the books that ke learned how to create spatial marks; the spatial marks were basically beacons that could be detected even when in the void, but he had to revisit them because creating the traps was moreplicated.


    After revisiting the book, ke was able toe up with abination of arrays that his traps. The traps consisted of 4ponents; the first was the sensors that activated the trap when someone was detected, the second was the dimensional arrays that opened a spatial corridor to the void, the third was small energy crystals that powered the traps, while thestponent was the concealment arrays that concealed the entire trap.


    When the sensors detected a target, a spatial corridor would open up. If the target was unlucky, they would end up dying in the void or losing a limb when the spatial tear closed. It was a simple but deadly trap that could kill Angels if they weren¡¯t careful.


    ¡°Even if they somehow manage to avoid the traps, it should still be able to buy me enough time to escape.¡± ke thought as he began setting the traps at different locations in the tunnel.


    After that, ke went to the end of the tunnel and nted a power source before connecting it to the walls and inscribing them with strengthening and concealment arrays. The power source was to power the arrays and create a nket of flowing mana on the walls to prevent mana vision from spotting the locations of the spatial traps.


    With a different power source for the tunnel even if an attacker somehow managed to destroy the power source, everything in the tunnel would still be up and running.


    ¡°That should be all for today.¡± ke said after inspecting the escape tunnel and traps for loopholes.


    ke returned to his room and freshened up before having dinner and calling it a day.


    ¡­


    Although the escape route waspleted, ke¡¯s n of upgrading his house¡¯s defense was only 50%plete.


    The final step of the upgrade involved having a dome that would protect his house from at least demigod spells. This was because everything he had done so far would be for naught if a single attack suddenly leveled the entire house.


    The dome would prevent one-shoting him and would give him the opportunity to make use of the escape route.


    Creating a dome of such strength would require thousands of arrays as well as a powerful power source to power them. This would take ke hours of nonstop work toplete, so rather than crafting it himself, ke decided to buy it.


    Money could always be made but time can never be gotten back once expended. So, I shall buy time with money!


    ke wasted no time heading to the Adventurer association to make another round of purchases.


    ¡®The best quality of having money, no, excess money is the freedom thates with it.¡¯ ke thought as he was making customizations to the magic dome he was purchasing.


    Magic domes were very costly even for nobles, but as long as one had enough gold coins, he had the option to change things like the power source used, color, and size of the dome.


    Once he was done with the customizations, he made payments and then continued shopping for other things needed to upgrade his strength. As for the dome, it would be delivered to his addresster that evening.


    ¡­


    After close to an hour of shopping, ke was finally back. He had a quick breakfast of chicken and waffles before getting to work.


    *************************************************************************************


    I am nning on making a proper cover page for MSTS; currently learning photoshop cause Author-san is too poor for that ??


    An Instagram page will soon be up for announcements and memes concerning MSTS and other future works. So anticipate!

 Chapter 516 - 516 Back to work.

    516 Back to work.


    All that was left for upgrading his house¡¯s defense was the magic dome, and since it was going to be delivered to his doorstep in the evening, ke went into his forge.


    After more than 8 hours of nonstop work, the door of the forge room finally opened and ke who was drenched in sweat walked out.


    ¡°Finally!¡± ke let out a sigh of relief as he left the room and headed straight to the bathroom.


    When he was done freshening up, ke returned to the forge room and went straight to the table where he ced everything he had created.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t much, but it¡¯s the best I can do for now.¡± ke said as he stared at the 5 new void daggers and ck cloak on the table.


    He would have loved to make more void daggers but the main ingredient was rare and expensive. Also, since he had the space travel spell, he didn¡¯t need too many of them.


    As for the ck cloak, it was an upgraded version of the Night veil, but since he was too tired he gave it the same name.


    [Name: Night-veil.


    Grade: High quality.


    .....


    Item Type: cloak.


    Active Ability(s):


    Full-body camouge: Night-veil blends into the environment and can¡¯t be distinguished by normal vision.


    Mimicry: Night-veil transforms into any fabric that the useres in contact with.


    Control: The user has control over all parts of the cloak.


    Morph: Night-veil can expand andpress into different forms.


    Passive Ability(s):


    Auto-clean and repair: Night-veil will automatically repair itself once damaged.


    Barrier: Once equipped a thinyer of barrier would always be active on all parts of the user¡¯s body.


    Concealment: The energy signature of Night-veil is always being suppressed by the arrays.]


    ¡°Perfect.¡± A smile appeared on ke¡¯s face as he read the cloak¡¯s abilities.


    ¡°Last but definitely not the least.¡± ke said as he activated the guardian scarab.


    In his list of purchases were different types of high-quality metals meant for the guardian scarab. ke had suspicions that the metal that he fed the guardian scarab not only increased its strength and mass but also granted the artifact some properties of the metals.


    For example, some metals had unique qualities like fire resistance, lightning resistance, and even magic resistance. For every metal that the guardian scarab fed on, it gained those unique qualities but in minute quantities which after a long would be noticeable.


    ¡°It just seems like everything I have now is designed to suck away my gold coins.¡± ke felt his chest tighten as he thought of the number of gold coins he had thrown into the abysses that he named Ebony and Ivory.


    ¡°Hold on tight ke, it¡¯s all for the best.¡± ke consoled himself.


    ¡­


    Later that day, the Adventurer Association delivered the magic dome to his front door.


    ke wasted no time going straight to his forge room where he properly inspected the item. He wanted to make sure that there were no back door arrays that could control the device.


    ¡°If I was to assassinate a target and I get info that he is getting a magic dome made for his house; I would either attack before it was finished or I will pay the forgemaster a high sum to grant me backdoor ess.¡±


    ¡°The target would feel safer with the presence of the magic dome, thus letting down his guard. That is when I would strike and he wouldn¡¯t even have a clue of how he died.¡± ke thought as he was connecting the magic dome to the house¡¯s energy source.


    [Your paranoia is getting worse as the day goes by.] The system shook its ¡®head¡¯.


    ¡°You call it whatever you want, but you know that the chances of that happening are high.¡± ke argued.


    [That is possible, but you are forgetting that the previous defenses that prevented you from getting assassinated in the first ce are still active even if the barrier was being controlled.] The system exined causing ke to pause and think about it.


    Without wanting to admit defeat, ke shut his mouth and continued with the instation process.


    After 10 minutes, ke was finally done, and at the same time, a ck barrier appeared above the house before disappearing.


    Although it was out of sight the magic dome was always active. It would only appear when it detected external mana or at the owner¡¯s will.


    Just like most domes, the magic dome also prevented teleportation from the outside by scrambling all dimensional beacons and attacking any disturbance in space, meaning even one with an artifact couldn¡¯t get teleport into thepound.


    ¡°Now I can feel a little bit safer.¡± ke felt fulfilled as he was finally done with all his preparations.


    ¡­


    ke¡¯s 2 days off period had finallye to an end, and he was now back at the Square, but there were a few changes.


    On his way to report to Darius at the top floor, ke had received a lot of salutations and was forced to return them.


    ¡°Who knew being promoted would be so much stress.¡± ke thought as he began nning on how to move around the square without getting spotted.


    ke finally got to Darius office and went in after being asked to.


    ¡°Major ke reporting for duty.¡± ke saluted.


    After returning his salutation, Colonel Darius began briefing ke on his new role.


    ¡°Any questions?¡± Colonel Darius asked after he was done.


    ¡°No, sir but I have a request.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°Proceed.¡± Darius gestured for him to continue.


    ¡°I want to request that Captain Cami Karius gets transferred to my unit as my second inmand.¡± ke said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Darius asked without a change in expression.


    ¡°Having been with her through our days in the magic school, I know her capabilities and I feel her potential is being wasted as a regr Ash corp Captain.¡± ke answered.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Darius pondered for a few seconds before speaking. ¡°I have gone through her file and I also feel the same way. I ept your request, she can join your team as possible.¡±


    ¡°Thank you sir!¡± ke gave a final salute before leaving the office.

 Chapter 517 - 517 Battle for command.

    517 Battle formand.


    After his briefing with Colonel Darius, ke left the office and met up with Ashely who was tasked to take him to his new office which was now on the top floor.


    ¡°Here you go!¡± Ashely said as she stopped in front of a door that Had ke¡¯s name written on it.


    ke ced his hand on the door handle, his palmprint was scanned before the door finally opened up.


    On entering the room, ke quickly noticed a lot of things. Not only was the office twice in sizepared to his previous one, but the quality of everything in the room had increased by a whole lot.


    ¡°You can request to make changes or make additions to the office and it will all be paid for by management.¡± Ashely informed him.


    ¡®A personal driver, a unit always watching over my house and now an office that I can make any type of customization without paying!¡¯


    ¡®I didn¡¯t know that Major¡¯s enjoyed so many benefits. I can defly get used to this!¡¯ ke thought as he smiled on the inside.


    ¡°Is there anything else I can help you with?¡± Ashely asked.


    ¡°No, that would be all for now.¡± ke dismissed her.


    .....


    ¡­


    ¡®Wow!¡¯ Ashely mouthed as she left the office. She was still finding it hard to believe that ke was now a Major.


    She still remembered the first time that she came in contact with ke through a mission. At that time he was still a student in the magic school, but still, he was still racking in achievements in the adventurer association.


    The mind-blowing part was that it had only been 4 years since then, and ke was already a Major in the Ash corps.


    ¡®Why do I have the feeling that this is just the start.¡¯ Ashley thought before shaking her head.


    ¡­


    After Ashely left the office, ke moved around the office and sat in different spots to get the feel of the office.


    ¡°I have a few customizations in mind, but if I do that it wouldn¡¯t be considered an office again.¡± ke couldn¡¯t help butugh at the crazy things he had in mind.


    After getting the ¡®feel¡¯ of his new office, ke wasted no time getting to work. He moved to his desk and used themunication device to call Cami.


    ¡°You called for me, sir.¡± Cami said as she saluted him.


    ¡°Is it only me that feels weird when we salute each other?¡± ke asked he returned the salute.


    ¡°You sure are not the only one.¡± Cami chuckled before asking. ¡°How were your 2 days off?¡±


    ¡°Hectic, but nothing I can¡¯t handle.¡± ke replied with a proud smile. They chatted for some time before ke went on with the reason for calling her.


    ¡°Just like I promised I made the request to add you to my team as my second inmand, and Colonel Darius epted.¡± ke¡¯s news put a smile on Cami¡¯s face.


    ¡°All that is left is to introduce you to the team.¡± kepleted.


    ¡­


    Without wasting time, ke and Cami met with his team who were currently training in one of the training rooms.


    On entering the room, everyone stopped whatever they were doing and took their formation before saluting.


    ¡°Everyone meet, Captain Cami, from today onward she would be my second inmand.¡± ke announced causing different reactions in the training room.


    ¡®Another young Captain?¡¯


    ¡®What happened to Radley?¡¯


    ¡®Why not me?¡¯


    Most of the unit, especially Radley was not happy with the announcement, but it was as if ke could read their minds.


    ¡°It is clear that most of you are not happy with this decision.¡± ke said but no one dared to voice opinions. ¡°So, we will settle it just like we always do, with a battle.¡±


    ¡°The winner would be my second inmand. So if you have an issue with the decision step forward or forever hold your peace.¡± ke said.


    After a few seconds of no one moving, Radley finally stepped forward.


    ¡®Just like I expected.¡¯ ke thought. Radley recently advanced to the 2nd stage of the Hero realm, and had previously been the one acting as his second inmand. So, it was within ke¡¯s expectations that he would be the one to step forward.


    As for Cami, she was not bothered by ke¡¯s decision of having a battle. She felt it was necessary for her to prove herself to ke, and it was also a way to gain the respect of the members of the unit.


    Both parties took their positions on the battleground, and without wasting further time, ke announced the start of the fight.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Once the announcement was made, Cami activated Water wheel while Radley equipped his gauntlet and charged at her.


    Seeing Radley dashing toward her, she stood her ground and began firing countless water spells at him.


    BOOM!


    Stomping his feet on the ground, an earth wall erupted in front of him and began moving forward with him.


    ¡®The idea that the weakness of all mages was engaging them in close-quartersbat has led a lot of people to their graves.¡¯ ke shook his head as he watched Radley use the earth wall as a shield, to further shorten the distance between them.


    Ziu!


    Out of nowhere, a water whip shed the wall vertically into two parts, but even though Radley¡¯s vision was being blocked by the wall, he was still able to sense the attack and dodge it on time.


    Ahhh!


    Radley let a growl as he activated Berserker spell which engulfed his body in raging mes before dashing forward and instantly the remaining distance between them.


    Seeing this, Cami activated lightning reinforcement, Neuron overload, and coated her body with ayer of water before dodging each and every one of the punches that Radley rained on her.


    Although the berserker spell increased all the attributes of the caster, it still didn¡¯t make him fast enough for a spell that only focused on increasing speed.


    ¡°Stand still!¡± Radley was further enraged as he continuously threw tens of punches but none connected.


    ¡°Make me.¡± Cami said with a smirk making him even angrier.


    ¡°You asked for it!¡± Clinching his fists, Radley activated the skill of his gauntlets which increased his spell-casting rate and the power of his spells.


    The raging mes around him doubled in size, neutralizing the spells from the water wheel that never stopped firing, but then an earth wall suddenly erupted behind Cami.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 518 - 518 3 Empires.

    518 3 Empires.


    ¡®The bane of most mages was closebat but who said Cami was a mage.¡¯ ke shook his head as he saw Radley being unable tond even a single hit on her.


    Back when they were in the magic school, Cami hadn¡¯t taken the position of a mage in their battle formation because she was a mage, rather it was because those attacking were more capable. With the likes of Damon and Haldor leading the charge, there was no need for her to get up close.


    ¡°You asked for it!¡± Clinching his fists, Radley activated the skill of his gauntlets which increased his spell-casting rate and the power of his spells.


    The raging mes around him doubled in size, neutralizing the spells from the water wheel that never stopped firing, but then an earth wall suddenly erupted behind Cami.


    BOOM!


    Out of nowhere the mes on Radley immediately exploded, but Cami had already thought of all scenarios that could happen. The entirety of the Water wheel immediately enveloped her as she was sent flying into the wall behind her.


    THUD!


    Cami crashed into the thick wall behind her, and immediately she recovered from the impact she saw the ground beneath her change tova.


    Radley had cast a fire and earth fusion spell, Magma eruption!


    .....


    The magma beneath Cami began bubbling, but before it could erupt Cami cast lightning morph.


    Zzzzg! Zzzzg! Zzzzg!


    Cami transformed into a lightning bolt and shot at Radley who quickly cast multiple earth walls to protect himself.


    BOOM!


    Cami crashed through the 3 earth walls Radley had managed to erect before striking him and sending him flying to the other side of the room.


    ¡°Fuck me!¡± Radley cursed as he got up from the ground and saw the Water wheel floating behind Cami pour into theva behind her.


    The sizzling sound of water quenching theva resounded all around the training ground as massive amounts of steam were released into the air.


    ¡®It¡¯s over.¡¯ ke shook his head.


    In the battle between a pyromaniac and a Siren, the role of the pyromaniac was that of the aggressor, but if he was not able to end it quickly the Siren was guaranteed victory. This was because the sh of both elements resulted in the production of steam which is a key ingredient in creating a mist illusion.


    Controlling the water vapor in the mist, Cami spread the fog all around the training ground before activating the mist illusion.


    ¡°Time to end this.¡± Cami said as she took out 2 hilts that produced lightning whips.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡± ke said, ending the fight.


    There was no way for Radley to stop the mist illusion especially since the Berserker spell also messed with his psyche. So, there was no point for the fight to go on.


    ¡®We were members of the elite ss for a reason.¡¯ ke shook his head at the one-sided beatdown that just took ce.


    Throughout the battle, Cami wasn¡¯t even pressured for once. She had only done the bare minimum and had still won without using her weapons or even fusion magic; the difference in strength was ring.


    ¡°Does anyone else have an issue with the decision?¡± ke asked but received no answer. ¡°That will be all for now. Captain Cami, I will leave them to you.¡±


    With the introductionplete, ke returned to his office and began preparing himself for the tasks that were about toe.


    As a Major of the special ops, ke had the responsibility of overseeing the activities of all units under him. That included reviewing and nning missions, dealing with the aftermath of missions, handling requests for missions, and so on.


    This meant that he would be spending most of his time dealing with a lot of paperwork, and will only get some action when a mission was deemed important and difficult.


    ¡°The silver lining is that I would get more time to get past my bottleneck.¡± ke said. ¡°That reminds me.¡±


    Activating the interface on his desk, ke essed the Ash corps database and began searching for the questions he had already prepared.


    The first question was concerning the rtionship between the 3 empires.


    ording to what he knew so far, the Kaldron empire was passive to the other empires, while the Synder empire and Tigeria empire were mortal enemies. What ke wanted to know was the reason behind the enmity, because even his history sses back in the magic school didn¡¯t mention anything about it.


    Unfortunately for ke, after more than 30 minutes of searching, he still wasn¡¯t able to get any substantial information.


    ¡®This is beyond odd. How is it possible that no one knows the reason for such a level of enmity between 2 empires?¡¯ ke said in a frustrated tone as he felt like screaming.


    He quickly calmed himself down and began thinking about it. ¡°I don¡¯t know if those in the Tigeria empire know the reason, but I feel it¡¯s something shameful that would destroy the image of the Synder empire if it was known.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it might actually be something way older than we might imagine or even both¡± ke shrugged.


    Since he wasn¡¯t making any headway, he moved on to the next question. ¡®Real-time details of all empires.¡¯


    Among the 3 empires, the Synder empire was ahead technologically and was rich in industrious natural resources like crystal and metal mines. They experienced the 2nd most intense beast tides and also the most infighting due to their system of government.


    The territory of the Tigeria empire was made up of multiple inds and a massive maind. Although they were technologically behind whenpared to the Synder Empire, they had the strongest marine force as well as the highest number of high-level cultivators in all the 3 empires.


    Unlike the Synder empire where the throne was passed down to direct descendants, the position of emperor of the Tigeria was determined by strength. There was no room for the underhand schemes that came with politics. Also, the marginalization ofmoners was close to being non-existent.

 Chapter 519 - 519 New mission.

    519 New mission.


    Out of the 3 empires, the Kaldron empire was the most peaceful. They didn¡¯t have any enmity with any of the other 2 empires and they had close to no in-fighting or terrorist attacks.


    In addition to having the strongest and highest number of Geomancers, the Kaldron empire was blessed with a lot of precious herbs also the highest number of Lumomancers and photomancers making it the healing center of the 3 Empires.


    On top of all these, they were blessed with what seemed to be the best location. All of their cities were built on mountains making them the best location for their army whichprised mostly of geomancers, thus making it extremely difficult to siege.


    Also, their terrain was a natural barrier protecting them from the other 2 empires. In the North East was the mystical Malock desert that was extremely dangerous for even Angels. So it was impossible for the Synder Empire to match their army through the desert.


    To the North was the Saharathia desert; although it was just a normal scorching desert, the arid air of the desert weakened the abilities of Aquamancers which the Tigeria army was mostlyprised of.


    ¡°The Kaldron Empire is a natural counter to the aggressive nature of the Synder and Tigeria empires.¡± ke thought as he read through the info.


    ¡°The same goes for the Tribirius ocean that has prevented an all-out war between the Synder and Tigeria empire, but I have a feeling that things are about to change very soon.¡± He shook his head and went moved his attention to the Southern part of the map.


    The southern region which was the only marked ck Zone on the map was the most dangerous area in all of Infinite realm up till date. Other red zones like the Malock desert could notpare because few people like de had managed to survive.


    In the case of the ck zone, the only people that had managed to enter the area and return alive were the joint exploration group formed by the 3 empires.


    .....


    ¡°Who could believe that the 3 empires could work together.¡± ke was surprised about the info and looked further into it.


    The joint exploration teamprised the top experts of the 3 empires. When they entered the ck zone they were immediately attacked by strong mysterious beasts they had never met before.


    The joint exploration team managed to repel the mysterious beasts, but immediately after the battle was over one of the peak angels of the Synder empire suddenly slumped and died.


    They quickly scanned his corpse for the cause of his death but no traces of poisons or injuries were found.


    With the death of one of their strongest members, the Synder empire med it on the Tigeria empire. A fight almost broke out between members of the 2 empires but was prevented by the dangers lurking in the shadows of the ck zone.


    Just like that the Synder empire disagreed to continue with the exploration, causing everyone to exit the ck zone, thus ending the joint exploration on the first day.


    ¡°Wow!¡± ke was shocked that the 3 empires couldn¡¯tst a day in the ck zone. Although it was because they were not united, the fact that a peak angel died in the first battle showed how dangerous the ck zone was.


    ¡°It really makes me wonder what is inside the ck zone.¡± ke said as he rubbed his chin. For a ce to be so dangerous, ke felt that something was hidden in the area.


    ¡°Even if there is nothing there, the corpse of the mysterious beasts and the resources there would be more precious than whatever the 3 empires have.¡± ke thought.


    Having still not found any information concerning the feud between the Synder and Tigeria empire, ke called it a day and turned off the interface.


    ¡­


    3 weekster.


    ¡°Finally, thest one.¡± ke let out a sigh of relief as he ced thest document onto the heap of paperwork by the side.


    From the day he had assumed his position as a Special ops Major, paperwork had constantly been piling on his desk. The first week was not too bad, but after that, a mountain of documents that never seemed to reduce was constantly on his desk.


    ¡°What am I going to have for lunch?¡± ke began fantasizing about how he would fill his belly, but that was when amunication request interrupted his daydreaming.


    ¡®Prince Bryon?!¡¯ ke was shocked but soon got himself in order and epted the call.


    ¡°Your highness!¡± ke saluted.


    ¡°At ease.¡± Bryon said. ¡°Major ke, an issue has arisen at the Northeast that requires your service. Meet me at the pce for briefing.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness!¡± With the call over, ke couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    ¡°Finally I get to leave this office!¡±


    ke wasted no time calling Jerry who took him to the pce which was 10 minutes away.


    ¡­


    On arriving at the pce ke was ushered into one of the nning rooms, where he saw Prince Bryon, Colonel Darius, and the second special ops Major.


    ¡®I wonder what is going on.¡¯ ke thought.


    ¡°There is a situation at Sandhaven.¡± Prince Bryon said as he walked to the desk that disyed theyout of the city.


    The city of Sandhaven was located not too far from the boundaries of the Malock desert. Lots of ruins were constantly discovered in the area, and even ke had visited the area back in his days of being in the magic school.


    ¡°A new ruin was recently discovered close to the boundary of the Malock desert. The first set of adventurer parties that visited the ruin had gone missing.¡±


    The Adventurer Association had sent their members to investigate the matter; they came out with nothing, but another set of adventurers was reported missing some hours ago.¡± Prince Bryon exined.


    ¡°Your task is to resolve the matter as soon as possible. Here is all the info you will need.¡± Prince Bryon handed them a folder.

 Chapter 520 - 520 Red flag.

    520 Red g.


    After looking at the report, ke and Erick the second special ops Major left the pce and returned to the square to gather their units.


    Since the situation was serious, they had to solve the case as quickly as possible. So immediately they were done gathering their units, they were to use the Square¡¯s warping array to teleport to the Square at Sandheaven.


    ¡®A few months ago, I had to travel by carriage, now I am getting warped to another city.¡¯


    Although ke would have loved to experience the journey to the desert, he was happy that he was now deemed important enough to be warped to another city.


    Standing on the warp arrays with 5 units each, ke and Erik were teleported into the Square at Sandheaven.


    ¡°Wee to Sandheaven.¡± The head of the investigation department of Sandheaven saluted them as they appeared.


    Without wasting further time, the head of the investigations department escorted ke and Erik to the nning room while the units were asked to wait in another room.


    ¡°So far, we still haven¡¯t been able to make any progress.¡± The Major began exining the situation of the ruin to them.


    It turned out that the ash corps had sent in 2 special ops units to investigate the matter at the start, but they had also gone missing. This made even the demigods afraid to enter the ruin especially since they had no idea of what they were dealing with.


    .....


    ¡°What happened on the first day the ruin appeared?¡± ke asked.


    ording to what he knew about the Malock desert, ruins randomly appeared at the surface of the safe zone. The main reasons for this were sandstorms that discedrge amounts of sand and the movement of beasts in and out of the desert soil.


    There were also rumors that the red zone of the Malock desert randomly sucked and spat things in and out of itself. Although the possibility of this being true was quite high since the danger zone was still a mystery, it was still hard to believe.


    Such rumors would imply the desert was either a living entity or was an artificial intelligence like that of Azkelwart that constantly shuffled the ground to keep those inside trapped.


    ¡°On the first day, we didn¡¯t notice the presence of the ruin since it was far from the city and very close to the danger zone. It was an adventurer party that discovered this and reported to the Adventurer association which in turn reported it to us.¡±


    ¡°At first we didn¡¯t pay much attention to it because ruins constantly popped out of nowhere¡­¡± The head of the investigation department began exining everything but it was no different from the report that Prince Bryon had given them.


    ¡®I was hoping that he would give me something useful and make my work easier.¡¯ ke let out a helpless sigh.


    Once they were done with their questions, both majors led their units out of the square and into the desert.


    ¡®Although the weather is not the best, this is still a nice vacation spot.¡¯ ke thought as his carriage rode through the city of Sandheaven.


    The city of Sandheaven, was almost the size of the previous Calton city before its expansion, its poption was more than half of Calton city. This was shocking especially with the presence of the scorching Sun and arid air, but it soon made sense to ke.


    Apart from the desert being a treasure trove for adventurers, Sandheaven was the only city that did not experience beast tides. Also the city used water arrays to increase the humidity of the air, but even at that it was still quite dry. This made it a safe heaven for those tide of the beast tides and a good vacation spot.


    ¡®I wonder how dry the air would be that deep into the desert.¡¯ The harshness of the desert, as well as the strength of the beasts, increased as one went closer to the red zone.


    Once they were out of the city gate, they alighted from the carriages and mounted camel-type beasts that took them deeper into the desert.


    ¡®Not as if I have been to the desert on Earth but I am pretty sure this is more than 10 times worse!¡¯ ke was shocked.


    During hisst visit to the Malock desert he hadn¡¯t gone too deep, but this time he had been expecting the fire resistance granted by the fire pathway to reduce the heat, but it was still very hot.


    ¡®This would definitely affect our fighting capabilities; we need to avoidbat at all costs.¡¯ ke thought as he looked around his team.


    Although he was feeling very hot, his fighting ability wasn¡¯t affected that much, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for his unit.


    Most of the members of his unit were not yet in the mid-tier of the Hero realm so they didn¡¯t have much resistance to the heat. Also, the arid air of the desert drastically reduced the power of the water, earth, and nt elements by 70%, 30%, and 50% respectively.


    The loose sand of the desert made it difficult for Geomancers to control, while the arid air and scorching sun were the worst enemies of normal nts. On the other hand, the power of the fire element was more than doubled.


    After 2 hours of traveling, the ash corps units from Calton finally arrived at the ruin. The only part of the ruin that was above the surface was the entrance.


    ¡®Yup, this is a red g.¡¯ ke thought as the entrance was not too far from the red sand boundary that marked the start of the danger zone.


    __________________________________________________________________


    AN: So sorry for not posting in a long while. I have returned to school, and I am currently having exams, but freight not because I will try as much as possible to make uploads stable.


    As for the new book ¡°Lust system: War against the heavens¡± it would be dropping by Mid of May on 3_Sins_Studios.

 Chapter 521 - 521 What are you doing?

    521 What are you doing?


    The main reason the Malock desert was feared by all was the fear of the unknown. Surprisingly people were even more afraid of the mystical desert than the ck zone of the south.


    The reasons for this were both distance and the cloud of mystery hovering over the red zone of the desert.


    The Malock desert was closer to the 3 empires than the ck Zone. So the great distance between the southern continent and the others made people forget and not take the dangers of the southern continent seriously.


    Also, unlike the joint expedition of the 3 empires that visited the ck zone and came back alive, there were only a handful of people that had managed to survive the red desert. Most of them were dead, and those alive were all fugitives, so there was no one to debunk the mystery.


    ¡®Only high-level beasts won¡¯t be enough to keep someone trapped in there forever, there has to be something else that makes it dangerous.¡¯ ke thought as he stared past the boundary of the red zone, but didn¡¯t dare to find out.


    The only difference between both sides was the red sand of the red zone, but apart from that everything seemed normal until one stepped in.


    [Illusions and most likely ground shifting because walking in a straight line would be able to get one out of there.] The system said.


    After a few more minutes of observing the red zone, ke turned his attention back to the entrance of the ruin.


    ¡®What do you think about this?¡¯ ke couldn¡¯t help but ask the system because he had a very bad feeling about it.


    .....


    [Not going to lie, this doesn¡¯t feel right. A ruin popped up this close to the red zone and causes the disappearance of close to a hundred people. All I can say is just be careful.] The system said.


    ¡°Begin the scan!¡± ke gave the signal to the ash corps of his units.


    The ash corps took out what looked like tablets and began scanning the ruin¡¯s entrance and the area around it.


    The scanning devices had the ability to detect traps, spatial fluctuations, the cursed energy of cursed artifacts, and so on. They already had suspicions that the case wasn¡¯t normal, so they hade prepared for all possible scenarios.


    After 30 mins of continuous scanning, Cami, Michelle, and the 3 other Captains under him reported the same thing.


    ¡°Nothing was detected.¡±


    ¡®Guess we have no other choice than to move in blindly.¡¯ ke shook his head and waited for Erik¡¯s 5 units to get done with their scans before moving into the entrance.


    The entrance to the ruin is an archway with a broken gate. The archway led down a flight of stone steps and into arge courtyard with crumbling walls, sand, and a lot of dust.


    ¡®I wonder how this courtyard was back in its prime?¡¯ ke said to himself as he thought about the nts that were now part of the golden sand scattered all around the courtyard.


    While keeping their eyes peeled the group of 10 special ops units soon arrived at the end of the courtyard which had 2 passages heading in opposite directions.


    ke soon signaled for them to stop so they could decide which route to follow, but Erik and the 5 units under him continued moving.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± ke asked with furrowed brows as Erik led his team toward the left passage.


    ¡°Splitting up.¡± Erik said with disdain written over his face.


    ¡°This ce is too dangerous; we are meant to move together.¡± ke said causing Erik to frown.


    Even before he had discovered that ke was also getting promoted to the Major rank, Erik had hated him.


    He was a noble, and although he was not a member of the top 3 families, he hatedmoners. To make matters worse, ke wasn¡¯t just anymoner but he had achieved a lot more than him at a very young age.


    Right from the moment, they had arrived at Sandheaven, ke had been the one asking important questions and giving out orders. This made him feel like ke was trying to take charge of the mission, thus the glory once they ended up solving the case.


    ¡°You can¡¯t tell me what to do.¡± Erik said as he continued moving down the left corridor.


    ¡®Sometimes I wonder if some people were born with iplete brains, because why will you split up in a ce that has killed demigods?¡¯ ke shook his head and began thinking of his next course of action.


    There was no way he was going to follow them, not because of his pride but because it would only lead to more issues.


    He didn¡¯t want a situation where he would be used of sitting back and doing nothing, or his team doing all the work.


    ¡®It is clear that he just wants to make things difficult for me, so it¡¯s best to avoid him.¡¯ ke thought as he ced a spatial mark on the floor just in case his team faced danger and needed to retreat.


    ¡°All right guys, let¡¯s keep moving. Remember not to let your guard down.¡± ke instructed and led his team into the right passage.


    The moment both groups left the courtyard, the wall at the end of the courtyard changed back to its original form: arge double door.


    ¡­


    When they walked down the passage, they had immediately taken a left turn and began walking north of the entrance.


    After more than 5 minutes of slowly advancing through the passage, ke and his team had reached a T-junction.


    ¡®Why can¡¯t ruins be straightforward?¡¯ ke mentally sighed and instructed his team to go right.


    The main reason for this decision was that they were moving farther away from the red zone. Also, it was best practice to explore all parts of the ruin before going deeper so as to prevent being surrounded from all sides.


    As for getting lost, the system had been making a map of the areas they had explored right from the moment they stepped into the ruin.

 Chapter 522 - 522 Life at risk!

    522 Life at risk!


    After turning right, ke and the rest had arrived at what looked like a living quarters. They could see multiple doors and passages that led to other parts of the ruin.


    ¡®What the hell was this ce?!¡¯ The more passages ke saw, the more the bad feeling In his gut increased.


    [I feel what you are afraid of is the silence.] The system said.


    Since the ruin was very old, and no longer had a power source, the concealment arrays were no longer functioning, thus revealing the inactive traps and arrays in the passages.


    The problem was, instead of making the group feel relieved, it had the opposite effect on them.


    If all the traps were inactive and in the open, then how have so many people gone missing?!


    ¡®I feel the purpose of the revealed traps is to make us let our guards down, but it also means there is something more dangerous. Maybe the danger might be behind these doors.¡¯ ke thought as he stared at the doors.


    ¡°Everyone stand back, and prepare forbat.¡± ke instructed as he approached the first door to the right.


    He and the system had performed a scan on the doors, but just like every other thing in the ruin, they had no mana flowing through them, meaning they were just normal doors.


    .....


    Normally, ke wouldn¡¯t have bothered opening them since the rooms were unimportant, but his mission was to discover the reason for the disappearance and save those that had gone missing, if possible.


    Also, if ke were able to find a survivor, he would be able to understand what was actually going on in the ruin.


    ¡®This is just the first door, and there is already so much pressure.¡¯ ke shook his head and walked up to the first door by the right and turned the handle before pushing the door open.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The door swung open revealing an empty room with signs of a battle.


    ¡®Burn marks, damaged walls and ground, and ck stains of dried-up blood scattered all across the room.¡¯ ke thought as he scanned the room.


    [The room isn¡¯t dusty, meaning the battle happened recently. The question is, what happened to the winner of the fight?] The system said.


    With the few areas covered by blood stains, it was safe to say that it was human blood. This most likely meant that the beast won the fight thus eating the human, but the beast or its corpse was nowhere to be found.


    ¡®There is the option of the human killing the beast and cing it in a dimensional amulet, but the blood sshes, trails, and pools are too small to belong to a beast.¡¯ ke thought.


    Click!


    While ke and the system were still trying to deduce all possible oues, they all heard clicksing from the other doors.


    ¡®What the hell is going on?!¡¯ ke who didn¡¯t step inside the room the entire time turned to the door behind him and saw it opening.


    Without thinking twice, ke activated lightning reinforcement and returned to his team, and saw that all the doors in the passage were opened. Secondster, beasts and insects of different shapes and sizes began slowly walking out of the rooms.


    [They are all King rank beasts!] The system warned ke as more than 30 King rank beasts simultaneously turned in their direction.


    ¡®No wonder they were getting lost, even Ebony and Ivory can¡¯t take all of them at once!¡¯


    ¡°Retreat!¡± ke didn¡¯t waste a second more and ordered his team to retreat immediately. Almost instantly, the King rank beasts and insects dashed at them, but something surprising happened.


    The beasts behind began fighting each other to get to the humans, while those in front that attacked them were only 3.


    ke released Ebony and Ivory who easily countered their attacks.


    ¡®I knew this was a trap; we need to get out of here and regroup outside¡­¡¯ ke was busy thinking about his next course of action but that was when he remembered something.


    ¡°The traps!¡± ke turned around and screamed to members of his unit but it was already toote.


    The moment the doors unlocked and the King rank beasts appeared, there were already some special ops that had ns of running away. They were just waiting for themand to retreat, and when it was given they wasted no time retreating.


    With the fear of so many strong beasts consuming their minds, 2 of the ash corps had forgotten about the inactive traps that now had mana flowing through them.


    Once they stepped foot into the inactive array, it lit up and warped them at the other end of the passage where most of the beasts were.


    In a matter of seconds, they had been turned to shreds by the beasts, and blood sttered all across the passage.


    ¡°The passage has been blocked!¡± Cami screamed to ke who was still in front.


    ¡°Shit!¡± ke cursed as he turned and saw that the passage that they came from was now blocked by a wall.


    For the first time in a very long while, ke felt his life was in serious danger.


    Ever since he had gotten Ebony and Ivory, it was only once that ke had felt his life was in serious danger and that was the attempted assassination at the capital.


    At that time he couldn¡¯t escape because he had to save Brian and of course couldn¡¯t easily run from an Angel even with void shift.


    In this case, not only could ke and his team not take on the King rank beasts, but he still had no idea of what they were dealing with.


    ¡®I could warp us back to the entrance but what are the chances that whatever is controlling this ce can¡¯t also warp the beasts to us?¡¯ ke thought before making a decision.


    ¡°Follow me!¡± ke said as he led the team through the other passage.


    It was obvious that whatever was controlling the ruin wanted them to go through this path. So he was going to y along for the time being.

 Chapter 523 Prey To Hunter.

    As ke led his team through the corridor at the right, he and the system began assessing the situation as they scanned the passages for traps.


    [The scanners were not able to pick up the energy signature because whatever is controlling the ruin is only turning on when it wants to activate traps.] The system said.


    ''So we are dealing with an artificial intelligence like the one in Azekelwart''s base?'' ke asked.


    [No. If we are dealing with an artificial intelligence then it wouldn''t be able to know the perfect time to activate a trap since it is turned off.]


    [My guess is that we are dealing with a cursed artifact that somehow merged or got control of the ruin''s power core. It is able to sense our presence in the passages and turn the power core back on when needed] The system exined.


    At the moment the doors of the rooms opened, the system noticed mana moving into the doors and opening them. The same thing happened when the trap behind them was activated.


    ''Something doesn''t make sense. Since we already know of its presence, why doesn''t it just turn everything on and finish us off'' ke couldn''t help but wonder.


    [From what we have seen so far, the ruin is very old and the energy of the power core should be depleted by now. This means the cursed entity somehow managed to get some juice, so it is trying to conserve it.]


    [As for why it isn''t finishing you guys off, there are only 2 things thate to mind. It is maybe leading us to something that would kill you guys or somewhere that would make it very easy for the beasts behind to do so. ] The system exined.


    Apart from the traps that barely functioned properly, the ruins didn''t have anything that could threaten the lives of the ash corps.


    ¡­


    Noticing their prey were getting away, the king-rank beasts and insects stopped fighting and began chasing after ke and his team.


    They first attacked Ebony and Ivory who had killed 6 of them, but the 2 wolves soon turned to swords and flew in the direction of the humans.


    With so many of the beasts attacking Ebony and Ivory at once, leaving them there would get them killed so ke decided to call them back.


    ''Prepare your attacks.'' ke said to Ebony and Ivory as they kept running.


    The group soon reached another T-junction, but the moment they arrived walls covered the passages by the left and ahead, leaving the one by the right open.


    ''If you say so.''


    With the freighting speeds of the frenzied King rank beasts, ke knew it was only a matter of time before they caught up. So without hesitation, he led his team into the right passage and threw Ebony and Ivory behind them.


    AWOO!


    The moment the king-rank beasts moved into the T-Junction, Ebony released the pir of fire he had been charging up at the beasts.


    The pir of scorching mes crashed into 3 king-rank beasts and sent them flying into the walls before hundreds of ice spikes impaled them.


    Once the kills were confirmed Ebony and Ivory returned to their sword forms and flew back to ke.


    "Sir, what is the n?" Michelle couldn''t help but ask ke as they made a turn into what seemed to be a library.


    "The n is still the same, we find the cause of the disappearance and neutralize it if possible." ke said as they never stopped running.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''How are we going to locate it when we have been running?!''


    The captains screamed in their minds but didn''t there to voice their opinions because not only would they be punished, but mainly because ke was the one currently protecting them from being eaten by the beasts behind them.


    As for Cami and Michelle, they already had no idea of what was going on but they knew how capable ke was so they didn''t question his decision.


    ''Only if the books weren''t made with regr paper I would have been able to snatch a lot of them.'' ke said as he looked all around the library for traps or anything out of ce.''


    The library was once a treasure trove of knowledge, but now the books had crumbled to dust and the shelves were empty.


    GRRR!


    At that moment an oryx roared as it charged through an ostrich-type beast as well as a scorpion and entered the library. Without caring about the beasts it injured nor those still trying to enter the library, the oryx continued it charge at ke''s team.


    ''Deal with them.'' ke said Ebony and Ivory as he released them.


    AWOOO!


    Ivory howled as the blue markings on its body lit up and a sharp ice pir erupted from below and impaled the oryx, killing it on the spot.


    Ebony did not idle around; it released the massive meburst it had been charging up at the iing beasts.


    BOOM!


    The sheer power of the explosion killed the already injured scorpion and ostrich that were being trampled by the other beasts while injuring and pushing back the others.


    Awoo!


    Ebony howled as it returned to ke''s hand.


    ''I know they are easy, but try not to bury us alive!'' ke scolded Ebony, but that was when the system pointed out something.


    [I think he is trying to say something.] The system said. [The beasts, they must have been locked in here for a very long time without having food so they must be very weak.]


    ''That exins a lot!''


    He had found it wired that more than 30 king-rank beasts and insects were finding it hard to catch up to 50 ash corps. Also, the rate at which Ebony and Ivory were killing them with each attack felt too good to be true.


    The group soon found the exit of the library and entered another passage. The only difference this time was that had gathered all the info he needed.


    The prey was about to turn to the hunter!


    _________________________________________________________________________________________________


    As for the new book "Lust System: War against the Heavens" it would be dropping by Mid of May on 3_Sins_Studios.

 Chapter 524 Other Side Of The Monastery.

    ke and the system were right about many things concerning the ruin and the cursed entity controlling it, but they weren''tpletely right about the power source of the ruin being almost depleted.


    The ruin''s power core energy level was low, but it wasn''t as low and powerless as they thought.


    When Major Erik had decided to split up from ke''s team, the cursed entity controlling the ruin channeled most of its energy into the left side of the ruin where he was heading.


    The reason for this was simply because Major Erik was the only demigod-level Ash corp in both groups so it was best to eliminate the supposed highest threat.


    The ruin was previously a monastery for a religious group, and itsyout which housed females at the left and males at the right was perfectly symmetrical.


    Just like ke, Major Erik had first branched into the living quarters with multiple doors that spanned down the long passage.


    After telling his team to stand back, Major Erik began approaching the first door. Although the door seemed normal and he couldn''t sense anything behind it, he still didn''t let his guard down.


    He twisted the door handle and pushed open the door. Almost instantly a King rank pray mantis lunged at him and shed its raptorial leg at his neck to decapitate him in one fell swoop.


    Without thinking, Major Erick activated lightning morph and transformed into a thick bolt of lightning that shot right through the king-rank praying mantis, killing it on the spot.


    ''That was too easy¡­'' He was shocked.


    Although the lightning element of the demigod realm had extraordinary prative abilities, he was still facing a King rank insect with an extremely hard exoskeleton. So he was shocked to see it get one shotted.


    ''I am strong for sure, but definitely not strong enough to one-shot a King rank. Something is definitely wrong here.'' Major Erick said to himself, but that was when he suddenly remembered something.


    ''If a king rank is in this room doesn''t that mean that¡­''


    Before he couldplete the sentence in his head, the clicking sounds of doors being unlocked were heard all around the corridor.


    Without wasting another second, Major Erick zoomed out of the room and back into the corridor. Immediately he came out of the room his acute senses picked up the mana that had started flowing through the walls.


    "Shit!"


    He looked back to the path they came from and cursed when he saw it was now blocked by a wall.


    With his strength, he would be able to break down the wall, but the wall was now strengthened by the mana flowing through it.


    To make matters worse it was at this moment that tens of king-rank beasts wereing out of the rooms.


    ''I won''t be able to break the wall in time, the only option is to run.'' He had a deep frown on his face as he saw the situation.


    Unlike the beasts on ke''s side, these ones were not fighting each other. Their eyes were glowing and they were all moving toward Erik and his team.


    They were being controlled by the entity controlling the ruin!


    "Captain Neville, take the team through the other path. Also, watch out for the traps, they have now been activated." Major Erik said to his second inmand as the wind around them began swirling around him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Seeing the humans escaping, the cursed entity controlled the beasts to charge at them and hunt them down.


    In an instant 5 King rank beasts were already in front of Major Erick. He lifted his hands and released a burst of wind that sent them crashing into others behind them.


    Making use of this opportunity, Major Erik began retreating while charging his spells.


    The beasts quickly recovered and continued their charge, but as they charged into the passage, they were met with 2 tornadoes covering the blocking area ahead.


    Unfortunately for the King rank beasts at the forefront, they had turned into the passage with so much speed that they couldn''t stop in time, causing the suction force of the tornados to suck them in and tear them to shreds.


    ''Are they so weak because they have been trapped in here for years?'' Major Erik couldn''t help but ask as he saw the King rank beasts and insects die so easily.


    AH!


    While still thinking of what had just happened, Erik''s train of thought was shattered by an explosion followed by the scream of a member of his unit whose lower body had been blown to bits.


    ''How are they still falling into the traps, they are literally out in the open?!'' Erik thought as he turned back and saw that nothing was amiss.


    On turning back to the beasts, they had bombarded the tornadoes with spells, shutting them down and continuing their charge at them, but Erik lifted his hands and released hundreds of wind des at them.


    "Help!"


    "What the fuck?!" Major Erik turned back to see that another member of his unit had fallen into a trap. This time instead of a magic mine, it was a faulty teleportation array.


    Instead of getting teleported away from the area, the Ash cop was surrounded by spatial arrays and was teleporting in and out of the passage.


    Major Erik released a wind st to punish the beasts further back before flying toward the ash corp and studying his situation for a second before making a decision.


    "Keep moving there is nothing we can do about it." Major Erik said with a heavy heart.


    He was no expert in the field of spatial magic, and although he could try some things there was no way he could save him in time. So the best course of action was to continue moving.


    ''I can''t let this continue to happen.'' Major Erik immediately flew to the front of the group before casting Wind tunnel on the passage to increase their movement speeds. This way he would be able to discover any more hidden traps and save his team.


    The only problem was that they wouldn''t have much defense at the backline.


    _____________________________________________________________________________________


    I have been busy making sure the final steps wereplete. MY LUST SYSTEM: War Against The Heavens, has finallyunched with currently 30 free chapters!!!!


    Please go check it out on 3_Sins_Studios.

 Chapter 525 Trouble Comes Back.

    ''How did things get to this level?'' Major Erik''s feelings wereplicated.


    The aim of separating from ke''s team was to have the highest contribution by being the first to explore the ruin and discover the reason for the disappearance. Now he was no different from a headless chicken running without direction.


    While he was contemting his next move, Erik felt a force trying to stealthily prate his mental walls, but he immediately shut it out.


    ''Illusions!'' Major Erick was shocked. ''That exins why they were falling for the traps even though they were in the open!''


    With the strong mental fortitude of demigods, it was nearly impossible for the weakened cursed entity controlling the ruin to put him under an illusion, especially since it was spending most of its energy on the ruins and beasts. However the same couldn''t be said for the members of his units who were still in the Hero realm.


    ''If we don''t get out of here, it is only a matter of time before we all end up dying.'' Major Erik thought.


    With the increased speed granted by the wind trail spell, it didn''t take time for them to approach another junction. The passage to the right led to the hall, that to the left led to the library, while the one in front led deeper into the ruin.


    Just when they were a few meters away from the junction, walls began rising to block the right and straight path causing Erik to frown.


    It was more than clear that the entity controlling the ruin did not want them going in those directions, but Erik was nning on doing exactly that.


    ''I still don''t have a clear idea of what is going on so going deeper could mean more danger for us. So, the right it is.'' The Major finally made a decision.


    Instantly the air in the passage began swirling, and hundreds of lightning arcs lit up the entire area as he began charging up his spells.


    Seeing this, the cursed entity began sending in more mana into the stone doors to reinforce it, while also controlling the beasts chasing them to increase their speeds.


    "You think that will be enough? Think again!" Major Erik sneered at the entity''s futile effort and released hundreds of wind des at the stone door before throwing the 2-meter-thick lightning bolt.


    BOOM!


    The stone doors were shattered into bits, and immediately Major Erik moved to the back to hold off the beasts while his team entered the hall.


    On entering the hall, lo and behold, ke and his team were currently inbat with 13 king-rank beasts. They were all in formation while making use of battle arrays to both defend and attack the rampaging beasts.


    "Reinforcement has arrived!"


    The sound of explosions on the stone door had made ke''s team fear, but to their surprise, it was Major Erik''s team.


    ''What are they doing here?'' Once all members of his unit had made their way into the hall, Major Erik quickly followed after but he was surprised to see ke.


    Although they were both enemies, Major Erik was more than d to see him, but the same couldn''t be said for ke.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''The heavens are surely after me!'' ke cursed his bad luck when he saw Erik bring another set of beasts into the hall.


    [Not to be the bringer of bad news, but those beasts are being controlled so they should be stronger than the ones we have faced so far.] The system reported.


    ''I just hope this f*cktard doesn''t ruin my entire n!'' ke cursed Major Erik''s entire generation for being stupid and not sticking together.


    ...


    After leaving the library and entering another passage, instead of going deeper into the ruin, ke decided to go through another route and return to the previous entrance leading to the center.


    Obviously, the cursed entity of course tried to stop him by blocking their path with walls, but since they didn''t have mana flowing through them, Ebony and Ivory easily destroyed them.


    On sting open the door of the hall, ke and his unit were met with arge empty space with a lot of dust, making it the perfect space to start his counterattack.


    From all the info ke had gotten, he and the system deduced that the best course of action was to deal with the beasts before going deeper into the ruin.


    The weakness of the King rank beasts gave him enough confidence to attempt this n so he decided that the hall was the perfect ce.


    What he hadn''t expected was that the fool responsible for making the mission so difficult woulde back to cause trouble for him.


    "Take formation and attack!" Major Erikmanded as he engaged the beasts while receiving support from his team''s battle arrays.


    The weakness of the King rank beasts didn''te from being locked up for so long, but because the cursed entity drained constantly drained portions of their energy. That way it could still live while keeping the King rank beasts locked up and using them to capture even more beasts.


    That was why throughout the chase, the King rank beasts hadn''t been raining spells on them throughout the chase.


    However, the physical capabilities of a weakened King rank beast were still above that of Heroes. That was why even though they were employing the destructive powers of battle arrays, they were barely hanging on.


    [We don''t know what surprises the ruin might still have in stock for us. We better end this quick.] The system said.


    ''Roger that!'' ke replied before giving Ebony and Ivory the signal to go haywire.


    Awooo!


    Ebony howled in joy as it released a massive explosion that pushed the beasts back, before transforming into spinning mes and crashing into a tiger smander.


    At the same time, a giant hairy scorpion appeared beside Ebony and struck its stinger at him, but Ebony easily grabbed onto it with its mouth and mmed it into the ground before burning it to crisps.

 Chapter 526 The Voice.

    In the space of a few minutes, the number of King rank beasts attacking ke''s group had been reduced from 13 to 8 while still maintaining 0 casualties in the fight.


    Although the actions of this group of beasts were driven by hunger; seeing that 5 of them died in such a short space of time, their mind-consuming hunger was reced by the fear of being turned to food.


    Without wasting another second, the remaining 8 king rank beasts turned back and began running out of the hall without turning back.


    "Don''t give chase, help the other team." ke instructed his pets and his team.


    Unlike the group of beasts he faced, those of Major Erik was directly controlled by the cursed entity. Their attacks were more coordinated and deadly, leading to greater pressure and a few casualties that were sure to go up if nothing was done.


    ''I would have loved to stand by and watch him suffer, but his team members don''t deserve to suffer for his stupidity. Also, we will need as much help as possible if we are to continue exploring.'' ke thought as he joined the fight.


    With the concentrated fire of 100 ash corps as well as 2 king-rank beasts and a Demigod, the tides were instantly turned. In less than 2 minutes 6 of the 22 King rank beasts had been taken down while 2 were currently being pinned down by Ebony and Ivory and were on theirst breath.


    The cursed entity soon realized that keeping its minions there would only lead to a useless death. So itmanded them to immediately retreat.


    ''Argh! He is going to take all the glory!'' Major Erick was frustrated at seeing the result of ke''s assistance.


    He could notin because his team really needed the help, but he couldn''t help but feel frustrated because after acting all-powerful and splitting up, he was the one in a worse position.


    "Let''s get moving." ke told his team, causing Erik''s teammates to turn to him.


    After losing 7 members to traps and beasts, the members of his unit were totally against the idea of splitting up, but they couldn''t voice their opinions.


    ''Asking toe along will be shameful, but¡­'' Major Erik looked at the pleading eyes of his team unit.


    ''F*ck it. '' Major Erik sighed.


    Although he was a proud man, he wouldn''t put the lives of his team in danger because of his pride, especially after seeing how dangerous the ruin was.


    "Where are you headed to?" Major Erik asked.


    "Why should I tell you?" ke answered with a smirk, it was clear that he wanted to cause trouble.


    ''Why is he so petty?!'' Major Erik cursed ke a thousand times before continuing.


    "It would be beneficial to all if webine our discoveries so far and cooperate to solve this problem." Major Erik replied with a straight face.


    ''This fellow is truly shameless.'' ke was shocked by how someone could be so shameless and still maintain a straight face.


    [Kettle calling pot ck.] The system snorted.


    "If I remember correctly, I proposed something along this line a few hours ago. Seems like the result of your decision has made you a better listener." ke chuckled.


    "Anyways, I am heading deeper into the ruin to destroy the power core and the cursed entity controlling the ruin." ke said.


    Although he wanted to make Major Erik lose face, he still had a use for him and his team. So overdoing it would only have an adverse effect.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Can wee along?" Major Erik swallowed even more pride as he asked.


    "Sure, as long as you don''t get in our way." ke answered nonchntly causing Erik to boil on the inside.


    The hall had 4 stone doors; the one behind them led back to the entrance, those at the left and right led to the female and male living quarters respectively, while the one in front led deeper into the ruin.


    With everything settled, they broke through the stone wall in front and began moving deeper into the ruin. This time, they were no longer being chased by beasts, and even the Cursed entity didn''t bother wasting its energy on traps.


    They got to another junction but continued moving forward. After 3 minutes of uninterrupted walking, they arrived at what seemed to be a chapel.


    "If I am correct, the ruin seems to be a Monastery." ke said after confirming it was a chapel.


    Just like other parts of the ruin, the walls which once had a vibrant shade of red were now faded and covered in moss. Parts of the walls were cracked and crumbling, the ster king away to reveal the rough stone beneath.


    The floor was covered in ayer of sand and debris, and the wooden pews had long since rotted away.


    At the front of the chapel was a broken statue of the deity of the inhabitants of the monastery. All that was left of it were the base and broken stones scattered all around the floor.


    "From the South we came, from the South we shall return." An ash corp read out the writing on the base of the statute.


    "What the hell does that even mean?" Another ash corp asked.


    ''Isn''t itmon sense to not read things aloud in a ruin?!'' ke felt like beating the ash corp up.


    ''On a serious note, what does that mean?'' ke asked the system.


    [How am I supposed to know?!]


    ''Are you not supposed to be the all-knowing system?'' ke shook his head at the system''s ipetence.


    ''Which door leads to the power core?'' ke used the locator spell, but that was when he noticed red sand at the left door.


    ''What the hell is going on, how did red sand get inside here?'' ke was rmed.


    The red zone wasn''t the only ce that had red sand, but the fact that the ruin was so close to the red zone was more than enough reason to be rmed.


    ''Is there anything wrong?'' ke couldn''t help but ask the system.


    [Everything seems to be normal, but you have to be very careful.] The system said.


    After making sure that nothing was wrong, ke was about to give the other to move, but they stopped in their tracks by a voiceing from the walls.


    "Wee, it''s been years since anything made it here."


    With fear written all over their faces, the ash corps looked around in search of the source of the voice.

 Chapter 527 Story Of The Head Monk.

    The ruin was once a peaceful monastery that was located deep in the Malock forest before it became a desert talk less of a red zone. The monks who resided there dedicated their lives to cultivation, meditation, and prayers for their deity.


    Thanks to the river and the beasts that they resided in the Malock, they needed little to no contact with the outside world.


    However, the Malock forest began undergoing a change that to date no one knew how it began. The heat of the Malock forest drastically increased in intensity; just like every other city in Malock, the monks were troubled but their head monk preached that it was a test from their deity and decided to persevere.


    In less than 6 months, the once-green leaves turned brown and crumbled to the ground, and the trees lost their strength to stand tall. The rivers and streams that flowed through the forest dried up and the animals that lived in the forest were forced to leave in search of water and food.


    The forest that had been a source of life for centuries was now barren and lifeless.


    After close to 5 years of persevering, their situation was only getting worse, and if left for a year they would all be dead.


    With hearts full of doubt, the monks began packing up their things to journey out of the Malock desert, but that was when vicious beasts attacked the monastery.


    Leading the attack was a Redknee tarant at the emperor rank, as well as other a few other king ranks. Unfortunately, the average monk was at the 1st tier of the Hero realm, while the head monk was at the peak of the demigod realm.


    With so much difference in power, the beasts rampaged through the monastery, killing everyone in their path. The monks tried to defend themselves, but their resistance was futile.


    As the chaos ensued, the head of the monastery, who was finding it hard to protect himself and talk less of the other monks realized that he needed to take drastic measures to defeat the beast.


    He knew that the monastery had a power core, a source of energy that was essential to the survival of the monks. However, the core was fragile and could not be tampered with, or it would lead to disastrous consequences.


    Desperate times called for desperate measures, and the head of the monastery made a difficult decision. He used forbidden magic to merge himself with the power core, hoping to gain the strength and energy needed to defeat the beast.


    As soon as the head of the monastery merged with the power core, he felt a surge of power flowing through his body. He emerged from the power core with the strength of a peak Angel.


    He charged towards the beast, and a fierce battle ensued. The beast was strong, but with his newfound strength, the head of the monastery was stronger.


    After a long and grueling battle, the beast was weakened and it was now time to deal the final blow, but his body began crumbling because it could no longer handle the immense power flowing in it.


    Seeing this, and knowing that even in its weakened state the tarant would be able to wipe everyone out. The head monk used another forbidden magic to transfer his consciousness into the Monastery.


    As his body turned to dust, the head monk became a psychic entity that was strengthened by the power core, that way he was able to continue in a mental fight with the weakened emperor rank beasts.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He eventually came out on top and took over the body of the Emperor rank tarant, but as he was about to help the other monks fight off the rest of the beasts he discovered that they had all been ughtered.


    This drove the consciousness of the head monk mad, causing him to use the body of the emperor to immediately search for and kill the rest of the beasts.


    The head monk was filled with regret and med everything on himself because if not for him telling the other monks that the drought was a test from their deity, they would have migrated long ago and would all be alive.


    Wanting to atone for his mistakes, the head monk decided to make the monastery a holy ground by venting his anger on beasts while warning humans that came to explore to leave.


    He continued this for a century, but even as a monk that regrly indulged in istion, the long period of silence and loneliness were slowly affecting his mind and resolve. Slowly but surely the guilt was fading.


    From protecting the monastery he began thinking of ways to free himself from the prison he was bound to by the forbidden magic. Since he could not see or affect anything outside the walls of the ruins, he could only wait patiently for humans to arrive, but that would not happen for a very long time because the red zone hadpletely formed and humans were now staying clear of the area.


    After more than a century of waiting and still noting in contact with any human, the head monk began trapping beasts that entered the ruin and draining their energy to keep the dwindling power core alive.


    This continued for an unknown number of centuries before it felt a mystical force enveloping the entire monastery and transporting it outside the red zone.


    It was only then that it beganing in contact with humans, but it was already toote because he had already gone insane.


    ¡­


    "Wee, it''s been years since anything managed to make it this far."


    With fear written all over their faces, the ash corps looked around in search of the source of the voice.


    "But now that you are here, don''t think of leaving!" The voice screamed in an insane tone as an emperor tank Tarant walked out of the left door of the chapel.


    [That exins the red sand.] The system said.


    "Shit!" ke cursed his bad luck.

 Chapter 528 Escaping!

    The head monk had long ago taken control of the Emperor rank Tarant by absorbing its soul, turning it into a puppet it controlled to do its bidding.


    "You guys should get out of here, we will dy it." ke screamed as he and Major Erik began charging their spells.


    Although the Emperor beast was not at its peak strength due to malnutrition, it still wasn''t what 3 demigods could defeat. So instead of getting everyone killed by running with the rest of the team, it was better to try and hold it off while the rest escaped.


    Without a millisecond of hesitation, ke activated both mind boost and neuron overload as well as lightning reinforcement. Having faced an Angel before, ke knew that if care wasn''t taken, his life could end in the blink of an eye without even knowing how he died.


    ''Please buy us a few seconds.'' ke said to Ebony and Ivory before releasing them.


    GRRR!


    The wolves growled at the Tarant as Ebony went all out from the start and released thousands of mebursts before creating a massive translucent solid orange dome of fire that enveloped them.


    Seeing the thousands of spellsing at it, the weakened Emperor rank tarant controlled the ground to erupt and block the attacks, but once it moved out of its cover it saw hundreds of water wheels spinning in mid.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Thousands of water and ice spells began raining down on the Tarant, while Ebony continued to fortify the me dome. Making sure that even if the tarant were able to unpin itself from bombardment, the barrier would still be able to buy them enough time to prepare more attacks.


    After watching ke and Erik''s group in ruins, the head monk revaluated their strength and ranked ke as a higher priority than Erik because of Ebony and Ivory.


    Its n in this battle was to quickly eliminate ke; which would deal with Ebony and Ivory, whom it saw as the products of an artifact, but from the looks of things it wouldn''t be happening anytime soon, especially at this rate.


    ''With 3 demigods and my space spells, we should be able to hold it off for Cami to escape the ruin.''


    Before the mission, he had given Cami a void dagger. So, with their spatial coordination, he would be able to open a spatial corridor that would lead to the spatial mark that he left close to the entrance.


    [From what I can see, the chances of leaving here alive are actually very high especially since that guy hasn''t even joined the¡­]


    Before the system could even finish its sentence, Major Erik dashed for the entrance before sealing the entrance with a wind domain and a lightning cage.


    "That bastard!" ke cursed as he looked at the seals. He didn''t have enough firepower to take them down, and if Ebony or Ivory were to take their mind off the tarant they would all be dead.


    ''Hehe¡­ who isughing now?!'' Erik felt satisfied seeing ke''s horrified expression.


    He had taken the opportunity of Ebony and Ivory being distracted to escape while trapping ke with the tarant. This way ke would put in even more effort to fight the Emperor''s rank beast, thus buying him more time to escape.


    [That fool had no idea that it would be best that we had a higher chance of surviving.] The system shook its head as it watched Erik fly away.


    ''Not exactly what we thought would happen, but our n still covers it.'' ke had an evil grin on his face.


    "Hahahaha!" Theughing voice of the cursed entity crashed his train of thought.


    If the crazed head monk had a face, his lips would have curled up to his ears on seeing Erik betray ke.


    It had been bothered that killing the 2 of them would take a while; now that Erik had abandoned ke it would put in more energy to kill ke fast and then chase after the rest.


    "Time for you to die!" The head monk screamed in a crazed tone as it controlled the weakened Emperor rank tarant to use more mana.


    Scrrrr!


    The tarant screeched sending out sound waves that countered hundreds of water and ice spells while cracking part of the walls and breaking apart stones and the rest of the statue.


    The broken rocks began gathering towards the tarant, forming a rock armor that allowed it to tank the rest of the spells.


    BOOM!


    The weakened Emperor ranked tarant crashed into the solid me barrier instantly causing cracks to form.


    ''We just need a few more seconds.'' ke said to Ebony and Ivory through their mental link before opening a spatial corridor for Cami and the rest of the ash corps to arrive at the entrance of the ruin.


    Awoo!<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Hearing that their master still needed more time, Ebony cursed as it caused the barrier to explode outward, pushing the tarant a few meters back.


    "You can''t stop me!" The cursed entity yelled in rage as it saw the first batch of humans escaping the ruin.


    BOOM!


    The tarant released a burst of wind that instantly destroyed all the floating water wheels, before lunging back at Ebony and Ivory.


    Grrr!


    Ebony growled as it turned to spinning mes and crashing into the charging tarant before being sent flying a few meters back. Almost instantly, hundreds of ice spikes were shot at the beast, but another burst of wind shattered all of them.


    ''It''s time!'' ke said to Ebony and Ivory as he began falling into a spatial tear, but the tarant was already going for him.


    ''Shit!'' ke cursed wishing that the force of gravity would magically triple, but luckily Ebony who had recovered as well as Ivory mmed into the tarant, holding it long enough for him to escape.


    ¡­


    Just right after all the ash corps had walked out of the spatial corridor and were now outside the ruin, another spatial tear opened beside Cami and he walked out.


    ''Shit! Shit! Shit!'' ke began panicking on the inside and began summoning Ebony and Ivory back.


    At the same time, the ash corps began noticing that a sort of red force field had begun forming at the barrier of the red zone. Without needing anyone to tell them what to do, everyone began retreating as far as possible.


    ''What the hell is going on?'' ke was even more worried as he was now filled with multiple emotions.


    The red force field began squirming, and in less than a minute from its appearance, it shot at the ruin and began enveloping it.


    Although the force field''s motion looked slow, it unearthed the entire ruin in another minute, leaving it floating in the air for a few seconds before dragging it into the red zone.


    ''What the hell just happened?''


    Just like everyone else, ke was struck speechless by the event that just unfolded before their eyes.


    "Is it me or did the red zone drag something into itself?" An ash corp couldn''t help but ask.


    What just happened was something that they wouldn''t have believed if someone told them.


    "Are you saying we were already in danger the moment we even came close to the ruin?!" Another ash corps said causing everyone to realize how lucky they were, but the word danger reminded ke of something.


    ''They have been dragged into the red zone!'' ke screamed in his head.


    ''Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!'' ke began panicking even more.


    He stretched out his hands and continuously tried to summon Ebony and Ivory, causing everyone to begin noticing his weird actions.


    "Major ke, are you alright?" Cami quickly noticed ke''s uneasy appearance, but she got no reply.


    At this point, nothing else mattered to ke all that was on his mind was Ebony and Ivorying back to him.


    ''No¡­ They can''t be stuck in there forever!''


    [Even if the red zone doesn''t affect the summoning ability, it would still take some time to for them to get back here since especially since the ruin can be warped to anywhere in the red zone.] The system said trying to calm ke down, but it was not working.


    "Where is Major Erik?" The members of Erik''s team soon realized that he was missing.


    "...."


    Although they received no answer from ke, his mistaken silence was loud enough.

 Chapter 529 Inside The Red Zone.

    Seeing the worried look on ke''s face, Cami began wondering what could have gone wrong in the mission.


    ''He surely doesn''t care about Major Erik. So there has to be something else. '' Cami thought but that was she remembered the main reason why they had managed to survive the ruin even before getting to the chapel.


    ''Ebony and Ivory!'' Cami was shocked. It didn''t cross her mind at first because ke only brought them out duringbat or when they were alone.


    ''Did the Tarant kill them? No, if that happened he wouldn''t be looking at the red zone like that.'' Cami didn''t know whether to be happy or sad that they were not killed because being sent to the red zone was no different from a death sentence. Regardless, she was now very worried because she knew how much Ebony and Ivory meant to ke.


    As for the rest of the ash corps, they were confused about what was going on or even what to do next. They had no clue what had happened to Major Erik, and ke who was the highest-ranking officer in the area was not responsive. So they all had to wait for him to give amand.


    ¡­


    Back inside the ruin.


    After sealing the entrance of the chapel with wind and lightning spells, Major Erik wasted no time and began flying toward the ruin''s entrance at frightening speeds, but the crazed head monk could only sneer.


    Almost a hundred humans had somehow managed to escape its grasp, so there was no way he was going to let him escape, especially after killing so many of his king-rank beasts.


    It immediately controlled the king rank beasts that were on standby to move toward the entrance where they awaited his arrival.


    Surely, when Major Erik finally got to the ruin''s courtyard, he was shocked to see more than 30 king rank beasts waiting for him.


    "Shit!" Major Erik cursed as he saw the army of beasts waiting for him. He had been so consumed by the fear of the Emperor rank Tarant and the thought of getting back at ke for disgracing him, that he forgot about the King rank beasts that had almost cost them a lot of losses.


    Going back to the chapel was not even an option because it was certain that they could not defeat the weakened emperor rank Tarant. Also, even if he and ke had somehow managed to escape, his career and life outside would be basically over when ke report his action. The only option now was to fight the army of King rank beasts.


    ''They are weakened, and the aim is not to kill them, but to escape.'' Major Erik was confident in his escaping skills, especially having awakened the wind and lighting element. Unfortunately for him, the crazed head monk was also aware of this.


    The moment Major Erik burst forward, the crazed head monk controlled the beasts to erect multipleyers of walls that spanned the width of the court, which they continuously reinforced.


    "No! No! No! No!" Major Erik screamed in desperation as he continuously attacked the walls with his strongest spells.


    He had expected the beasts to blindly attack which would create holes in the formation allowing him to escape, but he didn''t expect the cursed entity to be so diabolical.


    With the beasts'' formation, all they had to do was wait for the Emperor rank Tarant to get rid of Ebony and Ivory, and he would be a certified dead man.


    ¡­


    At the chapel¡­


    The moment ke fell into the spatial corridor and warped out of the ruin, the crazed monk let out an enraged scream.


    The energy left in the core was low, but it had still spent so much energy thinking that it would reap a mighty harvest of hundreds of humans. Now all that was left was a human and 2 king rank beasts.


    "Since your master has left you, I will be your new master. "


    The crazed head monk as it controlled the Emperor rank tarant to subdue Ebony and Ivory, but that was when a familiar feeling came over it.


    This was the same force that took it out of the red zone and allowed it to consume the soul of a lot of humans. Now that it was here again there was only one thing that came to its mind.


    It was taking him back.


    "No! No! No! No!"


    The crazed head monk screamed in desperation as it could foresee its energy core running dry due to ack of things to consume.


    In no time, the red force field enveloped the entire ruin and dragged it into the red zone. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Using the opportunity, Ebony and Ivory distanced themselves from the Emperor rank tarant before answering the call of their master. They rbined into their sword form and pierces right through the walls of the ruin, before tearing their way into the void.


    Once they were in the void, a ck and white aura protected them from being consumed by the void before locating the location of the master and flying toward the direction.


    They were the product of the God of Knowledge, so insignificant things like the void and red zone could not hold them back.


    As for Major Erik, he used the opportunity when the crazed head monk lost control of the beasts to break through, and dash for the exit, but immediately he flew out of the entrance, the scene had changed.


    "Why is the sand red?" Major Erik asked with deep fear in his heart, but before he could convince himself that he was inside the red zone, his body caught fire and he was instantly reduced to ashes.


    ¡­


    For also 20 minutes, ke and Cami did not take their eyes off the red zone, because they were afraid that they would miss an opportunity to save Ebony and Ivory.


    [I sense a spatial fluctuation.]


    Immediately after the system made the report a spatial tear opened at the barrier and a greatsword flew out and headed for ke.


    "They are here! " ke screamed with joy because even if he turned blind there was no way he would miss Ebony and Ivory''s aura.


    When Ebony and Ivory were a few meters away from ke, they turned into a smaller version of their Haiti and Skoll form and pounced on him.


    "I thought I lost you guys forever!" ke said to his pets while ruffling their fur, not caring about the looks he got from the ash corps.


    "What about Major Erik?" An ash cop managed to ask, but Ebony and Ivory began grunting at him while ke''s smile instantly turned upside down.


    "While fighting with the Tarant, he trapped me in the chapel and ran away. It seems he didn''t make it out alive." ke answered as the frown on his face remained unchanged.


    At first, the ash corps found it hard to believe, but am thinking of it that was the most usible situation.


    From the looks of things, the only way they could possiblyst even a few seconds would be with the help of Ebony and Ivory. So from seeing how they just came out of the red zone, it was certain that they were the ones that held off the Weakened Emperor rank beast.


    "How could he do such a thing?" The ash corps were disgusted by the news.


    Not only had ke and his pets saved Erik''s team from losing a lot of members, but he was the main reason they had even made it out of the ruin alive and not getting dragged into the red zone.


    "Alright, time to get going." ke said to both teams since there was no need to remain there.


    Mounting the camel-type beasts, they all journeyed back to Sandhaven.


    Once they got back to the square, ke went straight to the war room where he contacted Prince Bryon to make a report on the mission.


    "Your Highness, the mission is over and I am calling you to make a report." ke said with a bow.


    "Carry on." Prince Bryon said with a proud smile as he gesture for him to continue.


    "When we arrived at the site, we first scanned the ruin for any signs of cursed energy..." ke began narrating the events that took ce during the mission, while also adding the information he had gotten from members of Erik''s team.


    _____________________________________________________________________________________


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 Chapter 530 Lieutenant Colonel Gunnar.

    "When we arrived at the site, we first scanned the ruin for any signs of cursed energy..." ke began narrating the events that took ce during the mission, while also adding the information he had gotten from members of Erik''s team.


    Prince Bryon asionally nodded as ke narrated everything that happened, but when he got to the part where Major Erik betrayed him, his brows furrowed and his smile turned upside down.


    Even when he mentioned the mysterious force field that dragged the ruin back to the red zone, his expression did not change one bit.


    "Good job Major ke. Since the mission is over you can now return to Calton." Prince Bryon said before cutting themunication link.


    "It seems it''s been a long while since I used someone to set an example.'' Bryon was boiling on the inside.


    He was of course not happy about the news he just heard, the only problem was that Major Erik was dead.


    He still needed to set an example with someone, but he couldn''t wipe out all of Erik''s rtions because their family had contributed a lot to the Ash Corps and was still contributing.


    "I will have to take another approach, but surely they won''t escape my wraith." Prince Bryon said with a deep frown.


    ¡­


    ''I have never seen him that angry before.'' ke thought after the call with Prince Bryon had ended. ''I wonder who the unlucky person to witness his wraith will be.''


    ''Now that is over, we can finally talk about what the red zone did.'' ke said.


    The event with the red zone was shocking but after some analysis, it was even more mind-blowing.


    ''You remember how Ebony and Ivory came out of the red zone?'' ke asked.


    [Yes, through a spatial tear.] The system answered.


    ''Now remember all the times I have summoned them before, has something like this happened?'' ke asked again.


    [Nope.]


    ''It most likely means that if it was a physical distance they would cover it through flight, but if it''s not a physical distance they would cover it through spatial means.'' ke continued. ''So my hypothesis is that the barrier to the red zone is somewhat like a spatial gate to another dimension. The only difference is that the entrance is not the same as the exit.''


    [I must confess, this is a very usible hypothesis, but there is a w to it.] The system said. [In a case where Ebony and Ivory are teleported to somewhere like the Tigeria empire, it doesn''t make sense that a legendary weapon would be flying around for months just to get to you.]


    [I mean, Ebony and Ivory were created by the God of knowledge. So I am pretty sure that distance, whether physical or dimensional is not an issue for them.] The system exined.


    [As for your hypothesis about the spatial gate, the chances of that being correct are very high. I have been having suspicions of this right from the start, but we can''t be certain considering the fact that there are multiple other possibilities.] The system said.


    ''If Ebony and Ivory can leave the red zone to answer my call, is there a chance that if I were trapped there we would be able to escape through them?'' ke thought.


    [Why don''t you ask them?] The system said.


    Awoo!


    Ebony immediately answered the question through their mind link.


    Although they had the ability to cut through space and gain ess to the void; the only way they could navigate the void was because their soul connection with ke acted as a spatial beacon.


    So, in the case where ke was also inside the red zone, they would have no clue where they would be heading to.


    [The good news is that, if your hypothesis is right, then you should be able to leave if you ced a spatial mark outside.] The system said.


    ''Should?'' ke chuckled. ''I would like to confirm my hypothesis, but it''s not as if I ever n to enter there.''


    The system would have loved to mention that none of the people that ended up there nned on entering, but he decided to keep it in before ke used it of jinxing him.


    ¡­


    Although it was less than an hour since ke made the report, the news of Major Erik deserting him had already spread to almost all the ash corps in both Calton and Sandhaven.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What!" Lieutenant Colonel Gunnar smashed his magically reinforced walnut desk into 2 halves when he received the news of his younger brother''s death.


    Gunnar stood at a height of 6" feet 3 inches tall. His shoulders were broad and his chest filled out his crisply pressed uniform. His muscr arms were visible even under the long sleeves, and his chiseled jawline was set with a look of burning rage.


    His usualmanding presence was currently nonexistent as he was just a few seconds away from burning down everything in his office.


    "Not only did he kill my brother, but he dares to tarnish his image and soil the name of my family!" Lieutenant Colonel Gunnar yelled as he read the full report.


    There was no way he would believe ke''s story of Major Erik abandoning him, especially since no one else saw it. Also, since his family would somehow get punished there was no way he would ept it even if it were the truth.


    ''One way or another, he must surely pay for this.'' Gunnar thought as he read ke''s profile and began making ns to enact his revenge.


    "Inform me when Major ke returns from Sandhaven." Gunnar called up his secretary before cutting themunication link.


    ¡­


    Since they were done with their mission in Sandhaven, ke had to make sure that everyone had rest before they used the teleportation arrays to return to Calton City.


    On making his way out of the teleportation array room, ke saw a muscr with short, neatly trimmed brown hair styled in a ssic military cut that was practical and functional, yet also gave him a sharp and professional appearance. Despite the short length, his hair is thick and has a slight wave to it, adding some texture and dimension to his overall look.


    Without thinking, ke saluted the lieutenant Colonel, but as he was about to pass by he was called back.


    "Lieutenant Colonel Gunnar, how may I be of help?" ke asked.


    "I would like to know more about the recently concluded mission." Gunnar said with a stoic expression.


    ''Yup, something is definitely up here.'' ke thought as he had no idea that Gunnar was rted to Erik. Nheless, he remained cautious and answered.


    "I mentioned everything that happened in the report, there is nothing more that I can tell you. Unless you want me to repeat the report, sir?" ke said.


    "Please do." Gunnar said without a change in expression.


    "When we arrived at the site, we first scanned the ruin for any signs of cursed energy..." With the help of the system, ke repeated everything he had said and written in the report word for word.


    "Is there any other thing you would like to know, sir?" ke asked.


    "No, that would be enough, you are free to leave." Gunnar said. His n had been to meet ke and try to check out for contradictions he could use against him but everything was exactly as it was stated in the report.


    ''Threatening or intimidating him would only lead to an early grave and more punishment. Also, it could possibly be used against me when I enact my ns.'' Gunnar thought as he watched ke walk away.


    ''It''s best I do nothing out of the ordinary andy low for some time before acting.'' Gunna made up his mind and began heading back to his office.


    As for his interaction with ke, it was natural that he was angry and decided to meet with him.


    ¡­


    "Don''t you feel disturbed that Major Erik''s elder brother came to question you?" Cami couldn''t help but ask ke as they walked out of the square.


    They had justpleted a very dangerous mission, so they were given 2 days off since they didn''t sustain any serious injuries.


    "That''s his elder brother?" ke was surprised but soon returned to being normal.


    "Why should I be bothered? Won''t you do the same if one of your siblings died in a mission and it was only one person that saw what happened?" ke said.


    "You are right, but aren''t you afraid of getting assassinated?" Cami said thest part in a hushed tone as she looked around.


    "Of course, I am, but this wouldn''t be the first or 5th target on my head." ke shrugged.

 Chapter 531 Another Mission?!

    From his day-to-day life at the Square, it was already clear that a lot of nobles both on his level or under didn''t like him. Knowing that they were jealous of his achievements, it was a no-brainer that many were making moves behind the scenes to eliminate him.


    With so many targets on his back, ke had long ago realized that worrying would not save him, only making ns on eliminating his enemies and getting stronger would help him.


    "It''s been a rough day, let''s go grab something to eat." ke said before they boarded a carriage that took them to a restaurant in the middle region.


    After eating and spending more time with Cami, ke sent her home before boarding another carriage that took him to the Adventurer Association.


    "Major ke, how may we be of help today?" The receptionist of the magic store asked.


    Apart from being a former well-known adventurer, ke''s position as the youngest Major of the ash corp had made him even more famous all-around Calton city.


    "I would like to purchase 20 King rank beast cores." ke replied.


    Ebony and Ivory were the reason he and his team were still alive, so it was necessary that he rewarded them with a bountiful feast.


    "20?" The receptionist was shocked by the quantity ke stated because the cost of gold coins was outrageous.


    "Yes." ke replied, not caring about her shocked expression.


    "Are there any particr beast cores you would like me to pick out for you?" The receptionist quicklyposed herself.


    "If you are able to split half into fire-type beast cores and the other half into water-type beast cores then it would be great." ke replied.


    "Alright, that would be 5 million gold coins." The receptionist said.


    "Alright, have it." ke handed over his ck card and paid for the beast cores.


    [Don''t you think, with how much you are spending, your source of ie will soon get investigated?] The system couldn''t help but ask because almost every time ke came into the Adventurer association, he was bound to spend nothing less than a million gold coins.


    ''I don''t think that would even be possible.'' ke said. ''My earnings from the adventurer association and the ash corps are confidential to 3rd parties. Also, my Adventurer party Order of Chaos is still active, so they might think I am still getting money from there.''


    ''Furthermore, my main source of ie is linked with the royal family. So trying to investigate me would only get them in trouble.'' ke exined.


    Once he was done, ke stowed away the beast cores and boarded a carriage back to his house in the middle region.


    ke wasted no time releasing Ebony and Ivory before feeding them the 20 King rank beast cores he just purchased.


    ''My weakness put them in danger.'' ke couldn''t help but think as he watched Ebony and Ivory munch on the beast cores.


    He had gotten used to relying on Ebony and Ivory for very tough situations, but this mission made him feel more helpless and guilty.


    ke felt useless and guilty as he watched them risk their lives for him while he couldn''t make any form of contribution. The part that got to him the most was when he was continuously begging the heavens to bring them out of the red zone.


    ''If I had lost them, my career at the ash corps would be basically over.'' ke thought as he felt he had dodged a bullet.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ranks at the Ash Corps were heavily dependent on one''s power level. So by losing Ebony and Ivory, ke would no longer have the minimum required Demigod power level for the Major rank. This meant he would no longer have the strength toplete special ops missions like that of the ruin.


    [Your promotion to the Major rank was not supported by quite a lot of people. So even Prince Bryon will not be able to do anything about it.] The system said.


    ''I really need to get stronger!'' ke clenched his fists as multiple thoughts raced through his head.


    ¡­


    2 dayster, ke was back at his office.


    Fortunately, he had cleared up all the paperwork before leaving for Sandhaven, and since all members of his unit came along with him there was not much paperwork for him to handle.


    Du! Du! Du!


    Opening his eyes, ke cursed the person disturbing his meditation a thousand times before taking out hismunication amulet and seeing it was Colonel Darius.


    "Colonel, how can I be of help." ke saluted as he answered the call.


    "We have another mission for you, pleasee over to my office for a breifing." Colonel Darius said.


    "All right, sir. I will be there shortly." ke saluted and ended the call.


    "Another mission?!" ke smacked his forehead.


    [I advise you to get used to it because you are now the only special ops Major in Calton.] The system said.


    "At this rate, I might end up quitting sooner than expected." ke shook his head and epted his fate.


    ¡­


    "Colonel, you asked for me." ke saluted as he walked into the office.


    "There is a situation at Coastville. For 2 weeks now there has been a constant storm in the ocean; at first, it was thought to be normal but after 2 weeks without a break it surely isn''t a normal storm." Darius exined as he handed him a file containing all the info about the mission.


    "Your job is to find the cause of the storm and neutralize it if possible." Colonel Darius said. "Any questions?"


    "Yes, sir. I awakened the fire and lightning element, so I am one of the worst people to send to an ocean. So why me?" ke couldn''t help but ask.


    "I am aware of that, but there are no other special ops Majors avable at the moment." Colonel Darius shook his head and continued. "Your main task is to investigate the matter, so if you encounter something you can''t handle then request for backup."


    "Alright, sir." ke saluted and left the office.

 Chapter 532 Win-Win

    ke left the office and met up with his team, and just like him, they were not happy with the short interval between both missions but could only follow orders.


    After making sure all necessary preparation wasplete, ke and his units used the teleportation array to warp to Coastville.


    They immediately went to get briefed about the situation, before going outside to see things for themselves.


    Coastville was the pr opposite of Sandhaven, but one thing they had inmon was that they were located at the edges of the Synder empire.


    Geographically, Coastville was situated on a penins that juts out into the Tribirus Ocean. The ocean borders the city on three sides, while 90 percent of the city was built on a range of hills that provided stunning views of the ocean.


    "Thank the heavens it isn''t bad as I thought." ke said as he saw the thick dark clouds blocking the sun and the wild waves that could easily capsize boats.


    "The good news is that although the waves are very dangerous, they aren''t out of hand."


    The waves were a no-go zone for normal people and normal boats, but with Hero level Aquamancers and Magically enhanced boats, they would be able to carry out what he had in mind.


    After confirming everything was the same as the report given to him, he and his team all boarded Ash crop carriages that carried them to Coastville''s most famous beach, Sunset Beach.


    ''At this point, it is safe to say that the heavens are sending me on missions to discover holiday spots.'' ke shook his head as he admired the beauty of the city.


    Because of its location, Coastville was known for its mild climate, with temperatures rarely dropping below 50 degrees Fahrenheit even in the winter months. Also, the ocean breezes keep the air fresh andfortable.


    In terms of infrastructure, Coastville had a bustling downtown area with lots of shops, restaurants, and bars. There was also arge marina where boat owners could dock their vessels and enjoy the ocean.


    ''Hope this isn''t something tooplex. I just want to get over with it.'' ke let out a helpless sigh as he alighted from the carriage and walked into the sunset beach.


    [Even with the clouds blocking the sky, it is still a sight to behold.] The system said as they took in the beauty of the beach.


    The city is also known for its beaches, which drew tourists from all over the empire. Sunset Beach was the perfect ce to catch the sun setting over the ocean, but no one would be seeing it unless they solved the case.


    "Major ke, the boats are ready for departure." The head of the investigation department of Coastville said to him.


    "Hold on a bit, I still have to check some things." ke said as he began moving around the beach while observing the ocean.


    ''The clouds only cover the ocean, so there is no doubt that this is the work of a beast. As for the size of the clouds and the massive range of effect, we are most likely dealing with an emperor-rank beast or multiple King rank beasts acting together.'' ke let out a helpless sigh


    The more he analyzed the situation, the more helpless he felt. Not only did he already feel powerless in the ocean but even escaping would be 10 times more difficult.


    After he was done with his observation and analysis, ke left a spatial mark on the beach before hopping on the boat and moving away from the city.


    Off the beaches of Coastville were magically enhanced walls located on the ocean floors. During beast tides or devastating waves, they would spring up equipped with shields and weapons, while the ash corps at the square would be warped to the top of the walls.


    Even though it had its ws this mechanism made the inhabitants of Coastville feel safe and free at the same.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Major, What next?" Michelle asked once they were past the city walls and officially in the ocean.


    "Get ready to deploy the monitoring devices in the direction I instruct." ke said as he activated the locator spell.


    ''Where are the safe paths for my boat to take?'' ke waited for a few seconds but the white trail did not appear at all.


    ''Are you shitting me?!'' ke''s heart tightened.


    [Ocean Tribirus is surely dangerous, especially with the wild waves. Try rephrasing the sentence.] The system said.


    Hearing the words of the system, ke quickly calmed down and retried the spell.


    ''Where are the most dangerous path for my boat to take?''


    15 white trails that only he could see appeared on the water''s surface and began moving farther into the ocean. 10 of the 15 trails converged to the right, while the other 5 were far away from each other.


    ''15¡­ wow!'' ke was shocked.


    Having no ns to move further, ke set out multiple monitoring devices and instructed his team to use the water element to send them as far as possible in those directions.


    "Now we wait." ke said as he instructed the team to turn the boat around.


    "Is that all?" The head of the investigation department asked with doubt written all over his face.


    "Yes." ke replied without giving any exnation.


    He was well aware that they had done the same thing he just did, but the difference was that he used the locator spell and also secretly froze the space around the devices for extra protection.


    ''Is he for real?''


    The investigation head had heard a lot about ke''s top-tier investigative skills, but from what he just saw he was disappointed and doubtful of his skills.


    ''Although the chances of finding the cause of the problem got higher; I am still not totally confident that it will work.'' ke said to himself not caring about what the others thought of him.


    [If you discover the beast you will request for backup and leave the scene. If you don''t you will also leave while another person takes over the case. Either way, you win.] The system said after analyzing the possible oues.


    _____________________________________________________________________________________


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 Chapter 533 Dead For Sure.

    Now that the monitoring devices were in ce; ke wasted no time leaving the ocean and returning tond.


    Throughout the short journey back tond, the feeling of something appearing out of nowhere and swallowing his ship whole continuously disturbed him. It was only when his shoes touch the sand of the Sunset beach that he let out a sigh of relief.


    "Now that is down, it is time to keep an eye on the monitoring devices."


    The entire group quickly returned to the Square where ash corps constantly monitored the live footage from the monitoring devices.


    ''I wonder how long I would have to stay without finding anything before the case gets handed to someone else.'' ke thought after more than 3 hours of watching one of the screens connected to the monitoring device.


    [Most inhabitants of Coastville heavily depend on Ocean Tribirus for a lot of things, same with the city''s revenue. So, I say 1-week tops and the protest from the citizens will get you off the case.] The system said.


    ''I feel that is way too much. The case has already gone on for a week, so I will say 5 days of no progress.'' ke thought.


    [I change my mind, make that 4 days.] The system said as the head of the investigations department walked toward him with a deep frown on his face.


    "Major ke, I would like to know how certain you are that this would work?" The head asked with an unchanged expression.


    He was receiving a lot of pressure from both the city lord and Coastville''s head of the Ash corps to discover the cause of the problem. On realizing that ke was doing exactly the same thing he did, and had stille up with nothing yet; he had to approach him and convince him to do something different.


    ''Waiting for him to be taken off the case would take quite some time, and even if the next person is guaranteed to solve the case it wouldn''t be done instantly. I don''t have that kind of time!''


    "I am not." ke replied without a change in expression.


    "Then why are you still taking the same approach that didn''t work?" The head asked with an even more annoyed tone.


    "I have 2 reasons for doing so. To begin with, what if you guys didn''t do it right?" ke asked with one of his brows raised. "I mean the Tribirus Ocean is veryrge, so there is a high chance that you guys didn''t ce the monitoring devices at the right ces and at the right time."


    "Then it is a matter of luck for the beast to enter the sight of the monitoring devices." The head of the investigation department defended himself.


    "Luck is also a part of being a good investigator." ke replied before continuing. "The final reason for doing the same thing is that I don''t have any other options."


    "The storms are being caused by an emperor-rank beast, and since I didn''t awaken the water element. It is impossible to even try and perform a miracle. So unless an Angel or someone stronger is sent to help us, this is the only thing we can do. That is unless you have another viable option?" ke asked.


    "¡­"


    While the city''s head of the investigations department was busy thinking of a reply to ke, the rms of 6 of the monitoring devices went off.


    "The devices got something." One of the ash corps reported causing ke and the head of the investigations department to rush over.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The live footage disyed parts of a very long blue snake-like body with a scaled, slimy texture and a series of golden spiked fins along its length that help it move through the water.


    ''I am surely not going anywhere close to that.'' ke secretly thanked the heavens that he was already out of the water.


    "We are dealing with an emperor rank sea serpent."


    As the head of the investigation department was speaking, the never-ending body of the gigantic Sea finally stopped and arge snake head appeared in front of one of the monitoring devices.


    "Is it me or is the beast smiling?" An Ash Corp couldn''t help but ask as a smirk appeared on the sea serpent''s face, but instantly all the monitoring devices simultaneously went off.


    "It is taunting us." The head said.


    The monitoring devices were made of a power source and multiple arrays, meaning that an emperor-ranked beast would be able to sense their positions from miles away. So, for it to appear right in front of 1 and smirk meant it was taunting them.


    "I will report the situation to Colonel Darius." ke said as he left the room to call the Colonel.


    "Major ke, have you had any breakthroughs in the case?" Colonel Darius asked.


    "Yes sir, we have discovered the presence of an Emperor rank sea serpent not too far from the walls." ke reported everything including how the beast taunted them, causing Colonel Darius to slightly frown.


    "This is either a trap or the emperor rank beast is really confident in its strength." Colonel Darius chuckled. "2 Angels from the Capital will arrive at Coastville in 24hrs to deal with the problem. You and your team as well as the officers in Coastville will assist them in case something unexpected happens."


    Angels were very important figures and had a lot of responsibilities. Mobilizing 1 talk less of 2 would take some time.


    "Alright, sir." After ke ended themunication link, he began cursing the heavens and Colonel Darius.


    ''How the hell can a Hero assist in a fight between Angels and an Emperor-ranked beast?!''


    ''He should just say he wants to get me killed before my time!'' ke felt his head hurt as he thought of returning to the ocean and being so close to the Sea serpent.


    "I am surely dead." ke let out a helpless sigh and returned to break the news of backup arriving the next day.


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 Chapter 534 Dead For Sure (Part 2)

    After informing everyone about his interaction with Colonel Darius, there was nothing else for them to do until backup arrived. So, ke decided to use this opportunity to tour the beautiful city of Coastville with Cami.


    "The only time I have seen roads this scanty is only during beast tides." Cami said as she and ke observed the city from the windows of their carriage.


    "Coastville''s generate most of their revenue from the Tribirus Ocean, which brings in a lot of tourists and cargo, thus creating a lot of job opportunities. Now that the Ocean is now a no-go zone, not only are the tourists leaving, but most of the inhabitants of the city don''t have anything to do." ke exined with a heavy heart.


    "Let me guess you are worried about the city''s situation because you won''t be able to get fresh seafood?" Cami chuckled.


    "No!" ke said with a ''how can I do such a thing'' look on his face. "A good number of Coastville''s inhabitants feed hand to mouth so a situation like this would be very bad for them."


    "Really." Cami raised her brow in disbelief, but ke had no ns of outing himself.


    "Well, adverse effects of the situation exin why the higher-ups decided to send a Major to the ce he is weakest at." Cami shook her head.


    Since most of the shops were closed, they just went sightseeing before returning to the Square.


    ¡­


    24hrster.


    The warp arrays lit up and 2 individuals wearing white robes with decorative light blue stitching of clouds. This was the uniform of the Karius family and these Angels were from the branch at the Capital.


    The Angels were not part of the Ash Corps, instead, they were hired by the Ash Corps from the Karius family to deal with the situation. The Ash Corp constantly used this method when theycked manpower or specialty when facing a problem.


    Popr examples of such transactions that had happened in the past were hiring adventurers, demigods, and Angels during the beast tide, hiring Typhoon and his adventurer party to take down de, and so on.


    ''Seems like Colonel Darius took the taunting seriously.'' ke thought as he approached the Angels.


    With their hands hidden together in their robes, the Angels did not even care to look at him even when he greeted them.


    Not caring about their attitudes, ke gave them a rundown of everything, and only got one reply from them.


    "Take us to the beast."


    With that said, ke''s groups, the Angels, and the Ash Corps of Coastville set out into the ocean.


    With the Angels with them, the wild waves of the ocean around them became still and the boats moved without hindrance.


    ''This is some Jesus shits going on here.'' ke thought as his chaotic mind began calming down after seeing the miracle.


    As their boats were getting close to the areas they ced the monitoring devices, the Angel signaled for them to stop, and almost instantly the massive body of the Sea serpent shot out.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I have been waiting for you guys." The words of the beasts sent chills down the spines of everyone, except the Angels that seemed unfazed.


    "Let''s get this over with." One of the Angels said as they flew out of the boat and toward the Emperor Rank Sea serpent.


    Once they were within range a domain opened up and consumed both parties, leaving the Ocean still and the sky clear. This was a clear sign that the Sea serpent was the one behind everything happening to the city.


    ''Hope it remains like that.'' ke prayed as he began giving orders for the boats to move away from the other side.


    Although such distance could be easily covered by the Sea serpent if it won the fight, ke felt morefortable the farther he was from the area.


    Domains were pocket dimensions that contained special environments that enhanced the primary element of the user. Only when they advanced into the Angel realm would the special environment contain their secondary element, but the enhancement wouldn''t be as strong as that of the primary element.


    If one party was stronger than another and activated their domain. The stronger party would take over the pocket dimension. As for cases where both parties were of equal strength, the domain formed would contain environments that favored both parties.


    Now one would ask what was the need to activate domains when both parties were of equal strength?


    There were 2 main reasons; the first being the safety of the environment. With the destructive force of Angels, if they went all out, they would be able to easily level an entire city multiple and even change the geographicalndscape.


    The second reason was that the pocket dimension was not affected by environmental factors. For example, if an aquamancer was fighting in the desert and activated their domain, the hot and arid air of the desert would no longer affect their fighting capabilities.


    ''Only if we could take a look inside the domain, we would be able to know if they are losing and how to react.'' ke shook his head as he crossed his fingers and prayed to the heavens but that was when the orb representing the domain cracked.


    Ipetent fools!


    ke screamed in his head as 2 halves of one of the Angels fell into the ocean, while the other one was already in the mouth of the Sea Serpent and currently sliding down its throat.


    ''These fools were acting all high and mighty but they couldn''tst up to 20 minutes!'' ke cursed.


    ''I am for sure dead.'' ke said as he was unable to think of any n that could save his life.


    "Time to take care of you guys." The Emperor rank Sea Serpent said with an evil smile.


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 Chapter 535 Assassination Attempt.

    The moment the Emperor rank Serpent showed its intentions of killing them, Ebony and Ivory transformed into their Haiti and Skoll form and jumped out of the boat.


    The wild waves around them which had returned to being wild, became calm and solid allowing both of them to stand on the water.


    Grrrr!


    Both wolves growled causing the emperor-ranked Sea serpent to halt and take a good look at them.


    ''Is there a psychological battle that is going on without us knowing?''


    The Ash Corps were both afraid and confused as both parties stared at each other for a good minute without doing anything.


    "I shall give both of you face." The Sea serpent said to Ebony and Ivory, before turning to ke who summoned them.


    "Tell your leaders to stop polluting our home with those crystals, we shall not seat down and watch them continue poisoning our children. This is the first andst warning." The beast pointed at the dead Angel. "Next time you will not only be dealing with me."


    Without caring about the reactions of the humans, the Sea Serpent swallowed the other Angel''s corpse and swarm away. With that, the cloudy sky cleared up and the wild waves of the ocean returned to normal.


    "What the hell just happened?" No one could believe what just happened.


    A minute ago, they were very close to being eaten by an emperor-ranked beast, but after some kind of stare-off between 2 king-rank beasts and the Sea Serpent, they were left alone.


    ''How the hell did you guys do that?'' ke was bbergasted and was forced to ask when Ebony and Ivory returned to him.


    ''We don''t know, we just growled at him.'' Ebony and Ivory gave a mental shrug.


    ''How do you guys not know?!'' ke was finding it hard to believe.


    [I would have said it had something to do with Azkelwart but that is very unlikely because at the time ''died'' the Sea serpent''s great grandparents wouldn''t have been alive.] The system said.


    ''Then it most likely means it has something to do with their beast part.'' ke thought with a smile on his face.


    Although he couldn''t find out why the Emperor rank beast left without attacking them, he was excited that Ebony and Ivory had secrets that would be uncovered in the future.


    It took a while for everyone to recover from the shock, but immediately they did, they wasted no time to return to Coastville especially since the Sea serpent had eaten the corpse of the Angels.


    ''Did you see what happened?! 2 Angels were turned to food in less than 20 minutes!'' After their life was no longer in danger ke began thinking back to what happened and was totally shocked.


    The sea serpent was definitely the strongest beast he had seen, and since it was talking about the thranium crystals being pollutants it meant that it was an emperor-rank beast that had evolved normally and even lived for centuries.


    ''Do you think Colonel Darius would be able to beat it?'' ke was curious.


    [Although the tier 2 Treant that Darius fought evolved through Thranium crystals, thus making it weaker and less experienced than the sea serpent. You must remember that he battled the fire Smander and the Treant without breaking a sweat before moving over to other gates to fight more emperor-ranked beasts.]


    [So yes, Darius would win without an issue even if they fought deep in the ocean.] The system reported its analysis.


    ''His appearance and smile would make you think he couldn''t hurt a fly, but he is just too overpowered. I wonder how long it would take for me to get to his level.'' ke shook his head and turned his attention to important things.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''How would the royal family react to this news?'' ke couldn''t help but ask.


    [it''s very simple. They would stop nting thranium crystals in the ocean because they have no choice.] The system answered.


    ''What do you mean by that?'' ke asked with a raised brow.


    [The ocean is home to a lot of extremely dangerous beasts. So, unless they want to send all the empire''s forces here, they surely don''t want to start a war with them.] The system exined.


    ''Imagine waking up and looking out your window only to see a gigantic waverge enough to cover the entire citying.'' ke shivered as he began having thoughts of finding another vacation spot.


    ¡­


    They soon got to the Square and ke wasted no time to make his report.


    During the report, ke acted as if he was clueless about the Sea serpent''s message. Colonel Darius also imed to be clueless and said he would report it to Prince Bryon.


    He told him and his team to hold on in Coastville just in case Prince Bryon had another task for them to carry out. This meant they were free until they were called to action, so ke and his team decided to properly explore the city.


    "I never knew that Coastville could be this lively." ke was surprised as they moved around the city.


    With the storms being over, the city began bustling with life. Tourists were returning to the city, and establishments were reopening.


    This was his chance to enjoy seafood to his heart''s content!


    ¡­


    After ke was done filling his belly, they decided to go to the most popr area of the city to rx, Sunset Beach.


    "Seems like everyone else had the same idea as us." Cami said as they dropped at the beach and saw that the entire area was packed even though it was getting dark.


    "I told you so." ke smirked while looking in the opposite direction to avoid Cami''s fiery gaze.


    "The good news is that everyone is still afraid of the water, so we can stay there." Cami said as she began dragging him to the area boats were packed


    "How is that good news?" ke said in an ''are you crazy?'' tone.


    "Are you afraid of the Ocean?" Cami halted and looked at him with surprise written all over her face.


    "Who isn''t?!" keined, but that was when an evil grin appeared on Cami''s face.


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 Chapter 536 Assassination Attempt (Part 2).

    After being dragged to the boating area, ke finally yielded and gave her a condition.


    "We are definitely not going past the wall."


    "Why the hell would we do that?" Cami raised her brow. Although she was veryfortable in the ocean, she wasn''t that crazy to endanger their lives for no good reason.


    They quickly approached a tour boat owner who told them the charge for the tour, but instead, Cami rented the entire boat for only her and ke.


    Why buy the bottle when you can buy the bar?!


    Using the water element to control the tour boat''s movement, they set out into the water.


    After a few minutes of navigating through other boats, they finally got to a less crowded area where they finally stopped.


    "We made it just in time to watch the sunset." Cami was instantly entranced by the beauty of the Sun setting.


    ''Not gonna lie, this is calming.'' ke thought to himself as he was thinking less of the dangers in the ocean.


    Without saying a word to each other, both of them stared at the beauty of the setting sun, but unknown to them another boat had entered the same area as their tour boat.


    Just like them, the upant of the boat had rented it all for himself. Once he was at a safe distance away from them, the man took out a fist size circle pendant with inscriptions and a green gem at the center.


    The pendant was a one-time use artifact that stored an Angel realm spell, and without wasting another second the man activated the artifact.


    [Large amounts of mana is gathering around you, get out of here now!] The system immediately warned ke, but at the same time, the water surrounding the boat had shot high up, forming an enormous water wall that prevented anything from going in or out.


    Immediately Ebony and Ivory transformed into miniature versions of their Haiti and Skoll forms to not capsize the small tour boat before unleashing their mana and creating a barrier above their head, giving ke enough time to conjure 2 spatial corridors below him and Cami.


    ...


    The people on the beach were rxing and enjoying the Sunset when they saw a 30 meters tall water wall surround a boat, before converging down at a tour boat.


    BOOM!


    The enormous amount of water crashed onto the tour boat with so much force that it broke the boat into pieces and caused a gigantic wave that swallowed tens of boats and sent every other thing in the water back to the beach.


    2 spatial corridors opened up at the dock of the boating area, and both ke and Cami were washed out by the water that had made its way into the spatial corridor.


    This was the spatial seal he had ced right before they had entered the tour boat.


    ''I guess one can never over-prepare.'' ke shook his head.


    The spatial mark he ced when he was searching for the Sea Serpent was useless because the distance was toorge. In this instance, the system thought this spatial mark was also useless since there was no danger around and there were not far from the beach, but ke''s pessimism just saved their lives.


    "Are you alright?" ke asked Cami as he helped her get up.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Just some bruises, what about you?"


    "Same here."


    While they were still checking up on each other, Coastville''s ash corps arrived at the scene and went into action. They moved quickly and began saving victims of capsized ships and those caught by the waves, before treating those injured.


    It was after the situation was under control that they began investigating the matter and questioning witnesses.


    Not only was the energy level detected to be at the Angel realm, but such attacks coupled with the recent incident with the Sea Serpent would scare tourists from visiting the city, thus affecting Coastville''s revenue. So, this was a very serious issue that had to be quickly resolved.


    While they were doing that, ke approached the Major in charge of the case and exined to him that the attack was aimed at his boat.


    "Are you saying this was an assassination attempt?" The head of the Investigations department was surprised.


    "Most likely..." ke answered.


    "Thanks for the information, this has saved us a lot of time." The Major said in a serious tone as he left ke and began giving new series of orders.


    With the info he just got from ke, he immediately informed the lieutenant colonel in charge of the city about the case and requested for some artifacts.


    His goal was now to track the assassin as quickly as possible.


    "Who do you think is behind the assassination?" Cami asked as their wounds were being treated.


    "There are a lot of people after my life, so, I am not sure who is behind this attack." ke replied causing the healer to look at him with surprise written all over her face.


    So many people are trying to assassinate you, but you are still this calm?!


    Not caring about the look on the healer''s face, Cami asked. "Do you think it is thetest one?"


    "Hmm¡­" ke began pondering. "I can''t be too sure because this could be a n by another enemy to use him as a scapegoat... At least that is what I would do if I was my enemy."


    At that time, the head of the investigations team walked over to ke to tell him about the progress they had made so far.


    "The artifact couldn''t detect the face of the assassin, but we were able to get the image of one-time use artifact used to attack you. Also, we found the boat owner that rented his boat to him, and got a sketch of what he looked." The Major said as he handed ke a copy of the sketch.


    "Have any clue who it is?" The Major asked.


    "No idea." ke shook his head as he had never met the person before. It was no doubt that the assassin used some kind of face-changing spell or magical item.


    ''This might be troublesome.'' ke thought.

 Chapter 537 Best Person For The Job!

    ''The assassination attempt is not simple. Not only was the assassin able to dodge all types of divination and surveince, but he could also get his hands on an Angel-level one-time artifact. Meaning he has a high status, and is at least in the Nascent level of the demigod realm." ke thought.


    From the little info the Head of the investigation department delivered, ke already knew they wouldn''t be able to find the assassin.


    The only people he knew that had a chance to discover the assassin was either Prince Bryon or him.


    After receiving treatment, ke reported the assassination attempt to Prince Bryon who was livid and was even more adamant about using someone to set an example.


    When he reported the matter to Darius, he was asked to return to Calton just in case the assassin decided to carry out another attack. Also, he sent an investigation team from Calton to look into the matter.


    Since they had sessfullypleted 2 difficult missions without a break, ke and his team were given 2 weeks off to rest properly. Seeing this opportunity, ke decided to use the break to hunt down the assassin or at least find out about his identity and let Prince Bryon do the rest.


    ''If you want something to be done properly, do it yourself!'' He was one of the best investigators in the empire, if not the best.


    "First things first, I have to know if I would return to Calton or remain here." ke said as he took out a map of the empire.


    As a Special ops major and a locator, ke had no idea which part of the empire he would find himself in, so having all types of maps he could get his hands on was necessary.


    "Where was the artifact used to attack me gotten from?" ke activated the locator spell.


    Although the divination artifacts used by the Coastville''s ash corps couldn''t discover the identity of the assassin, ke wasn''t worried because they were targeted at 2 different things.


    The ability of divination artifacts allowed the user to see past events concerning a location or an item; so far as the power difference between the user and target involved was not much. Once the identity of the target was confirmed, then the ash corps would start searching and employing other monitoring devices and strategies.


    In the case of the locator spell, its main purpose was to track things in both present and past tense. Also, the interference that would ur due to the difference in power level greatly decreases if it concerned the user.


    Since it was a one-time use artifact, ke knew that what was left of the artifact must have been destroyed in order to get rid of evidence. This meant that it was no longer under protection, thus no interference.


    After a few seconds, a white light appeared on the map on the. "Calton¡­ perfect."


    Once he confirmed that he had nothing else to do in Coastville, ke and 5 of the special ops units returned to Calton.


    "I nned on using this opportunity to train, but I have to find the assassin before the trail gets cold." ke let out a helpless sigh. Without rest, he began his investigation.


    "Where was the artifact used to attack me gotten from?" ke activated the locator spell.


    The familiar white light appeared on the Sunny Grove market, thergest market in the middle region. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He quickly contacted Jerry toe pick him up, and in less than 45 minutes they were already at the market.


    "Wait for me here, while I take a look around." ke instructed Jerry as he alighted from the carriage and began walking into the market.


    ''I hate markets.'' ke shook his head in helplessness.


    The noise from the screaming merchants calling customers toe over, to the constant dodging of a multitude of people moving to and fro, as well as safe guiding his belonging from the pocket pickers hiding in the crowd. There was nothing ke liked about the market!


    ''Thank the heavens that I have made a lot of cash, now I don''t even need toe here at all to get things.'' ke said as he navigated through the market using the hot and cold variation of the locator spell.


    ''Who would have thought it would be here.'' ke finally located the shop but discovered that it was a magic item shop.


    ''I was here thinking it would be in a dark alley, but who would have thought that it would be in in sight.'' ke thought.


    [This is ingenious! No one would ever suspect that a high-level assassin who tried to kill a Major would buy such a sophisticated one-time use artifact from a magic item shop.] The system was surprised.


    ''I have a feeling that this isn''t as simple as we think. So I have to be careful.'' ke thought before taking hismunicator and calling Jerry.


    "I need you toe over and buy a magic item for me."


    "Alright, Sir." Jerry replied.


    Since this was where the assassin procured his weapon, there was a chance that they knew about him. ke wouldn''t even be surprised if the salesman was the assassin. So he decided to y it safe by sending Jerry to do some investigation.


    Once Jerry arrived, ke briefed him on what to do and handed him gold coins and a hidden microphone. After that, ke sent him into the store.


    "Good day sir, how may I be of help today." The salesman said as Jerry walked into the store.


    "I am an ash crops driver, and I was just promoted to carrying a Major. So I wanted to get some magic items to ensure my safety and increase my fighting power just in case something is to happen." Jerry exined.


    "Congrattions to you sir!" The salesman said with a gleeful smile. "We have all you will possibly need but first I would like to know if you have anything in mind?"


    ''Excellent customer service!'' Both ke and Jerry screamed in their mind.

 Chapter 538 Framed.

    "I am looking for both defensive and offensive artifacts." Jerry replied after heposed himself.


    "Can I know what your budget is, because we have lots of offensive and defensive artifacts with different price ranges?" The salesman said.


    "The price isn''t a problem, my boss is the one paying for everything." Jerry said as instructed by ke through the mic.


    "You are one lucky man. Pleasee take a look at these." The salesman said with a smile as he gestured for Jerry toe closer.


    For the next 15 minutes, the salesman began showing and exining the functions of the different artifacts to him. With ke''s instruction, he selected a defensive artifact, but when it came to an offensive artifact there was nothing that caught ke''s eye.


    "Do you have something stronger than these?" Jerry asked the salesman.


    "Sorry sir, but the highest level of artifacts we have are all capped at the Hero realm. Artifacts of the demigod realm and above are very rare to find." The salesman exined.


    "Alright then, I will only be taking this." Jerry said hoping that the salesman would show him his hidden stock, but he just agreed.


    After making the payment with the gold coins given to him by ke, Jerry walked out of the shop and returned to the carriage where ke was waiting for him.


    "You did a good job, take me home." ke said.


    "Sir, the artifact I purchased." Jerry said as he handed over the artifact, but ke rejected it.


    "Consider it a gift for your efforts, use it to protect yourself." ke smiled.


    "Thank you so much!" Jerry was touched by ke''s kindness.


    Although the ash corps carriages possessed defensive arrays for both the passengers and the drivers, there have been multiple cases where they were not strong enough to protect the driver from strong attacks from enemies. So, ke spending so many gold coins just for his safety moved him.


    With a smile on his face, Jerry quicklymanded the horse to move.


    ''If it was another person investigating this matter, they would have most likely believed the salesman, but the locator spell doesn''t lie!'' ke thought.


    [It''s most likely that they don''t sell to just anyone, but to people with high status. Maybe you can try using Cami to find out.] The system said.


    ''Most likely, but I don''t have that kind of time and energy to find out.'' ke shook his head at the system''s suggestion. ''It''s best I take a more direct approach, I think I will infiltrate the shop or house of the owner to get more info and get them arrested.''


    ke began thinking of his next move, but that was when a thought popped into his head. He quickly took out his map and activated the locator spell.


    "Where is the assassin that tried to kill me at Coastville?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Since the divination artifact couldn''t discover the identity of the assassin ke hadn''t bordered using the locator spell to find the assassin because he felt it was useless. However, his intuition was telling him to try it out now.


    After a few seconds of waiting, an area in the middle region lit up with white light!


    ''There was no sign of interference, so it is legit. However, this doesn''t feel right.'' ke said.


    [Yes, there is a high chance that he knows you are looking for him, so he dropped clues for you to meet him so that he can finish the job he started.] The system said.


    ''That is exactly what I would do if I was an assassin, but I feel it is something else.'' ke pondered for a few seconds before continuing. ''The assassin used an Angel rank artifact, meaning he is at most in the demigod realm. Since everyone knows that Ebony and Ivory can easily beat anyone in the demigod realm it is highly unlikely that it is a trap to finish me up.''


    ''Either he gets help to finish me up or something happened to him and he actually lost the ability to interfere with the locator spell. Either way, it''s not actually much of a threat to me.'' ke thought.


    The only way the assassin''s ambush would be a threat to him was only if he got an Angel''s help, but that was highly unlikely because Angels were few. So he was pretty confident that he could check out the ''trap'' without any issues.


    "Stop me here."


    ke got down from the carriage and instructed Jerry to go home, while he activated the guardian scarab and flew to the location.


    Using the darkness of the night to mask his movement, ke flew around the location to make sure nothing suspicious was going on before entering therge 4-story tall apartmentplex.


    After making sure that nothing was out of ce, ke activated the trail variation of the locator spell. He felt that taking the elevator would open up a lot of opportunities for a surprise attack, so he went straight for the stairs and began following the white trail.


    While checking the stairs for traps, ke continuously scaled the stairs before finally reaching thest floor.


    Following the trail, ke got to a door with ''419'' as its room number. The system scanned the room for both traps and heat signatures.


    [There is only one heat signature, but no traps.] The system reported.


    Without wasting another second, ke twisted the nob and pushed the door open.


    "Gunnar?!" ke was shocked to see the corpse of the lieutenant Colonel lying in a pool of his own blood.


    [The corpse is still warm, so the killer should still be close.] The system said causing ke to be on alert.


    He quickly checked the windows but none of them were open meaning the killer didn''t escape through there.


    ''So it turns out that he is the assassin, but what was he doing here, and why would someone want to kill him.'' ke thought as he took out hismunication amulet to inform the ash corps, but that was when spatial corridors opened up in the room.

 Chapter 539 Gunnars Death.

    ?


    ke was a little bit confused about the situation because everything felt weird. Gunnar was a peak demigod but he seemed to have died without putting up a fight because everything in the apartment was still in order.


    Either way, ke did not think much about it because his main goal of eliminating the assassin had been indirectlypleted. So he took out hismunication amulet to inform the Ash corps but at that moment multiple spatial corridors opened up in the room.


    Multiple Ash Corps units stepped out of the spatial corridors and immediately tookbat positions, however, all they saw was a surprised ke and the bleeding corpse of Lieutenant Colonel Gunnar.


    "What is going on here?" The lieutenant Colonel in charge of the rescue operation asked ke because he wasn''t informed of Gunnar''s request for help.


    "I was investigating the person behind the failed assassination attempt in Coastville, which led me to this building. I got in a few¡­" ke exined everything with a calm expression.


    "I was just about to call you guys¡­" ke showed him themunication amulet in his hand.


    "Spread out and find out what happened here." The lieutenant colonel ordered the unit. With the acute senses of a peak demigod, he knew that Gunnar was dead. So, the best course of action was to begin an investigation.


    He quickly called in the investigation department and requested for the divination cursed artifact, Beholder.


    Since he was the highest level in all of the units, he was the one to use the Beholder in order to prevent as much interference as possible.


    ''Let''s see what happened here¡­'' The lieutenant Colonel injected his mana into the artifact causing a ripple that made the surface of the mirror tear in half, revealing a yellow-stained eyeball filled with multiple eerie blood vessels.


    Once the eyelid was fully open, the pupil had a purple aura that sent images of what happened to his mind. It showed the images of when ke walked into the room and saw Gunnar''s corpse on the floor.


    For some reason, he wasn''t able to see what had killed the lieutenant Colonel or even how he died. All the beholder was able to see was ke''s entrance, and nothing else.


    "High-level interference." The lieutenant Colonel frowned because this meant they were dealing with an Angel.


    "Unfortunately, we were unable to find any important information about his death. So, you will have to follow us to the square for some questioning." The lieutenant Colonel said without a change in expression.


    ''They are really suspecting me?'' ke was a little bit surprised but on thinking more about it, he found it very reasonable. The position of Lieutenant Colonel was very important, so it was very natural for them to suspect anyone possible for Gunnar''s death especially since they had no clue of what happened here.


    Either way, ke wasn''t worried at all because there was no way they could implicate him. Not only did he not have the strength to one-shot Gunnar, but he was also unable to interfere with divination artifacts. That was why he didn''t bother leaving the scene immediately after he saw the corpse.


    Once the Ash corps were done cleaning up the crime scene they warped back to the Square with ke.


    ¡­


    It didn''t take long for the news of Lieutenant Colonel Gunnar to spread around the Square.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "So they couldn''t save him in time." Colonel Darius shook his head as he read the heading of the report, but as he continued reading his indifferent expression changed to a frown.


    He quickly dropped the report and immediately called Prince Bryon. "Your Highness, we have a problem."


    In less than 3 minutes Prince Bryon had already warped into the square and both of them went to watch ke''s interrogation process.


    "Do you think he did it?" Prince Bryon asked Darius with a serious expression as they watched ke get questioned from the two-way mirror.


    "Not by any chance. Not only is he unable to defeat Gunnar, but none of the items on him were able to interfere with divination, it has to be someone else." Colonel Darius exined.


    "I want you to go and scan the crime scene with the Beholder, there is no way you won''t be able to see anything." Prince Bryon instructed without taking his eyes off the interrogation process.


    "Yes your Highness." Darius bowed and warped out of the square.


    In the next instant, Darius appeared at the entrance of the building. Since there was a possibility that the investigation team missed something, it was best for him to start his sweep from the entrance.


    Darius walked into the building while bending light particles to prevent anyone from seeing him.


    After a few minutes, he finally got to the room Gunnar was killed. He took out the Beholder and activated the cursed artifact.


    The beholder showed Gunnar waiting in the room for something or someone. The door opened and someone entered, but his appearance was totally concealed causing Colonel Darius to frown.


    He had been sent here by Prince Bryon to see through the interference using his strength as a Peak Angel but even for him, some things were still concealed.


    The moment the concealed person stepped into the room, Gunnar became rmed and immediately took a defensive stance.


    Without saying anything, the concealed person clenched his fist and a white light shot out from his ring and tore through all of Gunnar''s defenses, leaving a hole in his abdomen.


    At that moment, Gunnar used thest strength he had to send out a distress signal to the Ash Corps.


    The concealed man threw the ring behind the door''s entrance before closing the door and warping away.


    At that point, Gunnar was still not dead thanks to the vitality of a peak Angel, but the white light paralyzed him and continuously drained his vitality.


    A few minutester, he died in the pool of his own blood, and that was when all the anti-tracking items on him lost effect causing ke''s intuition to pick up his location.

 Chapter 540 Detained Indefinitely.

    ?


    "From the evil grin on his face when the door opened, it seems he was waiting for someone but he now met a different person. The look was of a predator waiting for a prey." Colonel Darius thought as he recalled the images shown by the Beholder.


    "Could it be that he was waiting for ke?" Darius was shocked as he seemed to have had an epiphany. "ke was tracking the assassin behind the attack in Coastville and had coincidentally gotten to this same room. Could it be that he wanted to kill him when he came here?"


    Colonel Darius quickly shook his head and pushed the matter to the side because Gunnar''s intentions didn''t matter now that he was dead.


    "The killer blocked the distress signal that Gunnar had sent and only released it when ke entered the building. Also, he left the murder weapon at the crime scene." Darius said to himself as he turned to the area behind the door.


    With a wave of his hand, the ring that the concealed person had discarded appeared.


    "Only those in the Angel realm could find the ring, that was why they couldn''t find it." The ring floated up to his hand and he began examining it.


    The ring was a one-time use spell storage artifact just like Gunnar had used at Coastville, but this time the spell that was stored was 10 times deadlier.


    ''By dropping the murder weapon here, the killer is insinuating that our investigative skills are useless. Apart from that, he seems to know things like our response time and even has a way to stop our distress signals.'' Colonel Darius pondered.


    ''All these could only be discovered by someone on my level, meaning the killer knew I would be here to check it out¡­ Maybe it might even be a n to get me out of the Square and assassinate me?'' Darius'' eyes lit up with excitement as he was waiting for someone to jump out of the shadows.


    If it were anybody else, they would have been scared after discovering everything, but Colonel Darius was itching for a fight even though there were many signs of the killer being stronger than him.


    After waiting for some time and seeing that no one wasing out to attack him, Colonel Darius warped back into the Square to report everything to Prince Bryon.


    "What did you find?" Prince Bryon asked immediately Darius warped into his own office.


    "When I connected with the Beholder, I saw¡­" Darius began exining everything he saw with the divination artifact and all the theories he hade up with.


    "Interesting¡­" Bryon took a sip of his tea one more time before continuing. "The killer is most likely at the Battle Angel realm, and only a few people fit in that list."


    "Do you think it is that guy?" Colonel Darius couldn''t help but ask.


    "The killer has so much info and counters for the Ash Corps, so all fingers are pointing at him, but I can''t find a reason for him to anger us. So I have to rule it out for now." Prince Bryon said in a pondering tone.


    "At least, this info should be able to free him." Darius let out a sigh of relief.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Unfortunately, it isn''t." Prince Bryon dropped the tea cup and saucer before standing up and continuing. "This is the perfect opportunity for those old fools to mess with my n. So, they would definitely not let go so easily."


    "Let''s go see him." Prince Bryon and Darius both warped out of the office and appeared outside ke''s detention cell.


    The Square contained everything the Ash Corps needed, and that included a prison for every criminal they had caught.


    What made the prison special was its location. Unlike regr prisons that were usually located in secluded ces, the Ash Corps prison was built in a pocket dimension, and its entrance was located at thest underground floor of the Square.


    ke''s room wasrge and had grey color walls with a sizeable bed. It had a separate room for the toilet and shower, and apart from that there was nothing else.


    When Prince Bryon and ke appeared in front of his cell, the metal door as well as the wall at the entrance went transparent.


    "What is going on?" ke couldn''t help but ask because both of them appearing at the same time meant that things were serious.


    "We found out that someone else had entered the room before you and killer Gunnar, but we do not know his appearance. Unfortunately, this means that we have to keep you here for a short while." Prince Bryon exined.


    "I mean, if you know that it is someone else what is still the need to detain me?" ke was not liking the story one bit.


    "The Death of a Lieutenant Colonel doesn''t just affect Calton or the East, it affects the entire empire. If we are not able to find the culprit, there are chances that more attacks will happen in the future, and that is not good for the Empire''s prestige or for Ash corps."


    "So, it is normal protocol for us to detain you until we are 100% certain that you are not involved in his death." Prince Bryon said causing ke to shake his head in disappointment.


    "Don''t worry, I will get you out of here." Prince Byron said right before he and Colonel Darius warped out of the prison.


    [So what now?] The system asked.


    ''I don''t know¡­ just wait and see what happens.'' ke shrugged. ''This might actually be a blessing in disguise. With this break I can fully focus advancing to the Demigod realm.''


    ''The best part of it is that I still get to pick what I eat and I still have Ebony and Ivory with me.''


    As a Major in the Ash corps his items and dimensional amulet weren''t take away from him especially since they were only detaining him. This way he would still be able to constantly feed Ebony and Ivory.

 Chapter 541 Long Wait.

    ?


    ke and his 5 units were given 2 weeks break after their mission in Coastville. Unlike ke who was a workaholic that decided to track the assassin that made an attempt on his life, Cami had nned on using the break to have a good rest.


    So even as the news of Lieutenant Colonel Gunnar''s death spread throughout the Ash corps, she was not aware of it till the next day. That was when she also heard the news concerning ke''s detainment.


    "Who would have known being a workaholic would get him in trouble." Cami cursed as she felt helpless.


    It had been over an hour since she had heard the news, and she still hadn''t found a solution or even how she could affect the matter.


    "Guess I have no other option." Cami said as she took out hermunication amulet and had a conference call with Luciano, Damon, Tessie, Brian, and Castiel.


    "Why the call, and where is ke?" Brian asked as they connected to the call.


    "ke is being suspected for the death of Lieutenant Colonel Gunnar. He is currently detained at the Square." Cami announced leaving everyone except for Luciano shocked.


    "What evidence do they have against him?" Castiel was the first to ask.


    "I don''t know much about the case since it involves a high-level official, and because I am not handling the case, but what I know was that he was found at the crime scene." Cami said causing everyone to frown.


    "What the hell was he doing there?" Brian couldn''t help but ask.


    "After we returned from a mission in Coastville he said he was going to track the person behind the failed assassination in the Coastville. The deceased Ash corps was one of our prime suspects so I guess that answers why he was there." Cami said in a worried tone.


    "Someone attempted to assassinate him?!" Everyone except Luciano eximed once again.


    "Why?"


    "How did he anger him?"


    "Hope you guys were okay?"


    Seeing that the call was spiraling out of control, Luciano decided to speak up.


    "Ahem!" Luciano loudly cleared his throat causing everyone to keep quiet, then he began speaking. "It all started with his mission in the Malock desert¡­"


    Luciano began exining everything right from ke''s mission at the Malock desert up to the current case with details of his detainment. He told them how they had gotten some clue that it was the doing of the concealed killer, and why the Ash Corps couldn''t just let him go.


    "How do you know so much when even I have no¡­ Oh." Cami quickly remembered whom she was talking to.


    "So what are we going to do now¡­ Break him out of prison?" Brian asked now that he understood the situation, but he received weird looks from the rest.


    "Firstly, that is impossible. Secondly, you want to break him out and turn all of us into enemies of the empire?" Cami asked with a raised brow.


    "Then what should we do?"


    "I don''t know, that was why I called you guys, especially Luciano." Cami said causing everyone to turn to him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They were all basically useless in matters like this. The only person they knew could affect the situation was Luciano.


    "Prince Bryon is already on the case, so there is nothing I can do that he can''t, but this doesn''t mean freeing him will be easy." Luciano said causing them to go from relieved back to worried.


    "Why? Is there something happening behind the scenes that we don''t know?" Tessie couldn''t help but ask.


    "ke''s achievements make him a dangerous enemy to all nobles. So this is the perfect opportunity for them to deal with him." Luciano exined.


    "How is that a problem? Bryon''s authority should be greater than all noble familiesbined." Castiel argued.


    "He is talking about the Councillors." Cami corrected him and Luciano nodded in confirmation.


    "The only way to quickly free ke is by the majority of the council voting for it, but knowing them, they would just make excuses to keep him detained for as long as possible especially if no progress is made with the case." Luciano exined before looking at Damon.


    "I will speak to my father about this." Damon nodded but received confused looks from the rest.


    "Your father is a councilor?" The others asked but only received a nod from him without a change in expression.


    "That is 2 out of 4 but it won''t be enough." Damon said ignoring the open mouths and wide eyes staring at him.


    "It''s a tie meaning the Emperor should have thest vote." Brian said as he recovered from the shock, but Luciano shook his head.


    "The Emperor doesn''t vote, his word isw, but he won''t involve himself in small talks like this." Luciano said.


    Not only was ke amoner, but he was just a Major. So Emperor Cinder saw things like this as something below him.


    "So if it''s a tie, what next?" Tessie asked.


    "Either they take the case to court or the Ash Corps solves the case. Either way, it will surely be a long wait. The question is how long." Luciano exined.


    The council''s vote was for immediate effect, and the court was the only way to settle it. The problem was that everyone there knew this would be the n of the nobles since the court was the weapon they used to frustrate themoners.


    In this case, ke was sure to be set free because Prince Bryon was the one handling it, but either way, it wouldn''t be a quick judgment due to the involvement of the other councilors.


    ''I never for once liked having dealings with the vile creatures called nobles. That was one of the main reasons I didn''t join the Ash Corps, but ke was too fortunate.'' Brian shook his head as his hatred for nobles drastically increased.


    _____________________________________________________________________________________


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 Chapter 542 The Council.

    ?


    At the end of the week, the weekly council meeting between the 4 councilors and the Emperor was being held.


    Sitting on a magnificent golden throne was Emperor Cinder, who was emanating an aura of power and authority.


    The Emperor was adorned in a resplendent robe woven from the finest crimson silk, reflecting the color of mes dancing in the hearth. The fabric shimmered with a subtle luster as if infused with the very essence of fire itself. Intricate patterns of golden threads trace across the fabric, depicting mythical creatures and symbols associated with the empire''s rich magical heritage. These patterns seem toe alive as the Emperor moved, casting flickering shadows upon the fabric''s surface.


    The robe draped gracefully over the Emperor''s broad shoulders, falling in elegant folds that pool at his feet. Its high cor stood tall, framing his regal countenance and drawing attention to hismanding presence. The cor is embellished with exquisite gemstones that sparkle like burning embers, adding an enchanting touch to his attire.


    Beneath the robe, the Emperor wore a suit of armor specially crafted to harmonize with the golden mes. Gleaming tes of burnished gold form the foundation, intricately etched with ancient runes. These symbols seem to glow softly with a fiery glow, hinting at the Emperor''s mastery over the fire element as well as the golden mes.


    Upon his flowing jet-ck hair rested a magnificent crown, forged from molten gold and encrusted with rare gemstones that mirrored the hues of a roaring inferno. mes danced along the edges of the crown, defying gravity as they twist and curl in a mesmerizing disy. The crown was a powerful artifact and a testament to the Emperor''s status as the ruler of the Fire Empire.


    As the Emperor sat upon his golden throne, his emotionless dark blue eyes looked at each of the four holograms standing not too far away.


    One of the holograms was Aurelius Frostborne, the current leader of the Frostborne Ancestral family.


    He had white hair and an enchanting presence that exuded both power and serenity. His flowing locks of hair, as pure as freshly fallen snow, framed his regal countenance, falling gracefully around his face and cascading down to his broad shoulders. Each strand shimmers with a frosty sheen as if touched by the breath of winter itself, while asional glimmers of icy blue and silver hues add an ethereal quality to his appearance.


    His eyes, a mesmerizing shade of cial blue, hold a cold piercing gaze that seemed to see through the hearts of men.


    His sculpted jawline and high cheekbones lend an air of nobility. Hisplexion, pale as the icy moonlight, appeared wless and untouched by blemish or imperfection.


    The robe he wore was crafted from a flowing fabric as pale as freshly fallen snow, draped inyers that mimicked the shimmering patterns of frost forming on a winter morning. Delicate silver embroidery traces intricate snowke motifs along the edges, twinkling with an otherworldly radiance as they caught the light.


    The ancestor of the Frostborne ancestral family was a powerful explorer that had left thend now known as the Tigeria empire. During his exploration, he arrived at the undiscoverednd that was now the Synder empire.


    At that time most of the entire area was overrun by extremely powerful beasts. During this period, he met a young Synder, and thanks to their adventurous spirits they easily became close friends. They banded together alongside the other Ancestors to slowly eradicate the beasts and form the empire.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Just like the royal family that had Golden mes, the few members of the Frostborne family were able to conjure ice, but only when they advanced into the Hero realm.


    Among the 4 ancestral families, the Frostborne family was the most secluded with none of their family members ever joining any of the magic schools but were home-schooled by Aurelius and other members of the family.


    Opposite Aurelius was the current leader of the ckthorn Ancestral family, Cedric ckthorn. He had brown hair and gave off an aura of self-importance and superiority, with every aspect of his appearance reflecting his inted ego.


    His hair was a lustrous shade of chestnut brown that cascaded down in a meticulously arranged coif, a symbol of his meticulous attention to detail and desire for perfection.


    His eyes, deep and prating, hold a haughty gaze that seems to look down at those that stared into them. They were the color of rich soil butcked warmth and empathy. Instead, they radiated an icy coolness that hinted at his dismissive and condescending nature.


    He wore a robe woven from fabrics that possessed textures of nature. Its color was of earthy tones, blending various shades of brown and green, evoking the vibrant colors found in forests and fields. Delicate embroidery, inspired by intricate leaf patterns and the swirling motifs of ancient earth runes, adorned the edges of the robe.


    The ancestor of the ckthorn family was the closest to Synder among the other ancestors. They were bothmoners who had grown up together in a human vige. When Synder had begun his journey, ckthorn was the first to join him.


    The only bad part of this tale was that the current generation of the ckthorn ancestral family had forgotten their roots, and were now strongly against what they were.


    Their control over the Earth element was very powerful, but it was nothing special whenpared with the golden mes of the royal family or the ice of the Frostbornes. The same thing applied to their nt element, but their specialty came from thebination of both the earth and nt elements.


    To the left of Cedric ckthorn was Prince Bryon who represented the royal family in the council, while opposite him was Jaeger Nyx, the leader of the Nyx family which was also known as the hidden de of the emperor.


    Compared to the other Ancestral families, the Nyx family was the smallest in size, but they were no doubt the strongest after the royal family. They had found a way to greatly increase the chances of their descendants awakening the darkness element, but even at that, they were not many.


    The good thing about this was that every member of the family that awakened the darkness element was unrivaled, while the rest of the family were trained to be top-notch assassins.

 Chapter 543 Over to the court.

    Chapter 543 Over to the court.


    With everyone present, Emperor Cinder gestured for the council meeting to begin.


    "What is the update on the death of the Lieutenant Colonel?" Jaeger Nyx asked with a stoic expression.


    Although the Lieutenant Colonel rank was not that important in their eyes, the murder of one was not only an insult to the Synder empire, but it was also a threat to other officials. That was why the matter had to be looked into by the Council.


    "The Ash Corps haven''t found any new clue of the killer''s identity or whereabouts, but Colonel Darius was able to uncover this footage." Prince Bryon yed the images Darius had seen when he used the Beholder.


    "From the video, it is clear that the killer wanted the Colonel to see only these parts, meaning that he or she is at the Battle Angel realm." Jaeger said as they all frowned while watching the footage.


    Everyone in the room was at the Battle Angel realm, so they were all aware of how serious the matter was.


    "It is clear that the Ash Corps won''t be able to find the killer at this rate. So, I suggest we vote to send in members of our families to carry out the investigation." Prince Bryon said.


    "Agreed."


    "Agreed."


    "Agreed."


    Once they had all voted, they turned to the silent Emperor who gave them a nod of approval.


    "Out of all the Battle Angels alive, there are only a few on Infinite realm that there whereabouts are unknown, but I still don''t see why any of them would want to go against the Empire." Jaeger Nyx said without a change in expression.


    "That guy fits the criteria. Not only is he and his group''s whereabouts unknown, but he is crazy and unpredictable." Cedric ckthorn said.


    "I agree, but something feels off." Jaeger shook his head as he continued. "Top-tier assassins don''t make a move without a motive, especially for someone at his level. So him going after a Lieutenant Colonel from an unknown noble family is highly unlikely."


    "True, but what if the killer''s motive was the Major and not Lieutenant Colonel." Aurelius Frostborne finally spoke up.


    "That is ridiculous. Not only is the Major at the Hero realm, but he is also amoner. Tell me, how can someone like thate in contact with a Battle Angel?" Prince Bryon was calm on the outside but was boiling within.


    "There are a lot of possibilities that is why we should detain him till the case is over." Aurelius Frostborne said while staring at Prince Bryon.


    "The chances of him having nothing to do with this is even higher since we haven''t found anything incriminating so far. Besides, he is one the few Specials Ops Majors in the East, so keeping him locked up will only lead to unsolved cases and problems in the region." Prince Bryon retorted.


    "Releasing him without bringing the killer to book or even figuring out the killer''s identity would turn us intoughing stock, and will give others the confidence to try their luck. So instead of making everyone think that we don''t have a clue of what we are doing, it is best to keep him detained till further notice." Cedric said.


    "Why don''t we end this argument with a vote? Those in favor of keeping the Major detained say I, while those against say nay." Aurelius smirked as his gaze didn''t leave Bryon.


    "I" Aurelius was the first to vote.


    "I" Cedric was the second.


    "Nay" Byron was the third with a frown on his face.


    "Nay" Jaeger was thest, but his vote shocked the rest of the rest including Bryon.


    When it came to the fight between the noble andmoner factions in the council, it was Aurelius Frostborne and Cedric ckthorn against Prince Bryon. Jaeger Nyx on the other hand was not part of the conflict because he waszy and didn''t care about things like these. So he would usually vote for the less stressful path.


    Aurelius always took advantage of this to win, that was why everyone was shocked to see Jaeger vote in favor of themoners.


    Seeing that it was a tie, they all turned to Emperor Cinder for the final decision, but he refused to vote.


    "This means that the court will be the one to decide." Aurelius said with a huge grin.


    The council had absolute authority, but in the case where a decision couldn''t be made, they would have to turn to the court. The good thing about this was that the court was just especially in high profile cases, so the only thing that was worrying was how long the case was going to be dyed.


    ''This is not a total loss, I was able to save him from being detained indefinitely. All I have to do now is make sure that they don''t nt anything to incriminate him.'' Prince Bryon thought.


    ¡­


    2 weekster.


    Right from the day ke had been detained, he had been putting his entire time into figuring out the concept of the space element. missing.


    Everything had remained at a bottleneck until he recently turned to his knowledge of physics.


    It first started with the simple definition of matter, stating that matter was anything that had weight and upied space.


    From ke''s understanding of thest part, it meant that for anything to exist, it had to upy space, thus making space the tform or container for all existence.


    Once he had understood this, ke began looking into the effects of things on space, this brought him to one of the most essential things, gravity.


    ording to one of the college lecture videos on gravity he had watched back on Earth, gravity was one of the few things that could directly affect space. It was the reasons rotated around the sun, and if gravity was too much at a particr location it could lead to the formation of a ck hole.


    Understanding the concept of space and the effects of gravity on it was very helpful but ke felt that there was still something missing.

 Chapter 544 [Bonus chapter]How to start.

    Chapter 544 [Bonus chapter]How to start.


    Although understanding the effect of gravity on space was important, it still felt kind of abstract so he tried bringing everything down to earth by rting it with his current skills.


    With the concept of space being a tform for all existence, the Locator spell was a way to track everything within the tform, meaning that nothing could be hidden in space.


    The process of teleportation was basically leaving the tform and entering the void, before folding the tform like a piece of paper and instantly moving to the targeted location. Of course, this required the Locator spell to find the exact coordinates and not get lost in the void.


    As for Telekinesis, it involved gravity which was basically the control of things that existed on the tform of existence.


    After looking at all these, ke realized that they all had something inmon, control.


    The space element was basically the control of existence, that was why it was the strongest pathway.


    Immediately he realized it, ke felt the connection between his mind and his stars deepen, but it still didn''t mean that he had broken into the peak of the Hero realm.


    Now that he had understood the concept of his 3 pathways, it was time to practice these concepts and make them part of him. Only after that would he break into the peak of the Hero realm.


    The minor breakthrough raised ke''s mood, but it was soon spoilt when he was informed that he would have to appear in court to testify his own side of the story.


    The argument that was made was that Lieutenant Colonel Gunnar and his entire family were currently under investigation to uncover reasons why someone would assassinate him, and also if ke was somehow involved in it.


    Normally, this would be immediately ruled out by the court and ke would be set free, but since this was a matter of national security and the time of the murder was less than 2 weeks ago; the court had to reconsider.


    The next court case was adjourned to 2 and a half months, in order to give the ash corps enough time to properly investigate the case.


    The good thing about this was that the case was not public so his reputation was still intact, but the problem here was that 2 and a half months was a very long time for someone like ke who was trying to return to Earth as soon as possible.


    The worst part of the entire situation was that he was pretty sure that the next sitting wouldn''t be thest meaning more time would be wasted.


    At the same time, 4 of the ancestral families sent out members of their families as well as different artifacts to help solve the case.


    Unlike the ash corps thatprised mostly rtively low-ranked officers, the descendants of the ancestral families were at least at the peak of the Hero realm, thus, reducing the rate of inuracy.


    The reason Prince Bryon had proposed sending them to handle the case was that if it was left to the Ash corps the case wouldn''t be solved at all. So although this decision could lead to moreplications it was the best.


    Besides, the best-case scenario was that they would actually find information about the real killer, while the worst-case scenario was that some of them nted incriminating information against ke, but that was why he had tasked people to prevent this.


    ¡­


    During this period of investigation, ke was using the opportunity to inculcate the concepts of the 3 elements into his fighting style.


    Thankfully since he was only detained, ke was allowed to keep training because they couldn''t let the skills of a Major stagnate.


    Spending most of his time in the training ground, ke only returned to his cell when he was out of mana, time to eat or sleep.


    Since his fighting style heavily relied on the sharpness of Ebony and Ivory, ke had used been using his 2 elements primarily for support. That was why he was now focused on the offensive sides of the element.


    He began training the fire element for AOE attacks in case he was facing a lot of people, and also for knockback attacks to create distance between him and his opponent.


    In the case of the lightning element, its main aim was prative attacks and kiting, but because nothing could beat the prative power of Ebony and Ivory he had been using it only for the kitting part.


    By understanding the concept of the lightning element, ke became more risk-taking especially since he had Lightning Morph that could save him from sticky situations.


    As for the space element, ke didn''t have much to change about it. All he did was increase the fluency of thebinations of the space element and the other 2 to give him more control over fights and make his attacks more unpredictable.


    ¡­


    After a month and a half of nothing but training, ke finally had a major breakthrough. He had broken into the peak of the Hero realm.


    Not only did his control over the 3 elements be more refined, but both his mana capacity and power out his elements had greatly increased.


    "All that is left now is to discover my test for advancement and figure out how to solve it, but that is e easier said than done." ke shook his head as he let out a helpless sigh because it would have been easier for him to solve this task if he had not been detained.


    Since he had nothing else to do, the next thing ke began looking into was the theory behind pronouncements, one of Demigods'' main abilities.


    He formed this theory after seeing Colonel Darius easily control all elements with only his thoughts. So by stepping it down, it was safe to say that this was the foundation of demigods and their pronouncements.


    If he was correct, this would give him a head start once he entered the Demigod realm, and since there was no risk involved there was no harm in trying.


    The question now was how should he start?

 Chapter 545 League of Assassins strike.

    Chapter 545 League of Assassins strike.


    "ording to what was taught in magic school, everything is made of mana but just in different forms. This was also confirmed In Azkelwart''s base as the elements were being reversed to mana." ke said to himself.


    Although the functions of the Nova crystals at Azkelwart''s base were more than 100 times more difficult than converting mana to other elements, it still didn''t mean it wasn''t difficult at all.


    "What if I am also meant to understand the concept behind the other element?" ke''s eyes lit up, but they quickly returned to normal. "I only understood these 3 because I have been using them for years. So it is impossible to understand them without even being able to cast a basic spell."


    He had the idea of using different arrays to generate the elements, but that wouldn''t be of help since he couldn''t feel or control them.


    "In the human body, our star paths are responsible for automatically converting our mana into our awakened elements before amplifying it and channeling it out of the body in different forms. This means I have to switch to a manual approach of casting spells." ke silently pondered.


    For him to switch to a manual approach of casting spells, ke needed to understand how the automatic version worked. This brought him to another lesson from the magic school.


    All forms of mana came from the Mother stream, and things like the arrays and stars had the ability to directly draw different forms of energy from it. Arrays could do this because they were basically symbols used tomunicate with the Mother stream, but he had no idea of how the stars could do that.


    "I have found a key step to solving this problem but as expected, the execution is the issue." ke shook his head because he was already getting a headache from thinking.


    Having no other option, ke decided to settle for the simplest idea he had in mind. He nned on using mana to mimic the functions of the other elements in hopes of gaining insight into what he was meant to do.


    Mana was blue in color so if the intensity was increased it would produce a lot of light.


    For fire, he could generate heat through friction by using mana against any object but ke felt that won''t suffice. He needed to create actual mes and to do so he needed oxygen, a type of fuel, and a spark.


    Luckily for him, all of this was already present in the air, but the problem was that it was on a molecr level. So his mana control had to have needle-like precision.


    Just like that ke began finding round methods to create the elements using mana, but he couldn''t figure out other methods for most of the other elements for the time being.


    ¡­


    One monthter, it was time for the second hearing of his court case.


    The joint force of the 4 ancestral families had sessfully uncovered all the illicit dealings carried out by Lieutenant Colonel Gunnar and his family throughout his career in the Ash Corps.


    This also included the capturing of all his aplices, including the artifact store ke had investigated. It turned out that they smuggled and sold dangerous unregistered artifacts.


    All artifacts brought into the city for sale had to be registered under the Ash Corps to make them traceable in case it was used to carry out a crime. That was why gangs, assassins, and so on made use of these channels to make sure crimes couldn''t be traced back to them.


    The opposing party argued that the investigation and crackdown on all of Gunnar''s assants required much more time and effort, especially since they also had to investigate everyone involved in the artifact smuggling.


    They also mentioned to the judge that Gunnar was the one behind ke''s attempted assassination, and used it to ask for more time since it was rted to ke''s appearance on the crime scene.


    With so many results, and well-presented arguments brought forward, the judge had to adjourn the case once again for thest time.


    This was meant to be good news to ke, but the final hearing was in 5 months!


    "Just like that 7 and a half months of my life would go to waste." ke was frustrated but felt helpless.


    "It''s not as if I am aiming to take their positions, I just want to see my mum. So why can''t these fools let me be?!" ke''s hatred for nobles was skyrocketing the more he thought about it. "What allmoners want is just to have 3 square meals and live a happy life with their families, but these morons hoard resources and actively make their lives horrible just for thrills and their oversized egos."


    [What do you n on doing now?] The system asked after letting ke vent his frustration.


    ''There is nothing I can do for now, but once I get out of here I will quit the Ash Corp and sooner orter find a way to make these bastards pay.'' ke answered with a resolve of steel.


    Seeing that ke had made up his mind, the system didn''t bother saying anything else.


    ¡­


    In the middle of a dark room, the Masked man who was dressed in all ck stood in the midst of multiple holograms.


    If Prince Bryon were here it wouldn''t take time for him to realize that these were all the members of the League of Assassins, and just like most of the members present, he would be shocked because this was the first time in decades that all members were meeting.


    The Adventurer Association and the League of Assassins had a lot inmon, especially in terms of the freedom their members had. Contrary to what many people thought, the League wasn''t meant to be as free as the Association. What made it look so was that the Masked man was carefree and almost never disturbed or snooped into their activities.


    That was why everyone was surprised that he called for a meeting out of nowhere.

 Chapter 546 Impeccable Timing.

    ?


    The main difference between the adventurer association and the League of Assassins was that, unlike the Association where just anyone could join, the League of Assassins only invited extraordinarily talented and powerful individuals to its rank. Every single person partaking in the meeting were wanted andbelled as extremely dangerous.


    Seeing that everyone in the League had joined the meeting, the masked man dressed in all ck finally spoke.


    "I have a task for all of you." On saying this, the entire room instantly quietened down.


    Usually, they were individually assigned missions because 1 person was enough to handle most missions, and not everyone could afford their fees.


    "Your task is to cause chaos in Eastern region cities of the Synder empire. The target of the chaos would be in the central regions of each city, so try and make sure that no harm befalls themoners." The Masked man paused as he looked at the different members of the League before continuing.


    "As for the fees, I will pay them andpensate you for your loses but make sure you escape when things be too dangerous and do everything in your power to not get captured or killed." The Masked man said.


    "I have a question." A top-level assassin wrapped in bandages from head to toe said.


    "Go ahead." The masked man gestured for him to carry on.


    "With so many attacks on the entirety of the Eastern region, Bryon will be involved and that will surely spell danger for us. Only you, Zyvexin and Xeros can handle him, but both of them are currently away. So what do we do?" The bandaged man as well as other assassins were concerned about this.


    "You don''t have to worry about Bryon, I will personally deal with him and Darius if they appear." The Masked man answered erasing all their worries and even giving them more confidence.


    In the League of Assassins, there were only 2 people that had seen the Masked man in action, and whenever they were asked how strong the masked man was, they would always say that it was only Emperor Cinder that was worth his time.


    Although it sounded exaggerated, it was very hard to not believe especially after seeing how the masked man could enter almost anywhere he wanted in the Synder empire.


    Also, if he wasn''t as strong as the rumours said, then the 3 empires would have destroyed the league a long time ago.


    "What of Calton? Apart from Bryon and Darius, there are still a lot of high-level cultivators especially after the descendants of the Ancestral families arrived at the city." Xander asked.


    "At the right moment, I will make my presence known and that will discourage a lot of people. You guys will be able to deal with the rest." The masked man replied, but this made almost everyone ask the same question.


    Why?


    The League of Assassins, although their actions were nothing close to noble, it was still considered a neutral organization because it rarely acted without being paid by someone. So everyone was wondering why or what would make the Masked man deploy almost the entire forces of the League.


    "Any other questions before the meeting ends?" The masked man asked.


    "Is that all you want us to do? Just cause trouble and kill nobles, nothing else?" de couldn''t help but ask because the task was just too straightforward and didn''t seem to have any goal.


    "Yes." The Masked man nodded.


    As seasoned assassins, they knew not to ask too many questions, so they all began leaving the room and cancelling themunication connection, marking the end of the meeting.


    "Now that ispleted, time to contact the target." The masked man said with a creepy smile under his mask.


    ¡­


    At the underground floor of the Square in a pocket dimension, it was time for lunch and ke was waiting for his food to be warped into the room.


    To make sure that no unwanted situations like assassination attempts would ur, they limited ke''s contact with the outside world to only very high officials.


    Right on time, his lunch was warped into his room. On his tray was honey sesame chicken with Brolini, and firecracker chicken with white rice.


    "Gorgeous." ke''s eyes lit up as he rubbed his palms together before digging in.


    ''No matter my mood, I will never reject free food!'' ke thought as he munched on a honey sesame chicken.


    ''I will note that down forter.''


    ''Why will you note that down?'' ke asked with a raised brow while still munching on his sumptuous meal, but almost immediately froze when he realized something.


    That was not the voice of the system!


    ke quickly turned around in search of the source of the voice but saw no one else in the room.


    ''Don''t move so abruptly or you will alert them.'' The voice in his head said.


    ''What the hell?!'' ke was shocked on realizing that the new voice wasing from his head.


    ''How are you able to enter my thoughts, and how did you get past the Ash Corps'' security?'' ke asked without letting his emotions appear on his face.


    He didn''t dare disobey the voice because someone that could bypass so many defences and still into his head could kill him at any time.


    ''That''s a secret so I can''t tell you.'' The voice said with a smile.


    ''Who are you and what do you want from me?'' At this point, ke had dropped his utensils but remained calm.


    ''I am the Leader of the League of Assassins, poprly known as the Masked Man, and I am here to make you an offer.''


    ''Wait and watch how your life goals get dyed and eventually destroyed by useless nobles or join the league and get revenge on them.'' The Masked man said causing ke to enter deep thoughts.


    The Masked Man''s timing was impable!


    ke''s hatred for nobles had shot of up the roofs, and he had already promised himself that he would leave the Ash Corps after this. So the offer was very tempting.

 Chapter 547 The Offer.

    ?


    The Masked man''s offer was met with a long period of silence, as ke was thinking in the deeper parts of his mind.


    After staying so long with the system ke learnt how to hide his thoughts from the system even though it was in its head.


    Surely, this didn''t go unnoticed by the Masked man. The prolonged silence and ke''s pondering posture made him realize what was going on. He was intrigued by how ke could do this and would love to know how he learnt it, but that wasn''t important for now.


    ''I can give you till your next meal to think about it.'' The Masked man said not wanting to rush him.


    ''What are the perks of joining the league, and what is the catch, because it is hard to believe all this is for free?'' ke asked with a suspicious look on his face.


    ''Just like every member of the league, you will be trained in the way of the Assassin and you will have ess to extremely rare resources and items which will be exchangeable for gold coins.''


    ''As for the so-called "catch", the league will collect a 30%mission on all of the missions assigned to you, and you also answer to me.'' The Masked Man exined.


    ''Isn''t that the same if I stay with the Ash Corps?'' ke wasn''t too impressed by the offer.


    ''No, it isn''t. In the League, there is no form of discrimination and I am the best person you could possibly be under. Besides you can get your hands on all types of information that exists without care for your rank, as long as you can pay for it.'' The Masked Man went on to give ke all the info he needed to know to make a decision.


    In the League of Assassins, there were only 2 ranks; that of the Masked man, and members. It didn''t matter how long one had been part of the League, all that mattered was their strength.


    ''So, from what you are saying I won''t be forced to ept missions from clients, but when it is something that has to do with the League itself, it ispulsory for me to take part?'' ke asked to confirm.


    ''Exactly.'' The Masked man confirmed.


    ''Onest question, before I make a decision.''


    ''Carry on.'' The Masked Man said without any signs of hurry in his tone.


    ''What if I say no?'' ke couldn''t help but ask because although the Masked Man sounded meek, he was still the mysterious leader of one of the most dangerous organizations in Infinite realm.


    ''Nothing will happen because I haven''t told you any secret information about the League. Besides I am very confident you will join.'' The Masked man said with a smirk.


    ke would have loved to keep asking questions but the longer the conversation took, the more things would look out of ce.


    ''All right, I agree to join the League. So how do you n on getting me out of here?'' ke asked as he resumed eating his food to look normal.


    ''Wee to the League of Assassins, Zero.'' The Masked Man smiled before continuing. ''When the timees, you will get the map of the prison as well as the information and shifts of every person in the pocket dimension and Square.''


    ''As for the locks of your cell, and other doors in the prison, they will automatically open when you arrive at the checkpoints.''


    ke had always expected the League of Assassins to have inside men within the Ash Corps, but he never expected it to be up to this level. This basically meant that he could break out any prisoner he wanted.


    ''Your only problem will be how to deal with the officials and Ancestral descendants.'' The Masked man said.


    ''I heard that the Ancestral descendants sent to Calton are close to a hundred. The best I can do is 50 at most, but anything above that is beyond me.'' ke replied.


    ''That is already more than impressive, but most of them will not even be in Calton by then. So you don''t have to worry.'' The Masked man said.


    ''I shall await your signal.'' Once that was done, ke felt something leave his mind space.


    Due to the high risk involved, ke would have loved to ask more questions about the smallest of details but since this was the Leader of the League of Assassins, ke was confident that he had everything covered.


    [He is finally gone.] The system said as it revealed its presence.


    [Why did you make such a deal with someone like him?] The system couldn''t help but ask.


    ''Why shouldn''t I?'' ke said without taking his eyes away from his food.


    [Don''t you think you should have consulted me?] The system said.


    ''Consulting someone is when I am confused about what to do, but I know what I want. If I join the League of Assassins, not only would I be able to get to put a lot of nobles in their ce, but I will be able to get my hands on more information quicker than if I remain in the Ash Corps.''


    ''So instead of waiting for months or years before I get another promotion while constantly being hindered and framed by nobles. It is best I join the league and find my purpose in Infinite realm quickly.'' ke exined the reasons for his decision and sure enough, the system didn''t see anything wrong with it.


    The system would have argued that the League were the bad guys, but they were both aware that most of their actions were against the nobles because they always targeted themselves and no one would pay suchrge amounts just to killmoners.


    As for the problem of having a bounty on him, that was nothing new to ke. The only difference now was that no one would stop him from eliminating anyone that made his life difficult or stood in his way.


    [Their days are numbered.] The system felt helpless as it felt the rage in ke''s heart.

 Chapter 548 Forced Move!

    ?


    2 dayster, Prince Bryon was in his office at the pce thinking about the next moves of the Frostborne and ckthorn Ancestral families to keep ke detained.


    "They have done nothing yet, but I have a feeling they will do everything in their power to lock him up for good." Prince Bryon frown as he thought of something.


    "What if the main goal is not to deal with him during the case, but after he has been released and has returned to the Ash corps."


    "With an incident like this, it would be easier for them to fight against his promotion and limit his growth." Bryon''s frown deepened but that was when Joan entered his office.


    "Report just came in that Dustar is currently being attacked." Joan said in an urgent tone.


    "Beasts?" Prince Bryon asked without changing his position.


    "No, by the members of the League of Assassins." Joan reported causing Bryon to finally turn to her.


    "Members?!" Prince Bryon couldn''t help but ask because members of the League of Assassins usually acted individually.


    "Yes, sir. The spotted members are ''Deathwhisper'' Valentina, ''Specter'' Dimitri and ''Duskfire'' Magnus. 3 of which are at the peak of the Demigod realm." Joan reported.


    "Has the Ash Corps sent out troops to support them?" Prince Bryon asked in a serious tone.


    "Yes, about 5 minutes ago." Joan answered, but that was when she received an update about the situation in Dustar. "Report justing in is that they had escaped on the first sight of reinforcement."


    "How long did the attackst, and how much damages are we looking at?" Prince Bryon asked.


    Without wasting a second, Joan began scanning through the tablet in her hand. "The attacksted 23 minutes in total, half of the Vallencourt estate along with its 63 residents were wiped out during this time, and that included all their top fighters."


    ''At least they are helping me deal with some of the corrupt nobles.'' Prince Bryon thought before speaking up. "Launch an investigation on the matter and find out the reason for their actions. Also, tell the troops sent over to Dustar to remain there for the time being in case a second attack urs."


    Immediately, Prince Bryon was done givingmands Joan''s tab lit up.


    "A report is justing in that Coastville is under attack by 5 members of the League of Assassins." Joan immediately reported causing a deep frown to form on Bryon''s face.


    "What the hell is going on?!" Just as Bryon was stillining the Tablet lit up once again, this time it was 2 other cities that were under attack by the League of Assassins. Forcing Bryon to stand up from his chair.


    Almost instantly, Colonel Darius who warped into the pce a second ago walked into his office. Without uttering a word, they all moved to the situation room where they began assessing it.


    "They seem to only attack the central regions." Colonel Darius pointed it out on the map.


    "Do you think someone put a target on nobles in the entire Eastern region?" Joan couldn''t help but ask.


    "Although the reports of all the attacks are not yet out, from what we have seen from Dustar, their attacks are quite random." Prince Bryon said.


    Soon enough, the live reports from all the battlefields were being transmitted to the situation room.


    Apart from Dustar, 6 of the 8 cities in the Eastern region were attacked by more than 5 League members at the same time.


    What made it worse was that since it was a surprise attack, the defences of the cities didn''t have enough time to gather and attack all at once, thus making it easy for 5 or more of them to eliminate whoever came to stop them.


    "Normal troops will be nothing more than cannon fodder, but even if we send all of our top experts they wouldn''t be enough." Colonel Darius said as they saw the live results.


    "Hire top members of noble families, and send them out alongside half of the Ancestral descendants in Calton to the affected cities." Prince Bryon finally made a decision.


    The situation was very bad, luckily the Ancestral descendants that came to investigate ke''s case were still present in Calton.


    "Not all members of the League have been spotted, so they are most likely on standby. If we are to send all our troops out, there would be no one to defend Calton if they are to strike." Colonel Darius reminded him.


    "Their main goal is Calton; the attacks are just distractions. Calton getting attacked is a certainty, the question is what is the aim of all these attacks?"


    "Besides, it''s not as if we have any other option. We can''t watch as other cities get destroyed because of a spected attack." Prince Bryon said in a pondering tone.


    ''I could go myself or send Darius, but the attack on Calton is going to be greater than the rest. Besides, either of us moving out would be ineffective and inefficient because they would immediately retreat when they sense our presence ande back when we move to another city.'' Prince Bryon thought with a wry smile.


    This was a forced move! [1]


    "When Calton is attacked, You and I will be here to defend it." Prince Bryon said to Darius before leaving for his office.


    ''What would have caused him to carry out an all-out attack on the Eastern region?'' Prince Bryon couldn''t help but ask as he began going through all possible reasons that could have prompted such drastic action.


    ''It surely can''t be a mission, because even Tigeria can''t afford the hefty price for such a mission.''


    ''Could it be for ke?''


    ''No, it can''t be. For now, ke''s talent can''t be said to be on the same level as other members of the League. The only possibility is because of the Space element, but that is highly unlikely because I have put countless measures to make sure he isn''t being watched in and out of missions.''


    ''It definitely has to be something else, but what?''


    [1] A forced move is a terminology in chess, in which a yer must make a move to respond to a threat posed by an opponent. If a yer''s king is in check, for instance, that yer must make a move that gets their king out of check.

 Chapter 549 The Arboreal Reaper, Verdigris.

    ?


    Not having a clue of what was going on in other cities, the inhabitants of Calton continued with their lives with no problems.


    At the gate of the Karius Estate, a carriage carrying ornamental nts was being searched by the security guards.


    "Clear." The security guard who was tasked with the scanning of the carriage announced.


    "All clear." The final security guard tasked to verify that the flowers were for one of the family members in the estate.


    The security guards opened the estate gate and allowed the carriage in.


    After 10 minutes of driving, the carriage had gotten to the heart of the estate. Inside the carriage, thergest nt tore in half and 3 people climbed out of the extremely thin trunk.


    The first person was Xander, who had spiky white hair and an evil grin stered on his face. His hatred for the Karius family had never dwindled for a bit, thus the location for the attack was clear as daylight.


    After him was de, the former gang leader. He didn''t hate Calton or the Karius family as much as Xander, but he wouldn''t miss watching Calton burn for anything.


    Last but definitely not the least was Verdigris, the Arboreal Reaper. He was covered in bandages from head to toe and was at the Angel realm.


    Apart from being an assassin, he was a psychotic nomad off duty, living in seclusion in jungles and killing anyone unfortunate to cross his path. He was infamous for having an exceptional mastery of the nt element.


    The nt element represented the embodiment of life, but in his hands, the nt element was scary and synonymous with death.


    Once they were all out, a burst of mana from Xander blew the entire carriage apart, sending parts of nts and debris flying, killing the driver tasked to deliver the flowers.


    "He said we should keep our attacks in the central region, and I did." Xander said in his defence as de stared at him.


    Without saying another word, the trio flew into the air, looking over the entire Karius estate.


    "I hate this ce." Xander spat.


    Not too long after, the head of the Karius family, Z appeared right in front of them, already inbat mode.


    As the head of the Karius family in Calton, Z Karius couldn''t leave his family unprotected even to go help out other cities.


    "That took you so long." Xander said not caring that Z had finally advanced to the Angel realm. "By the way where is Xavier, I wanted to teach him a thing or 2."


    Not listening to Xander''s ramblings, Z began scanning the opponents. ''de, the gang leader that was sent packing out of Calton, the imbecile Xander, and Verdigris, the Arboreal Reaper.'' Z thought with a deep frown on his face.''


    If he were to deal with only de and Xander, it wouldn''t be considered a warm-up, but the Verdigris was in the picture. He had heard only a few tales about Verdigris but had nevere in contact with him.


    Almost instantly, Richard Nystrom who had also advanced to the Angel realm appeared beside Z.


    "I received your distress call and came out immediately." Richard said without taking his eyes off the League of Assassin members.


    "Let''s get this over with, shall we?" Verdigris said as part of the bandages on different parts of his body began loosening up.


    "I agree." Z said in a more confident tone as it was now 2 Angels against 1, but that soon disappeared as thousands of bugs began flying out of the loosened bandages.


    Immediately after, 2 small trees began growing on his shoulders, while the imprint of a human face slowly began protruding from Verdigris''s body.


    ''What the fuck is that?!'' Richard and Z were creeped out as a tiny feeling of fear began growing in their hearts.


    ''Is this why he is still unfazed even when facing 2 Angels at the same time?'' Richard couldn''t help but ask.


    "Don''t stand there and watch him make all of his preparations." Z snapped Richard out of his thoughts as a 3-meter-tall lightning bolt appeared in his head.


    "There is no need for that, you guys already lost the battle when you arrived."


    Everyone turned to the source of the foreign voice to see Prince Bryon and Colonel Darius.


    "During the explosion of the carriage, he had spread parasites into the air. You should notice that you require more power to cast your spells, and your thoughts are getting slower." As Prince Bryon spoke tiny golden lights began appearing all around them. "If you were to remain here for a bit longer, the parasites would move into your brain and begin struggling for control."


    With a snap of his finger, all the parasites in the air and in their bodies were all destroyed.


    ''How did I not notice that?'' Z was shocked by this revtion.


    "Besides, even without that, you guys can''t beat the infamous Arboreal Reaper." Prince Bryon said as he turned to Verdigris'' group.


    "You should let us y a bit, we promise not to kill them." The bandage at his mouth section opened and he spoke with a psychotic smile.


    "I know you won''t kill them; you will turn them into puppets just like all your other victims." Prince Bryon said with a smile.


    "You''ve got me there." Verdigris raised his hands.


    "The fact that you guys are not running even though we are both here means he is here with you. So why don''t youe out lets talk." Prince Bryon said.


    "As expected of the genius of the Synder empire." Another foreign voice was heard and soon enough the Masked man dressed in all ck appeared in front of the trio.


    "Thanks for thepliment, but there was nothing special about that." Prince Bryon said in a modest tone.


    ''What the hell is going on here, how can they act like long lost friends when one is attacking all of his cities?'' de was both confused and annoyed.


    "What is the end goal of all these attacks?" Bryon asked.


    "Do you expect me to tell you?" The Masked man chuckled.


    "Are you waging war on the empire?"


    The League of assassins had carried out multiple deals like that of de with the Synder Empire. So they weren''t at all-out war like the public thought. That was why everything was still confusing.

 Chapter 550 Aetherhold Penitentiary

    ?


    "Are you waging war on the empire?" Prince Bryon was no longer smiling.


    "Not really. I just came for ke, but you surely won''t let me take him for free, so I had no other option than to do all of this." The Masked man said shocking both Prince Bryon and Colonel Darius.


    "So you were the one behind Gunnar''s death?" Prince Bryon asked.


    "Why ask as if you all in the council didn''t know from the start." The Masked man chuckled before continuing. "You should be thanking me for highlighting the Empire''s weakness. Now you can go back and work on yourselves."


    The masked man knew the personality of all 4 council members, so it was very easy for him to see the weakness that sprung up from the greed of the Frostborne and ckthorn families.


    "Why the long face? You don''t have to worry; I won''t hurt him. I actually have ns of taking him where he would be respected and treated right, and not like a second-ss human being." The smile on the mask of the masked man widened.


    "Sorry, but I won''t let you take him." Prince Bryon''s stance changed as the inscriptions on his pocket lit up with a golden light.


    "It''s not as if you have an option." The Masked man chuckled.


    ''Go to the prison and make sure that ke is safe.'' Prince Bryon said in a mind-link connection with Colonel Darius.


    ''I don''t think so.''


    The Prince and Colonel were shocked when they heard the Masked man''s voice in their head.


    At that point, the Masked man''s shadow split in half, and another Masked man appeared right beside him, further shocking everyone on the battlefield.


    ''He has the Shadow element?!'' The same question was on everyone''s mind.


    The League of Assassins had existed for centuries, and only on a few asions had the Masked man been seen inbat. During those times, he had either made use of the lightning element or very powerful artifacts.


    They had never expected that it would be the second-rarest element!


    While everyone was still in shock, the shadows began flickering around the bodies of the Masked man and his clone. Instantly, the flickering shadows spread out, forming a ck dome that covered the 3 of them, causing Bryon to snap out of his reverie.


    "mes of Chaos, burn ever bright, Lord of destruction, bring forth your might. Activate the artifact, banish the night, Inferno''s embrace, bathe in pure light!"


    As he said the incantation, the golden light of the sliver pocket chain began increasing in intensity before covering the entire area.


    The darkness element was dreaded by all, including the Royal family. That was why they had crafted and given to all important members of the family, artifacts that countered it.


    Apanied by the golden light were intense gold mes that began attacking the shadow dome, but that was when the Masked man spoke up.


    "Sorry to inform you, but that won''t work because this is Primordial Darkness."


    Almost instantly, Bryon began noticing that the darkness that formed the dome was actually feeding on the golden mes!


    "Shit!" Prince Bryon cursed as he realized that the Masked man had checkmated him.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t attack if you guys don''t. My work is just to make sure that 2 of you don''t leave here." The Masked man grinned.


    "Seems like you win." Prince Bryon said as he deactivated the pocket chain and sat in a cross-legged position.


    "Not really." The Masked man said. "The rest is up to ke to prove that he is worthy of joining us. If he can''t escape then all this will be for naught."


    "Stop trying to console me; there is no doubt that he would be sessful." Prince Bryon said in a sad tone because he felt he had failed ke.


    ¡­


    "Where were we?" Once the shadow dome had covered the 3 powerhouses, Verdigris turned to Z and Richard with an evil grin on his face.


    ''Shit!'' The 2 family heads cursed as fear gripped their hearts.


    "What did I miss?" At that moment, Brock Ulrik flew into the sky and stood beside the 2 of them. This gave Z and Richard hope, but after seeing the unchanged expression of The Arboreal Reaper, they were disheartened.


    ¡­


    The pocket dimension prison, known as Aetherhold Penitentiary, was a highly secure facility designed to house the most dangerous individuals. Situated within a pocket dimension with 1 entrance that also served as an exit, the Aetherhold Penitentiary was divided into eight sections.


    The first section was the entrance and Control area. It consisted of a massive enchanted gateway formed by tworge pirs adorned with intricate magical runes. On passing the gateway, the magical devices set in ce would scan the visitor including his or her dimensional amulet.


    The area beyond the entrance acted as a control center, with a security checkpoint, reception desk, and surveince monitors, where guards and staff oversaw the prison''s operations.


    To the right of the entrance, a sprawling administrative wing housed various offices, meeting rooms, and research chambers. Here, the prison staff manages inmate records, conducts investigations, and develops countermeasures against magical abilities. The administrative wing was heavily fortified, equipped with enchantments to prevent unauthorized ess.


    The 3rd section of the Aetherhold Penitentiary was the cell blocks. Theyprise the heart of the prison, located in the central part of the facility.


    These blocks consist of multiple levels, each designed to hold different types of dangerous individuals. Each inmate was confined to specially created cells, fortified with anti-magic materials and individual containment fields, tailored to counter their unique abilities. Theyout within the cell blocks is organized with branching corridors that intersect at a central hub for ease of supervision.


    Scattered throughout the prison weremon areas where inmates could interact under controlled circumstances. These spaces include shared recreation yards, magical suppression rooms for supervised spellcasting, andmunal dining areas. Such areas are closely monitored and equipped with safeguards to prevent the misuse of magical abilities.

 Chapter 551 Prison break.

    Chapter 551 Prison break.


    Adjacent to the cell blocks, were dedicated wing houses for rehabilitation and medical facilities. Skilled healers and therapists provide magical and psychological treatment to the inmates, aiming to rehabilitate and reintegrate them into society if possible.


    These facilities are equipped with state-of-the-art healing chambers, spell-disruption devices, and secure containment rooms for high-risk individuals.


    The 6th section was a separate section of the prison designated as a training ground, where inmates can engage in controlledbat scenarios, hone their magical skills under supervision, or participate in rehabilitative programs. The training grounds are constructed with reinforced barriers and anti-teleportation wards, ensuring that any exercises or conflicts remain contained.


    The 7th section was the smallestpared to the rest. It was the detainment cells where people like ke who were yet to be sentenced or set free were kept. Although way smaller, this area was closer to the entrance than the cell blocks and had all the necessary facilities for the detainees.


    The final area was the High-Security Wing; it was located within the depths of Aetherhold Penitentiary. It was essible only through multipleyers ofplex enchantments and guarded by elite personnel. This section was reserved for the most dangerous inmates; the cells here boast additionalyers of enchantments, reinforced with anti-teleportation and anti-phasing measures.


    RING! RING! RING!


    The rms of the cell block rang signalling it was time for lunch. One by one, the inmates dressed in grey overalls and ck Mana inhibiting cors began filing out of their cells under the supervision of Ash Corps.


    Straight from the cells, they picked up their trays and stood in line for their lunch.


    Unlike the Ash Corp and Magic school Cafeteria that warped the food straight to the tables of the workers and students, the technology wasn''t implemented in prison. This was to prevent apromised worker from secretly warping items hidden in the food to the inmates.


    In less than 10 minutes, most of the tables were already upied by the inmates. They were all eating peacefully until one of them noticed that the Mana inhibiting cor''s red light had turned green.


    "What the?" The inmate was shocked and began looking around, only to see that it was the same for everyone.


    Almost instantly, other inmates noticed this and were now looking around, giving signals to others.


    Sure enough, an Ash corp positioned above them noticed this movement and immediately tried to contact those at the control centre, but immediately arge fireball out of nowhere mmed into him, sending him flying.


    Seeing this, the other Ash corps wasted no time sounding the rm, while bracing themselves forbat until backup arrived.


    ¡­


    On all floors of The Square, the rms began ring interrupting everything everyone was doing.


    "The Mana inhibiting cors of all inmates suddenly malfunctioned. Everyone above the Champion realm is ordered to report to the underground floor. You are permitted to kill all inmates trying to escape!"


    "The Mana inhibiting cors of all inmates suddenly malfunctioned. Everyone above the Champion is ordered to report to the ground floor. You are permitted to kill all inmates trying to escape!"


    Without wasting any second, all Ash Corps above the Champion realm dropped all they were doing and made their way to the underground floors.


    ''What the hell is going on? How did the cors malfunction?'' Just like everyone else, Cami was beyond confused. Cities in the East were being attacked by the League of Assassins, now there seems to be a prison break.


    This was no doubt the doing of the League of Assassins, the question was what was the aim for orchestrating a prison break.


    ¡­


    At this time, ke heard the pleasant bell from the walls of his cell signalling time for lunch. Having spent the entire time meditating he immediately made his way to his table and ced his order from the menu.


    After that was done, he sat back and waited for the food to get warped to his desk, but instead of a steaming meal, it was a folded brown parchment thaty on his desk.


    ''Why will he just send in the map so openly, what if they see it?!'' Being on high alert, ke picked up the parchment with a confused look on his face just in case someone was looking.


    On opening the parchment, ke found the entireyout of the Aetherhold Penitentiary, with live feedback of the position of guards and personnel.


    ''Wow!'' ke was stunned, he had expected a map not this.


    "It looks like everyone is in a hurry." ke thought as he saw the dots on the map moving around the map.


    Click!


    While he was still looking at the map, he heard the door click and open. Not only did he not see anyone behind the door, but he heard the ring sound of an rm.


    [He most likely orchestrated a prison break in the cell blocks to distract the Ash corps from constantly monitoring you.] The system said.


    "Then let''s leave here before they notice I am not around." ke said as he released Ebony and Ivory from his pocket dimension and exited the detainment cell.


    The Ash Corps made use of warp arrays to move all around the prison, and since most of their attention was subduing the inmates in the cell blocks; the corridors were empty.


    ¡­


    Once the rm had gone off, the prison had warped in more guards while requesting for backup from the Ash Corps in the Square.


    The first to arrive were the Demigods in charge of monitoring and protecting the artifacts. They knew that if the inmates escaped the prison, they would be the first to be attacked.


    They were immediately warped into the cell blocks, where they began to assert their dominance by ruthlessly dispatching all inmates in their way.


    In a matter of seconds, they had obliterated tens of inmates, but that number immediately plummeted as inmates in the Demigod realm began appearing.


    Inmates from the High Security Wing were appearing!

 Chapter 552 Behind the blockade (part 1)

    Chapter 552 Behind the blockade (part 1)


    With the presence of the inmates from the high-security wing, the Ash Corps were finding it harder to take control of the situation even though backups were constantly arriving. This led to the destruction of all the entrances of the cell blocks, and hundreds of inmates fleeing to all parts of the Aetherhold Penitentiary.


    Seeing this, the ash corps deployed mechanical protectors with themand to kill all inmates. The bots had the power level of peak champions and were deployed in all corridors of the prison with the aim of slowing down the inmates and preventing them from reaching essential areas.


    "The detainment area is the closest to the entrance; escaping shouldn''t be that difficult." ke said as he saw Ash Corps being warped to both high-security wing and cell blocks; meaning the former had also been breached.


    At that moment, another set of red markers appeared all around the map, and immediately ke knew what they were.


    Two holes opened in the ceiling and humanoid robots dropped to the ground. They stood at a height of 2 meters and possessed a chunky body made of gold alloys that improved their magic resistance.


    Its spell casting was at the champion realm, but its physical capabilities were at the 2nd stage of the Hero realm.


    "I should learn how to shut my mouth!" ke cursed as the eyes of the protectors lit up, and they began walking towards him.


    He quickly stopped in his tracks and changed to a fighting stance, but when they got to him, they just walked past.


    ''What the¡­'' ke was shocked but soon realized that he was technically still an Ash corp, a Major at that. So he wouldn''t be attacked by the protectors.


    "I was correct, this shouldn''t be difficult!" ke said with renewed confidence, as he pulled out his map to check the current situation in the prison.


    [You were saying something a few seconds ago?!] The system screamed at ke as the map showed the arrival of hundreds of Ash Corps.


    "Fuck me!" ke cursed as he began thinking of the next step to take.


    "We surely can''t take on hundreds of Ash corps, neither can we walk right past them without anyone noticing." ke''s train of thought came to a halt when the system drew his attention to the map.


    [Look, they are no longer being teleported straight to the cell blocks, instead, they are all positioned at the entrance. Even those at the cell blocks are slowly withdrawing.] The system said.


    "Seems they want to form a barricade and flush out all corridors at once. I am quite impressed that they reacted so quickly." ke turned around and began running back from where he came from.


    [Where are you going?] The system couldn''t help but ask.


    "Meeting them will only get me captured or mistakenly killed." ke said and continued moving.


    Just when he was close to his detainment cell, ke came across 2 inmates that seemed to be slightly injured.


    Seeing ke dressed in a white T-shirt and ck trousers, the inmates already knew he wasn''t one of them, thus an enemy.


    [Champions.] The system quickly scanned them and reported to ke.


    "I might not be on their side, but it doesn''t mean I am not allowed to kill bad guys!" Without activating lightning reinforcement, ke quickly and skilfully dodged their attacks and decapitated them.


    Without pausing, ke ran past his detainment cell and headed for the administrative wing. On his way, he saw the corpses of 2 inmates and parts of the protectors he came across scattered all around the corridor.


    ''That exins the injuries on them.'' ke said without slowing down.


    [What exactly is your n?] The system couldn''t understand why ke was running in the opposite direction.


    ''Since I can''t face the barricade head-on, my n is to move to the administrative wing and use a warp array to get past the advancing barricade.'' ke exined.


    [What if they know you have gone rogue?] The system asked.


    ''Since the protectors did not attack me, it only means 2 things; either they don''t know I have gone rogue or they haven''t updated the system. If it is thetter, that means that very few people know, but I doubt it because I haven''t done anything suspicious or attacked any Ash corps.'' ke exined.


    [This might actually work.] The system couldn''t help but confess.


    After 5 minutes of constant running, ke was not too far from the administrative wing when he came across a battle. This time it wasn''t only between the inmates and the protectors but with retreating Ash corps and those defending the entrance to the administrative wing.


    Without thinking, ke activated lightning reinforcement and began mowing down. Thanks to the system, ke went for those at the champion realm, before releasing Ebony and Ivory to take care of the rest.


    "Major ke, why are you out of your detainment cell¡­ Sir?!" The captain asked but quickly realized ke was still higher in rank.


    "The entire prison is still being overrun by inmates, do you think they would forget that I am an Ash Corp and not attack me just because I am detained?" ke asked while walking forward.


    "Where¡­ are you going to?" The captain couldn''t help but ask.


    "I am still a detainee, meaning I am not meant to be taking part in this fight. So I am simply going to somewhere safe to resume my detainment." ke said without stopping.


    "¡­"


    The Captain was confused on what to do because ke was actually right, but he felt it was not appropriate for him to enter the administrative wing.


    "Alright, I shall escort you inside." The Captain said as he began thinking of the best and quickest ce to drop ke off, so that he could quickly return.


    [Nice acting.] The systemplemented him.


    ''Thanks, but that wasn''t anything special since I am actually entitled to this.'' ke said in a solemn tone.


    [Are you alright?] The system couldn''t help but ask after noticing his tone.

 Chapter 553 Behind the blockade (Part 2)

    Chapter 553 Behind the blockade (Part 2)


    [This is yourst chance to change your decision, are you certain about this? With the attack on the prison, they would most likely end the case and free you quicker than expected.] The system tried to convince him.


    ''That would be the logical oue, but nothing about this case is logical. In fact, this would even be another opportunity to detain me for a longer period. Just face it, there is nothing left for me here.'' ke steeled his resolve.


    [What about your friends? You can always leave the Ash Corps after this and still remain on good terms with the empire.] The system argued.


    ''And when is that?'' ke asked but the system remained quiet.


    ''Not joining the League now would be a missed opportunity. Rather than being ruled by people actively working against me.''


    ''As for my friends, I love them but¡­'' ke paused as he was about to make a tough decision. ''I love my mom more.''


    With that said, the system knew that ke had made a decision and won''t be retracting it.


    As the Captain led ke into the Administrative wing, they passed the corridor that led to the warp array room; with just a look ke already knew its spatial coordinates.


    "It would be great if you helped us contain the prisoners." With a hint of plea in his tone, the captain gestured for him to enter when they got to the door of an office.


    "It would have been great if I wasn''t detained in the first ce." ke entered the room without caring about the captain''s reaction.


    ''True.'' With regret, the captain shook his head. Although ke was being petty, he knew he would do the same if he were in his shoes.


    With the door closed, and the captain off to the administrative wing entrance, ke took out his map from his dimensional pocket.


    "Let''s do this." ke let out a long sigh as he saw the warp room empty, and 4 people left at the prison''s entrance.


    He opened a spatial corridor below him and began sinking.


    ¡­


    When the other cities were being attacked by the League of Assassins, almost all ancient family descendants in Calton were sent out to different cities.


    Only 4 very important members of the empire''s ancestral families were left in Calton, this was because they had no idea of why the League were attacking, making them think that there was a possibility that they were the real targets.


    So it was deemed too risky to send them out of Calton, but that meant they had no excuse not to respond to the prison break.


    The 4 descendants included Damon, Reeves from the royal family, Thalia a newly advanced demigod from the Frostborne family, and Orion a newly advanced demigod from the ckthorn family.


    While the rest were not happy involving themselves in the business of the Ash Corps, Damon was a little bit excited because this was an opportunity for him to see ke after a long while.


    "I heard that the High-Security wing has very strong inmates?" Damon asked as they all moved to the ground floor.


    "Yes, but it''s nothing we can''t handle." Reeves answered while Thalia and Orion didn''t bother to look at him.


    ''Hope he is safe.'' Damon thought to himself.


    When they arrived at the Aetherhold Penitentiary, they saw Ash Corps being warped to different parts of the prison causing Reeves to shake his head.


    "Because there are nomanding officers doesn''t mean you all should act like brainless fowls!" Reeves screamed at the Ash Corps.


    "Going in one after another wouldn''t yield any result. Form a blockade here and move inrge groups into the corridors!" Reeves was even more annoyed.


    "While you guys sweep the corridors, 5 of us would mount the entrance in case anyone breaches the other parts and warp here. If any of your teams meet anyone strong inform us and we will be there." Thalia said and it made sense to them, but they had no clue that this was her trying to do as less as possible.


    It didn''t take long for the blockade to reach arge number before moving out, leaving only the 4 of them at the entrance.


    "That was easier than I thought." Tha chuckled, but that was when the warp array lit up and ke appeared.


    On appearing, ke looked straight at the entrance and saw Thalia who had flowing locks of silver hair and striking blue eyes. To her left was a towering and strong Orion who had a mane of golden-brown hair and eyes.


    In front was the Reeves, the demigod he had encountered on his first mission as an adventurer, and to his right was Damon who he wished wasn''t there.


    "ke, what are you doing here?" Damon was surprised, confused and d at the same time.


    "He is trying to escape." Thalia frowned, and almost immediately ke threw a void dagger at the portal behind her.


    "Nice Try." Thalia grinned as she caught the void dagger and froze it before shattering it into pieces.


    "I have read all about you, I must say you are quite interesting for amoner."


    Without uttering a word or showing any emotions, ke released Ebony and Ivory into their Haiti and Skoll form.


    Awoo!


    The wolves howled angrily, emanating fierce auras that made Reeves, Thalia and Orion frown and assume theirbat stance.


    Without waiting for ke to make a move, Thalia unleashed a st of frost breath,manding, "Take him out!" However, just as the attack was about to hit its target, the blue patterns on Ebony suddenly lit up and redirected the trajectory of the attack to Reeves who wasing from the side.


    Without thinking, Reeves conjured scorching golden mes to counter the ice breath, however, out of nowhere its intensity drastically plummeted.


    BOOM!


    Reeves was sent flying into the wall, but almost immediately he was out of the hole in the wall. On him was a ck and gold armour with a golden halo enveloping him.


    "You will pay for that mutt!" Reeves cursed at Ebony who was responsible for his mes diminishing.

 Chapter 554 Behind the blockade (Part 3)

    554 Behind the blockade (Part 3)


    "You will pay for that mutt!" Reeves cursed at Ebony who was responsible for his mes'' intensity diminishing.


    Ho! Ho! Ho!


    In response to his threat, Ebonyughed surprising Reeves and making him even more pissed off.


    At the moment Reeves came out of the wall, Orion had begun making his move. Using the earth element as a mode of movement, he continuously slid across the battlefield looking for the perfect opportunity to strike.


    "Got you!" On reaching ke''s blind spot, Orion continuously fired earth spikes coated with paralyzing toxins, while simultaneously dodging ice shards from Ivory.


    Ding! Ding! Ding!


    Thanks to the system that provided all-around vision as well as Mind Boost and Neuron Overload which more than tripled his processing and reaction speed, ke controlled the Guardian Scarab to formrge metallic wings that covered him entirely.


    ''Amateur! It''smon sense to never obstruct your line of sight.'' Orion grinned as arge number of rocks broke off from the ground and rushed toward him, forming a rock amour that negated all of Ivory''s spells and allowed him to recklessly dive at ke.


    Bang!


    Just as he was a meter away from mming into ke, a spatial corridor opened and a spinning Ebony rammed into him with the impact of a truck.


    BOOM!


    Orion was sent crashing through a pir and into a wall, but at that moment Reeves who was wrapped in hundreds of lightning arcs, appeared close to ke who was still enveloped by the Guardian Scarab.


    ''Saw that too!''


    Instead of stacking more defenses to block the attack, ke opened up the metallic wings allowing a powerful torrent of water to gush out from the spatial corridor he had hidden inside.


    Bang!


    Once again, Reeves was sent flying away, giving ke a little space to breathe as Ivory was keeping an eye on Thalia.


    Using Mind Boost wasn''t only just for quick thinking; the correct method of use was no different from ying chess.


    With the increased processing speed and the tremendous boost in thinking capacity that the spell granted, the user would be able to continuously analyze all threats present, make predictions, and alsoe up with countermeasures for all possible scenarios.


    Thanks to this, although the demigods were considerably fast, it was only Reeves that was faster than him. However, thanks to Ebony and Ivory constantly upying him, the few times Reeves would have a chance to get close, ke would have already prepared for it a long time ago.


    ''Things are going better than expected, but if I am not able to escape soon there will be no hope for me.'' ke thought as he looked at the situation on the battlefield.


    His goal wasn''t to win the fight or kill anyone, all he just wanted to do was escape this ce before the blockade realizes what was going on here. However, Thalia was well aware of this and had taken it upon herself to man the entrance.


    ''His close-range spatial corridors are very annoying!'' Thalia cursed as she saw her teammates being thrown around like ragdolls.


    ''At this rate, we won''t be able to beat these wolves, however, we can stall for backup and keep attacking till he makes a mistake.'' Thalia released a powerful wind burst that deflected all the ice shards Ivory fired at her, but that was when she noticed that Damon had been standing there all this while.


    "Why are you standing there doing nothing?!" She screamed at Castiel.


    ¡­


    All through the fight so far, Damon had been in his mental world trying to process what exactly was going on and what he should do.


    ''Why is he trying to escape?'' Damon couldn''t help but wonder. ''Is that even a question; it is because of them!''


    ''But what about the consequences? Isn''t it better to just wait until he is finally free?'' Damon said but he soon realized why. ''Knowing the Frostborne and ckthorn family, they would use this as an opportunity to elongate his detainment.''


    ''Wait a second¡­ are the attacks on the cities a distraction to free ke?'' Damon was surprised because the chances of this being true were high.


    ''The League of Assassins wants to recruit him, but why?!'' He was even more shocked by the realization. ''Someone that can go toe to toe with 3 demigods at the same sure is special, however, does that warrant mobilizing the entire League just for him?''


    ''Surely, there is something special about him that we do not know.'' Damon began trying to recall if he had missed something during their time in the magic school.


    "Why are you standing there doing nothing?!" Damon was drawn back to reality by Thalia''s scream.


    ''Shit! What do I do?'' Damon was confused. He was torn between fighting and capturing one of his few friends or aiding his friend by doing nothing, thus freeing him from possible execution and; in turn, getting punished for it.


    ''I also hate them just like you do¡­'' Damon finally made a decision. "I am sorry ke."


    Night Mist!


    He raised his hands and ck mist began pouring out and enveloping the entire space.


    "What are you doing, the report says that he can see through your mist!" Thalia screamed at him as she began suspecting that Castiel wanted to aid ke.


    "Yes, but it will drain the vitality of him and his wolves." Damon exined.


    At that point, Reeves and Orion were back on their feet. The former sustained a few broken ribs from the impact, while thetter just recovered from a little vertigo thanks to his armor.


    ''Shit!'' ke cursed as he saw Thalia blocking off the exit with ice.


    "Time to properly join the fight." Thalia grinned as she cracked her knuckles.


    Without wasting another second, the 4 of them rushed at ke while charging their spell.


    Reeves conjured a sword made of gold mes, Damon activated dark tendrils and lightning reinforcement, Thalia activated Water wheel, and Orion sunk into the floor.

 Chapter 555 Finally out.

    555 Finally out.


    Amongst the 4 of them, Reeves who was in the 1st stage of the Angel realm was the strongest and most dangerous especially, with the speed granted by the lightning element. Because of this, Ivory engaged him inbat not letting him get closer to ke.


    Normally, Reeves and hisrades were no match for Ebony and Ivory that were at the peak of the Demigod realm even with their armor and artifacts, however, they couldn''t go all out because of ke.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    At the same time, Thalia controlled her Water Wheel to rain down hundreds of spells on ke, however, Ebony retaliated with his spells.


    The onught of spells collided releasing explosions and creating massive amounts of steam. At first, it seemed to be a stalemate, but Ebony wasted no time switching things up.


    In an instant, the volume of mes was doubled, the stalemate broken forcing Thalia to constantly dodge and fire spells.


    ''In no time, the entire area will be filled with steam but the other guy hasn''t acted.'' ke was not bothered about the steam blocking his view because he had the system, Ebony, and Ivory acting as his eyes.


    The only problem with this was that Orion who was still underground had Seismic Sense too, and could attack at any time.


    "You should have just stayed in your cell." Damon said as he teleported behind ke, making ke realize that Night Mist had already enveloped the area, but Castiel did not take away his eyesight.


    Even the rate at which his vitality was being drained by the night mist was half its original rate.


    Damon was trying to help him!


    Nheless, the 8 darkness drills behind him wereing at full force with the intent to kill.


    Thanks to his lighting reinforcement being the strongest of his peers, ke easily evaded all 8 attacks and distanced himself, but Damon was not letting him go so easily.


    He dashed forward with 2 daggers in his hands making 10 attacksing his way; instead of freighting, ke activated Heat marks and began absorbing the heat from the steam around, increasing all his physical attributes.


    With a few twists of his body and blocks, ke sessfully evaded all the attacks before managing tond 2 punches at his abdomen.


    BAM! BAM!


    Damon writhed in pain as he felt he had been struck by a lotive on full throttle. Before he could react, ke was already spinning in mid-air,nding a spinning back kick that sent him flying.


    The moment Damon touched the ground; he sunk into his shadow and cast shadow domain, forming a translucent barrier that slowed everything within its range.


    [Within the shadow domain, he can form and control shadows be careful.] The system warned him.


    Afraid that blinking would cause him to miss an attack, ke continuously scanned the environment for any signs of Damon, but that was when Orion struck.


    CRACK!


    Hundreds of thorny nt vines shot out of the ground attacking both Ebony and ke.


    "Shit!" ke cursed as he dodged and shed at the poisonous thorny vinesing his way.


    At the same time, Ebony was forced to switch part of its attention to the vines trying to constrict him, thus relieving Thalia of some of the pressure, but that was not all.


    While Ebony was simultaneously dealing with Thalia and the Vines, the ground opened up and held its paws in ce before reinforcing itself.


    "Finally, you are of use!" Thaliaughed maniacally as she used the opportunity to shoot past Ebony and head for ke.


    In an instant, she was only a few meters away from him, and not only did the nts keep on attacking his blind spots, Damon had appeared behind ke.


    It was 3 against!


    ''Shit!'' ke was still confused about how things got so bad quickly. His next spatial corridor was a few seconds away from being ready but that would be toote.


    ''I have no other choice.'' ke thought as Thalia thrust her right arm covered in ice at him.


    BOOM!


    Out of nowhere, an unknown force exploded, ripping apart the nts and sending Damon flying once again.


    He had held his telekinesis spell on standby just in case something happened and he was left with no choice but to reveal the space element.


    Unfortunately for him, the power and physical capabilities of a demigod weren''t to be trifled with. Even with the force and protection of both his armor''s barrier and the system''s barrier, the tip of Thalia''s finger covered in ice came in contact with ke''s left arm.


    BANG!


    Ivory mmed into Thalia before her hand could go further, but before Ebony could move again hundreds of thorny vines had wrapped around her body.


    ke was thanking Ivory when he noticed that his left hand had begun freezing, and it was spreading fast.


    ''How do I stop it?!'' ke couldn''t help but ask the system.


    [That''s Creeping frost, you can''t.] The system said in a dread tone.


    ''Fuck this shit!'' Without wasting another second thinking, ke covered his right-hand lightning and chopped his left hand off.


    AHHH!


    ke screamed in pain but he knew that he couldn''t waste time. He quickly used mana to block the blood from flowing out before drinking a regeneration potion.


    However, the situation turned worse when the system reminded him that Reeves was now free, but that was already toote because he was right behind him.


    "I respect your bravery kid, but you have to go down." Reeves said as he punched at him, but thanks to Mind Boost and Neuron Overload, ke had already prepared for such a possibility.


    Just in the nick of time, a spatial corridor opened right behind him and the exit was right into the mouth of Ebony.


    Seeing the gift, Ebony bit down on the arm and almost instantly ke cancelled the spell.


    ''Shit!'' Reeves cursed as he saw the spatial corridor closing. Without any other option, he jumped into the corridor to prevent losing an arm.


    "See you guyster." ke let out a tired smile as he sunk into another spatial corridor and left disappeared out of sight.

 Chapter 556 Welcome to the League of Assassins.

    556 Wee to the League of Assassins.


    While Ebony was raining spells on Thalia, ke reminded both Ebony and Ivory about breaking the barrier. So when Ebony was constricted by the ground, and Thalia went over to ke, he focused on just the vines and the ice barrier since he couldn''t fire spells with ke in the way.


    "See you guyster." ke let out a tired smile as he sunk into another spatial corridor and disappeared out of sight.


    "What?!"


    Instinctively everyone turned to the Ice barrier which was now broken in multiple areas. Without thinking ke went through the portal that took him back to The Square.


    "How?" Damon asked the question that was on everyone''s mind.


    They hadn''t seen ke throw a void dagger so they were confused about how he warped over there.


    For a moment, they all forgot that Ebony and Ivory were still present until they noticed the simultaneous increase and decrease in the temperature of different parts of the room.


    They immediately turned their attention to Ebony and Ivory and saw what seemed to be evil grins on their faces.


    AWOOO!


    Ebony and Ivory howled in anger and joy as they were now free from protecting ke. It was time for them to make those that harmed their master suffer!


    ¡­


    Once ke returned to the underground floor of the Square, he began making his way to the upper floors without letting his guard down


    As a Major in the Ash Corps, ke got to find out that The Square in all cities weren''t just buildings but artefacts unique to the Snyder empire. It was simr to the castle in the Magic school, but itcked spatial capabilities and could drain intruders'' life force and prevent them from warping in or out.


    All the defensive measures would be activated when an rm was set off, and luckily for ke, he still had his badge and wasn''t considered an intruder yet.


    The only thing he had to worry about was Ash Corps, however, most of them were currently in the Aetherhold Penitentiary, leaving no one strong enough to stop him.


    "No one except Prince Byron and Colonel Darius can warp in and out of the underground section because of the important artefacts and items here." ke was hoping that he had enough mana to warp out of The Square to his house.


    As long as a Traveler had the spatial coordinates of a ce, the 2 things that could stop them were locking down the space with arrays orck of mana to cover such distances.


    Once ke got to the ground floor, he looked out a window only to see explosions raging out in the direction of the Karius family estate. He also saw arge ck ball floating in the air, but there was no reactioning from it.


    ''What the hell did the League do to divert the attention of a lot of Ash corps?'' ke couldn''t help but wonder because not only was The Square empty, but even the Ash Corps that responded to the rm was not even a quarter of the total number of personnel.


    "I just hope Cam and Tessie are safe." ke said as he confirmed that his mana was barely enough for the journey.


    Without wasting another second deep in his new enemies'' base, ke detected the spatial coordinates of his spatial marks in his home.


    Immediately he walked out of the spatial corridor, ke wasted no time recalling Ebony and Ivory. Although he knew the four members of the ancestral family descendants couldn''t beat them, he didn''t want to take chances, especially for no reason. Besides it wasn''t as if he wanted to kill any of them.


    ¡­


    Back at the entrance of the Aetherhold Penitentiary, the entire situation had been turned upside down. The entrance had been reduced to rubbles, and not only had Reeves lost his right arm, but his armour had been damaged beyond repair.


    Orion and Thalia were on theirst legs with lots of broken bones and bleeding, while Damon was almost spotless. This was because Ebony and Ivory knew that he was trying to help ke, so he was still considered a friend.


    "We can''t¡­ beat them¡­ we need to¡­ escape." Thalia was out of breath and on her knee from continuously dodging the rain of spells from both Ebony and Ivory.


    "You guys should go first, I will hold them off." Reeves had a deep frown on his face, but it soon changed to surprise as Ebony and Ivory howled beforebining into a greatsword and tearing the fabric of space before flying in.


    "That was a close one¡­" Orion let out a sigh of relief as he sat on the floor due to exhaustion.


    "What was that force, I didn''t read about it in his profile?" Thalia couldn''t help but ask Damon as he was one of the closest people to ke. If not for it, ke would have been dead by now.


    "I have no clue, I have never seen him use that spell before." Damon replied.


    "Telekinesis and teleportation, that sounds like the space element." Reeves said as he took out a healing potion from his dimensional amulet.


    "How is that possible, he awakened the lightning and fire element?!" Thalia was shocked.


    "A deity''s inheritance makes it possible." Orion answered the bewildered Thalia.


    "That exins why Prince Bryon had been keeping a close eye on him." Reeves thought aloud.


    "This is the space element we are talking about here¡­ the one that is extremely rare, that is what amoner got?! Unbelievable!" Thalia''s shock quickly changed to anger.


    ''Now I understand why ke left, it''s because he was tired of dealing with fools like this.'' Damon thought to himself. ''The sad thing about this is that not only did I lose a friend, but the Empire lost an asset.''


    ¡­


    The moment Ebony and Ivory returned to ke they changed form and began barking. Almost immediately, the masked man dressed in all ck appeared.


    "Congrattions on escaping and passing your test. Wee to the League of Assassins." The Masked man smiled.


    "Is there anything you would like to take with you?" The masked man asked.


    "Yes."


    ke began packing important things like the photo slide that contained pictures of his time with Cami and Tessie.


    During this period the Masked man took a seat on one of his sofas and began admiring the unique design of ke''s house.


    After a few minutes, ke was finally done, and it was time to leave Calton.


    "Are you sure you are not forgetting anything?" The Masked man asked once again.


    "Unfortunately, I can''t take the house with me." ke let out a tired sigh.


    "Very well." The Masked man chuckled before warping both of them away.


    BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!


    The instance they left, the rms of the house went off as the four councillors appeared above the house, but it was already toote.


    I and other members of the 3 Sinz are working on a discord channel that will include artworks of all our works. When it is ready I will share the link.


    Anticipate!


    xImpulse

 Chapter 557 Dispirited Six.

    557 Dispirited Six.


    With ke being sessfully extracted from Calton city, the Masked man ordered the immediate retreat of all members of the League of Assassins especially since the other 3 councillors had arrived.


    Once the attacks on cities had stopped, Ash Corps were returning to Calton and heading straight to the Aetherhold Penitentiary. With the presence of overwhelming numbers, it didn''t take time for most of the inmates to be killed, leaving one 3rd of the original poption.


    Immediately, Prince Bryon set up an investigation into the prison break. He needed to know how the mana-inhibiting cors had been disabled and all those behind it. Also, he had ordered the immediate repairs of the destroyed parts of the prison.


    "Thank the heavens that is over." Cami let out a long sigh as she saw Damon.


    "What''s wrong?" Cami couldn''t help but ask as Damon seemed to be sadder than usual.


    "ke¡­" Damon shook his head.


    "What happened to him?" Cami asked with a furrowed brow.


    "ke is gone¡­" Damon said in a defeated tone.


    "Can youplete a simple sentence?!" Cami was angry, afraid and fed up with the tension.


    "When the blockade was initiated, ke appeared at the entrance. He tried to escape so the 3 Demigods engaged him inbat¡­" Damon exined everything that went on.


    "¡­" Cami was nted to spot with different emotions building up as she was lost for words.


    After what felt like an eternity, Cami finally returned to her senses and immediately took out hermunication amulet and initiated a group call.


    She wasn''t just calling to inform the rest, she was praying and hoping that Luciano could do something about this.


    "Heard all the cities in the Eastern region were attacked, hope everyone is safe?" Brian asked as he and Castiel joined the call.


    "ke has gone rogue ¡­" Damon began recounting the story.


    "¡­" The moment he was done, silence washed over the group as everyone was trying to process the news they just heard.


    "Why?" Tessie was confused as her eyes became teary. "Was he under control?"


    "I have no clue. Throughout the fight, he didn''t say a word until he finally left." Damon felt, even more, dejected the more he recalled what happened.


    "Cami you were the closest to him, how was his life in the Ash corps?" At this point, Luciano didn''t have an indifferent expression as usual, he was clearly upset.


    "It was no different from school; he was segregated by the nobles because he was amoner and hated by almost everyone for achieving a lot at such a young age. The only difference is that ke had all of us back in the magic school, but here he had only me."


    "Imagine saving and carrying everyone, but still ending up getting betrayed by the person that put the mission in jeopardy in the first ce because of his pride. He still managed to survive that but now gets attacked for being betrayed."


    "He somehow survives that but now gets detained for months for something that he clearly didn''t do because a bunch of people that have power hate him." Cami was boiling.


    The more she spoke, the more they realised what ke was going through and how he felt. They put themselves in his shoes and with no doubt knew they would have done the same if not worse.


    "Maybe he realized that this would be another opportunity for them to keep him locked up for longer." Damon felt defeated.


    It was then that they noticed tears rolling down Tessie''s cheeks. "Sorry guys, I have to go." With no more strength to hold back her tears, Tessie disconnected from the group call.


    "Please someone should check up on her to make sure she doesn''t hurt herself." Brian said as they were far away.


    "Brian, Castiel, did you guys know that ke had the space element?" Damon asked one of the questions that has been on his mind.


    He felt that if anyone was to have the answer to this question it was meant to be the 2 of them because they had been friends with ke before anyone else.


    "??!!!" Everyone including Brian and Castiel was shocked by the random question.


    They looked at each other as they thought Damon must have seen something to ask such a question out of nowhere.


    "Yes." Brian and Castiel felt there was no need to hide it any longer.


    "Serious?!" Cami and Luciano were further shocked.


    "When? How?" Damon asked.


    "When we were on our way to Calton, we were chased by morgs, I and Brian split up from ke whoter ended up in a concealed space which contained a mysterious waterfallke that had a cave behind the waterfall."


    "Prince Bryon saved us, and then we moved over to the waterfallke. When we got there ke was already done absorbing the inheritance. So, we were flown directly to Calton." Castiel narrated their story.


    ''He was stronger than I thought.'' Luciano muttered to himself.


    "What next?" Cami asked steering the conversation back to the main reason for the call.


    "At this point, I can''t do anything about it; I will have to speak to Bryon or my father. However, I can guarantee one thing, a lot of people will pay." Luciano was about to let the scorching mes of revenge loose.


    With that the call came to an end, leaving everyone with their own thoughts and conflicted emotions.


    ''Who will I have lunch with?''


    ''What of all the vacations we nned?''


    ''I miss you already¡­'' Having nothing she could do to bring him back, the dams burst open and tears began rolling down her cheeks.


    ¡­


    Brian and Castiel who were currently on a mission deep in the forest were forced to stop in their tracks because their emotions were clouding their thoughts.


    They somehow felt guilt that they contributed to ke''s decision to go rogue. If they had epted


    his 2 offers to join the Ash corps, he wouldn''t have felt so alone.

 Chapter 558 Newest Demigod.

    558 Newest Demigod.


    "Why didn''t you inform us that he had the All-Father''s inheritance?!" Aurelius Frostborne tried shifting the me to Prince Bryon.


    With the attack on so many cities, the council had to call an emergency meeting. Prince Bryon gave a report of everything, including ke''s departure and possession of the All-Father''s inheritance.


    "The only reason he had survived so far is because I kept it a secret!" Prince Bryon was furious. Not only did ke''s departure affect a lot of his ns, but he was angry that he didn''t keep his promise to ke.


    "Haven''t you guys learnt a thing?!" Prince Bryon didn''t care about their age or rank anymore. "This isn''t the first time we are losing talents because of your egos."


    "The worst part is that every talent we lose is being taken in by the League of Assassins or our enemies. Today was a little disy of the consequences of your actions. At this rate, it is only a matter of time before our enemies are enough to take us down."


    Bryon''s words silenced Aurelius and Cedric as they had no way to refute the facts.


    "The most important question is figuring out why he left, not arguing." Jaeger Nystrom said.


    "Who wouldn''t leave after putting themselves in the face of danger for their nation, only to be treated like trash." Prince Bryon snorted.


    "I mean, was he under anyone''s influence?" Jaeger shook his head.


    "Throughout the fight, he didn''t say a word until the end, so we can''t be too sure. However, the fact that that man infiltrated the prison makes the chances of mind control high." Prince Bryon said in ke''s defence as he hadn''t shared all of his conversation with the Masked man.


    "All actionse with consequences." Emperor Synder finally spoke causing everyone to turn to him. "This is the result of your actions, you 2 will have to pay for it."


    Emperor Cinder rarely spoke about what the Ancestral families were doing, however, when their actions affected the Empire, he would waste no time to act ordingly.


    "Yes, your Highness." Aurelius and Cedric Obediently bowed.


    ¡­


    "Wee to our base." The Masked man said as they appeared in a courtyard with a tranquil expanse.


    Cobblestone paths wind around a reflective pond adorned with koi and water lilies. Blossoming cherry trees and bonsai arrangements provide bursts of colour, while intricately carved pavilions offer shaded respites. The gentle trickle of a stone fountain apanies the rustle of wind through leaves. It''s a harmonious blend of art and nature, an oasis of serenity.


    THUD!


    Once, ke''s body realized that it was no longer in danger, it copsed to the ground. Immediately, the clouds above the courtyard turned dark.


    ''This wasn''t just a test to join the League, it was also a test for you.'' The Masked man immediately backed off, and almost instantly, a pir of mana shot down on ke.


    "The trial of a Demigod is not for the ordinary, but for those truly worthy to be demigods." The Masked man muttered to himself as ke''s advancement process began.


    "He must really be something for you to send all of us out just to save him." Verdigris said as he appeared in the courtyard.


    "Is it me or is the mana pir way bigger than usual?" de asked as more of the returning League members appeared in the courtyard.


    ''He is sure is something special.'' The Masked man smiled without saying a word.


    ke had fainted due to mental and mana exhaustion, as well as loss of blood. So immediately the mana pir fell on his unconscious body, his mana was instantly refilled and his arm began regenerating.


    In an instant, he was taken back to his prime state, marking the beginning of the advancement process.


    ''What the hell is going on?'' ke was in a confused state as he was woken up by mind-wrenching pain.


    [This is your advancement process into the demigod realm.] The system replied but ke was not sure whether he shouldugh or cry especially with so much pain.


    As the endless stream of mana coursed through his veins, an inferno of pain engulfed his very being. It was as if a thousand searing knives tore through his flesh, every fibre of their existence screaming in protest.


    FUUUU************k!


    ke screamed in agonizing pain as his organs began dissolving into nothingness, reduced to stardust by the relentless pir of mana, while still being kept alive by the mana pir.


    AHHHHHH!


    ke''s Muscles twisted and contorted, bones shattered and reformed and skin seemed to peel away and reknit in a grotesque dance of agony and renewal. The torment was beyondprehension, the sensation akin to being torn apart atom by atom and stitched back together with malevolent intent.


    At this point, ke''s body was not lying on the floor; he was floating mid-air with his eyes and hair pure white!


    "That definitely didn''t happen in anyone''s advancement." All members of the League present in the courtyard were staring at the Masked man wondering what was happening.


    Almost everyone saved and recruited by the Masked man had advanced the moment they appeared at the courtyard, but this was the first time seeing such.


    At the same time, lightning arcs filled the sky, the mes ignited all around the courtyard, and an unknown force constantly pulled and pushed away the members of the League.


    This phenomenon represented the advancement of the Demigod''s elements. The presence of the unknown force confused a lot of people, but it didn''t take long before they began getting ideas of what was going on.


    "Is that what I think it is?" The members of the League couldn''t believe their eyes, as they constantly switched between ke and the Masked man.


    After what felt like an eternity, the storm of elements began subsiding, as well as the torment. The mana pir stayed for a few more seconds before finally dissipating, but ke was still floating and his hair was still white!


    "The newest Demigod of the League has been born!" The Masked man announced.

 Chapter 559 Feeling like God!

    Chapter 559 Feeling like God!


    As the mana pir dissipated, ke who was still floating began checking out his body for any changes, until he heard the announcement from the masked man.


    "The newest Demigod of the League has been born!" The Masked man said as he walked up to him.


    It was then that ke noticed all the members of the League that were spectating his advancement process.


    "Everyone, wee ke Wilson, the prodigy that did everything for his nation, but was betrayed and treated like trash because he was amoner." The Masked man introduced ke to the members of the league.


    "Is there anything you will like to say?" The Masked man asked.


    "Thank you all for your contributions in my break out of the Aetherhold Penitentiary; it''s an honour to be one of you." kended on the floor and bowed.


    As a former Ash corp, ke had read the profiles of the members of the most dangerous assassin organization in Infinite realm. He knew how talented and dangerous each of them was, and thus respected them.


    "Time for you to get used to your powers." The Masked man ced his hand on his shoulder, and both of them warped to a training room designed to tank the full powers of Angels.


    "That is the space element, right?" Xander received nods from the others.


    "I would like to have a spar with him." Xander said with a crazed smile on his face as he voiced the thoughts that were on everyone''s mind.


    "At least you should let him get a hang of his abilities." de said with a frown.


    "Why the frown?"


    As 2 of the newest members from the same city, Xander and de were quite close.


    "He was the one that carried out the investigation that led to my hideout being discovered." If de had known that ke was the one to be saved he would have just remained in the base.


    "You can join in the queue of those that want to fight him." Xanderughed and began walking away.


    ¡­


    "You are free to test out your new powers here." The Masked man said as he turned to leave.


    "Are you going to watch?" ke asked.


    "Does it make a difference?" The Masked man asked.


    "Fair point." ke chuckled as the gap between the 2 of them was like that of heaven and earth.


    "I would like to see the capabilities of the space element, but you don''t have to worry I will be the only one watching." The Masked man said before warping out of the room.


    Once he was alone in the room, ke asked the system to exin the changes that urred in his body.


    [If the advancement process of the Hero realm is considered the refinement of the body, then that of a demigod is a total transformation. The advancement process of the Demigod realm involved the disintegration and reformation of almost all body parts; it also included the transformation of existing organs into new organs.] The system exined.


    ke''s bones were now many times stronger than steel, his lung capacity was tripled, his eyesight has been improved, and his heart has been enhanced to handle such a body amongst many more upgrades.


    For the magical aspect of his body upgrades, ke''s stars had fullybined with his skin and voice box, thus turning them into a spell-casting organ that enabled him to cast spells by just moving and speaking respectively.


    "Nice." ke moved his hands and noticed that the mana in the area was being swayed by his body movement.


    [As a demigod, you no longer require your stars to cast both elemental and Arcane spells. All you need is your thought and a little movement.] The system exined.


    ''What is the reason behind this?'' ke didn''t just want to know how to use his new powers, but he felt that learning the mechanism behind this would be helpful in future.


    [Every living thing is connected to the Mother-stream, but When one steps into the Demigod realm, The Mother-stream acknowledges the demigod as its warrior and creates a special connection with him/her.]


    [Thanks to the connection with your soul and body, you can drawrger amounts of mana from the environment and shape it with your mind and body.]


    With a thought, the mana in the room began gathering at the centre of the room. It took the shape of a cube and continued expanding in size.


    It was only when the floating cube had erged to 20 meters in size that ke began finding it difficult to control. That was when he began using his hands, releasing some of the burden on his mind.


    "That''s enough." ke began dissipating the mana after the cube grew to 30 meters.


    [As for casting spells with your voice box, it is done through the use of pronouncements. However, pronouncements are not your regr type of spells.] Since ke was familiar with this topic, all the system needed to do was go straight to the topic.


    [Making a pronouncement, requires searching inside you for the connection between you and the Mother-stream. This is to get the Mother-stream''s attention for a bit before using the phrase "God says" to start the pronouncement.] The system exined.


    [Note that the Mother-stream will only grant pronouncements that are on the same range as your level of acknowledgement.] The system added.


    Once the system was done with its exnation, ke began searching within him, and in no time he felt the connection with the Mother-stream.


    "God says let there be darkness."


    Once the pronouncement was made, the mana channels supplying the light bulbs with power were stopped by an unknown force, causing the light bulbs to turn off.


    After a few minutes, the effects of the pronouncement wore off, and the light bulbs turned on.


    "I feel like a God!" ke felt like letting out a maniacalugh but held himself back.


    [Demigod] The system corrected him.


    ''If I could do all this as a demigod, I wonder what a deity can do.'' ke thought.

 Chapter 560 New abilities.

    Chapter 560 New abilities.


    [Moving over to your new element abilities. Let''s start with the weakest of the 2.] The system said.


    ''2?'' ke began wondering if the system lost its ability to count.


    [When you advance to the demigod realm, the power of all your elements gets a boost, but it is only your primary element that gets new abilities.] The system exined.


    ''Why didn''t you tell me this long ago?'' ke was disappointed.


    [Would it change anything?]


    ''At least my disappointment wouldn''t be this much.'' ke shook his head as he gestured for the system to continue with its exnation.


    [The demigod realm of the lightning element is called Speedster. At this point, the core abilities granted by pathways are more of concepts of the element than just elemental abilities.]


    The first skill was Speed drain. Unlike Energy drain that needed contact, Speed drain would gradually drain the speed of everything within 10 meters range of ke, while adding a percentage of the stolen speed to him.


    The second skill was speed bestowal, which allowed the user to boost the speed of others by giving out his.


    "This might not seem too useful because it will reduce my speed, but after siphoning the speed of things around, I will have more than enough speed to give out." ke analyzed as he thought of the application of Speed Bestowal.


    The third ability was Electricity mimicry, which allowed ke to turn multiple parts of his body into lightning at the same time. This would make targeted parts of his body immune to physical attacks.


    Electricity Solidification and Living Lightning were the 4th and 5th abilities. The former as the name implied, enabled the user topress lightning into a sold form or constructs. As for thetter, it gave the constructs a simple mind that allowed them to act without being controlled by him, but also in ordance with his will.


    The two problems with this were that at ke''s current level, he could only use Living Lightning on small constructs and the minds given to them were not permanent. After 10 minutes the constructs will lose their sentience.


    "Let''s check this out." ke opened his palm and a raven made out of lightning formed. Without having anything in mind, the raven just stared at him waiting for amand.


    ''Fly around andnd on my finger.''


    Immediately the thought formed, the raven took flight and circled around the room beforeing back to his finger.


    "It seems to have a mental connection with me." ke was impressed because he already had hundred and one ways to use the constructs.


    He dispelled the raven and gestured for the system to continue.


    [The 6th ability is lightning amplification. You are able to double the strength of lightning fired at you and redirect it to a target. Note that this doesn''t make you immune to the attack, so you will still take damage from the attack.] The system exined.


    "This is where my lightning resistance wille in handy, but why do I feel that this is not meant to be used against other speedsters?" ke couldn''t help but imagine two speedsters amplifying and redirecting lightning at each other.


    [Then it will be a test of who canst longer.] The system chuckled before continuing. [The 7th and final ability is Speed domain. It will automatically take effect when you activate your domain, but you can also use it outside your domain, but its range of effect will be smaller.]


    The Speed domain was a stronger version of the speed drain, the only difference was that anything inside the range of effect at the start of the spell will instantly have a portion of their speed taken. After that, their speed will be constantly drained at double the rate of Speed drain.


    "Speed is truly King!" ke was extremely impressed by the new lightning abilities, especially considering they included an increase in the destructive power of the lightning element.


    After the system was with listing out the new lightning abilities, it went straight to the space element.


    [The name of the Demigod realm of the space pathway is called Astromancer. Normally, thises with 6 abilities, but thanks to the inheritance having the Time Authority, you got 2 more abilities.]


    The first core ability of an Astromancer was gravity control. This was a stronger version of telekinesis, but it wasn''t just used for throwing people around. Gravity control came in different forms like the creation of mini ck holes, gravity sh, gravity bullets, force fields and so on.


    [The second ability is being able to create a pocket dimension. This isn''t new because you could already ess it beforehand thanks to me. However, the only different thing is that you can now open a portal and enter directly.] The system seemed to remember something. [Also, the space now increases in size every time you advance; that also includes entering other stages of the Demigod realm.]


    "Let''s go check it out." Without wasting a second, ke opened a spatial corridor to a spatial coordinate that was now always present in his head.


    On getting to the other side of the spatial corridor, ke saw Ebony and Ivory in their Haiti and Skoll form, as well as all the items he had been storing over the years.


    "Congrattions on evolving!" Ebony and Ivory pounced on him and began licking his face.


    "Thanks¡­ guys!" ke was surprised to find out that his connection with his pets had been strengthened by his advancement. Their mental mode ofmunication was no longer just feelings and a few words, butplete sentences.


    After Ebony and Ivory finally let him go, ke began looking around his pocket dimension.


    The pocket dimension was arge expanse ofnd floating in a hidden area of the void. It was covered by a translucent dome that not only protected it from the dangers of the void but also provided live footage of what was going on in the real world.


    "So this is like my own base." ke''s eyes gleamed as countless thoughts ran through his head.


    [You can start constructing a building here, but there is nothing worthwhile you know how to construct at the moment, especially with this amount of space.] The system said.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    ----------


    (AN: To clear off any confusion that may arise. Demigods only get new abilities for their primary element. Any other special situation will be exined just like the inheritance and power-boosting artifacts which surely have side effects.)

 Chapter 561 Too op!

    Chapter 561 Too op!


    The space in the pocket dimension was twice the size of a football pitch, but whenpared to the size of Azkelwart''s base, it was like a bucket of water being poured into an ocean.


    After checking out everything he needed to, ke left the pocket dimension with Ebony and Ivory to continue exploring his new abilities.


    [The third ability is called Spatial Lock. It is an escape skill that instantly takes you directly to the pocket dimension. However, you can only use it twice every 120 hours.] The system exined.


    ''What is the difference between doing that and just using a portal to get there?'' ke asked with a raised brow.


    [The Spatial Lock is not a spell but an ability; it doesn''t need time to be activated. So, during a very dangerous situation where you might not have the time to get into a portal, it will instantly transport you to the pocket dimension.]


    [Also, the effects change when used on someone else. If the spell was sessful, not only would the target''s movements be restricted for some time, but all teleportation spells and artifacts will also be sealed for a given period of time.] The lock''s duration was dependent on the power level of the target.


    ''How do you mean if the spell is sessful?'' ke noticed a problem in the system''s exnation.


    [If the target is on guard and is not in a weakened state, they are able to use their aura and will to resist or stop the ability frompletely enveloping them.] The system said.


    "I thought you said it was instant?" ke was confused.


    [For you, yes. For others, it is a little bit faster. In fact, there is a 95% chance of it working on anyone that has never encountered the spell.] The system rified ke''s confusion.


    ''This would be perfect for capturing targets alive.'' ke rubbed his palms together and grinned.


    "Can I test it out on you?" ke reluctantly asked Ebony, but to his surprise, Ebony was eager to be a test subject.


    "Here it goes."


    ke activated Spatial Lock, and his aura almost instantly enveloped Ebony, warping him out of the room.


    ''That works fine, but I want to check something out.'' ke stretched out his hand and summoned Ebony.


    RIPP!


    Instantly, a tear was made in space, and Ebony flew out and into his hand.


    ''This proves that even spatial seals can''t stop them from being summoned. At least those below the Angel realm.'' ke was d with the result of his experiments.


    Once ke was done, the system continued its exnation. [The next ability is Divination. You can say that the Locator spell asks the where question, while the divination spell asks the where, when and what question.]


    The divination spell wasn''t omniscient, in fact, it was even more restricted and had more chances of failing than the locator spell. However, just like the Locator spell, if it was something that concerned ke, the chances of sess will be increased.


    ''This would have really saved me a lot of time, during my days as a detective.'' ke shook his head at the ability''s bad timing.


    [Thest core ability of the space element is Space pronouncement. It is the same concept as normal pronouncements, but these pronouncements can only affect space.]


    Although the Space pronouncement ability sounded redundant, it gave an Astromancer an edge over fellow demigods of the same stage and 2 stages above. This was because it stacked on the Astromancer''s normal pronouncement ability.


    The two abilities granted by the time authority are Time Zone and State exchange. The former was just like the speed domain, but instead of taking away the speed of those within range, it slowed down the time of everything except ke and things connected to him.


    As for thetter, it granted the user the ability to exchange his future physical and mental state with his current self. The drawback of the ability was that with each use, the Astromancer''s lifespan would be shortened.


    ''It is safe to say that time zone is my trump card, so it is best to only use it in my domain where it would be more effective and still remain a secret.'' ke made up his mind before continuing. ''As for State change, I must confess it is a very powerful ability that would terrify my enemies, but the prize for such power is too steep.''


    "I should just forget about the ability." He couldn''t help but imagine his lifespan being affected if he managed to return to Earth.


    [Finally, for you to activate your domain all you need to do is try expanding your connection with the Mother-stream outside your body.] Since the system had exined how domains worked long ago, they went straight to the action.


    Looking into his chest region, ke quickly found the connection and expanded it and instantly, an unknown force expanded out of his chest and enveloped the entire region.


    ke found himself in a veryrge expanse ofnd with a powerful storm covering the entire sky. Apart from that, every other thing looked in, but ke felt that both the lightning and space element were greatly boosted.


    "I feel I can create hundreds of spatial corridors at the same time." ke was shocked by how light his head felt even after conjuring 5 spatial corridors simultaneously.


    [In here, your only limit is your mana. So, create only the things you need.] The system advised.


    ''The Space element is too op!'' ke screamed.


    [One of the main reasons members of the space pathway are very few is because its main abilities start at the Demigod realm. Knowing this, people would either want to ally with the Chronomancer or get rid of them before they mstured.] The system exined the curse that gued Chronomancers.


    ''Guess I was lucky to have Prince Bryon to look out for me.'' ke thought.


    The exploration of the domain marked the end of figuring out his abilities. What was left was training to get used to his abilities and to createbos.


    For this, he asked the system for the bestbos with the space element, before going ahead to create his ownbinations. This took 2 days of continuous practice and rest to regenerate his mana.

 Chapter 562 2 vs 1

    Chapter 562 2 vs 1


    "Are you done?" The Masked man appeared in the room when ke was done with his training.


    "I can''t be too sure, but the only way to find out is throughbat." ke replied.


    "Fortunately, a lot of people have been waiting for you." The Masked man smirked as he warped both of them to a battleground.


    "I call dibs on sparing him!" Xander screamed the moment ke and the Masked man appeared.


    Other members of the League just shook their heads as they didn''t n on lowering themselves to the point of arguing with him.


    "Step forward." The Masked man said.


    "Not to sound cocky, but is it only him?" ke couldn''t help but ask the Masked man.


    ke''s statement got mixed reactions from those present. Those that were annoyed by Xander wereughing their ass off, while the majority felt that ke was being too cocky.


    As for Xander, he felt insulted at first but he soon beganughing. ''He is too confident and fails to realize that the League is not the magic school.''


    "dee join me." Xander was no longer smiling, this was now beef.


    "dly." At the first chance for revenge, de took a step forward to put ke in his rightful ce.


    "Ready?"


    ke nodded and remained unfazed by the death staresing from Xander and de.


    "Begin!"


    The battle was signalled to start but both parties didn''t attack straight away, instead, Xander decided to taunt ke. "Aren''t you going to bring out your pets to fight for you or are you so eager to lose."


    "If I bring them out, this wouldn''t be a battle¡­" ke paused before tilting his head in thought. "Thinking about it, the only difference between me and them is that this would be a warm-up for me."


    "I must confess that was nice!" Xander let out a burst of maniacalughter as he was boiling on the inside.


    "I shall begin, hope you guys are ready." ke ignored theughter and stretched out his right hand.


    Two portals appeared beside de and Xander, but they wasted no time jumping back to avoid whatever ke nned. However, a bigger portal opened behind them, and a force began pulling them into it.


    ''Huh?'' Xander and de were surprised by the suction force but wasted no time releasing their mana to resist. At that moment, ke charged forward.


    "You shouldn''t havee close." Xander grinned as he activated lightning reinforcement, while de used the wind element. They freed themselves from the suction force and drew closer to ke, but he didn''t seem to be back out.


    When both groups were 5 meters away from each other, ke released a burst of force that took them by surprise and sent them flying.


    ''The push and pull force has to be the space ele¡­'' Just before they got far a pull force brought them back to ke.


    ''Hell no!'' de didn''t like how he was being tossed around like a rag doll, and neither did he n on getting close to ke until he fully understood what was going on.


    While still in mid-air, de controlled an earth wall to erupt in his path, halting his movement. On the other hand, Xander was still being drawn to ke, but instead of being worried, he summoned his Epic tier katana.


    Unperturbed, ke sank into a spatial tear below him,ing out behind Xander and stabbing toward his head with fingers coated with lightning.


    ''Fool!'' Xander screamed in his head as he turned and stabbed his katana at ke''s now undefended abdomen, not caring one bit about the attack going for his head.


    ''Does he really look down on me so much?'' ke chuckled in his head but didn''t bother dodging or blocking.


    ''No longer having to look at an area to know its spatial coordinate is really helpful.'' ke thought as a spatial tear appeared in his finger''s path with its exit appearing directly in front of de who was still behind his stone wall.


    "Fuck!" de cursed because, unlike Xander, he couldn''t tank the hit due to hisck of lightning resistance.


    With his back against the wall, de hurriedly moved his head to the right to dodge the attack; at the same time, ke had conjured a spatial tear in front of his abdomen.


    The katana had gone through the spatial tear, and quickly made its way through the earth wall behind de.


    ''Shit!'' de cursed as he sensed the appearance of the spatial tear and katana, but just as he was about to move out of the way a force mmed him back into the earth wall; allowing the katana to pierce into his back.


    AHHH!


    "The subtle art of distractions..." ke said out loud as he heard de''s scream.


    Although furious about what ke made him do, Xander kept his cool and spun around, taking his sword out of the spatial tear and shing it at ke''s neck.


    Zzzg! Zzzg!


    The moment the de came in contact with ke''s neck, the entirety of it turned to lightning, causing the Katana to pass through.


    ''What the hell?!'' Xander was so shocked and confused that he immediately backed off.


    ''How does he have 2 demigod elements?'' Xander couldn''t help but ask. The only way he knew this could be possible was if the Masked man gave ke an artefact to boost his secondary element to the demigod realm just like he did during themission to steal the Master Seal.


    "No, you don''t!" ke immediately turned to de who was sinking into the floor and made a space pronouncement.


    "God says every living thing should remain in the open!"


    To everyone''s surprise, de''s body which was already halfway into the ground was quickly spat out.


    "How?!" de and Xander as well as other members of the League were shocked by this development.


    "Now do you see why I said this is just a warm-up for me?" ke smiled at Xander who was still trying to process all the information he had just witnessed.


    (AN: To clear off any confusion that may arise. Demigods only get new abilities for their primary element. Any other special situation will be exined just like the inheritance and power-boosting artifacts which surely have side effects.)

 Chapter 563 Revenge plot.

    Chapter 563 Revenge plot.


    ''So inheritances also evolves two elements¡­" Xander seemed to have wrapped his head around the crux of the matter.


    "We have wasted too much time, it''s time to end this battle." ke said as he activated Gravity domain.


    The gravity of the area around ke was tripled, and although it didn''t have an outstanding effect due to the evolved bodies of Demigods, it still slowed them down.


    At the same time, ke opened his right palm and a massive thunderbolt began charging up.


    "We need to get out of the spell''s range." de snapped Xander out of his reverie, but ke''s spell was ready.


    Zzzg!


    The thunderbolt flew through the air and went for de, but he had already prepared a wall of chromastone.


    However, just as the thunderbolt was about to crash into the wall, a spatial tear appeared in its path and the exit appeared behind ke.


    BOOM!


    The thunderbolt struck ke, and instead of writhing in pain, ke had an evil grin on his face.


    Lightning Amp!


    ke shot out a stronger andrger thunderbolt at de, while simultaneously opening 5 spatial tears around Xander and de.


    ''This isn''t yet enough to break my chromastone.'' de thought as he covered himself in a dome made of chromastone while using seismic sense to keep an eye on his environment.


    Due to the presence of the spatial tears, de knew it was even more dangerous to attempt to leave the range of the gravity domain.


    Once again, just as the amplified thunderbolt was about to strike the chromastone dome, a spatial tear appeared and redirected it back to ke.


    BOOM!


    The pain made ke grimace for a second but his grin immediately returned.


    Lightning Amp!


    ke shot out a thunderbolt that was now four times its original strength and size.


    "One more!" ke let out a crazed growl as he shot out the thunderbolt causing Xander''s eyes to widen in shock.


    "Shit!" Xander cursed as he began quickly thinking of how he could intercept the spell because it was certain that it was impossible to dodge and it would be very fatal if it struck de.


    "The fight is over!" The Masked man announced as he appeared in between both parties, releasing darkness that nullified the gravity domain and devoured all the spells including the amplified thunderbolt.


    "Why did you have to interrupt the fight?" Xander was not happy.


    "Is that even a question?" The Masked man chuckled at how battle-crazed Xander had be. "Didn''t you realize that both of you have be sitting ducks waiting to be ughtered?"


    "You are right." When he remembered that this was a 2vs1 situation, with ke not using his 3rd element or even his weapons.


    Xander realized that unless it was an overwhelming victory, it would still be considered a loss no matter what they did.


    "Wee to the League." Xander stretched his opened palm.


    "Thanks." ke shook it firmly before turning to de who just walked away.


    ''Missionplete.'' ke said to himself as he had sessfully made it known that he was no weakling.


    "Let''s go have a chat." The Masked man said as he warped both of them to his office.


    It was a stunning and spacious office flooded with natural light, thanks to its full-length ss windows that stretch from floor to ceiling. The windows offered a breathtaking panoramic view of the clouds which was below them, and the beautiful clear blue sky.


    ''The League of Assassins'' base isn''t stationary?!'' ke was surprised by this discovery.


    Tearing his eyes off the majestic view, ke''s attention returned to the office which was tastefully furnished with sleek, elegant furniture thatplemented the aesthetic of the space.


    The walls were adorned with minimalistic yet captivating art pieces that added a touch of sophistication. The polished hardwood floors exude warmth and luxury, while the soft, neutral colour palette creates an atmosphere of tranquillity and focus.


    "I would kill to get such a view and office." ke was starstruck by the beauty of the office.


    "Too bad you can''t kill me." The Masked man chuckled as he continued. "You are one of the few people here that admire true beauty."


    "Are you calling the rest brutes?" ke smiled with a raised brow.


    "You didn''t hear me say that." The Masked manughed.


    "So what next?" ke couldn''t help but ask as he was once again feeling lost.


    "I have the answer to many of your questions, but first you have to deal with your emotional state before we proceed." The Masked man said causing ke''s eyes to widen.


    ''How does he even know I have unanswered questions?'' ke was shocked, but he soon realized something. "How do you mean dealing with my emotional state, I am perfectly fine?"


    ''I sound like a drug addict when confronted about his addiction.'' ke mind-chuckled.


    "What I mean is you getting your revenge." The Masked man replied.


    "Revenge on who?" ke was confused because although he came across lots of annoying nobles, he never for once thought of killing them.


    "On the Empire." The Masked man said as he stood up and faced the windows. "As an individual, you couldn''t get your revenge on the empire, but now you are part of the League, you will be well equipped for the task."


    "It''s not as if I can kill the 2 councilmen responsible for the marginalization of themoners." ke said.


    "For now, yes, but you can get to them through another way." The Masked man turned to ke. "The heads of the ancestral families are giants, and you are just a normal human. So if you want to take out the head of the giant you should first look for ways to damage and cripple its legs."


    "Who are the targets?" It didn''t take time for ke to realize what the Masked man meant, but he didn''t like where this was going.


    "You don''t have to worry; you won''t be going after your friends." The Masked man was able to see ke''s worry.


    "Orion ckthorn and Thalia Frostborne. These are direct descendants of the heads of the ckthorn and Frostborne families respectively." The Masked man disyed the images of the 2 people that he faced during his escape.


    "These bastards had no ns of capturing me, they just wanted me dead, especially her." ke pointed at Thalia as he remembered that she was going for his heart during the battle.


    "When do I begin?" ke was angry.

 Chapter 564 Monster You Made.

    ?


    "That''s what I like to hear." The Masked man smiled. "As for when; your case is about to be closed since you have gone rogue, meaning it won''t be long before they return to the Capital."


    "We already have info about their residence, and their current whereabouts are being monitored as we speak." The Masked man added.


    "Alright then." ke had no problem with the abrupt n because no one would expect him to return to Calton so soon.


    "Did you stop the fight because you wanted me to save mana and strength?" ke was curious.


    "You could say that." The Masked man smiled as he handed him a mana regeneration potion.


    "Let''s get you a change of clothes, and send you off." The Masked man said.


    ¡­


    Back at the empire¡­


    The Ancestral descendants were informed that ke''s case was about to be closedter that day, meaning they would soon be returning to Tarius.


    "Where are you going to?" Orion asked Damon who was leaving the room.


    "Since we are returning to Tarius soon, I want to see a friend of mine before I leave." Damon replied.


    "I''m bored, I will tag along."


    ''Not as if I asked you to.'' Damon rolled his eyes.


    "Aren''t youing along?" Orion couldn''t help but ask Thalia who remained on the couch.


    "As long as we are not going to ces filled with peasants." Thalia said causing Orion to turn to Damon with an inquisitive stare.


    "I am going to the Karius Estate." Damon shook his head helplessly.


    "Watching the reconstruction should be fun." Thalia sprung up from the couch and began walking out of the lounge.


    ''¡­'' Damon let out a helpless sigh as he followed along.


    The 3 ancestral descendants boarded an ash corps carriage and made their way into the Karius Estate.


    On getting to the centre of the estate, they were forced to continue on foot due to the road being damaged by the battle between Verdigris and the family heads.


    The reconstruction was going smoothly; not only was the constructionpany done with uprooting the roots of the gigantic trees that had erupted from the ground but they had also filled up the holes now ready for tiling.


    "This was one hell of a battle." Damon said as he saw ttened houses and even those with nts boring through walls.


    "You bet it was¡­" Cami let out a helpless sigh as she met up with them.


    "How are you doing?" Damon was concerned about Cami''s mental well-being because not only had ke left but some members of the Karius family had died during the fight.


    "Worse than ever, but I am still holding..." Before Cami could finish her sentence they all sensed a figure descending from the sky.


    "My eyes are ying tricks on me right?" Damon was shocked to see a white-haired ke descending from the sky.


    ke is flying?!


    He advanced into the Demigod realm?!


    Just as the 2 of them were in shock, Orion and Thalia enteredbat state, however, ke seemed unbothered.


    He wasted no time stabbing Ebony and Ivory into a spatial tear that appeared beside him.


    Five spatial tears instantly opened at all sides and below Orion to prevent him from sinking into the floor.


    He activated his 2 defensive artefacts that instantly enveloped him in 4yers of thick chromastone and a golden barrier while jumping up to get out of the encirclement, but that was exactly ke''s n.


    Immediately Orion went into the air, a 6th spatial tear appeared above him; Ebony and Ivory in their de form came charging out.


    SWISH!


    Just like a hot knife through butter, the greatsword effortlessly made its way through theyer of defences into his skull and brain.


    ''One down, one more to go!'' ke took out his sword from the spatial corridor.


    ''Shit!'' Immediately ke had appeared, Thalia had sensed that ke''s energy was different from before.


    Her initial n was for her and Orion to hold off ke since they were at the heart of the Karius estate and not too far from the Square. However, after seeing how quickly Orion was dispatched she knew she had no chance of survival if she fought.


    Without wasting a single second, she turned around to flee, but that was when she felt extremely sluggish to the point that she could barely cover 2 meters.


    ke had activated gravity, speed and time domain in the area!


    Apart from the gravity domain sending them crashing to their knees, Cami and Damon weren''t affected by the effects of the other domains.


    They watched as ke appeared in front of Thalia and grabbed her by the neck before raising her and thrusting the greatsword into her heart.


    ke watched as Thalia was consumed by a mixture of fear and anger but she was too slow to utter a word before she died.


    ke let go of the corpse''s neck, but before it touched the ground, he spun and shed through the neck.


    The moment she was confirmed dead by the system, the 3 domains were cancelled and ke floated back into the air.


    At this point, tears were rolling down Cami''s cheeks as she watched ke with miniature sizes Ebony and Ivory on his shoulder as he was floating away.


    Awoo!


    Ebony and Ivory howled in sadness as they were leaving close friends of their Master.


    "We will meet again, I promise." ke said with a sad smile as he blew a kiss to Cami and vanished out of sight.


    The very moment ke vanished, Prince Bryon and Colonel Darius as well as the top noble family heads appeared at the site.


    "We werete!" Z cursed because this spelt another set of trouble for the Karius family.


    "No matter how early you reacted, you would have beente." Prince Bryon said with a frown before continuing. "As for the aftermath of this, you don''t have to worry I will deal with it."


    ''They are beginning to pay for the results of their actions. They shall face the wrath of the monster they made.'' Prince Bryon thought as he left the scene.

 Chapter 565 Dad?

    Chapter 565 Dad?


    A few minutes after the assassination had been carried out, a pair of distraught figures emerged high above in the sky. The first was Cedric ckthorn, a member of the Empire''s council, whose face was etched with grief and anger. The second was Aurelius Frostborne, another council member, whose usually stoic countenance now betrayed sadness.


    Both men were fathers of the deceased, and their grief weighed heavily on them just like their fallen children.


    Just like Damon, Orion and Thalia were the youngest direct descendants of the ckthorn and Frostborne families respectively. Despite not being the strongest yet among their lineage, they were undeniably amongst the most gifted talents.


    Amidst the somber scene, two more figures appeared in the sky: Prince Bryon and Jager Nyx. They looked down upon the members of the ancestral families dealing with the corpses below.


    Cedric ckthorn''s voice quivered with anger as he shouted at Bryon, "This is all your fault! If not for your nonsense about him being under control, this case would have been closed the day he turned rogue, and they wouldn''t have died!"


    "Hahahahaha! If not for you locking him up in the first ce, there wouldn''t have been any case." Bryon''s response wasced with bitter amusement.


    Prince Bryon leaned in, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "You are now reaping what you''ve sown. So, whyin? This is just the beginning. Hope you ready?"


    Jaeger Nyx interjected with a suggestion. "Perhaps it''s time we focus on finding a solution to this rising threat."


    Prince Bryon scoffed, "The best solution is to prevent such things from happening in the first ce, but we all know that''s impossible for these two, so I won''t participate in such futile efforts."


    At that moment Emperor Cinder emerged from a ming portal, extinguishing the rising tension. "Enough of this matter for now. Now that he is confirmed to have gone rogue, we need to initiate a new project. One that will be able to take him down if the need arises."


    "I think I have the perfect candidate." Prince Bryon said as he disyed Castiel''s image as well as his information.


    ¡­


    Having been watching over the mission just in case something unexpected happened, the Masked man finally took a sit and turned to ke who just returned. "How does it feel to get some revenge?"


    "Although it was a relief to express my pent-up anger, I still feel unsatisfied." ke answered.


    The Masked man chuckled before answering "Of course, revenge is notpleted is onlypleted when the enemy is dead or crippled to the point they would wish for death."


    Wearing an expectant look on his face, ke finally decided to ask the question. "So when do I get the answers to all my questions?"


    "I wanted to give you a tour of the base before doing that, but it seems I am dilly-dallying. Let''s just get it out of the way." The Masked man let out a sigh as he stood up.


    ke was confused about the Masked man''s reactions so he asked. "Should I start asking?"


    "Not yet, I will take you to the best ce to get all your answers." The Masked man said as he ced his hand on ke''s shoulder.


    In a split second, ke''s view had transformed from a beautiful office with a spectacr view into a hauntingly beautiful and ominous scene that towered high above the world below.


    The sky was shrouded with dark clouds that were frequently illuminated by lightning arcs, casting an eerie glow over everything. The atmosphere was thick with a sense of foreboding as if something ominous was about to happen.


    Despite the unsettling surroundings, ke couldn''t help but feel a sense of awe and wonder as his gazended on a mountain that had its peak deep into the clouds.


    "Wee to the Tigeria empire!" The Masked man announced.


    Shocked by the Masked man''s announcement, ke couldn''t help but ask. "What are we doing in Tigeria?"


    He was a little bit weary because this was his first time being this far from Calton and wasn''t even given any notice. Also, he barely knew the person who brought him here. Heck, he didn''t even know his name!


    "You wanted answers, right?" The masked man raised his brow.


    "Em¡­Yes." ke was hesitant at first but he remembered that if the Masked man wanted to do anything to him there was absolutely nothing, he could do about it.


    "You are in for a big surprise."


    ''Is it me or is he more excited than me to get answers to my questions?'' ke shook his head as both of them flew toward the peak of the mountain.


    They flew through the dark clouds and lightning, and when they were not too far from the peak, the Masked man flew right into a part of the mountain and went through.


    "Okay¡­" ke followed along but not a full speed just in case things were not the same for him.


    When he flew through the mountain, ke found himself in a dark cave with the only light sourceing from a throne madepletely out of blue mana crystals.


    ''Is that an artifact or something created by the condensation of mana?'' ke was intrigued.


    Using mana vision, ke could see that the mana throne was absorbing an immense amount of mana from below while sending out mana from above the throne to the entire mountain.


    Sitting on the throne was a familiar figure ofmanding presence, draped in obsidian robes that seemed to meld seamlessly into the shadows.


    ''Why does he look so familiar?'' ke thought as the face of the figure was still covered by darkness.


    On sensing the presence of the neers, the light from the mana throne grew even brighter showing a man with pitch-ck hair, ck eyes and a diamond face shape.


    ke found it hard to process the information his eyes were feeding him, but after a while, he finally spoke up.


    "Dad?!"

 Chapter 566 Too many secrets!

    Chapter 566 Too many secrets!


    ke was finding it hard to believe that his eyes were not fooling, but that was until Cassius Wilson, the deity of darkness, and the true All-father finally spoke. "How long has it been?"


    ke was moved to tears as he heard the voice that its absence made him cry night after night as a kid. "9 years on Earth and 4 years here."


    Cassius''s body dissipated into shadows and reformed in front of ke, giving him a warm hug. "I missed you two a lot."


    "How was Miriam before you came here?" Cassius asked.


    The question reminded him of the memories he had been trying to ignore for years. "Stressed out from working two jobs but always tries to hide it under her beautiful smile."


    "What happened? How did you get here? Why didn''t youe back after so many years? Is it that it is impossible to return to Earth?" ke poured out a few of the many questions that clouded his mind.


    Pushing himself out of ke''s embrace, Cassius said. "I promise to answer all your questions, but first I have to speak to someone."


    "How long has it been since our battle?" Cassius asked leaving ke confused.


    "Seems you are too ashamed to speak." The lord of darkness chuckled as he received no reply.


    Seeing his dad talking to himself, ke couldn''t help but ask. "Who are you talking to?"


    "The one masquerading as the All-father; you should know him as the System." He replied causing ke''s eyes to widen.


    "What do you mean?" At this point, ke was sure that his ears were ying tricks on him.


    Seeing the shock on ke''s face, Cassius chuckled before going on to exin. "Valerius was once the All-Father, but after trying to betray the realm, the Mother-stream stripped him of the title and I became the All-Father."


    "What?!" Although he didn''t doubt his dad one bit, ke was utterly shocked because the system had been with him throughout his stay in Infinite realm.


    This was the same All-Father who was respected by all, and ranked higher than Azkelwart who was regarded as the Father of magic!


    "Why would he do that?"


    Cassius ced his hand on ke''s head and started a pulling motion.


    "I will exin everything in detailter, but for now, stand still let me take the scoundrel out of your mind."


    AH!


    ke screamed as a familiar pain washed over his body. He was forced to his knees as he felt his head continuously being stabbed by a red-hot knife.


    "This isn''t over!"


    After what felt like forever, ke heard the screaming voice of the system in his head as he felt the feeling of someone watching over him was gone.


    "He is gone." Cassius said as he held a white ethereal blob in his right hand before using his left to lift ke back to his feet.


    While still lifting him up, Cassius said. "Before we continue with the exnations, I want to introduce you to your brother."


    ''He must have also taken out half of my brain and messed with my ears in the process because I am surely hearing things.'' ke mind-chuckled as he was still feeling dizzy.


    At the same time, the Mask man walked up to the two of them and took off his mask.


    "ke this is Dorian¡­ Dorian, as you already know, this is my son from my home." Cassius said.


    ''You''ve got to be kidding me!'' ke was shocked because his so-called brother was one of the strongest in the realm and also the leader of the most feared organization.


    "Nice to officially meet you brother." A bright smile was stered on Dorian''s face.


    Dorian had a sun-kissed figure with jet-ck hair, and hazel eyes full of wisdom. His easygoing and approachable demeanour made his smile infectious, putting ke at ease.


    Being awkwardly stuck between giving a Battle Angel a hug or giving his brother a handshake, ke chose the 3rd option; crack a joke in the form of a question.


    "If I may ask, who is older?"


    "Thinking of it¡­" Dorian had his hand on his chin. "Although I am centuries old and you are 19, you were given birth to before Dad arrived¡­ That makes me older than you."


    "Eh¡­" ke was confused for a second before speaking. "That doesn''t even make sense!"


    "What else do you want to hear; I answered your question." Darion chuckled.


    "What a minute¡­" ke noticed something off. "If both of you awakened the darkness element, that means it is your primary element. Howe I awakened the lightning element?"


    Cassius pondered for a bit before speaking. "That was also what I was wondering but I had a feeling that scoundrel had something to do with it."


    "How can he affect one''s awakening, I thought the Mother-stream wouldn''t allow that?" ke was confused.


    "Normally, the Mother-stream wouldn''t but not only did he have ess to your body before you arrived at Infinite realm, but you got his inheritance even before you had stars. So there were a lot of chances for him to alter it."


    "Why would he want to change my element; Having the Space and Darkness would have been OP!" ke couldn''t help but imagine the things he could achieve with the 2 strongest elements.


    "Not only will it put a target on your head, but I will be able to sense it and foil his ns long ago." Cassius exined.


    "You can?" ke was shocked by the power of a deity.


    "As the lord of darkness, and with my special connection with the Mother-stream in which everything is in turn connected to, yes I can." Cassius said with a proud smile.


    "That brings me to an important question; What was the aim of summoning us here in the first ce?" Although ke had been bombarded with multiple mind-blowing news for thest 2 hours, he still felt he could take more.


    "It is best I tell you the entire story, starting from the beginning." Cassius said as he returned to his mana crystal throne.

 Chapter 567 Secrets of the realm.

    Chapter 567 Secrets of the realm.


    When Cassius first came to Infinite realm, he was even more confused than ke. However, unlike ke, he had no Prince Bryon to guide him on what to do.


    The only good news was that Infinite Realm was at its peak at that time. Not only were Magic schools avable in every city, but cultivation resources were easier to get, thus making it easier to advance.


    Long story short, after a century of hard work and dedication, Cassius finally became the human deity of darkness. This increased his connection with the Mother-stream which revealed to him a vision of his purpose in the realm.


    "Outside our universe lives a race known as the Neons. They are a warmongering race that invades other universes with the aim of draining the Mother-stream dry and moving on to the next universe."


    "The problem with this is that there is a barrier that protects every universe from outside interference. The only way to take down this barrier is from within, and the only person that can do that is the person with the most connection with Mother-stream."


    Hearing an even more shocking revtion and realizing that this would take longer than he expected, ke froze the space in the shape of a chair and sat down.


    "Normally this shouldn''t be a problem since no external forces can influence those inside, but the Neons have a way around it. Mother-streams are extremely hostile to external life forms however the Neons somehow have a way of tricking them into epting a non-living object in the form of an energy source."


    ke''s eyes widened in shock as he remembered the vision shown to him by the All-Father''s Inheritance. "Thranium Crystals!"


    Cassius was surprised and at the same time d that ke knew this, nheless, he continued with his story. "Yes, the Thranium Crystals are the primary method of conquest."


    "Thranium crystals are the highest level of energy source because they were made with the soul of a Mother-stream. They were engineered by Neons with the capability to grow at a faster rate than normal energy crystals and could leave well-hidden mental imprints on both living things and non-living things."


    ke felt a sense of fulfilment as he finally received an answer to a question that had gued him for so long. "The beast tide!"


    Cassius chuckled as he was impressed. "Seems you have done some research, but I truly wish that the beast tide was the only thing the Thranium crystals caused."


    "When the Thranium Crystals crashed into Infinite realm, it was used so much that the realm could do nothing without the pink crystals. Not only was it used for cultivation, but it was used in the construction of infrastructure and war weapons."


    At this point, Cassius was seething with anger as he spoke. "Using the mental imprint the Thranium Crystals left on the user, the Neons began slowly influencing Valerius'' thoughts. They took advantage of his power-hungry nature to betray the realm by opening the barrier, with the promise of giving him more power."


    "It was around then that I advanced and got the vision of my goal, but it waste." Cassius had to pause for a moment to control his emotions before continuing. "I informed the other races of what was going on, and by the time we found him, the barrier had already opened and the invasion had begun."


    The other races had readied their forces tobat the invaders but the moment the invasion started all weapons and machines powered by the Thranium crystals stopped functioning. This unexpected turn of events caught Infinite Realm off guard, instantly putting us on the losing side of the war.


    "Luckily, I killed Valerius with the help of the Mother-stream just in time to close the barrier stopping them from pouring in, thus ending the war. However, Valerius had somehow managed to send his soul out of his body before he died."


    Sadness filled Cassius'' heart as he continued the story. "The battle had seriously damaged my body and greatly weakened me. As for the realm, although the war didn''tst long the damage had been dealt."


    Infinite realm''s technological advancement had basically gone back to square one, and a great number of top experts were lost in the battle, thus reducing the overall strength of the realm. The decline of Infinite realm had just begun.


    "No one was happy or in support of what Valerius had done. The other races wanted to wipe out the human race but Azkelwart suggested that instead of further weakening the realm, the human race should be punished for the sins of their kin by banishment to another dimension." Cassius exined.


    ke was so shocked that he had to ask to confirm. "Are you saying the other races were not wiped out?"


    Cassius chuckled at the lie that had been told to humans for generations before replying. "Still alive and kicking."


    "What stops us from leaving the realm?" ke couldn''t help but ask.


    Cassius said a few words that left ke stunned for a while. "The gate to the main realm is at the Southern continent."


    After giving some time to process the news, Cassius continued. "Apart from the beasts there, not only does the mysterious nature of the area make it difficult for anyone below the Deity realm to survive, but the gate requires a key to activate."


    "Activating the gate can release everyone from the realm altogether. Azkelwart is the only one that can leave any time he wants as the current representative of the human race." Cassius said but that raised a question.


    "You are the strongest in the realm, so why haven''t you opened the gate?" ke couldn''t help but ask.


    "The gate requires a key unknown to even me. Also, even if I had the key I wouldn''t open it yet because the human race is not yet ready to return to the main realm." Cassius exined.


    Seeing ke had no other questions, Cassius returned to the story. "Now to exin how all these rte to you."

 Chapter 568 Awakening the darkness element.

    Chapter 568 Awakening the darkness element.


    When humans were banished into this dimension they were divided into 3 groups. The first group were those who hated the All-Father, and obviously, it was led by Cassius. He settled this group on arge ind whichter expanded to the Tigeria empire during his slumber forced by his injuries.


    The 2nd group were staunch believers of the All-Father. Not only did they not believe that the All-Father betrayed the realm, but they somehow believed that all this was a ploy by the other races to stop the Human race from rising above them.


    This group settled at the East of the dimension, and after a few decades a genius named Synder was born into their midst, and the rest was history.


    As for the 3rd group they didn''t care about the views of both sides. They had the mentality that since they were already in this mess, the best course of action was to focus on their development. This group settled in the mountainous regions of the North and formed the Kaldron empire.


    Although all groups had stark differences that separated them, one thing they all had inmon was the agreement to not tell their descendants about being stuck in a dimension.


    "Normal people might have forgotten about the banishment, but deities like Synder haven''t. Just like Valerius, he has arge appetite for power and doesn''t like the fact that he is left to feed on scraps while other races have the main meat."


    "This attitude made it easy for Valerius to approach him with the promise of even bing stronger than an All-Father, just like the Neons had also promised him." Cassius shook his head in great disappointment as this was a pattern that he had seen y out more than a thousand times over the centuries.


    "Having the opportunity to work with his role model and also be stronger, Synder epted his request for alliance and in no time they enacted the first step of Valerius'' n, summoning people from another."


    "Due to Valeriuscking a physical body, something went wrong with the summoning process, causing it to take a thousand years for Earthlings to be summoned. This might also be the reason why the summoning process was so inurate, but I am not too sure about that." Cassius pondered about it for a few seconds before getting interrupted by ke.


    "What do you mean by inurate? Did the summoning spell have a particr target?" ke asked in confusion.


    "My suspicion is that the target of the summoning process was just you." Cassius replied.


    ke was shocked and confused because he saw no reason why a Deity would want to summon him. "Me? What makes me so special?"


    "Valerius'' main aim is to find a host and groom him/her to the Angel realm before forcefully taking over the body and soul. This is so the host''s body can handle his powerful soul without getting destroyed."


    "I was being groomed all this while?" ke was shaken to the core as he began piecing events together.


    "That exins why Prince Bryon had been so good to him without any reason. Even when it seemed that he got strict, it was just so that I don''t get suspicious." As ke recalled all their encounters, he felt his already thin trust in people bing non-existent.


    "That exins why the system was so against me going rogue." ke muttered to himself.


    Seeing ke silently going through a crisis, Cassius paused his narration and gave him the time he needed to get himself together.


    As he went through the memories of his life in the past 4 years, ke was dejected. "It sucks to realize that I have been working myself off for someone else'' perverted goals when I could have spent more time with my friends."


    "Don''t be too hard on yourself, one thing I have understood over the centuries is that everything happens for a reason." Cassius said causing ke to raise his head and look at him.


    "Imagine if the summoning spell took effect while I was still slumbering, I wouldn''t have gotten to meet you because Valerius would have been the one in your body.


    "Imagine if you had actually spent more time with your friends, do you think you would have been this strong or survived the attack in the prison that led to our meeting?" Cassius asked causing ke to reflect on his words.


    After seeing that ke was now okay, Cassius continued with his narration. "The reason he chose you is because you are rted to me and sure to have the darkness element."


    "But I didn''t awaken the darkness element?" ke was confused.


    "Not yet." Cassius replied with a smirk causing ke''s eyes to widen.


    "Are you saying I can still awaken the darkness element?" ke was ecstatic.


    "Yes, the darkness gene in your body was only suppressed. As the lord of darkness and my connection with the Mother-stream, I should be able to activate the dormant genes." Cassius exined causing ke to go over the moon.


    "It is only with four elements that Valerius would be able to face thebined strength of the Deities of other races. So as long as he doesn''t get his hands on you, his n is as good as failed."


    ke was considered to be a man-made anomaly with less likelihood of urrence than someone awakening both the space and darkness elements.


    "I had no clue I was that important." ke let out a helpless sigh as he felt a mountain of responsibilities being dropped on his shoulders.


    "You don''t have to worry, I and Dorian will be here to here to guide and help you, but first let''s deal with your suppressed genes." Cassius appeared in front of ke and ced his hand on his head before activating his connection with the Mother-stream.


    Mystical energy spread out from his chest region into ke''s body, before making its way into his cells.


    AH!


    ke screamed in excruciating pain as his body was now creating another star path!


    ___________________________________________


    ___________________________________________


    _


    (AN: If you have noticed, Cassius isn''t as emotional as someone who had stayed for millenniums without his family should be. This could be because Athuor-san overlooked it or this could be because he is the Deity of the darkness pathway. Maybe both ;)

 Chapter 569 What next?

    Chapter 569 What next?


    ke gnashed his teeth in agony as veins and sweat popped up all over his face. He felt like every bit of him was dumped into a pool ofva.


    Due to ke''s cells having undergone the evolution of a Demigod, activating his dormant genes was like trying to bring it up from 0% to 100% and instantly merging it with the existing cells.


    After what felt like forever, ke finally felt his cells cooling down, and the energy being pumped into his body gradually reducing.


    Cassius finally let go of his head and announced with a smile. "The cell activation was sessful."


    ''Must everything have to be painful?!'' ke mind-cursed as he let out a tired sigh.


    Right from his advancement process to training, from training to sparring with Xander and de, to assassinating Orion and Thalia, and now a mini-advancement process. ke hadn''t had any chance to rest at all!


    Seeing that ke was tired, Cassius gestured for him to take a seat on his throne. "Take a seat."


    Following his instruction, ke plunged straight into the Mana crystal throne. However, the moment he came in contact with the throne, he felt a massive wave of mana surge through his below.


    In less than a minute, half of ke''s mana and vitality were instantly replenished by the throne!


    "This is¡­ unbelievable!" ke was starstruck.


    "The throne aids in my recovery by constantly supplying me with mana that heals my internal injuries."


    Although the rate of mana being supplied by the throne could bring ke back to his peak in no time, it was nothing much to a Deity. That was to show the astronomical difference between both realms.


    Afraid that staying too long would cause him to explode due to excess mana, the now energetic ke quickly left the throne and asked. "Why is the strength of my Darkness element weak? It feels as if it is at the champion realm."


    "Activating your dormant genes is like giving a long-time mobility-impaired person a new leg. It would still take them some time and a lot of physiotherapy before they can work again." Cassius exined.


    "Is that so¡­" ke muttered as an aura of darkness began flickering all around him.


    Remembering some of the spells Damon and Castiel usually cast, ke shaped andpressed the darkness aura into 8 sharp tendrils.


    ''I no longer have the system to exin and teach me the powers of the darkness element, but my dad is the Deity of Darkness¡­ Hahahahaha!'' ke screamed in his mind as he was so proud of his dad.


    Seeing his dad just staring at him, ke had a feeling that he could somehow read his mind so he quickly reined his thoughts and asked. "What next?"


    So far, he had been told of the past and the ns of the former All-Father, but he still had no idea of what the future ns were.


    "Let''s go check out the progress of our ns." Cassius appeared beside ke and held him on his shoulder before the 3 of them warped out of the mountain.


    Once again, ke found himself high up in the sky, but this time he was looking over arge city that seamlessly married human artistry with the lush splendour of its tropical ind surroundings. Majestic palm trees and vibrant flora adorned the city''s streets, while awork of intricate waterways meandered through its districts, interconnecting the city with the ocean in a harmonious dance of nature and civilization.


    "Are we at Aquastrum?!" ke was shocked and at the same time ufortable being within Tigeria''s capital city''s airspace.


    "Let''s go check on the emperor." Cassius pointed at the Emperor''s pce, The Pce of Tides.


    Towering above the city was the Pce of the Tides. It served as the empire''s epicentre of authority. A fusion of architectural magnificence and magical prowess, its walls shimmered with sapphire hues, and its spires seemed to graze the very heavens.


    Within its hallowed chambers, the ruling council,posed of 10 of the empire''s strongest, which included the Emperor, Tidewalker IV.


    Unlike the Synder empire which ran a monarchy, the Tigeria empire was ruled by the 10 strongest individuals which were kept under the careful watch of Cassius and Dorian.


    This method of rule not only erased the concept of nobility but it gave themon man the hope that all they needed was to get stronger, and all their problems would be erased.


    On getting closer to the Pce of Tides, the trio were warped directly into the throne room where the Emperor was seated.


    Emperor Tidewalker IV was of average height, with a robust build that spoke to his affinity for sailing and the physical demands of his role. His weathered face, tanned by the sun and sea spray, bore the marks of both wisdom and the challenges he''s faced.


    He wore a regal robe adorned with intricate sea-themed embroidery, which glistened with the colors of the ocean. His attire was a symbol of his bond with the sea and the depths of its power.


    On seeing that the All-Father, the true ruler of the empire graced him with his presence, the Emperor immediately bent a knee. "How may I be of assistance, my Lord?"


    "I want to update my son on our ns." Cassius said.


    "Wee to Tigeria, Master ke." The Emperor respectfully said.


    "Thank you." ke appeared calm on the outside as he bowed but was having a full-blown monologue in his mind.


    ''He knows my name?''


    ''Maybe he was already informed of my presence. Or it could be he already knew about me since everyone now knows I have the space element.'' ke thought as the Emperor rose to his feet before activating a holographic projector.


    "The goal is to unify the realm before looking for the key to leave this dimension, but that can''t be done with the likes of Valerius and Synder still alive." During thest part of the sentence, a deep frown formed on Cassius'' face.


    "You are nning on going to war?" ke was shocked.

 Chapter 570 Castiels First inheritance.

    570 Castiel''s First inheritance.


    "You are nning on going to war?" ke was shocked by the news.


    "Only by eliminating those that pose a threat to both our livelihoods and the safety of the entire realm atrge, can we attain peace. Peace is only attained through wars." Cassius said to ke before going on to give a brief exnation of their war ns.


    The main problem both the Tigeria and Synder Empires had in terms of war was the mobilization of their troops.


    To attack each other, suchrge amounts of troops were needed to invade and hold up the captured grounds before pushing forward. The problem with that was that moving such arge number of troops couldn''t go unnoticed.


    This stalemate had been on for centuries, but that was only because Cassius had been in slumber for so long. When he woke up from his sleep, he had given out the blueprint of ultra-long-distance teleportation devices used back in the main realm.


    This was what the Tigeria empire had spent time gathering resources and building. Now, the construction was alreadyplete and given to members of a special task force, the Ster Warp Vanguard.


    "When those from Earth appeared, we took them in and began giving them special training. The Ster Warp Vanguard consists of more than 90%, and what makes them special is that they are unknown elites, making it easier to infiltrate ces." Cassius stated with a proud smile.


    The Ster Warp Vanguard was split into 4 units and sent out in different directions. A few units were sent directly to the east, another to the south, and another toward the north to go through Kaldron with the aim of cutting through shores to get to Synder empire.


    As for the final unit, they had been the first to be sent out, and that was because they had to go around the globe toe out at the East of the Synder empire. This way the Synder Empire would be surrounded from all sides.


    "With you going rogue coupled with the future attacks to be carried out by the League of Assassins, the Synder empire will be too upied to notice their presence." Cassius exined.


    "The Synder Empire has no chance." ke couldn''t help but confess as he saw all the information being disyed.


    The main reason why Synder hadn''t outrightly attacked the Tigeria empire was because he knew he couldn''t beat Cassius even though he wasn''t at his peak.


    Apart from that, the most dangerous organization which everyone thought was neutral was actually under the control of the Tigeria empire. To make matters worse, over the years they had been recruiting all the talents marginalized by the nobles.


    The Synder Empire had dug their graves!


    After exining the overview of their ns, Cassius warped them back to the cave in the mountain before speaking. "For now you should focus on training and strengthening your darkness element while waiting for important missions from the League."


    "I have no problem with that, but I want to ask a question." ke said.


    Cassius gestured for him to carry on. "Sure, ask away."


    "We can''t leave the dimension without getting the key. However, since I was summoned here from Earth it means we can go back."


    "Okay¡­" Cassius was waiting for the question.


    "So why don''t we just go back home to Mom and forget all this?" ke asked because starting a war against the Synder empire would risk the lives of his friends.


    "Firstly, I don''t have the space element neither do we have space splicing devices in this dimension, so I can''t just return to Earth even if I wished to. Also, the war against the Neons would affect everywhere in the universe, and that includes Earth." Cassius exined his reason.


    The inhabitants of Infinite realm had powers because they were directly at the centre of the universe, the heart of the Mother-stream. For other ces like Earth that were very far, the mana density was close to being non-existent.


    "I thought you closed the barrier?" ke was confused when he heard that the fight against the Neons hadn''t ended.


    "I did but the method Valerius used to open it, greatly weakened the barrier, and after so long the integrity has greatly dropped. It''s only a matter of time before another round of invasion begins." Cassius said in a grave tone.


    ''That exins the reason for the war.'' ke thought as he felt a new round of pressure on him.


    While ke was lost in his thoughts, Cassius spoke. "Have you ever thought what would happen if 2 people who have been presumed dead just reappear out of thin air?"


    "A lot of questions would arise, and the government might decide to get involved. The best thing course of action is to bring Miriam over here."


    "That makes sense." The reason ke had never considered it was that Infinte realm was a dangerous ce, but now that both he and his Deity-level Dad were here it would be safe for he and his mom.


    ¡­


    Over at the Synder Empire, Emperor Cinder, Prince Bryon, and Luciano were discussing their next line of action.


    "Valerius is furious that we lost his host. So as his new host is currently in works, ns have to be made to capture the previous host because he is the best for the n." Cinder informed his sons.


    "Can''t we find ke''s current location with the consciousness in him?" Prince Bryon couldn''t help but ask.


    Without a change in expression, Cinder replied. "Valerius had isted the consciousness from his main body to prevent it from being traced back to his main consciousness."


    "I am pretty sure it is not just to defend against enemies, but because he doesn''t trust us too." Prince Bryon chuckled.


    "If I was in such a vulnerable position, I would do the same." Luciano spoke receiving a proud nod from Emperor Cinder.


    "Put up a mission at the association, it is time for the new host to get his first inheritance." Emperor Cinder instructed.

 Chapter 571 Castiels First inheritance (part 2).

    Chapter 571 Castiel''s First inheritance (part 2).


    Two weekster, Castiel and Brian returned from an escort mission at the south of the Synder Empire.


    As top-ranking B-rank adventurers, Brian and Castiel were never inck of missions. It was only a matter of the highest bidder.


    2 days into their 3-day break, they received a high-paying job offer even for them that didn''tck money in any bit.


    The offer was from researchers who wanted to study and extract venom from venomous creatures in the Malock desert for the creation of antidotes and potions.


    Normally, research organizations buy the beasts from beast tamers. However, due to the dangers of the desert, difficulty in transporting them through such long distances, and the almost non-existent demand for them; No one would risk their lives for such stress.


    Having no other options, the researchers had to go in person and they needed protection for the 48 hours of their stay in Sandheaven and the Malock desert.


    "After this mission, we should go on a long vacation." Brian tried to console himself as they made their way to meet up with the researchers.


    After signing an agreement for the mission, the researchers deposited half of the gold coins with the Adventurer Association and gave the other half to Castiel and Brian.


    Once all the paperwork waspleted, both groups made their way to the Adventurer Association''s warp array.


    The contract between the researchers and the Order of Chaos adventurer party was the employment of their services for the next 48 hours. This made travelling by carriage a no-no; so they had to pay an exorbitant fee to use the warp array.


    On arriving at Sandheaven, they wasted no time boarding a carriage that took them to the gates of the city before riding Camel-type beasts into the Malock desert.


    Using a special map that had information on areas with different beast habitats, the 2 researchers navigated their way through the desert.


    After 2 hours of nonstop movement, the group hadn''t been attacked even once by any beast.


    "The problem now is finding the beasts in question." Castiel frowned. He didn''t like the idea of staying in the open, under the hot sun of the desert; it made him feel vulnerable.


    "You don''t have to worry about that, We brought along a sensory magic device that tells if beasts are within a certain range." Seeing the sigh of relief from Castiel and Brian, the researcher continued with even greater enthusiasm.


    "It is also able to replicate the mating calls of particr beasts, even those that ur at frequencies we can''t hear."


    "That''s great¡­" Brian said with a forced smile as he thought. ''I am just trying to get out of here as soon as possible.''


    Not long after the exnation, a Knight rank scorched viper tried to stealthily slither toward them from behind, but they were ready for such attacks.


    Having studied the info of most of the beasts in the desert, Castiel knew how dangerous its toxic breath was, so he didn''t allow it to get any closer.


    He brandished his daggers, sending out explosive shes at the Scorched viper.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Although the scorched viper was naturally resistant to fire, the force of the explosions still dealt damage and stopped it in its tracks. This gave Brian the time to gather sand spikes that stabbed into Knight rank viper.


    HISS!


    The scorched Viper hissed in pain as it tried to break away from the sand spikes that impaled it, but Castiel was already there to stab it with his darkness tendrils and begin draining its energy.


    In less than 3 minutes, the scorched viper had all of its vitality drained making it harmless for the researchers to draw close and extract its venom from its fangs.


    Once all that was done, the researchers killed the knight-rank beast and ced its 8-meter-long corpse into their high-grade dimensional amulet, and continued moving.


    Just 2 minutes after they were done with the scorched viper, Brian sensed the vibration of sand particlesing from behind them.


    They quickly turned, only to see another knight-ranked scorched Viper and a knight rank Scorpidraconis.


    ''Things are better than I thought.'' Castiel couldn''t help but smile as it seemed the heavens had decided to smile upon them.


    "The scorched viper is not needed." One of the researchers said.


    They had already gotten a container full of the scorched viper''s venom, so the Scorpidraconis was the main target.


    Immediately, Castiel and Brian sprang into action.


    Castiel dashed toward the Scorpidraconis, covering some distance before sinking into his shadow. He came out under the 4-meter-tall Knight rank scorpion and cut through 2 of its hind legs.


    HISS!


    The Scorpidraconis hissed in pain as it made use of its remaining 3 sets of legs to turn, but Castiel had long manoeuvred to the right.


    Infusing his des with the heat of the fire element, Castiel shed through 2 of its legs, causing the Scorpidraconis to fall to its side.


    Still weary of the stinger, Castiel made his way to the front and shed off its ws before manoeuvring to the back to stab it with darkness tendrils and drain its vitality.


    At the same time, Brian was done dealing with the scorched viper and was approaching him.


    "Is it me or has it be hotter?" Brian couldn''t help but ask because he felt his water element was weaker than it should be in the desert.


    "I noticed it too but I didn''t think much about it¡­" Just as Castiel finished the sentence, they sensed another beasting their way.


    "Don''t leave the mating calls on indefinitely, we still need to extract the venom of this guy!" Castiel screamed at the researchers who were trying to get them swarmed by monsters, but their replies shocked him.


    "We are yet to turn it on." The researchers were confused.


    Feeling like they had been struck by lightning, Castiel and Brian turned to look at each other.


    "Restrict this guy I will take care of the other." Castiel said to Brian in a hurried tone before turning to the researchers. "You guys should extract the venom as quickly as possible before something else shows up here."

 Chapter 572 Castiels First inheritance (final part)

    Chapter 572 Castiel''s First inheritance (final part)


    In no time, Castiel took care of the sand cat beast and quickly returned to the group who were still in the process of extracting the Scorpidraconis'' venom.


    "Why do I have a feeling that the beasts are noting for us, but for something else." Castiel said with a worried expression stered on his face.


    "What makes you think so?" One of the two researchers couldn''t help but ask.


    "The beasts always seem to being from behind, but never in front." Castiel''s exnation made them recall all the beast attacks that had taken ce.


    Although they were in a dangerous situation, Castiel didn''t forget that these were his employers, so he continued being polite as he spoke. "Can you turn on the tracking device, We need to know when and where these areing from."


    "Alright." One of the researchers agreed and took out the tracking device from his dimensional amulet.


    "The device is detecting a high energy source from the area in front!" The researcher was shocked by this discovery.


    "That must be what the beasts are attracted to!" The 2nd researcher said with gleaming eyes.


    "We should leave this ce at once!" Castiel and Brian didn''t share the same level of enthusiasm as the researchers.


    "Why?" The researchers asked as if they were looking at mad men.


    "The energy source is attracting beasts all over the area; this ce would be swarmed with beasts in no time!" Castiel replied.


    "We can''t leave!" The 1st researcher said with a frown. "This is an unknown phenomenon that attracts beasts. This is part of our research!"


    Castiel was getting pissed off by the researchers. "I am sorry, but being alive is better than exploring a phenomenon that we wouldn''t live to tell the tale!"


    "ording to our agreement, you are meant to protect us for 48 hours of our research. This is part of our research, and you have toply." The 2nd researcher threatened.


    Being put between a rock and a hard ce, Castiel turned to Brian and asked. "What should we do?"


    Before speaking, Brian took out a recorder. "We will protect you, but note that the area ahead is too dangerous for us to guarantee your safety. Do you still want to proceed?"


    Seeing that the matter was being taken very seriously, the two researchers had to pause and discuss the matter with each other.


    After 2 minutes of speaking in hushed tones, the researchers finally turned to them and spoke. "We choose to proceed."


    ''Idiots!'' Castiel shook his head as he felt like smacking their heads.


    Seeing that they had made the worst decision, Castiel had no other option than to begin making preparations for the worst scenario.


    He took a look at the device to check the position of the energy source as well as the beasts in the area. After that, he instructed everyone to stay close to him at all times before activating darkbringer on everyone.


    He nned to make a beeline for the energy source and leave as soon as possible.


    The group quickly set out in the direction of the energy source. On their way, they met different beasts but thanks to darkbringer and Brian erasing their footprints on the sand, they remained unnoticed.


    After 20 minutes of walking, dpidated buildings, half buried in the yellow sands of the desert came into view.


    Five minutester the group saw that an area around a particr building at the far end was on fire. This made the researchers happy for a moment, but they soon saw quite a number of beasts around the area.


    "It definitely got hotter." Brian said as he was now sweating.


    Immediately, Castiel understood what was going on and spoke in an enlightened tone. "The energy source is not only the source of the heat, but it produces a high fire mana density. Now it makes sense why all these areing here."


    "It doesn''t exin why the beasts are so few." Brian was confused because he had seen a lot of ces with high mana density, and they were usually packed with a lot of beasts. At least twice the number of those present.


    The researchers immediately red at him as if they were looking at mad man. ''Why are you praying for our deaths!''


    Having understood what was going on, the group continued moving forward. The closer they got the hotter it became, forcing Brian to constantly release water around them to cool them off.


    On nearing the building with mes, they noticed that both the beasts weren''t moving past a certain distance even though they could withstand the heat.


    In fact, such a level of heat was the perfect thing to refine their hard armours, but they were not moving further.


    "Something is definitely up!" Castiel said, but the researchers acted ignorant and urged them to move forward.


    Steering clear of the mes, they made their way into the stone building. The entire building was almost buried under sand, all that was left was the entrance which was now filled with liquid sand due to the intense heat.


    "That should be the cause of all this." Brian pointed as he was now sweating bullets even with the cooling.


    "How do we contain it?" The 1st researcher asked the other researcher as they set their eyes on the orange glowing crystal at the far end of the room.


    "How do we touch it, talk less of contain?" The 2nd researcher asked.


    This greatly annoyed Castiel because Brian was constantly expending mana to cool the floor that they stood on.


    "By the time I get it ande back, you guys better have a way to contain it." Castiel was angry at the selfish researchers who cared only about the energy source.


    Conjuring solid mes on his feet, Castiel made his way to the glowing orange crystal and inspected it before grabbing it.


    AH!


    Immediately his hand came in contact with the crystal, Castiel felt intense heat on his hand, but before he could let go the instantly heat spread to his entire body.

 Chapter 573 Vacation plans.

    Chapter 573 Vacation ns.


    As the fire energy began to infuse with Castiel, it felt like an unrelenting surge of scorching energy flooding his body. This energy was not a gentle,forting warmth but a raging inferno that threatened to consume him from the inside out.


    The energy manifested as an agonizing heat that seemed to emanate from his very cells. It was as if his blood had turned to moltenva, coursing through his veins with blistering intensity. Every inch of his skin felt as though it was on the verge of incineration.


    At the same time, the heat and mes produced by the orange crystal were making their way toward Castiel who was now on his knees. The mes in and outside the building were extinguished, and the molten sand at the entrance had instantly cooled into ss.


    "What the hell just happened?" Brian as well as the researchers were stunned by the events that just took ce.


    Thinking about the reactions this might cause, Brian took a look at the tracking device only to see that the beasts were now leaving the area.


    ''At least something is working in our favour.'' Brian let out a sigh of relief as he turned his attention back to Castiel to see if he could help just in case something went wrong.


    After 5 minutes of constant agonizing pain, the pain began subsiding and Castiel now finally had the strength to get back on his feet.


    "What the fuck was that?!" Castiel cursed as he stood up, but he soon noticed that the orange crystal was nowhere to be found.


    "Where did the crystal go?" The two researchers asked as they finally came forward.


    "I have no clue." Castiel was also as confused as them.


    "Are you saying that the cause of so much trouble vanished just like that?" The first researcher asked.


    "It didn''t just vanish, I think¡­ my body absorbed it." Castiel was still trying to wrap his head around the matter.


    "What do you mean your body ab¡­"


    Before the 2nd researcher couldplete his sentence, Castiel conjured a ball of purple mes in his hand.


    "I think I just got a fire inheritance." Although he was able to speak, Castiel was still as shocked as Brian and the 2 researchers in the room.


    "Are you sure it is an inheritance?" Brian couldn''t help but ask because he hade across a lot of dangerous mystical things over the years.


    "Not only do my mes feel hotter, but I feel the strength and capabilities of my fire element got multiplied." Castiel replied as his confusion had now turned to a smile.


    "Since there is nothing here, we should leave and continue with our research." Having been left disappointed, the researchers didn''t want to continue wasting the time they had with the adventurers.


    Following the instructions of their employers, Castiel and Brian led them back into the desert in search of different venomous creatures. However, this time the frequency of beasts had significantly dropped, but this was where the mating calls of the tracking device came in handy.


    Thanks to his mes bing stronger, Castiel easily took down any beast that came their way without the need for Brian to act.


    In this way, they made it through the 48-hour service time with the two researchers and returned to Calton.


    Once they returned, their vacation officially began. They were looking for ways to spend it, so they decided to start a group call with their friends to find out who was free.


    "Hey guys, how is everyone doing?" Castiel asked.


    In a sombre tone, Tessie replied. "Hey, Castiel. Hanging in there, I guess. It''s still hard to believe he''s gone."


    Brian felt sorry for Tessie as he spoke. "Yeah, it really is. Listen, Castiel and I were thinking of taking a vacation to clear our heads a bit. We need a break from all the missions and the stress. Are you guys in?


    "I really need a break right now; Unfortunately with everything happening, the Ash Corps are busier than ever." Cami let out a helpless sigh.


    "I will pass, I need to work on myself, I don''t won''t to ruin the fun for you guys." Tessie refused.


    "Sorry guys, but because of the assassination of the descendants of two councillors, my Dad wouldn''t let me out." Damon shook his head helplessly.


    "I am currently free; Why don''t you guyse over to the North, there are a lot of spots I would like to show you." Surprising to all, Luciano seemed to be the most enthusiastic about the vacation.


    Usually, he was the most busy out of the rest, he had never even attended a single get-together.


    "That sounds perfect. When are we leaving?" Brian''s energy was charged up especially since he hadn''t spent much time in the North.


    "If you guys are ready you cane right now through the Adventurer association''s warp array. Don''t worry about the bill, I will handle it." Luciano said with a smile on his face.


    "Nooo!" Cami screamed in envy as she cursed the heavens. "How could it be now that I am busy that you decide to go on vacation? It''s not fair!"


    Hearing herint, Luciano chuckled as he spoke. "We can always goter."


    "¡­." Cami muttered a few inaudibleints as she folded her hands..


    "I almost forgot to tell you guys that we stumbled upon a fire inheritance on ourst mission at Sandhaven." Castiel went on to narrate the details of their mission before proceeding to show his purple mes.


    "You guys were so lucky that no high-level beast was in the area." Tessie said in a worried tone.


    "Good for you! With the inheritance your missions would be safer." Damon congratted him.


    "That''s great; when youe over let''s have a spar." Luciano said.


    The friends exchange a few more details and begin to n their trip, trying to find sce and support in each other''spany as they navigate through their grief.

 Chapter 574 Consider it a gift (part 1)

    574 Consider it a gift (part 1)


    With the conversationing to an end, Luciano ended the call and gave a report to Emperor Cinder. "The Inheritance has been sessfully acquired."


    "Not doubting Grandad''s influence through the inheritance, but we have to put in extra measures to make sure nothing goes wrong." Prince Bryon suggested.


    Pondering over this, Emperor Cinder turned his gaze back to Luciano. "You already have his trust, your tasks are to make sure nothing goes wrong and report any abnormalities that may arise."


    "Yes, Your Highness." Luciano bowed before making his way to a warp array that sent him to the North.


    ¡­


    Having been in the mountain''s peak for 3 weeks receiving training from his dad, ke was d to hear that a mission had arrived.


    Although it was hard to admit, ke needed to step out and touch grass!


    "A mission arrived from the head of the Nystrom family from the Ironwood city." Dorian began exining the details of the mission immediately after ke appeared at the League''s base.


    "Unlike Calton where the heads of the top 3 noble families are on the same level, the Ulrik family stands at the top with their head at the Angel realm. While the others are at the peak of the demigod realm." Dorian gave a little backstory before moving over to the main details.


    "He wants us to draw out the head of the Karius family to one of their mines outside the city before eliminating him." Dorian said.


    "How are we to do that?" ke couldn''t help but ask.


    "The crystal mine is thergest in the north, and it is owned by the Karius family. If any serious problems were to ur at the mine, the family head would be forced toe out." Dorian went on to exin how a member of the League would infiltrate the mine and cause a massive copse that would need to be resolved by the family head.


    "Alright, when do I move out?" ke asked after understanding the mission details.


    "That''s not all." Dorian said with a mischievous smirk on his face.


    Although he had no idea of what Dorian was cooking, ke felt it was something he would like. "I am all ears."


    "Every damage we inflict on the Synder empire will help us massively during the war. So instead of just killing him, we blow up the mine; Then we kill the leader of the Ulrik family, thus making the client a prime suspect and getting him arrested."


    "That way we will take out 3 top fighters of the empire!" ke was shocked by how sinister Dorian could be.


    "The head of the Ulrik family will be out of his vi around the time of your first assassination. I will send out people to handle the explosion, while you are warped directly to his location." Dorian exined.


    "I have no problem with that. When do I start?" ke asked with an evil grin stered on his face.


    ¡­


    Ironwood City was considered the Calton of the North, but the only difference was the increased amount of vegetation and mines within and outside the city. It was the perfect mixture of urbanization and nature that gave the city a fresh vibe.


    The dense vegetation and surplus mines gave rise to a lot of special locations and businesses that were only unique to Ironwood City.


    For example, the Miner''s District was a bustling hub of activity. It housed the headquarters of various mining guilds and administrative offices. Tunnels beneath the city connected to the mines, allowing for efficient transportation of resources. This led to the deployment of Ash Corps to guide the tunnels from both beasts and smugglers.


    As for when the beast tide season arrived, the tunnels would be closed directly from the mines long beforehand. This made protecting the city easier since everything was happening on the surface.


    Other examples of Ironwood''s uniqueness were the Great Forge and the Lumber Quarter. The former was located at the heart of Ironwood, a colossal foundry where metals from the mines were smelted and forged. While thetter specialized in crafting with ironwood lumber, known for its exceptional strength. Here artisans created intricate woodwork, from furniture to weapons.


    Sharply at 4 hours past dawn, the Head of the Karius family received news of a heavy mine copse that had trapped some miners at a part of the mine.


    Without wasting time, the Head of the family called 2 other family elders who had also awakened the earth element as their secondary element.


    Using a warp array specially set up for the crystal mine, they arrived in front of the mine''s entrance, but someone was blocking it.


    He was dressed in a ck leather shirt and ck trousers, covered by a ck veil. The only distinct features were his white hair and the great sword with wolf designs on its handle.


    "I see what is going on here on here!" The Head of the Karius family burst out inughter.


    "Is the League of Assassins looking down on me that they sent a Nascent demigod to assassinate me?!" The Head''s voice changed fromughter to rage.


    "Take care of him while I fix the mine." The head instructed the two Advanced demigods.


    Without a care of the Head''s bbering, ke released Ebony and Ivory who transformed into two 4-meter-tall wolves.


    AWOO!


    On sensing the terrifying aura, the 2 elders immediately activated their defence artifacts, before conjuring Earth walls in front of them in anticipation of attacks.


    Unfortunately for them, when the beasts had chomped down on them, a spatial corridor had opened right above them.


    CRACK!


    The sound of cracking skulls reverberated all around the mine, sending chills down the spine of the family head as he saw the heads of elders being crushed.


    "Shit!" The head of the family head cursed as his anger was instantly quenched and reced by dread.


    ¡­


    Back at Ironwood, the Head of the Ulrik family just made his way out of the Ulrik estate. It was at this moment that an explosion that shook the entire city urred.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 575 Ironwood Assassination.

    575 Ironwood Assassination.


    BOOM!


    Out of nowhere, an explosion rocked the entire city of Ironwood, causing everyone to look outside, only to see arge mushroom cloud that rose above the city walls.


    "That came from the direction of the Karius families'' mine." A member of the Ulrik family immediately reported the situation to the family head.


    "What or who is behind the explosion?" The Family head asked as he and his brother watched the mushroom cloud through the carriage window.


    "We are yet to receive information on that, sir."


    After some thinking, the family head pressed themunication button and spoke to the carriage driver. "Turn the Carriage around and return to the mansion."


    "Yes sir!" The driver did as instructed without questioning.


    "My gut feeling is telling me that the explosion isn''t all to it." The head of the Ulrik family said.


    "Same here." His brother replied without delving deep into the matter.


    Just as the carriage was about to make its way into the Ulrik estate, a gigantic fireball materialized out of thin air and crashed into the front side of the carriage.


    The shields of the high-quality carriage activated just in time to save everyone including the driver, but the downward force of the ball and the forward motion of the horses and carriage caused it to tumble and crash on its head.


    BOOM!


    Almost instantly, the carriage section exploded and the Head of the Ulrik family as well as his brother flew out.


    "Who are you, and are you the one behind the explosion?" The family head asked.


    "You guys talk too much." ke said as he activated his domain which engulfed them.


    With 2 of the Ulrik members having awakened the earth element as their primary element, the area in the domain was rocky and mountainous. The 2nd element of the family head was the Wind element, and since it had attained godhood, it manifested as strong wild winds in the domain.


    The Ulriks were wondering what hard drugs a Nascent demigod must be on, to attack an Angel and a peak demigod. However, their smirks turned to serious expressions as they noticed the abnormalities in the domain.


    Not only was the sky ck, but the space around them felt extremely active and lightning arcs danced all over the sky nonstop.


    "You are ke Wilson, the rogue Ash Corp." The Family head was surprised.


    Just like many other people, they had received the news of multiple members of the League of Assassins simultaneously attacking different cities in the East.


    They hade to learn that ke was the main reason for the entire operation. This made them wonder what was so special about him, until they heard he had gotten the All-Father''s inheritance.


    One thing both of them didn''t understand was the source of darkness in the domain.


    "So?..." ke asked with an indifferent look on his face as he released Ebony and Ivory.


    Awoo!


    Ebony and Ivory howled before dashing toward the Family head, while ke turned toward his brother.


    Having read ke''s profile, the family head''s brother knew about ke''s high-attacking prowess, but little to no defensive capabilities apart from his wolves.


    Now that his wolves were gone, this was the perfect opportunity to take him out!


    Having awakened the Earth and fire element, he used mebursts to shoot forward. However, as he was approaching ke, 16 darkness tendrils appeared from behind him.


    Immediately, the family head''s brother was forced to stop in his tracks as he was confused and felt an ufortable feeling of danger from ke.


    The reason ke dared to take on both the Family head and his brother was because his domain increased his control of the darkness element. So even as his normal control of the darkness element was at the champion realm, it was now boosted to the Hero realm.


    ''How can he have four elements? Not any other element, but the darkness element?! '' He was so confused that he almost doubted his eyes.


    ''It''s impossible! It''s impossible!'' The family head''s brother continuously said to himself as he was looking for an exnation.


    ''The only exnation is an artifact, but I still have to be careful.'' He thought as he was about to continue his attack, but that was when ke spoke up.


    "Tsk Tsk Tsk¡­ Indecision in the middle of the battle." Seeing that Ebony and Ivory hadpleted the task of moving the family head away from his brother, ke activated speed domain.


    A dome of electricity spanning 200 meters appeared above their heads, and instantly a portion of his speed was drained and absorbed by ke.


    ''Shit! I need to leave here.'' Without thinking the Ulrik descendant turned in the opposite direction.


    The battle between Terraforians and speedsters has been fought for ages now. It was always a draw because even if the speedster was to drain the entirety of the Terraforian''s speed, he wouldn''t be able to bypass the defences of one focused on defending.


    In this case, ke had the space, fire, and darkness element to aid his attack. So, The Ulrik descendant knew he would be reduced to a sitting duck.


    "A moment ago, you were so eager to get your hands on me. What changed now? " ke chuckled as he activated Darkness domain.


    Instantly, the light emitted by the lightning domain was gone, sending everything within into absolute darkness.


    ''Fuck!'' The Ulrik descendant cursed as he activated Earth guardian as well as his defence artefact that enveloped him in a yellow barrier.


    Ding! Ding! Ding!


    Almost instantly, 16 darkness tendrils struck at him hundreds of times within a second. However, the yellow dome didn''t seem to take any noticeable damage.


    ''Where did theye from?'' The Ulrik descendant couldn''t help but ask because he could still see ke and the tendrils in front of him.


    ''An illusion to mask the spatial corridors and the movement of the dark tendrils.'' He soon understood what was going on.


    ''I need to get on the offense, the guardian''s heart is being depleted with every hit.'' The Ulrik descendant said as he took out a katana with orange inscriptions on its de.


    "Emberforge hear my call!"

 Chapter 576 Ironwood Assassination (part 2)

    Chapter 576 Ironwood Assassination (part 2)


    The Emberforge ke was an epic-tier katana crafted from abination of obsidian and the heart of a dormant volcano. Its de shimmered with a molten fiery core and it radiated a palpable heat even when sheathed.


    The epic tier katana granted the user 4 abilities, with the first being Inferno strike. This ability unleashed a searing crescent of mes towards a target. Upon impact, the target is enveloped in intense, burning fire, causing both physical and searing magical damage.


    The second ability was me Mastery which granted the wielder a greatly increased level of control over fire. Not only could they manipte nearby mes, but they could even summon small firestorms at will for tactical advantage.


    The second to thest ability was Fire Resonance which grants the wielder immunity to extreme heat and fire-based attacks for 5 seconds, and passive increase to the wilder''s fire resistance.


    Last was the Incendiary Aura. By channelling their will into the de, the wielder can envelop themselves in an incendiary aura, setting fire to anything thates into direct contact. This aura not only provided a defence against close-quarters attackers but also dealt constant burn damage.


    These 4 abilities made it a top-tier weapon among epic-tier weapons, but such strength came with 2 drawbacks.


    Using the weapon for a prolonged period of time, the wielder would experience sudden bursts of anger and also a constantly increasing vulnerability to water and ice throughout the duration of use.


    Inferno Strike!


    The Ulrik descendant, skilfully swung his de multiple times, sending out searing crescent mes towards ke who was standing still all this while.


    CRASH!


    The crescent mes sessfully connected to ke, but instead of being pushed back or showing any signs of damage, ke''s body shattered into hundreds of pieces.


    "An Illusion!" He was rmed.


    At the same time, ke rose out of the darkness behind the Ulrik descendant and struck at the yellow barrier multiple times.


    Almost instantly, rows of earth spikes shot out towards ke forcing him to stop his attacks and jump out of the ground, before blending back into the darkness.


    The Ulrick descendant had predicted the attack, but he had been a secondte in executing the counter-attack thanks to the drain effects of the speed domain.


    Appearing above the outside part of the darkness domain, ke controlled a thunderbolt from the dark sky to strike down at him before firing it back into a portal and repeating the cycle again.


    ''I don''t need Ebony and Ivory to break your defences!'' ke grinned as he was once again struck by lightning.


    "Shit!" The family head couldn''t help but curse as he saw what ke was doing.


    His expression had turned serious the moment he saw the dark sky, but it had soon changed to panic as he saw the speed and darkness domain enveloping his brother.


    Now he knew why ke had the confidence to attack both of them!


    AWOO!


    Seeing his reaction to ke''s action, Ebony and Ivory continuously circled him as they increased their firepower on him.


    "They just keeping!" The family head was annoyed as he felt the increase in pressure. However, before he could do anything, Ebony and Ivory lunged at him from opposite sides.


    Wind Tunnel!


    A tunnel of strong winds appeared in between the wolves and pushed him out of the way.


    BANG!


    Ebony and Ivory went straight for each other, but instead of colliding theybined into their Gray wolf form, and immediately fired arge beam of ice toward him.


    ''I almost thought I got a break!'' The family head cursed Ebony and Ivory as he once again moved out of the way. However, that was when arge spatial corridor opened in the Ice beam''s path.


    "You''ve got to be kidding me!" The family head was on high alert in case a spatial tear appeared, but it was at this moment that ke hadpleted the 3rd cycle of lightning amplification.


    ¡­


    Back inside the darkness domain, the Family head''s brother had been relentlessly throwing out attacks at ke''s illusions.


    "Come out and fight!" He screamed in rage and annoyance, but unexpectedly, ke replied.


    "Alright." ke said as he cancelled the darkness domain, however, it was at this moment that the amplified lightning crashed down on the Ulrik descendant.


    BOOM!


    The thunderbolt crashed into the yellow barrier, instantly shattering both it and the rock armour into pieces.


    His eardrums were ruptured, his eyes blinded by the bright light, and his body and organs severely damaged by the electricity.


    The Ulrik descendant who was in a very bad condition was still trying to get himself in order when arge spatial tear opened and a powerful beam of ice shot at him.


    As a result of the limitations of Emberforge, he was instantly turned into a solid block of ice with the de of Emberforge poking out.


    "One down, one more to go." ke said aloud as he walked up to the Ulrik descendant and grabbed the hand that held onto the Emberforge before shattering the rest of the body.


    "NOOOOOOO!" The family head screamed rage and pain as he watched his brother''s body being shattered.


    "Cool weapon you got here." ke smiled as he melted the frozen hilt of Emberforge and inspected it. Since the owner was dead, the bind was destroyed, thus making it safe to take.


    With an evil grin on his face, ke turned his attention to the family head. "Time to get this over with."


    ¡­


    Outside the domain, members of the Ash Corps hadpletely surrounded the area and were now waiting for the arrival of an artefact to open the domain.


    However, just as the artefact arrived at the scene, the domain opened up.


    THUD!


    Right before their eyes, the headless corpse of the Family Head and the shattered body of his brother dropped to the ground, but no one else was seen.


    Fear gripped the hearts of all those at the scene, as they immediately reported to the situation to the citymander.

 Chapter 577 Actions against the League.

    Chapter 577 Actions against the League.


    Seeing ke return to the cave, Cassius smiled and asked "Wee back, how did the mission go?"


    "Everything went well, nothing too serious. I even ended up getting a weapon from one of the targets." ke smiled as he narrated the details of the mission and the improvements Dorian had made to it.


    "That''s great to hear, the more damage the Synder empire takes, the easier the war would be, and the fewer lives that would be lost." Cassius said with a proud smile stered on his face.


    "You did good, and for that, I made something for you." Cassius said as he pointed at an area not too far from his throne.


    An array lit up, and at first nce, it looked nothing special but ke not only felt arge amount of mana, but he felt a tinge of darkness energy coursing through it.


    Seeing ke''s surprised look, Cassius exined. "Just like my throne, the array will constantly supply you with mana from the crystal mine below, thus increasing your speed of cultivation. Also, I included a special formation that would gradually increase your darkness control and refine your darkness element just like the descendants of Synder."


    "The work isplete." The Masked man informed the contractor.


    09:29


    At this point, it hadn''t been long since the explosion of the mine "Thanks Dad!" ke wasted no time stepping into the array and sitting in a crossed-legged position.


    "No need to thank me, you need to get as strong as possible before the war starts." Cassius said.


    ¡­


    After the job wasplete, the leader of the Nystrom family who had hired ke received a call from the Masked Man.


    "The work isplete." The Masked man informed the contractor.


    At this point, it hadn''t been long since the explosion of the mine had taken ce. So, the Head of the Nystrom family was still unaware of the second part.


    "As efficient as the rumours say¡­ Thank you once again for epting my fee." The family head slightly bowed to the Masked man.


    The Masked man quickly stopped him and spoke. "You don''t have to worry, I even ended up adding an extra surprise just for you."


    With confusion written all over his face, the family head couldn''t help but ask. "What do you mean by extra surprise?"


    Just then, an elder of the Nystrom family rushed into the room. "The Head of the Karius family alongside 2 other elders were found dead outside the city!"


    The head of the Nystrom family was about to reprimand the elder for interrupting his call, especially since he already knew it, but it turned out that he still had something important to say.


    "The corpses of the head of the Ulrik family and his brother dropped out of a domain with the former''s head severed, while thetter was shattered into multiple chunks of ice!"


    On hearing the second part of the report, the Head of the Nystrom family felt his heart drop into his stomach. He immediately turned to themunication amulet, but the Masked Man was already one step ahead of him.


    "Enjoy!" The Masked man said before cutting themunication link.


    "Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" The Head of the family began pacing up and down the room, as he began thinking of the mess the Masked man had put him into.


    His n had been to pin the me of the assassination on the Ulrik family since their eagerness for the Karius Family''s mine was known to all. That way, not only would the eyes of the Ash Corps be sparingly on him, but it could also spell a lot of bad luck for the Ulrik family.


    However, what he hadn''t expected was that the person to take the me for the assassination was also assassinated!


    Now all the me would fall on him, with the chances of being acquitted being close to non-existent.


    ¡­


    After the report of the assassination at Ironwood was released, the council called for an emergency mission.


    "The League of Assassins is growing more audacious as the day grows by!" Cedric ckthorn the councillor of the North was seething with so much anger but didn''t dare to show it in front of the Emperor.


    The assassinations carried out by the League of Assassins had been so few that they were ignored, especially since they rarely targeted very important people.


    However, not only have their attacks be more regr, but they had the audacity to assassinate the deputy colonel of a Major city, simultaneously attack multiple cities and even orchestrate a prison break.


    "I agree, the attack on cities in the East is a p on the face of the Empire, and they have to pay for that." Aurelius Frostborne with a scorn-filled tone while stealing a nce at Prince Bryon.


    "I suggest we capture some of their members and publicly execute them to send a message." Cedric said.


    "How do you n on doing that? We all know tracking their hideout is almost impossible." Nyx Jaeger asked with a raised brow. He felt these 2 were just making noise to distract everyone from their failures.


    "Yes, but why stress tracking the safehouse when we can start tracking them when they eventually step out." Aurelius said with a smirk.


    Over the years, there had been sightings of the members of the League either in the wild or in cities undercover. An example of this was the Arboreal Reaper, Verdigris, who was known to be a nomad.


    All they had to do was invest massive resources in the surveince of cities for the time being.


    "You two have my permission to carry out your n, but note that you have by the end of the week to locate a member of the League." Emperor Cinder said to the two before ending the meeting.


    The 3 councillors quickly departed, leaving only the Emperor and his son.


    "Depending on the member of the League tracked, add Luciano and the Host to the team. We need to quicken the rate of bonding and give him as much experience as possible." Emperor Cinder instructed.


    "Yes, your highness." Prince Bryon bowed before departing.


    (AN: Calling Dorian the Masked Man feels more mysterious. So I will continue with that unless he is speaking with ke or Cassius.)

 Chapter 578 Story of Mistborn.

    578 Story of Mistborn.


    5 days after the Synder empire disbursedrge amounts of resources to beef up the security of all its cities. Luciano received a mission from Prince Bryon, and he was currently on his way to ry the information to Castiel and Brian.


    "There you guys are." Luciano said as he walked past the automatic sliding door to see Castiel and Brian sunbathing beside the pool of the vi.


    "What''s up?" Castiel asked as he took off his shades and turned to Luciano.


    "I just received a mission from my brother to join the strike team tasked with capturing a member of the League of Assassins." Not wanting to give them the full details of the mission, Luciano gave them a brief exnation.


    "Good luck then." Castiel gave Luciano a thumbs-up before putting on his shades and returning to his position.


    Shaking his head, Luciano spoke. "Prince Bryon asked you to join the strike team; a reward will be given to you whether the mission is sessful or not."


    The offers of the royal family were always juicy and tempting even for his level, but Castiel didn''t want to get his hands involved with anything concerning the Royal family.


    However, this was a request from Prince Bryon himself, so even though he wasn''t being forced to take part in it; refusing the request wouldn''t be right, and might lead to futureplications.


    Castiel let out a mental sigh as he turned to Brian. "Guess we have to pause the vacation for a bit."


    "I guess there is no rest for the wicked." Brian shook his head as he stood up from the sunlounger, but that was when Luciano spoke.


    "Sorry, Brian but the request is for Castiel only because Prince Bryon felt your attack power isn''t enough." Luciano exined with a sad expression.


    "I have no problem with that." Brian felt hurt but he felt there was no need to make a fuzz about something that wasn''t too deep.


    ''Why do things have to be so hard.'' From the expression on Brian''s face, Castiel knew he was hurt and was trying to conceal it.


    He was stuck between a rock and a hard ce as he couldn''t refuse the request of the prince and neither did he feel good about his friend being left out.


    ¡­


    Earlier that day.


    Maximus, the illusionary water master, infamously known as Mistborn, was warped out of the League''s base.


    Since this wasn''t an assignment from the Masked Man, he wasn''t warped directly into the city of Echovale, instead, he was warped to the neighbouring Verdant Whisperwood Forest.


    As usual, he made his way to the smugglers outside the city and paid them to get him in. In just in case something went wrong, he activated his high-tier cloaking device that was 2 times superior to the detection devices at the city gate.


    Unfortunately for him, the detection devices at the gates had been upgraded to 3 times their previous strength.


    As the carriage he was hidden in went past the gate, Maximus was detected by the detection devices, but the guards at the gates didn''t make any move against him. Instead, a strike team was immediately being put in ce, and traps were being set up.


    Not knowing that his cover had been blown, Maximus made his way to the market district of Echovale and began purchasing food and other items he was going to donate to the different orphanages in the city.


    As a child, Maximus grew up in an orphanage known as St. Helena''s Home for the Destitute. It was one of the many ces where the unfortunate, abandoned, and neglected children of the empire sought refuge.


    Maximus was amoner, left at the orphanage''s doorstep as an infant, his parentage a mystery. From a young age, life at St. Helena''s was a ceaseless struggle. The orphanage was underfunded, and the matron was cruel and indifferent. The noble families of the kingdom often visited, unting their wealth, and it was during one of these visits that Maximus''s life took a dark turn.


    The young Maximus was entrusted with serving at avish banquet hosted by a noble family, the House of Montir. The Montirs were notorious for their arrogance and cruelty, and their treatment of the orphanage staff was no exception. As Maximus served food and wine to the Montirs, he overheard them mocking the orphans, including himself, as "vermin."


    Maximus'' patience and innocence shattered that night. He watched as the nobles indulged in their excesses, heedless of the suffering outside their opulent manor. The memory of that night fueled a burning rage within him.


    Fortunately for him, he had an exceptional talent for the water element and was selected to join the magic school. There his talent and unrelenting drive for a better future unfortunately made him stand out.


    The Montirs family being the top donors of the orphanage ordered that he work for them, but the contract given to him was no different from a ve contract, so he rejected it.


    However, this brought about a lot of threats and harassment to him and the orphanage, forcing him to drop out of the magic school in his 4th year and flee the city.


    On his journey through the forest to another city, Maximus met the Masked man who offered him to join the League of Assassins. He epted and under the tutge of the Masked Man, Maximus honed his skills in the art of stealth,bat, and magic.


    After a few years of training, he advanced to the Demigod realm, and his first target was Lord Montir himself. He infiltrated the Montir estate, bypassing guards and traps with ease. Lord Montir met his end swiftly and silently, the first of many nobles to fall by the assassin''s hand.


    Just like ke, he only took missions targeting nobles, and with eachpleted mission he spent a good amount of his pay on random orphanages and charities across the Synder Empire.


    That of today was no different.

 Chapter 579 Rescue Mission.

    579 Rescue Mission.


    Afterpleting all the purchases he could, Maximus began making his way to the different orphanages in Echovale.


    On his way, he gave out food and nkets to the vagrants shivering and hiding from the rain in the alley.


    ''As long as those at the head are not taken out, giving them food is just a temporary solution to their problems. However, the hope is that they survive long enough to leave the cycle and join the fight to change it.'' Maximus said to himself as he moved under the rain without getting wet.


    Three hourster, he had visited almost all the orphanages he had marked out. All that was left was one more, and he would make his way out of the city.


    With ease, Maximus snuck into the room of the matron and left a dimensional amulet containing all he had bought for the orphanage and also a letter warning them not to misuse them.


    ''Time to return.'' Maximus said to himself, but as he left the Matron''s room, he sensed danger.


    ''It would be unfair to bring danger upon these people, I need to go as far away as possible.'' Immediately, Maximus took off while sending an emergency signal to the Masked Man.


    ¡­


    The moment Maximus had sent out the emergency signal to Dorian, he had in turn informed ke who immediately appeared at the hideout.


    "Was he on a mission? How did he get caught?" ke asked as he arrived.


    "No, he was on one of his charity runs¡­" Dorian replied as he continued to stare at the screen.


    "Charity runs?" ke was confused.


    "Amongst all of them, Maximus is one the most unique¡­" Dorian began quickly exining Maximus'' story.


    ''Damn¡­'' ke felt touched by the story and at the same time felt a need to save him. As an Ash Corps general, he had read the files of all members of the League; the files only listed all their atrocities, but contained little to no information about their backgrounds and the catalyst for their switch.


    "Why haven''t people been deployed to save him?" ke asked with urgency in his tone.


    "The presence of a strike team means this was a well-thought-out n. So the councillors are surely waiting in ambush for those that would try to save him." Dorian exined.


    Apart from that, the area where the battle was currently taking ce was sealed by a space stabilizer which prevented Dorian from directly extracting Maximus. Still, it didn''t stop anyone from warping in. It was clear as day that this was a trap.


    "You are stronger than them, you should go." ke said but he soon realized the reason he was still here.


    "Just like you realized, they should have also set a trap for me too. My guess is that it is Cinder himself waiting to strike the moment I appear." Dorian shook his head as he was not confident in taking on 5 Battle Angels at once in their home ground.


    "Are you saying we should let him die just like that?" ke couldn''t help but ask.


    "Apparently, there is nothing we can do." Dorian let out a long sigh as his mask hid the sadness his face failed to conceal.


    "Let me go." ke said with a determined expression on his face but received an incredulous look from Dorian.


    "They wouldn''t expect to see me, and even if I am not able toplete the mission, I can get out of there at any time." ke exined.


    "You are crazy but you have a point." Dorian said with renewed hope as he carefully thought of this and tried to formte a n quickly.


    "I will support you with a shadow clone, but try not to get captured cause Dad is going to kill me." Dorian said as his shadow split in two and one materialized into an exact replica of him.


    "Ready when you are." ke said as he took out Ebony and Ivory from his dimensional pocket.


    Immediately an array formed around him and instantly warped him 80 meters above the battle ground.


    Dorian''s shadow appeared closer to the battle, drawing the attention of Aurelius Frostborne and Cedric ckthorn who were forced toe out of their hiding spots and meet him.


    Dropping from the sky, ke threw Ebony and Ivory in front, and when he got to 50 meters he opened a spatial tear right in front of him.


    BOOM!


    Ebony and Ivory crashed in the midst of the battle garnering everyone''s attention, including that of Luciano and Castiel.


    "ke is here!" They said in unison as they began scanning the battleground.


    Not too long after, a spatial tear appeared behind one of the Demigods in the strike team causing her to turn her attention to it.


    BANG!


    As she turned in preparation to attack ke when he exited the spatial tear, Ebony''s spinning fiery body mmed into her from behind.


    Out of the spatial tear came 3 void daggers that flew in different directions causing panic to those in their path.


    Just like expected, 3 spatial tears opened up, but what they didn''t expect was a force that pulled them toward the spatial tear.


    Almost instantly, the 3 Nascent realm demigods, broke free from the pulling force, but hundreds of spells from Ebony and Ivory rained down on them.


    "Shit!" Castiel was frightened by how much damage ke had dealt to fellow demigods without even appearing!


    The strike team consisted of 6 demigods and the two of them. With ke''s appearance, they had subconsciously switched from offence to defence.


    In turn, the pressure on Maximus had greatly reduced, giving him a little time to breathe. However, he knew that as long as he wasn''t directly warped out of the city he wouldn''t be able to escape the pursuit of the Synder Empire.


    ''Keep those 4 busy while I take care of these 2.'' ke instructed Ebony and Ivory as he finally stepped out of a spatial corridor.


    With lightning reinforcement active, ke dashed toward the demigod from the royal family who was still unleashing golden mes at Maximus.

 Chapter 580 Rescue Mission (part 2).

    Chapter 580 Rescue Mission (part 2).


    Seeing that ke''s attention was now on him, the royal family''s Advanced demigod turned in his direction and shot out arge wind drill infused with golden mes.


    "You have to do better than that." ke taunted as he easily sidestepped, however, almost simultaneously hundreds of water spells from the water Wheel, as well as a water whip that aimed to capture him.


    ''Annoying!'' ke harrumphed as he conjured a forcefield that blocked all the attacks.


    Not giving them a chance to continue their attacks, ke went into a spatial tear but created 3 exits. Two were close to the descendants of the ancient families while thest one was behind Maximus.


    ke had a cheeky smile on his face as he thought. ''My goal is to save him not to fight you all.''


    The ancestral descendants saw the 3rd exit point, but they didn''t dare turn their backs on the spatial tears. Also, since ke had ced the exit point behind Maximus, it made stopping him in time very difficult even if they had the guts.


    ''All I need is just to touch him!'' ke screamed in his head as he dashed out of the spatial tear and stretched out his hand toe in contact with hisrade before activating Spatial lock.


    However, just when he was inches away from contact with Maximus, ke felt an intense sense of danger, and immediately backed off.


    ''Almost!'' ke''s heart skipped as he realized his right hand would have been on the floor if not for his intuition.


    Just as he retracted his hand, an extremely thin but high-pressured line of water passed the position his hand just left.


    ''Almost!'' ke''s heart skipped as he realized his right hand would have been on the floor if not for his intuition.


    "Do you think we are dumb to not see through your tricky?" Cedric ckthorn said as he appeared beside Maximus and instantly broke through all of his defences before lifting the battered assassin by his neck.


    ''Shit!'' ke cursed as he saw the Councillor slowly squeezing the life out of Maximus.


    ''I was so close to saving him¡­'' Before ke had the time to feel disappointed in himself, he heard Dorian''s voice scream in his head.


    "The Mission has failed, get out of there now!''


    ''Fuck!'' ke''s intuition was screaming at him to get out of there. It was at that moment that Aurelius Frostborne appeared behind with his right hand emitting a deadly aura of frost.


    With a rage-filled heart, he thrust his right hand toward ke at an insane speed.


    Spatial lock!


    Just as his hand was a hairbreadth away from ke, he instantly vanished into his pocket dimension.


    "¡­" A deep frown formed on the councillor''s face as he still went on to thrust his right hand forward.


    This forward motion stabbed into space, and with a little movement, he sliced it in half and stepped right into the spatial tear.


    Immediately, a blue halo enveloped his body and protected him from the dangers of the Void. He began looking around trying to sense if ke''s presence was still lingering at any point.


    "Shit!"


    After some time, he was still unable to find anything. So he went back through the spatial tear and exited the void.


    "Nothing?" Cedric ckthorn asked as he saw Aureliuse out empty-handed, but he shook his head in response.


    At the same time, Ebony and Ivory as well as Dorian''s clone had left the battle, marking the end of the battle and the sess of the mission.


    However, the series of events that just took ce had etched itself in Castiel''s mind. He had watched how ke had unleashed chaos on the strike teams'' formation without even on the battlefield.


    These were all demigods that were at least two levels above him!


    ''Not only did his presence instil fear in their hearts, but he toyed with them like ragdolls.'' Castiel was beyond surprised by how much ke had grown.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t believe ke one-shotted Orion and Thalia. It was just that hearing and experiencing it in real life had different effects on him.


    The worst part was that, throughout the fight, not for once did ke turn his attention to them. It was as if all their efforts were non-existent.


    It made Castiel feel useless.


    At this point, Castiel couldn''t help but think that his life as an adventurer had slowed down his growth by a considerable rate.


    ''This isn''t just a matter of him being in the demigod realm or having three elements. There was a feeling of calmness in his movements even though he was in the middle of danger. This is something that could only be gotten through a lot of experience.''


    ''The life of an adventurer isn''t as tasking as that of an Ash corp talk less of an Assassin. Fighting beasts can''tpete with dealing with humans or extremely difficult situations that can endanger the city.'' Castiel was in deep thought as the battlefield was being cleared by the Ash corps that arrived at the scene.


    ''I don''t think continuing in the Adventurer association is the best thing for my growth. However, I still have no ns to join the Ash crops. Maybe Luciano has a solution to that.'' Castiel thought as he felt a fire to get stronger burning within him.


    ¡­


    "That was close!" ke let out a long sigh of relief as sweat trickled down his forehead.


    Although Aurelius hadn''te in contact with him, the deadly frost aura emanating from his hand had dealt damage. The colour of his back had turned pale, and the frost seemed to be gradually spreading.


    ''If not taken care of, I will turn to a block of ice in no time.'' ke felt chills run down his spine as he thought about how dangerous a Battle Angel was.


    The good thing was that Ebony and Ivory who joined him in the pocket dimension were now healing him.


    ''He seems to have left a tracking mark on you, but thankfully this ce hides you perfectly.'' Ivory''s statement shocked ke.


    Worry was written all over his face as he asked. ''Can you get rid of it?''


    "Not totally." Ebony and Ivory replied in unison.


    "No problem, I will have to bring Dorian here." ke shook his head.

 Chapter 581 Father and children relationship.

    581 Father and children rtionship.


    Although Aurelius had failed to capture ke, part of his n was to inject his aura into ke. This way, even if he managed to escape, he would leave a spatial trail that would lead them to the League''s hideout.


    What he hadn''t expected was that ke wouldn''t go straight to the moving base. Instead, ke went into his pocket dimension that hid his presence and temporarily severed the connection with the spatial trail so far he didn''t leave.


    "It''s a good thing you informed me before returning to the base." Dorian said as he walked out of the spatial corridor ke had created. He went straight to the mark at ke''s back before cing his hand on it.


    "An operation involving the Emperor, 2 councillors and their high-rank family members. The Synder empire is surely out to get us." Dorian let out a wry smile as he slowly pulled back his hand, extracting a thin icy blue aura from ke''s body. This took care of the tracking as well as the freezing effects.


    "Thanks." ke said as he put his ck shirt back on and stood up.


    With his condition returning to normal, and the mission being concluded as a failure, ke couldn''t help but ask "What next?"


    "Maximus is either dead or about to be executed after torturing and interrogation. All we can do is report the situation to Dad." Dorian replied in an impassive tone.


    Although Dorian was trying to hide it, ke could feel a trace of sadness in his voice; but since there was nothing he could do about it, ke turned his attention to the most important problem at the moment.


    "If they read his mind, wouldn''t they be able to discover the location of the hideout?" ke asked in a bothered tone.


    "As you already know, the base is constantly on the move and no one except for I and Dad knows its current location at any given time. Also, the hideout possesses anti-divination abilities; however, none of these would stop them if you directly led them into the hideout." Dorian strayed a little bit before returning to the question. "The only thing they would be able to learn is that it is a moving base, but they should have already guessed that by now."


    Hearing his exnation, ke asked. "If the base is constantly on the move, then how am I able to warp into the hideout at will."


    "The base uses spatial magic, so even if it is on the move, what you are warping into is the spatial coordinates of it''s spatial space which remains constant." Dorian exined.


    "Oh" ke didn''t know why, but he felt that the League''s base was on par with that of Azkelwart.


    With everything concluded, both of them returned to the base to make sure nothing was wrong, before warping back to the peak of the mountain where Cassius stayed.


    Seeing his sons returning with their shoulders low, Cassius asked. "How did it go?"


    ke returned to his position in the formation as Dorian took off his mask and began sharing the memory of what happened.


    After he was done, Cassius finally spoke. "It seems your recent attacks hurt their pride, but apart from that, this is quite interesting."


    "What do you mean?" ke and Dorian were confused.


    "You didn''t see your friend using purple mes?" Cassius asked causing ke''s eyes to widen in realization.


    During the fight, Luciano and Castiel were no threat to him, and they didn''t try to attack him, so he didn''t much attention to them.


    "Seems like Synder gave him his inheritance." Dorian said.


    "Exactly..." Cassius confirmed.


    "Why Cassius? Couldn''t he have given it to any of his direct descendants?" ke was both confused and worried.


    "He possesses the darkness element, so by giving him stronger mes, they n on creating a recement for you. Also, since this was a body for Valerius, no one would want their direct descendants in harm''s way." Cassius exined.


    "Can''t we save him?!" ke couldn''t help but ask.


    "One of the reasons we couldn''t save you earlier than this is because there was a royal knight following you even during your mission in the desert. Your detainment was the perfect time for us since there was no point leaving an Angel with you in one of the safest ces in Calton."


    "The same goes for him now that he is a future host for Valerius. The only difference is that they have deployed even more people to watch over him. They surely don''t want anything to go wrong with him." Cassius'' exnation made ke even more worried, so he had to calm him down.


    "Nheless, we will be on the constant lookout to save him, especially since it would affect Valerius'' n." Cassius reassured him.


    "What if we are unable to save him, what do we now do?" Dorian asked an important question that made ke turn back to Cassius.


    Not bothered by the timing of the question, Cassius answered. "They have no idea that ke has a 4th element, so he wouldn''t be a threat even during the war."


    "Alright¡­ If that is all, I shall return to the base and announce Maximus'' death." Dorian said as he put on his mask and warped out of the mountain.


    "He is even sadder than I expected." ke stated as Dorian left.


    "95% of all members of the League were all maltreated young talents rejected by the Synder empire. Dorian was the one that picked them up from the streets, trained them and gave them revenge and a purpose."


    "They are not justrades or members of his organization; they are more like his children." Cassius exined, giving ke a greater insight into Dorian''s pain.


    "I know you haven''t spoken about it, but I am sorry for going there even with all the dangers. I could have ruined your ns." ke apologized.


    "You don''t have to apologize, I would have done the same if I were in your shoes. Besides, if you were captured I would have been in Synder empire by now teaching them a lesson." Cassius said with a proud smile as he ruffled ke''s ck hair.


    (AN: His natural hair colour right now is white, but when using the darkness element or in the darkness formation it changes to ck.)


    Something massive ising, hence I am trying not to rush things because I am afraid of making more mistakes.

 Chapter 582 The calm before the storm.

    582 The calm before the storm.


    After Maximus was captured, Dorian decided that the League of Assassins wouldy low for the time being. This continued even after 2 years; they didn''t ept or carry out any mission during this time period.


    To the world, it seemed like the League of Assassins was afraid of Cinder''s wrath, however, Dorian thought otherwise. He felt it was best the Empire''s defences were rxed for the uing war. So he was against keeping them on the edge.


    The best part about the situation was that this was exactly the oue the councillors wanted to see after their operation. This made it extremely easy for them to buy the ruse, making them oblivious to the storm that was about to befall the Synder Empire.


    Throughout this period, Castiel hadn''t been idling in any way. Prince Bryon had agreed to be assigning him to missions that continuously pushed his limit. Castiel kept on growing in both experience and mastery over his elements.


    With each battle he fought, Castiel was not only getting more susceptible to rage, but he was continuously growing resentment for ke.


    After every battle he went through, Castiel always felt ke would have breezed through the problem with ease. At first, he agreed that this was possible through ke''s skills, but as time went on, this thought changed to ke having an unfair advantage by getting both the Space element as well as Ebony and Ivory.


    He was angry at how ke had always been taking first ce right from the Zetron gamingpetition to their time in school. However, he didn''t remember the hours, efforts, sweat and blood ke had put in to be so good.


    At this point, he had long forgotten about the sacrifices ke had made for both him and Brian; All he focused on was the negative sides. However, his recent resentment and jealousy were not totally his fault, it was due to the fire element inheritance he had just obtained.


    Unlike, Valerius'' inheritance which came in the form of a system that slowly trained and manipted the inheritor, Synder''s inheritance came with a back door that allowed him to mess with Castiel''s psyche. He was constantly feeding him with such thoughts, as well as amplifying the thoughts hidden deep in his heart.


    In terms of rewards for his missions, the royal family first started by giving him generous rewards based on his mission aplishments, before giving him extra, separate from their usual generous rewards.


    After a year of Castiel "working" for the Royal family, Castiel got ess to extremely rare resources, even for other Ancestral descendants. Not only did his mes and body undergo major refinement, but his level had shot through the roof.


    By the time the first year was over, Castiel had made it to the 3rd stage of the demigod realm, and by the end of the 2nd year, he was just one step away from entering the Angel realm (peak demigod). Unknown to him, his time wasing to an end.


    On the other hand, throughout this period Brian had been left out of all of this; that was one of the major reasons why Castiel''s situation had gotten to this.


    After being left out in the first mission, Castiel returned to share his ideas of pausing their lives as adventurers since their rate of growth had been considerably slowed down.


    Brian saw no problems with his train of thought, in fact, he even supported the idea. However, when he tried to tag along with Castiel on missions assigned by Bryon, he was swiftly rejected. What baffled him the most was that Castiel spoke up for him or cared about how he felt.


    He was forced to return to his life as an adventurer. At first, he tagged along with other adventurers, but as time went on, he began recruiting more people into the Order of Chaos adventurer party.


    After 2 years of countless missions, Brian had advanced to the 3rd stage of the Demigod realm (Intermediate) without the resources of anyone else.


    As for the group, ke''s absence, Luciano and Castiel''s sudden detachment had shrunken the group to only Brian, Cami, Damon and Tessie. Just like everyone else, Damon had no clue of what was going on, but he seemed to have some suspicions.


    The good thing was that none of them had cked off during these 2 years. Except for Damon who was now an Advanced Demigod, the rest were all at the intermediate stage.


    Brian had be an A-rank adventurer, Cami a Major, while Damon and Tessie were now managing very important roles in their respective families.


    ¡­


    Off the coast of the Northern continent was an ind concealed by hundreds of formations. This was home to the once-active group, Crusaders.


    The Crusaders were a neutral organization on par with the League of Assassins and the Adventurer Association. Their membersprised entirely of the light element users, and their aim was "fighting" for humanity.


    The previous operations ranged from protecting unaffiliated states (viges, towns etc.) from monster hordes, taking out high-level monsters before they became serious problems, acting as bounty hunters by tracking and eliminating menaces to the society (members of the League.) etc.


    The Crusaders and the League of Assassins were both sworn enemies who kept themselves in check. However, 500 years ago, the Leader of the Crusaders had a secret face-off with the Masked Man. It was a battle between light and darkness, but Darkness ended up consuming light.


    The "death" of their leader left the Crusaders greatly weakened, ushering in centuries of the League''s impunity.


    Right now at the Crusader''s ind, a concealed pir of lightrge enough to cover an entire city just dissipated.


    A light so bright and powerful that it could illuminate the entire realm was about to shine, but the formations set in ce quickly kicked in and reduced it to the area of the ind.


    Tens of floors underground, the once-dark room lit up, revealing a figure possessing a striking appearance with golden, flowing hair that shimmered like strands of spun gold. His eyes were a celestial blue, reflecting rage and revenge. He donned a robe woven from starlight, emitting a warm, golden aura.


    His presence was awe-inspiring, radiating an ethereal andmanding glow, and his face was chiselled with ssical perfection.


    "I have returned!"

 Chapter 583 The Calm Before The Storm II.

    ?


    A Week ago.


    After sailing on the vast body of Ocean Tribirus for 4 years, The Ster Warp Vanguard units arrived at different sides of the Synder empire and were stopped for interrogation and search by the coast guards.


    The crew were disguised as merchants carryingrge quantities of goods unique to the Tigeria empire. When questioned about their motives for carrying out such a dangerous journey, they exined how they discovered the market gap and how they nned on profiting from it if their journey went well.


    Although both countries were enemies, they didn''t stop normal citizens that didn''t have ties with their governments; especially when it was beneficial to the Synder empire, since they didn''t have any strong independent sailors willing to cross Ocean Tribirus.


    However, this didn''t mean they were not under suspicion or would be let go just like that.


    The coast guards wasted no time in scanning the ship. Since it was a matter of national security, the scanning devices used by the Coast Guards were multiple times more powerful than those used in the city.


    The scan didn''t detect any high-level individuals or weapons on the ship except for the ship''s arrays and weapons that protected them from the beasts of the ocean. Even when the contents of every crew member''s amulet were searched, it was only random things like personal belongings, mid-level weapons, and a few priced possessions like mid-level crystals.


    Seeing that nothing was out of ce, and the goods stated were present, the coast guards allowed them to pass.


    ¡­


    Back to the present, A Leviathan''s Embrace had finally arrived close to the marked area, not too far away from Coastville.


    The Leviathan''s Embrace was an unreleased marvel of magical engineering and nautical craftsmanship given to The Ster Warp Vanguard unit by the Tigeria Empire. It was a ship designed for navigating the most treacherous of oceans and confronting the fiercest sea monsters that roam the deep.


    The ship boasted an imposing silhouette, with a sleek, ebony hull that seemed to absorb the light, making it nearly invisible against the night sea and sea creatures.


    It was armed to the teeth tobat sea monsters. It featured an array of magically enhanced cannons along its sides, capable of firing enchanted projectiles that could pierce the toughest of sea creature hides. The prow of the ship concealed a colossal harpoon cannon designed to harpoon and immobilize thergest of sea beasts.


    For its defences, the Leviathan''s Embrace possessed shimmering shields that could envelop the vessel, sealing it off from the ocean''s depths. However, what made the vessel special was its ability to submerge.


    As the Levithan''s Embrace was arriving at the marked destination, it began gradually descending into the ocean. As this happened, its barriers were immediately activated, further adding to its absurd concealment.


    In no time, the vessel reached the bed of the ocean and its entire crew which consisted of Aquamancers disembarked, leaving only the Captain onboard.


    Without receiving any instructions, the crew went into position and began drawing the formation for the ultra-long-distance formation.


    While most of them were carving out the formation, a group moved out to a not-too-far location and began digging.


    Lo and behold a pile of thranium crystals had been buried in the area!


    Without an atom of surprise, they carried the Thranium crystals back and began cing them in specific parts of the formation.


    These were the power sources for the formation nted by the League not too long ago.


    ¡­


    Aquastrum, Tigeria Empire.


    Emperor Tidewalker IV was dressed in an armour with an intricately designed crest on the chest te, depicting a stylized wave rising from the depths, symbolizing the emperor''s dominion over the sea. The crest was adorned with rare aquamarine gemstones that glistened like the ocean''s surface in the sunlight.


    Standing beside him were the 9 strongest members of the empire which made up the council, and right in front of them were millions of soldiers who had been training nonstop for that day.


    Emperor Tidewalker IV stood upon a grand, elevated tform overlooking a sea of loyal subjects and valiant soldiers. He raised his hand,manding silence, and began to speak:


    "Valiant warriors, and faithful allies,


    Today, we gather not in celebration, but in determination. We stand at the precipice of a challenge that will test the very depths of our resolve, the strength of our unity, and the power of our conviction. We find ourselvespelled by fate and duty to take up arms against an adversary who threatens our way of life, our freedom, and our beloved realm.


    Our enemy seeks to cast a shadow over the bright horizon of our future. They will soon learn that the strength of our spirit matches the boundless depths of the sea that surrounds us. Just as the ocean is both serene and tempestuous, we, too, possess a duality of strength and resilience that will carry us through the tempest that lies ahead.


    With courage in our hearts, the sea at our side, and the legacy of our ancestors guiding us, we shall prevail. Our empire''s story is one of resilience, tenacity, and triumph. Today, we add another chapter to that epic tale¡ªa chapter written in the ink of our bravery, the blood of our sacrifice, and the indomitable spirit of the Tigeria Empire.


    For Tigeria! For glory! For victory!"


    The crowd erupted in thunderous cheers, their spirits lifted by the emperor''s words, ready to follow him into the storm that awaited.


    ¡­


    At the League of Assassins'' hideout.


    The Masked man stood in front of every member of the League except for ke and spoke.


    "Today is the day you have all been training for. Today is the day you get your revenge against the Synder Empire for all the atrocities they havemitted toward you and millions of people."


    "Today is the day we set them aze with their mes!"


    The members of the League were shocked by the sudden announcement but nheless cheered as their blood began boiling.


    ¡­


    Inside the mountain''s peak, Cassius turned to ke "It is time."


    At that moment, the darkness array shut down, and ke who was now at the Angel realm opened his eyes.

 Chapter 584 War of Empires.

    584 War of Empires.


    Once Dorian was done with his speech, the members of the League of Assassins were deployed to different border cities.


    To the inhabitants and Ash Corps of Coastville, it was just another day, but that was until The Square detected five high-energy signals that flew above the building.


    This was a clear act of provocation!


    Immediately, the General in charge of the city as well as other high-ranking members of the Corps flew out to meet the enemies.


    "Who dares?!" The General screamed as he and 8 others flew to meet the intruders who were obviously tired of living.


    At that moment, Seraphina, infamously known as Tempestde, an Angel realm member of the league appeared; bringing the League''s number to six.


    Seraphina was a deadly and elusive female assassin renowned for her mastery of lightning and wind magic. She was a striking figure in the world of contract killing, known for her lethal grace and uncanny ability to disappear without a trace.


    ''Shit!'' The general who was an Ordained angel (first stage) cursed as he immediately stopped in his tracks at the appearance of the Prevalent Angel (2nd stage), but it was already toote as he had fallen for their trap.


    BOOM!


    In the next instant, Tempestde Seraphina unleashed a lightning bolt that tore through all his defences and instantly turned him into blood mist.


    Almost instantly, the charging Major generals stopped in their tracks as they were consumed by both fear and confusion.


    "Begin!" Without caring about the remaining Ash corps as they posed no threat, Seraphina gave the signal for the second phase of their ne.


    The remaining 5 members of the league lifted their hands and began channelling mana, causing arge array to appear over the Square.


    Sensing the dangering from the array, the Ash corps that had dashed out immediately rushed back into the Square before a fiery orange barrier enveloped it.


    "Fools! Why would we attack your turf if we are not confident about breaking through your defences." Seraphina shook her head as she saw them returning to the Square.


    "Not only are their minds consumed by fear, but they feel we have no idea of the Square''s defences." Specter Dimitri chuckled.


    In less than 2 minutes, the array waspleted and ready to activate.


    Fire!


    Immediately, Seraphina gave the order, the dark clouds that had formed over them released massive thunderbolts into the array which in turn amplified it and sent it straight at the Square.


    On seeing the array fully form, those who retreated into the confines of the Square realized their mistake as the amplified thunderbolts came down on them.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    However, their expectation of the entire square exploding didn''te to pass. Instead, the lightning had crashed down specific sections of the Square that housed inter-city warp arrays.


    "They are trying to cut off back up." The Deputy City General muttered in hopelessness as he saw the multiple floors that had been instantly blown apart by the explosion.


    At the same time outside the city; the Ash corps mounted at the boundaries of Coastville (The walls rose and fell when needed) were still wondering what the hell was going on back at the square when they noticed the hundreds of ships rising from underwater.


    "We are under attack!"


    The Major in charge of that section of the boundary sounded the rm.


    Immediately, the city wall shot up from underwater and the Ash corps present wasted no time taking their positions.


    Instantly, the city and wall barriers were activated, and the cannons were equipped by the Ash corps, ready to let loose. However, this was all within the expectations of the invaders.


    The moment they had made sure Coastville wasn''t getting reinforcements any time soon, the members of the League of Assassins went straight to the boundaries and began attacking those at the wall.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    "What in the All-Father''s name is going on?" The Major felt confused and helpless as he saw tens of his men falling like flies in a matter of seconds.


    With the defenders fighting for their lives within the barrier, the hundreds of Leviathan''s Embrace that made their way out of the Ultra-long-distance underwater, safely and steadily drew closer to the city.


    Seeing this, as well as theck of response from the Square, the Major knew they had no chance on both sides. Without wasting another second, he began screaming. "We surrender! We surrender!"


    When this happened, the members of the League reined their spells of destruction, and the Ash corps immediately went on their knees.


    "Deactivate the barrier, and take down the walls!" Seraphina ordered the Major as shended beside him.


    With shivering bones and a fear-filled heart, the Major wasted no time doing as he was told. The barriers and walls went down, allowing the ships to dock, and forces of the Tigeria Empire to disembark.


    "Thanks for your assistance. If not for you guys, it would have been a pain in the arse capturing the city." Granick, the councillor leading the attack at this part of the empire said to Seraphina.


    "No need to thank me, we are all brothers in arms," Seraphina replied.


    (AN: I am not sure brothers in arms is the correct term even when the opposite gender is involved. So if you know the correction please reach out to me in thement section.)


    ¡­


    The attack on a coastal city wasn''t only taking ce in Coastville. The same approach had been used to simultaneously capture all of them, and this was causing a lot of problems in the camp of the Synder empire.


    "Status report!" Cinder said in an enraged tone as this time he was no longer sitting on his throne. Instead, he was standing in front of a war table with the four councillors also gathered by the table.


    The air in the room was heavy and hot, there was no time for any sort of tomfoolery as the war had officially begun.

 Chapter 585 Waiting game.

    585 Waiting game.


    Without wasting another second, Prince Bryon began giving a detailed report of what had urred in the first 12 hours of the war.


    He narrated how the forces of the Tigeria Empire had easily captured almost all borders of the Synder Empire in such a short time, all thanks to the members of the Leagues that struck from within.


    The Neutral Assassin organization had been working for the enemies all this while!


    "I should have known." Cinder muttered in anger as the temperature of the room was shooting up.


    On the surface, one would think that the Masked Man was taking in the talents from mostly the Synder Empire for mary purposes. However, for an extremely powerful individual who had lived for centuries, money could in no way be his problem, as it didn''t matter to him.


    Was he gathering forces to overthrow him? That was impossible because even though all members of the League were powerful, they weren''t enough to overthrow the empire.


    Cinder had always thought that there was another motive for his actions, but he had never been able to see past the fog of mystery that shrouded the Masked man. That was until now!


    With the participation of the members of the league in the attack on the border cities. It was now clear that he wasn''t recruiting members only because of their talent, but also due to their great hatred and resentment toward the Synder Empire.


    "When you already have an army to face your enemy, the next best thing is to take out important soldiers in the enemy''s camp." Cinder let out a dangerous chuckle before his gaze returned to the councillors who were protecting themselves from the heat he was generating.


    "Continue¡­" Cinder said as he reined his fiery aura.


    Moving back to the map, only 5 border cities in the entire empire were still standing. However, their warp array links had been cut, making them sitting ducks that would eventually fall.


    This raised the question. "What do we do? Attack?"


    The four councillors turned to the emperor, but instead of a response, Cinder returned to his throne.


    At that moment, an astral projection of Synder appeared, and immediately the councillors except Bryon went on one knee and bowed.


    "Attacking would be foolish. You will only be sending our forces to their death." Synder said in a nonchnt tone as his gaze constantly moved between the 3 councillors.


    "There is a reason they captured the border cities and didn''t decide to push forward. They are turning the border cities into strongholds from which all their future operations would be carried. So instead of attacking them when all of their forces are still together, we wait till they spread out to conquer other cities." Synder''s astral projection had an evil grin on his face.


    ¡­


    Immediately the forces of the Tigeria Empire seized Coastville, they first started by neutralizing all members of the Ash corps and noble families by using mana-inhibiting cors.


    After that, Sea lord (Name of Tigeria''s councillors) Granick addressed the citizens about the invasion andid out rules that they had to follow to make sure they didn''t get in trouble.


    Once that waspleted, they began creating camps for their troops to settle in, before upgrading the defences of Coastville to make sure it couldn''t be retaken easily.


    To make sure nothing went wrong, soldiers of Tigeria were positioned at different points in the city to make sure actions that could hinder their progress were spotted on time. This made the inhabitants of Coastville tense as their rtively peaceful life had be filled with uncertainties.


    ¡­


    At the city lord''s house, Sea lord Granick, Tempestde Seraphina as well as four other high-ranking generals of Tigeria, assigned to this part of the Synder Empire were discussing their next lines of action.


    ording to the orders of Tidewalker IV, they were to remain on standby until all border cities in the empire had been captured by their forces and transformed into strongholds.


    At this time, they had all been cut off from the Synder empire''s warp arraywork, meaning that their fall was inevitable. That was why Granick, Seraphina and the four generals were looking at the best way to transport their troops to siege the city of Willowbrook


    They had 2 options; the first was marching the troops straight to the next Willowbrook, but not only would that take a lot of time, it would leave them in the open for attacks.


    The second option was to warp them to the desired location, but that would require setting up a teleportation array. The only problem was that the Synder empire had spent more on defences.


    The range of the life sensory arrays that covered a small portion of the forest close to the city wall had increased. Also, there were high-level Ash corps constantly patrolling the area beyond the life sensory array''s range.


    "The range of teleportation artefacts won''t be enough to cover the entire distance. A small special unit is needed to make the journey and set up a warp array that would bring over the array masters for the ultra-long distance warp arrays." Seraphina said with an expressionless face.


    "We can gather a few people to carry out this mission." Sea lord Granick replied, but Seraphina immediately cut him short.


    "I didn''t mention the idea for someone else to do it. I and my team would be the ones to carry out the mission." Seraphina''s eyes widened, and a grin appeared on her face as she spoke.


    ''What the fuck is wrong with her?'' Granick and the four generals couldn''t help but ask in their heads as they listened to her. She was speaking like a psychopath who was visualizing ying with the innards of her next victim, however, they managed to maintain theirposure and act like nothing was wrong.


    "I shall trouble you with this task." Granick thanked her for the second time that day.


    After discussing the details of a few more things, Seraphina finally left causing the five of them to let out a sigh of relief and ask.


    "Are they all like that?"

 Chapter 586 Honey trap.

    586 Honey trap.


    By the end of the next day, all the remaining 5 border cities of the Synder Empire had been captured by the joint coboration of the League of Assassins and the forces of the Tigeria Empire.


    All that was left was to upgrade and transform those cities into strongholds. However, this wasn''t going to take much time, especially since technicians were being warped from other captured border cities to quicken the process.


    Since most of the equipment had already been built in Tigeria, and the instalment process had been cut down from 12 hours to 6 hours thanks to the extra hands; Seraphina and her group decided it was time to move out.


    The job of the members of the League was to approach the city of Willowbrook and activate a portable warp array that would bring in the team of array masters to set up the long-distance array.


    Once it was time, Seraphina put on the warping artefact handed to them by the Masked man. The artefact was a ne with a ck fang covered with inscriptions. It allowed the user to warp to any location of their choice in exchange for mana and blood.


    The distance covered was proportional to the mana and blood consumed by the artefact, the quality of mana and blood of the user affected the exchange rate.


    When she activated the ck fang artefact resting on her neck, the inscriptions lit up with a blood-red hue before stabbing into her body. Once it was activated, the five members of the League held hands and warped out of the city.


    With the exceptional mana quality and pure blood of an Ordained Angel, they had covered half the distance in one go. Seraphina still had the capacity to go further than that, but she had to be careful since they had no clue of what was waiting for them on the other side. (AN: During each advancement process, the body, blood, mana etc. of the individual is continuously being refined.)


    To cover the remaining distance, she passed the artefact to the rest of the team which consisted of 5 peak demigods who took turns using it.


    In a matter of minutes, they had arrived at a mountain not too far from Willowbrook. This was going to be their hideout in case things went wrong and the location for warping in the array masters, but first they had to confirm that there were no traps set by the enemy.


    Lucius ckheart, the team''s Geomancer stepped forward and ced his hand on the base of the mountain. Using seismic sensing, he watched as the vibrations moved throughout the mountain.


    "There seems to be a man-made cave within the mountain with 23 champions and 4 Heroes present. There are also a few traps with most of them ced at the entrance, but they are nothing to worry about." Lucius reported back to the group.


    "They are most likely bandits, kill them all." Seraphina said without a change in expression.


    Due to the war starting out of nowhere, all cities were immediately locked down and extremely strict searches at the gates began. This left the bandits with nowhere to run, and to make matters worse, they were now jobless since no one dared to travel in such troubling times.


    "Hehe." On hearing Seraphina''s words, Lucius grinned as he turned back and ced his hand once again on the base of the mountain.


    After a few seconds, he withdrew his hand and said. "It''s done."


    "Lead the way." Seraphina gestured for him to move forward.


    With that said, Lucius created a tunnel that led up to the cave created by the bandits.


    "Did you have to be so messy?" Specter Dimitri shook his head as they entered the cave only to see bandits impaled in the head and heart from weird angles by earth spikes.


    "Clean up this ce." Seraphina didn''t care about the method Lucius had used toplete the task, all she wanted was for the mission to not be dyed any further.


    Immediately, the corpses and belongings of the bandits began sinking into the ground. As for the pool of blood and blood stains all around the cave, a newyer of dirt covered them, leaving the cave ready for the next phase.


    Without wasting another second, Seraphina took out a portable warp array and activated it using a thranium crystal.


    BUZZZZ!


    After a minute of activation, the buzzing sound of the warp arrays soon came to a stop as 10 array masters appeared on the tform.


    "You guys wait here, while we go scan the area." Seraphina said to the array masters before leaving the cage with the rest of the team.


    From the mountain, they had a clear view of the city using powerful magic-powered binocrs. Not only did they see the range of the sensory formation, but they also had a clear view of the patrols'' movement.


    "Setting up the Ultra long-distance warping array outside the range of sensory formation would leave the forces at the mercy of the city cannons as they try to cover the distance." Seraphina said as she took off the binocrs.


    Dimitri spoke when he heard herment. "We might be strong, but I don''t think we can guarantee the safety of the array masters against the forces of an entire city."


    The final stage of the mission requires the array masters to set up the long-distance array. Without them the troops wouldn''t arrive at Willowbrook


    "No need to worry about that, Granick had already nned for this." Seraphina replied as she took out hermunication amulet and contacted Sea Lord Granick to report the situation.


    ¡­


    "Got it." Granick replied Seraphina as he cut themunication link and turned to his generals.


    "Send out the agreed troops to Willowbrook and let''s watch how they react." Granick ordered, and immediately they sprang into action.


    In less than 30 minutes the agreed number of soldiers had been mobilized; the sound of thousands of troops marching echoed all around the city.


    Another round of invasion was about to take ce in Willowbrook, but this time they were not sure it would be as ''peaceful'' as that of Coastville.

 Chapter 587 Honey trap (part 2).

    587 Honey trap (part 2).


    The main reason Sealord Granick was against marching his troops straight to Willowbrook was the Whispering Gorge on the path between the two cities.


    Deep within the heart of the Whispering Gorgey the perfect setting for an ambush. The treacherous terrain, nestled between towering cliffs and dense forests, presented a formidable challenge to any army attempting to march toward either of the cities.


    The gorge featured narrow, winding passages nked by towering cliffs on both sides. At its base was a dense forest, where thick canopies of ancient trees created shadows that obscured vision; thus providing ample opportunities for the ambushing force to remain hidden until thest moment.


    Scattered throughout the gorge were elevated teaus that offeredmanding views of the entire area, and to make matters worse; due to the steep cliffs and the river in the gorge, the gorge was often shrouded in early morning mist and fog, reducing visibility for the approaching army and creating an eerie, unsettling atmosphere.


    There was no better ce to stage an ambush on the Tigeria Empire''s forces. The chance was too good to pass on.


    On hearing the news that Coastville was sending troops to Willowbrook from the loyalists and spies stationed in and out of the city. The newmanding officer of the city decided to send out 40% of the city''s forces toy ambush on the approaching enemies.


    This way, they would have enough power to deal a devastating blow to Tigeria''s forces, and in case something was to go wrong, they would still have enough to defend the city while waiting for backup.


    On foot, it would take 5 days before the troops of Tigeria got to the gorge, while it would only take 2 and a half days for the forces of Willowbrook to get there. This gave them more than enough time to set up the ambush.


    Themanding officer of Willowbrook had a lot of confidence in this n since the long-distance array required a second terminal at Willowbrook before it could function. Also, even if they were able to pass the Whispering Gorge unscathed, the city cannons would take them down before they got to a dangerous distance.


    Unbeknownst to him, that was exactly Sealord Granick''s intention.


    After two days of waiting in the cave, the 6 members of the League decided it was time to act.


    "By now they should already be setting up traps for their ambush." Seraphina said as she rose up from her meditative pose. With arge number of troops and high-level fighters leaving the city, the number of troops that would try to stop them would be greatly reduced.


    They made their way out of the cave with the array masters closely behind them.


    With the help of wind tunnels from Seraphina, the group quickly transversed through the forest and arrived at the outskirts of the sensory formation.


    Once she was sure that they hadn''t been spotted by any of the patrols, Seraphina put on the ck fang teleportation artefact and activated it.


    The moment they stepped into the sensory formation, their location would be instantly revealed and the cannons would let loose on them. So the best thing was to warp directly to the marked point and start their defence.


    Having activated the artefact, Seraphina said as she held hands with the rest. "Get ready."


    ¡­


    Inside themand centre of Willowbrook, the Ordained Angel assigned to the city as well as other war generals were watching live footage of what was going on in the Whispering Gorge.


    They were busy instructing the soldiers on the most effective positions for traps when the sensory formation detected enemies not too far outside the wall.


    With a deep frown, themander immediately switched the footage to that of members of the League and the array masters outside the wall.


    Without even giving an order, the cannons in that area of the wall let loose on the intruders, but the next series of events that took ce caused his frown to deepen even more.


    Seraphina had taken out a war barrier device in the form of a tripod stone tform that shot out a beam from the top, producing an energy dome to protect the team. This was a barrier used to protect siege weapons from the fire of the enemy canons; it allowed spells from the inside to cross but kept out those from the outside. However, this was an upgraded version with better functions.


    When the first set of ''death rays'' had crashed on the barrier, instead of seeing human remains scattered all around the ground, the forces of the Synder empire saw the energy attacks merging with the barrier before being discharged from the top as an energy pir.


    The warmander saw this and was a little bit surprised since he knew magic devices like this would always have a weakness. However, his surprise soon changed to panic as he saw the array masters drawing an array.


    Instantly, he knew exactly what they were doing.


    "Long-distance array!" Themander quickly turned to his generals and said. "Stop them frompleting the array at all costs!"


    He immediately flew out of the city pce and dashed toward the members of the League.


    "How long will it take?" Dimitri asked as he felt different energy signatures flying toward them.


    "30 minutes max." The lead array master answered without taking his eyes off the work.


    "May the heavens wee these lost souls." Specter Dimitri prayed as he put his hand in his big ck hooded robe and took out a silver-chained meteor hammer with green soul mes burning at the weights.


    "Amen!" Lucius let out a crazedughter as he equipped his glove and ced his hands on the ground.


    In less than a minute, themander had left the city with six of his generals who were peak demigods. At the same time, the cannons had stopped firing at the members of the League. Since they were not effective, it was best to stop and prevent friendly fire.

 Chapter 588 Perfect counter.

    Chapter 588 Perfect counter.


    The area of the war barrier was 50 meters in radius, giving the array masters ample space to construct the long-distance array.


    From the view of the Ash Corps on the wall, the war barrier seemed omnipotent as they had no idea how to break it. However, those inside knew it was far from that.


    The main problem Granick knew they would face was the cannons. That was why he gave them the war barrier with the sole ability to nullify energy-based attacks. This meant that physical attacks and people could pass through.


    So when they sensed that the high-ranking officers of the Snyder empire were approaching them, the members of the League stepped out of the barrier to make sure the array masters didn''t get caught in the fray.


    In a matter of seconds, spells from the approaching generals rained down on the members of the League. Still, instead of retreating into the barrier, they stood their ground with unbothered expressions.


    "Finally, someone strong." An eerie grin formed on Seraphina''s face as she took out her metal hand fan filled with inscriptions.


    Instantly, the inscriptions lit up with a green hue, and the steel hand fan grew to triple its size. With a light swing, a raging tornado the height of the city walls appeared and blew away the spells with ease as it went for the approaching generals.


    Although with greater difficulty, themanding officer created an equal size of the tornado to counter the iing attack.


    "So annoying!" Themander cursed at Seraphina for being an air user even though he was one.


    The problem with the air element is its natural abundance. Unlike the water, light, and fire elements, air was always present no matter the situation; in fact, it even urred in other elements. This allowed top-level Aeromancers to whip up ridiculous amounts of wind in very short periods.


    "This is the end of the road for you fugitives." The Commander dashed forward as he unsheathed a bastard sword that lit up in golden mes.


    "It''s good that Cinder is sending out direct descendants to their deaths." Seraphina dashed forward to meet him.


    DING!


    The Bastard sword and the metal hand fan that had elongated into a sword collided.


    BOOM!


    Two terrifying auras exploded, pushing the Demigods farther away from them, and instantly destroying the ground they stood on.


    Without thinking twice, both Ordained Angels flew into the sky to continue their sh.


    Themander shed the bastard sword at Seraphin releasing a sea of scorching golden mes infused with the wind element. Not backing down, Seraphina coated herself with ayer of water and blocked the attack with her de while using both her power and that of her weapon to extract the air from the mes, thus weakening the strength of the mes.


    "Is that all you can do?" A grin remained stered on her face as the sky suddenly became cloudy and multiple water wheels appeared in mid-air.


    "You talk too much." Themander said in an annoyed tone as he cast Heliokinesis.


    Half of the cloudy sky cleared up and the sun shined brightly. The increased humidity dropped back to normal reducing the strength of the water wheels, levelling the ying field for his tens of solid golden me constructs that formed in mid-air.


    In no time, an onught of spells flew through the skies as both Angels weaved their way through the sea of spells while still attacking each other.


    Reverting her de to a fan, Seraphina released a tornado twice the size of the previous one, forcing themander to use both wind warp and me jump to quickly get out of the way. However, this presented an opportunity she had been looking for.


    Using the wind element, Seraphina nimbly moved behind themander who had just reappeared and shed at his neck.


    ''The key to defence is a good offence!'' Seeing it was impossible to block or dodge at such a position, themander opted for the opposite.


    Self-detonation!


    BOOM!


    His body exploded, releasing a scorching force that instantly turned everything within 100 meters range into ashes, forcing Seraphina to use Wind Warp to move as far as possible before encasing herself in a wind dome to withstand the remaining force.


    Seeing themander''s body reform, Seraphina chuckled "Using that already? Seems you already know your defeat is near."


    As a Fireborn (Angel realm of the fire pathway), one could reform their body twice a week, that is after exploding. So, using one of his life-saving skills meant things were not looking too good for him.


    (AN: remember that it is at the Prevalent stage (2nd stage) of the angelic realm that they would either choose the creation path (Forger) or destruction path (Arsonist))


    Ignoring the words of Seraphina, themander began assessing the situation.


    Normally, Seraphina''s water element (her secondary element) was no match for his golden mes, but when her wind element and Epic wind weapon came into the picture, they were the perfect counter for his mes. To make matters worse, his wind element was almost useless since it couldn''t match hers.


    ''Her wind spells are affecting my me constructs and because of that, the mist is beginning to pile up. At this rate, I will definitely lose.'' Themander thought to himself as he looked down at the fight happening below.


    ¡­


    Back on the ground, even though the number of demigods had increased from 6 to 9, the members of the League didn''t seem bothered.


    ckheart Lucius had returned to the protection of the war barrier, providing support to the others with his gloves that amplified his earth abilities.


    "May the heavens ept your lost soul." Specter Dimitri prayed as he mmed the meteor hammer on the head of a general, turning him to ashes.


    "Oh ye sinners, let your souls embrace the warmth of the lord!" With a solemn expression on his pale face, Specter Dimitri turned to the two generals tainted by his green soul mes.


    ____________________________________________________________________________


    (An: The ancestral families specially trained their descendants in their family schools to bemanders in situations like this. So you will be seeing more of them.)

 Chapter 589 Spectre Dimitri.

    Chapter 589 Spectre Dimitri.


    Soul mes were a unique type of me that ignored the physical defences of the target and went straight for their soul (life force). The more a target was burnt (tainted) by the green mes, the more their life force would be depleted, thus weakening both their physical and magical strength in real-time.


    The only downside to such dangerous magic was the fact that each use also burnt a small portion of the user''s lifespan (a subsection of the soul). However, Dimitri''s meteor hammer amplified the potency and quantity of soul mes produced while absorbing a portion of the burnt soul and passing it to the user.


    Although the absorption rate was slightly lower than the rate of soul energy consumption, Dimitri didn''t always need the soul mes to kill his targets; thus slightly bncing his life force.


    (AN: the soul has a max capacity, and can''t exceed that even if more souls are absorbed.)


    "Oh ye sinners, let your souls embrace the warmth of the lord!" With a solemn expression on his pale face, Spectre Dimitri turned to the two generals tainted by his green soul mes.


    After getting burnt a few times and feeling their strength being sapped away, the two generals were hesitant to keep attacking, especially after seeing one of theirrades being turned to ashes.


    To make matters worse, there was still Lucius constantly foiling their ns whenever they were about to deal a fatal blow to any of the League''s members.


    As for attacking the support, it was only easier said than done. Not only was he protected by both the war dome and the other members but he was also a Geomancer with the wind element as his secondary element. Going for him would only lead to even moreplications.


    The only way out of this was to overwhelm each of the targets one at a time; as seasoned warriors, they quickly realized this and immediately began executing their ns.


    Having received the signal from theirrades, the two generals had a sudden boost in confidence as they dashed toward Dimitri.


    He was the most dangerous, so he was to be taken out first!


    Using meburst, one of the tainted generals boosted himself to the front of the other while encasing his right hand with arge ice drill before striking at Dimitri''s head.


    Seeing that the enemies had grown some balls, Dimitri grinned but didn''t bother blocking since the general was approaching with an insane momentum. Instead, he used the wind element to get out of the way but almost at the same time, a thick lightning bolt from the general behind shot toward him.


    Chromastone wall!


    Just as the lightning bolt was about to strike, an emerald crystal wall erupted from below and blocked the attack.


    ''Got you!'' The two tainted generals thought as another general who was ''upied'' by another member of the League appeared behind Dimitri with his entire body covered by lightning arcs.


    "Die!" The general roared as he stabbed his hand enveloped in lightning at Dimitri''s heart.


    (AN: Chidori!)


    "HAHAHAHA!" Instead of hearing the sound of Dimitri''s heart being punctured, all they heard was a crazedugh from him.


    "Have you ever wondered why they call me Spectre Dimitri?" Dimitri chuckled, drawing their attention to his cloak which was now filled with green patterns.


    His cloak was an Epic-rank item that made every part of his body that it covered be intangible for a few seconds. Also, it induced fear in anyone who came in contact with it whether with their body or a weapon that they held.


    ''Shit!'' With his heart now pounding, the general tried taking out his hand, but Dimitri''s hand which was still tangible had already swung the meteor hammer through himself.


    CRACK!


    The hammer crashed on the general''s head, releasing a massive amount of soul mes that instantly tore through his energy barriers.


    "AH!"


    The unlucky general screamed in pain as the soul mes burned both his soul and fatally injured head. However, Dimitri was in no way done with him.


    The Spectre who had now be tangible, immediately turned and used the chains of the Meteor hammer to sweep him off his feet, before striking again with the hammer.


    BOOM!


    The ground below cracked as the meteor hammer mmed into the general who was now severely injured.


    "May the heavens ept your lost soul." Spectre Dimitri prayed as he increased the mes from the Meteor hammer.


    "NOOO!"


    Another general who was a close friend to the unlucky general who was being incinerated screamed in rage as he threw his Epic-rank spear toward Dimitri.


    At that time Lucius erected another Chromastone wall.


    "Huh?" Dimitri turned in the direction of the noise and sensed a spearing at him, but that was when a spatial corridor appeared just before the chromastone wall with its exit opening above the unlucky general.


    A dimensional image!


    Just like the soul mes, Dimensional mages were rare. This was because they were only useful in battle when they had spatial tags for their exit points. So not many people bothered to go down that path.


    However, after seeing ke''s aplishments during his time in the empire, a lot more people were inspired.


    In this case, the spear wielder had given his friend a tag, but he hadn''t expected to be killed so quickly.


    ''Interesting¡­'' Dimitri thought as he sensed the spear not too far from puncturing his skull. Instead of panicking, he just smiled.


    _________________________________________________________________________


    AN: Earlier in the book, I stated that soul mes could only be defended by soul protection items or artefacts. However, after careful consideration, I decided to nerf it a little bit because it was too OP.


    Now, energy-based defences would be able to protect one against soul mes. On the bright side, if one has a soul protection item or artefact the soul mes would no longer be useless, they would just burn like normal mes do.


    Tell me what you think about this in thement section :)

 Chapter 590 Siege.

    590 Siege.


    The moment the epic-rank spear came out of the spatial corridor and flew toward Dimitri''s head, he smiled without an atom of panic.


    Wind Morph!


    At that moment, Dimitri''s body turned ethereal as it morphed into the air, causing the spear to pass through without dealing any damage. "His primary element is the wind element?!" The generals were utterly shocked and disappointed as Spectre Dimitri had cast a demigod wind spell. He had been causing so much trouble with the soul mes that everyone assumed it was his primary element. This series of events left the generals dejected as not only did their joint attack fail woefully, but they also lost another teammate in the process. This further tipped the ''bnce'' in the favour of the members of the League, making the situation even worse as the so-called bnce was no different from a defeat since the construction of the array was still in progress. However, the generals didn''t get much time to regret their decisions as a massive energy forced everyone to look up to the skies.


    ¡­


    Seeing that the generals were also losing the fight below, the Commander cursed at the generals for being useless before taking out a golden bracelet artefact and putting it on.


    The moment it was equipped, blue veins popped out in all parts of themander''s body as his aura sharply rose to the Perfect Angel stage.


    The bracelet artefact increased the strength of the wearer to the next stage, with the limit being the Perfect Angel stage. This meant that even if themander was in the Perfect Angel realm, his strength wouldn''t increase as the gap between the two realms was just too much.


    However, the downside was that the body would enter a weakened state and that the effects of the artefact onlysted for 10 seconds, thus making it only useful for final attacks or grand escapes.


    ''As expected of descendants of Synder, they rece theirck of talent with overpowered toys.'' Seraphina thought with furrowed brows as she sensed the rise in aura.


    "Today you and your group will pay for the crimes you havemitted against the empire." Themander sneered as his mana began stirring up and his body lit up.


    Supernova!


    Instantly, a blinding white light covering hundreds of miles spread out, quickly followed by a devastating explosion that shook the earth and obliterated everything within its range.


    The inhabitants of Willowbrook who were huddled up in their houses felt their homes shake violently as a white light poured through their windows. Terrified, they all took cover and prayed as they felt the heavens had decided to smite them.


    After a few minutes, the white light receded and the quakes stopped. The residents of Willowbrook looked out their windows to see cracks in the orange city barrier above them.


    "Sacrifices have to be made to attain victory." Themander muttered to himself as his body reformed, but was soon shocked when he noticed that the war barrier was still active and inside it were multipleyers of all sorts of barriers.


    The main reason for casting supernova after being amplified by the bracelet was to make sure that Seraphina couldn''t escape. Once she was dead, even if the rest were somehow unaffected by the explosion, he would easily wipe them out.


    However, the presence of multiple barriers couldn''t help but turn his shock into a deep frown.


    In a matter of seconds, his worst nightmare came to reality; the barriers went down, revealing the array masters and 6 members of the League in perfect condition with wide grins stered on their faces.


    ''How?!'' That was the only thought that came to his mind as he saw Seraphina in the midst of everyone.


    "Thank you for helping us with your generals." Seraphina projected her voice using the wind element. The moment she guessed what themander was up to, she activated the fang artefact and teleported into the war barrier where the other members were also present.


    Their lives as wanted criminals had made them very sensitive to all forms and types of danger that coulde from both friends and foes. So, while the generals were still in disbelief that themander would sacrifice them, the members of the League below had already made their way into the way barrier.


    "Shit!" Without wasting another second, themander cursed as he immediately shot toward the city.


    After using Supernova, his body had reformed for the second time in a week, meaning he had used up all his life-saving skills, thus reducing his chances of defeating Seraphina to zero.


    "That was easier than I expected." Lucius said as they watched themander flee into the city.


    "Says the one sitting inside the war barrier the entire time." Seraphina retorted in her regr indifferent tone.


    "He yed a crucial role in the battle, I mustmend him." Dimitri corrected her.


    "That''s nice to hear." Seraphina replied with a rare smile.


    With all enemies dealt with, the members of the League turned their attention to the Array Masters. Apart from the explosion that interrupted them, they had been working with a chilled disposition that would make one think they were in a library instead of the middle of a battle between peak demigods.


    Five minutester, the array masters stepped back and the long-distance warp array lit up. Instantly a portal 20 meters wide appeared, and on the other side were thousands of troops who were waiting.


    "Set up weapons!" Sea lord Granickmanded as he stepped out of the warp array.


    Immediately, the first set of troops rushed out and set up barriers before more poured out and began setting up siege weapons.


    In a matter of minutes, the city of Willowbrook was surrounded from all sides by the troops of the Tigeria empire. _____________________________________________________________


    _____________________


    (AN: Powers of the wind element at the demigod rank and above include sound, frequency, and so on, although one can also amplify their voice with mana.)

 Chapter 591 Breaching the walls of Willowbrook.

    591 Breaching the walls of Willowbrook.


    In a matter of minutes, the city of Willowbrook was surrounded from all sides by hundreds of teleportation ballistae, magic trebuchets, cannons etc. ready to fire at the already damaged city barrier once the signal was given.


    To make matters worse for the city of Willowbrook, their cannons and mana barriers were close to ineffective as the troops of Tigeria had mounted war barriers in front of all their siege weapons. They were sitting ducks waiting to be ughtered.


    (AN: Note that these are just normal war barriers, not the unique ones given to the members of the League.)


    On the other hand, 40% of their troops stationed at the Whispering Gorge received information from the spies monitoring the advancing Tigeria troops. Not only had the soldiers of Tigeria halted, but they had also created a warp array and were moving to heavens know where.


    They quickly reported this to the city, but they received no response from anyone, not even theirmander. Unbeknownst to them, their newly assignedmander had abandoned the city and was currently at the capital.


    No one was responding to their calls and those theyid in ambush for were nowhere to be found. The troops decided to rush back to the city because something was wrong.


    However, they had no idea that the troops of Tigeria stationed not too far from the walls of Willowbrook had also faced some of their weapons in their direction, awaiting their arrival.


    "Aim!" Sealord Granick ordered as he flew into the air. "Fire!"


    Once the order was given, all siege weapons let loose on the city barrier.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The orange city barrier which had healed to a certain extent, continuously shimmered as its cracks began expanding at a visible rate.


    The Ash Corps were utterly confused about what to do as their firepower, time and time again had proved to be ineffective. Almost immediately, their hopes were quickly renewed as they saw Granick slowly ascending into the sky.


    Immediately, they aimed their weapons at him and released countless volleys. However, their hopes were instantly crushed as their attacks were blocked by what seemed to be an unmovable invisible barrier.


    Seeing that there was no high-levelbatant in the city, Granick couldn''t help but think. "They seem to have abandoned the city. Well, this makes things easier for me."


    Immediately, he lifted his right hand and a terrifying amount of mana began gathering toward him, as the sky instantly darkened.


    Fear and uncertainty, filled the hearts of the Ash corps as they helplessly watched a 20-meter-tall purple lightning bolt form in Granick''s hand.


    cing his left hand in front of him, the Sealord thrust the purple lightning bolt with his Angelic strength, and instantly, it crashed into the barrier.


    BOOOM!


    The city shook violently as the cracks on the fiery barrier tripled, and the inhabitants prayed that the barrier continue holding up, but both of thembined couldn''t withstand the sheer power of a Perfect Angel.


    SMASH!


    The city barrier shattered and soon after, the wall''s purple barrier followed suit, leaving the entire city of Willowbrook stark-naked; without hesitation, the siege weapons repositioned their aim to the troops on the wall and continued their rampage.


    At that time, Sealord Granick returned to the ground where he received a report from the other battlefields.


    Just like Granick, the other Sea lords had also begun their attacks on the next cities. However, not only were their forces not lured out of the city or were their situation now hopeless, but they were of more importance to the Synder empire.


    They received reinforcement from both high-level and low-levelbatants. This greatly slowed the progress of the other forces and even brought some of them to a halt, but the Tigeria empire had a simple remedy for this, the long-distance warp array.


    The long-distance warp arrays connected all battlefields, meaning that whichever group needed reinforcement could get extra troops from those less upied. So, even if the battle was stuck at a stalemate, the troops of Tigeria would receive back-up the moment others were done capturing their cities.


    "You two should go support them with your troops." Granick ordered two of his generals before turning back to the battlefield.


    At this point, Seraphina, her team, and the high-levelbatants of Tigeria had made their way atop the city walls, beginning another round of onught.


    In no time, battery rams broke through the gates of Willowbrook, and soldiers began pouring into the city.


    Unlike, Coastville which surrendered quickly, the Ash Corps here decided to hold out as they still believed that reinforcements were on their way. They positioned themselves in the barricades they set all around the city as they resisted the invaders, but they were instantly crushed whenever a high-levelbatant appeared at the scene.


    Having no one that could stop him, Granick went straight for the Square and released another purple lightning bolt to destroy it.


    "Why destroy it when we have already taken over the city? We can just disable the warp arrays." Seraphina couldn''t help but ask.


    "The Squares are artefacts under the control of the Synder empire. Unless destroyed or the royal family killed, you can never have true control over them, and that can lead to a lot of unwanted problems." Sealord Granick exined.


    After 45 minutes of breaching the city''s defences, the Ash Corps of Willowbrook realized that no one wasing to save them, and decided to surrender. Just like Coastville, mana-inhibiting cors were put on them as well as the nobles of the city. A little bit more troops were sent to the battlefields needed, and upgrades to the city''s defences began.


    Willowbrook had fallen, and it was an overwhelming victory for Tigeria!


    ¡­


    Back at Aquastrum, Tidewalker IV and Dorian were standing in front of a war table, while Cassius remained seated on his Mana crystal throne.


    "Another round of cities has been captured, but things will only get harder from here as their forces will no longer be spread too thin." Tidewalker IV reported the live situation of the war.

 Chapter 592 Return of the genius commoner.

    <h4>Chapter 592 Return of the geniusmoner.</h4>


    If the Synder empire had discovered the ns of the Tigeria empire on time, defending the entire Eastern content would have been 3 times easier. All they would have needed to do was shift most of their forces to the borders, creating an impregnable defence.


    However, now that all of their border cities had been captured, the Tigeria Empire had great ess to almost anywhere in the Synder Empire, meaning all sorts of attacks coulde anytime from any ce. This made allocating Ash corps very difficult, leading to decreased quality of city defence and the loss of cities.


    On the other hand, the more cities the Synder Empire lost, the more concentrated their defence would be and the more spread out Tigeria''s forces would be. If care wasn''t taken, the attacking troops could be wiped out and a counterattack could take ce especially since the Synder Empire was yet to show any of their trump cards.


    "Another round of cities has been captured, but things will only get harder from here as their forces will no longer be spread too thin." Tidewalker IV reported the live situation of the war.


    "Then we have to start weakening them through means other than direct confrontation." Dorian stated as blue dots lit up all around the map of Synder. The blue dots were the positions of resource points all around the Empire. This included mines, fertile regions, industrial cities, and so on.


    "From the reports, they are all heavily guarded, and movingrge numbers of troops to some of these locations wouldn''t go unnoticed." Emperor Tidewalker IV stated.


    "Multiple battalions would have to gather to capture the resource cities; and as for the resource points, we will just send the best of our elites to destroy them." Dorian went on to give better details of the n.


    ¡­


    The Luminarum Crystalline Mine are among the top 10rgest and most prestigious magic crystal mines in the entire Synder Empire. Nestled within the heart of a mountain range west of the Empire, these mines were a source of immense wealth and power, as the magic crystals yielded were mostly tier 4.


    The journey into the mines began at a grand entrance marked by towering stone arches adorned with intricate, glowing runic inscriptions. Guard towers on either side ensured the safety and security of the mines, allowing only authorized personnel to pass.


    Upon entering the mines, a vast, open za weed visitors and workers alike. Arge, ornate fountain stood at the centre, adorned with magical water jets that created mesmerizing, ever-changing patterns. The za served as a gathering point for authorized visitors, miners, and officials who frequent the mines.


    Adjacent to it was the administration hall where officials oversaw the daily operations, managed contracts, and secured the mined crystals. It was also from here that security personnel warped to different parts of the mines in case of emergencies.


    Now that the empire was being attacked, the workers of the Luminarium Crystalline mines were forced to work around the clock as the crystals mined were vital for the rapid constructions taking ce in all parts of the Empire.


    Unknown to both workers and security positioned at the Luminarium Crystalline mines, a ck-haired Angel dressed in all ck was floating right above the range of the sensory array. He was currently in a concealed state making it impossible for the patrols exiting the sensory array to sense him.


    Taking out an epic-tier katana crafted from abination of obsidian and the heart of a dormant volcano. The ck hair of the Angel turned white, and instantly he appeared at the mine''s entrance.


    Instantly, the sensory array detected his presence and activated the rm, while automatically cancelling his concealment and revealing his position. At the same time, tens of demigods and 6 Angels from all around the mines immediately rushed to his position.


    Having expected such a turn of events, ke who was calm as a stillke thrust Emberforge forward.


    SWISH!


    BOOM!


    The epic-tier katana which had its speed and pration enhanced by the lightning element tore through the defences of the unsuspecting Nascent Demigod, before exploding.


    "Huh?!"


    Chills ran down the spines of all the demigods present, while the Angels frowned as they became cautious of the intruder.


    They weren''t dealing with just anyone. It was ke; the geniusmoner, the wielder of All-Father''s inheritance and one of the most dangerous members of the League of Assassins.


    The fact that he was only showing himself in such a ce after 2 years of vanishing, made him feel even more dangerous.


    Without thinking twice, they formed an encirclement around him and unleashed their strongest spells at him.


    Watching the rain of spellsing at him, ke remained unperturbed and activated his new spell.


    Spatial Infusion!


    On the outside, his body remained the same, but the moment the spells came in contact with him, they were all absorbed into his body, leaving no form of damage.


    "What the hell?!"


    The defenders were shocked to see spells that could tten an entire city vanishing without any trace. However, their shocked expressions were immediately reced with fear as tens of spatial tears opened behind every one of them.


    "Shit!"


    The Angels cursed not because they couldn''t block the spellsing at them; instead, the spells that came at them were demigod spells, and the ones that went for some of the demigods were their spells!


    BOOM!


    AHH!


    BOOM!


    In an instant, explosions mixed with screams for help rang out as 8 demigods lost their lives on the spot.


    Making use of the Chaos, ke turned to one of the fatally injured demigods and vanished from the spot he stood on.


    "Protect him!" An Ordained Angel screamed as she and some Angels moved to save the demigod. However, ke appeared behind her.


    To ke''s surprise, the moment he appeared behind the Ordained angel, an evil grin was stered on her face as he had fallen for the trap.


    "Now!" The Ordained Angel screamed.

 Chapter 593 Unrivalled Angel.

    Chapter 593 Unrivalled Angel.


    When it came to dimensional magic, not only was ke the one with the highest achievements, but he was also the trickiest and most deadly. Making use of the fact that he was straightforward with his attacks, they immediately set up a trap. "Protect him!" An Ordained Angel screamed as she and some Angels moved to save the demigod. However, ke appeared behind her and stabbed his lightning-enveloped hand at her head.


    "Now!" The Ordained Angel screamed as ke had fallen for their trap.


    At that moment, a Prevalent Angel took out an orange orb from his dimensional amulet and activated the artefact. Three golden rings appeared at ke''s neck, torso region and legs respectively. Before he could react, the rings shrank in size; constricting his movement and nullifying his ability to cast spells.


    "You guys never care about each other, so why do you think I will fall for such a trap?" ke grinned from ear to ear as the 6 Angels approached him, before pointing to the direction of the entrance.


    "What the hell is going on?"


    "How?"


    "Shit!"


    Everyone including the demigods turned in the direction ke had pointed; lo and behold it was another ke sitting on a guard tower. He waved at them, then vanished out of the mines entirely. At the same time, their eyes returned to the clone they had been fighting all this while.


    "BOOM!" The clone mouthed, and instantly they began feeling a catastrophic amount of energy rising from within the mine.


    "Shit!"


    Everyone present quickly realized what was going on and immediately turned to leave the mine as it was already toote to save it. However, ke had no ns of letting any one of them leave there alive.


    Overturn!


    ke cast an Angel rank space spell from the time authority for his clone. This reversed its condition to its peak state!


    The moment, the spell was cast, an illusionary mist enveloped the clone and instantly disintegrated all the golden rings.


    Once it was free, the clone immediately began itsst objective, suicide!


    Vortex Flux!


    Multiple Darkish-purple vortexes with specks of light appeared and began pulling everyone trying to escape toward the clone.


    "Fuck no!" To make matters worse, some of them had tried using their artefacts to warp as far away as possible, however, the vortexes had made the space in the area extremely unstable.


    In a matter of seconds, the explosion which began from deep within the mine had made its way out. BOOM!


    The explosion was so massive that it destroyed the entire mountain range and everything within its range. That included the Angels, demigods and the entire mine. Exiting his dimensional pocket, ke couldn''t help butment on the condition of the mine. "There are stillyers of unmined crystals that remain untouched. However, opening up the copsed mountain range at such a time would be impossible."


    The goal of attacking the Synder empire''s resource point wasn''t to capture it but to make it unusable until the war ended. Even if it meant the resource point had to be permanently destroyed.


    "On the bright side, the mana density of the area has quadrupled and the Synder Empire can''t make use of it since they are holed up in their cities." ke''s thought process abruptly stopped as he turned to a direction in the empty night sky.


    "Time to leave." Without wasting another second, ke vanished from the spot and returned to a deste ind in the Tigeria empire.


    (AN: If you have noticed, he no longer needs spatial tears and spatial corridors to warp.)


    Standing at the edge of a cliff, Dorian was watching over two massive mana pirs. The first mana pir was darkish-red in colour while the second mana pir was abination of sky blue and gold. "How does it feel being an Angel?" Dorian asked as ke appeared beside him.


    "I feel way stronger than I expected. The funny thing was that I only got to test out some of the space element''s abilities." ke answered as he took a seat at the edge of the cliff.


    Dorian was surprised at first but ended up chuckling. "Not even all the abilities of the space element?" "I made my clone attack them head-on while I went straight into the mine unnoticed..." ke began narrating the entire detail of the mission.


    When ke was done with his narration, Dorian couldn''t help butugh out loud. "Just like I expected, it isn''t that they were weak, it''s just that you are too strong. Heck, even a Perfect Angel wouldn''t be your match."


    "What of a Battle Angel?" ke couldn''t help but ask as he was thinking about how much impact he could have in the war.


    "I feel you are far from that, but why don''t we have a spar to be sure." Dorian asked with a smirk.


    ke chuckled before getting on his feet and saying. "I guess I happen to be in the mood to receive some trashing."


    ¡­


    After another round of cities were captured, it was safe to say that almost all of the least important cities had been captured.


    The Tigeria Empire were aware that the defences in the next cities would be multiple times stronger than they faced. So, they decided it was best to focus their forces on particr cities that were of great importance to the Synder Empire.


    The next city to be attacked by Sea lord Granick and 3 other Sea lords was Verdantovia. It was a massive city that was evenrger than Calton in terms ofnd mass. However, most of itsnds were solely for farming.


    Verdantovia was one of the top fourrgest food producers within the vast expanse of the Synder empire and number 1 in the East. Renowned for its agricultural expertise and vast farnds, its entire existence was dedicated to nourishing the empire''s inhabitants, and its extremely fertilends yielded bountiful harvests that feed millions.


    Now that the war had entered a crucial stage, Verdantovia was one of the most guarded cities in the empire, but the troops of the Tigeria empire didn''t seem to care as they were adamant about sizing it.

 Chapter 594 Charge.

    Chapter 594 Charge.


    The city of Verdantovia was currently being protected by 25 Angels, 5 of which were at the peak of the Angel realm, while the remaining 20 were a mixture of Ordained and Prevalent Angels.


    The city''s firepower was multiple times that of Willowbrook. This meant that the tactics used by Sealord Granick on Willowbrook would be immediately rendered useless the moment they entered the sensory array''s range. This made things extremely difficult for the invaders, but that didn''t it was impossible to capture the city.


    Outside the range of the sensory array and cannon range, special troops had been sent out alongside array masters to set up, not only 1 but 3 sets of arrays at the four sides of the city.


    Once all the arrays wereplete, the long-distance array was immediately activated. Four extremelyrge portals appeared, and groups of armiesprising thousands of soldiers poured out.


    In a matter of minutes the city of Verdantovia was surrounded from all sides and without wasting another second, the troops of Tigeria began setting up siege weapons, defence devices and so on.


    It was at that moment, that the 4 sea lords stepped out of the long-distance warp arrays, and monitored their progress.


    Undoubtedly, the presence of hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers appearing out of nowhere couldn''t go unnoticed even if all the inhabitants of Verdantovia were blind. However, both the patrols that were the first to discover the enemies and those positioned on the city walls were unable to do anything about it especially since they were beyond the range of the city''s weapons.


    The only thing they could do for now was request backup from the capital.


    ...


    After the call with the capital ended, Ethan, themanding officer who was at the Perfect Angel rank made his way to the teleportation array room to receive the iing reinforcement that consisted of 3 more peak Angels and a few other angels.


    This was to show how serious the Synder empire was in defending Verdantovia. However, an unexpected issue arose.


    The inscriptions of the Warp array lit up, signalling the arrival of the troops, but after a few seconds, the lights flickered before dying down.


    "What is going on?!" Ethan was both vexed and annoyed that the technical team could not perform their work properly at such a crucial time. "Fix it immediately!" Ethan roared at the technicians.


    "On¡­ it sir." The lead technician stuttered as he and his crew began troubleshooting to locate the source of the problem.


    After a few minutes, the lead technician returned to Ethan but this time he wasn''t scared, rather his movements had be urgent.


    "Sir, we have lost spatial connection with every city in the empire." The lead technician reported in a grave tone.


    "What?!" Ethan was utterly shocked by the news and was a few seconds away from making the technician''s body explode. That was when his brain reprocessed what he just said.


    "How is that possible?" Ethan was totally confused.


    The Ash Corps'' warp array system wasn''t perfect like that of the space element. It could only warp people from a known point (warp array) to another Known point (warp array), but even that had a drawback.


    The warp array system made use of nodes that stretched throughout the empire, with the main node being the capital. So for one to warp from node A to node Z, the connection with the nodes in between had to be active.


    This system made it perfect when facing off invaders since an invasion always started from the borders and not the centre.


    "I have to inform them." Without wasting another second, Ethan contacted the capital.


    "What happened? Your spatial coordinates were disconnected from thework?" Prince Bryon asked with a frown on his face.


    "We have no clue of what happened, that is why I am calling you." Ethan stated as he was now more worried.


    "This can only mean they have a method of locking down the space of arge area." Prince Bryon murmured to himself and immediately reverted his gaze back to Ethan.


    Locking down the space of an area wasn''t a new thing, since they constantly used it to prevent dangerous people from escaping. However, locking down the space for a city and beyond was beyond their capabilities.


    "We will be routing reinforcement to Thornburg. So try and hold out as long as possible till they arrive."


    "Yes, you Highness." Although he did not like the situation one bit, there was nothing he could do about it.


    Immediately themunication link was cut, Ethan began making his way out of the Square. If he wanted to make sure that the city would stand long enough, he had to make sure all their ns were perfect.


    ¡­


    "This is just the beginning." Sealord Granick smirked as the sound of the war drums of the Tigeria empire was being heard from the four corners of the city.


    Unlike normal war drums that only boosted the morale of the soldier, the sound waves produced by the drums were manipted by the Angels and demigods of the Wind element to enhance the soldiers.


    With tremendous boosts in both stats and morale, the troops began pushing in, under the cover of mobile war barriers.


    At the same time, the siege weapons came to life. In front of a few groups of long-range cannons, golden rings brimming with mana floated into the air before expanding.


    The golden rings not only tripled the power of the energy attacks passing through it, but it also increased the range of the attacks.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    "Shit!" Ethan cursed as he arrived at the wall and saw that the attack had already begun.


    "We have to hold out as long as possible for reinforcement to arrive from Thornburg." Ethan announced as he immediatelymanded his troops to move outside the wall to intercept the iing enemy forces.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The city walls rumbled violently as the city cannons let loose on the charging invaders. Although the troops of Tigeria were protected by mobile barriers and spells from their Angels, the destructive power of mana cannons were no joke.


    Ahh!


    Screams were heard all around the battlefield as concentrated energy shattered some mana barriers, turning the soldiers behind them into ashes.

 Chapter 595 Final trump card.

    595 Final trump card.


    Even before the war began, all soldiers knew they would most likely not make it back home. So even as they saw some of theirrades being reduced to ashes, they did not back out, neither did their hearts quiver. Instead, their hearts burned with more vigour as they charged even faster to avenge their fallen brothers and sisters.


    In no time, the troops of Tigeria had covered more than half of the distance. It was then that the forces of the Synder empire had their way out of the city. Another round of spells in addition to the Mana cannons rained down on the troops of Tigeria.


    At that time, Sealord Granick received a signal from his fellow Sea lords.


    "They are close enough, activate the AquaTorrent Conduit formation." Granick instructed the array masters stationed at the array sites.


    Quickly, the head array masters from four battalions simultaneously activated the 3rd formation that was still yet to be revealed.


    ''They are in for a big surprise.'' Sea lord Granick smirked as he couldn''t wait to see the shock on the faces of the enemies.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Four massive spheres of mana rose from the outskirts of the sensory array''s range and flew into the sky. This made those who were firing at the troops of Tigeria spare a second to steal a nce, while the eyes of those on the wall were glued to the rising mana Sphere.


    The more the mana Sphere ascended into the sky, the more the heart rates of Ethan and his men increased.


    The worst part was that they had no clue about the functions of the mana sphere and neither could they stop it as they were too far.


    Under the gaze of thousands of humans, the four mana spheres finally reached the sky and exploded, dyeing the entire battlefield blue.


    Quickly, the blue colour dissipated but instantly, thick dark clouds covered the skies above the city of Verdantovia and the area beyond.


    A few secondster, a heavy downpour began!


    ''Is this what I think it is?'' Ethan muttered under his voice as he had a gut feeling that the battle was going to be way harder than he thought.


    "Is it me or did their spells be stronger?" One of the generals pointed out as he felt a change in the battlefield


    "It seems so." Ethan retracted his gaze from the sky and returned it to the battlefield.


    "That exins their confidence." A deep frown formed on Ethan''s face. The AquaTorrent Conduit formation was a simple but powerful formation. It increased the water molecules and increased the mana density of an area; which in turn doubles the strength of Aquamancers and at the same time reduces the strength of Pyromancers.


    What made the formation more effective was theposition of both armies. The Soldiers of Tigeria empire mostly consisted of Aquamancers, while the army of Synderprised mostly Pyromaniacs.


    He was well aware that Tigeria would only attack a well-defended city like Verdantovia when they had a trump card that could greatly affect the battle, but he never expected it to be this strong.


    After some minutes of pondering, Commander Ethan finally made a decision. "We need to destroy the formation or else our defeat is certain."


    "If we enter the battlefield, the Angels of Tigeria will definitelye after us." One of the generals stated.


    "I was trying to dy our conflict with them for as much as possible. However, the appearance of this formation makes it impossible to dy it any further." Commander Ethan shook his head as he continued. "The main forces would attack, while another group will be tasked to destroy the nodes of the formation."


    ¡­


    "Now the real battle begins." A grin formed on Granick''s face as the front line of Tigeria empire reached the barrier.


    "Huh?" He was a little bit surprised to see the Angels of the Synder empireing out of the city much earlier than expected, but that only made things better for them.


    Without thinking twice, Sea lord Granick and the other Sea lords alongside their generals shot into the air to meet the enemy Angels.


    "I always knew Tigerians were crazy, but I never expected you all to be so excited to die." Commander Ethan mocked as he conjured a golden me spear and threw it at the lowest ranking amongst the 4 Sea lords present.


    At that moment, all the falling raindrops begin rising as if someone had clicked the reverse button. However, instead of going up, the raindrops moved before the sealord to form a barrier that quenched the golden mes.


    "Coward, I am your opponent." Granick sneered at Ethan''s dirty tricks.


    ¡­


    The group of Angels sent out to destroy the four nodes of the AquaTorrent Conduit formation were able to "sessfully" sneak past the cultivators of Tigeria empire.


    In no time, a group arrived at Granick''s camp and saw Xander, de and Seraphina standing guard at the node.


    "Why the shocked expressions, did you think we would leave the formations unprotected? I knew you guys were braindead but, c''mon this is too much." Xander mocked them as he feigned a concerned expression before bursting out inughter.


    "Let''s take care of these bastards before the others realize." One of the Angels who was from the ckthorn Ancestral family snorted as he wasted no time casting his spells.


    Without wasting another second, a thick lightning bolt formed in the hands of a member of the Karius family. Devoid of hesitation or pity, she threw it straight at Seraphina. Just like anyone facing an opponent from the lightning pathway, de had already expected something like this and had prepared beforehand.


    Transmutation!


    Large quantities of dirt particles converged in front of Seraphina before merging into a wall that instantly turned to Chromastone.


    Ding! The lightning bolt came to a halt, but the member of the Frostborne family was already on the move. Water Serpent!


    A water serpent with twice the thickness of a human formed out of thin air and charged toward

 Chapter 596 New puppets.

    Chapter 596 New puppets.


    Xander controlled an earth wall to erupt in the path of the water serpent, but it simply manoeuvred to the right, evading the wall and continuing its charge toward him.


    ''A living spell from the Creation path of the water element. This is going to be interesting.'' A grin appeared on Xander''s face as he couldn''t hide the excitement of going against someone higher than him in level.


    He activated lightning reinforcement and jumped back to widen the distance, but that was when a chromastone dome shot out behind him, stopping him from escaping.


    "What the hell are you doing, you are meant to prevent attacks like these!" Xander couldn''t help but curse at de who was meant to keep the ckthorn descendant in check.


    "I am trying but he seems to have more control even though we are equal in level." deined because he was constantly trying to prevent such attacks, but somehow, the ckthorn descendant was alwaysing out on top.


    "In other words, you are useless." Xander chuckled in a nonchnt manner, but on the inside he was in a serious mood.


    ''As expected of a member of an Ancestral family.'' Xander clicked his tongue but there wasn''t enough time to do anything else. So just as the Water serpent was a few meters away from him, Xander enveloped himself in an earth dome.


    BOOM!


    The Water Serpent crashed onto the dome with a terrifying momentum that made the ground shake, but it wasn''t something the dome couldn''t handle. However, the water serpent wasn''t done, yet.


    Seeing that Xander had cornered himself into a dome, the water serpent coiled itself around the dome before its liquid body solidified into ice and hundreds of spikes shot out.


    ''Time to get out of here.'' Sensing the mana fluctuations from outside and below he knew it was no longer safe to stay inside. The question now was how was he going to get out.


    As an ordained Angel, he now had the demigod powers of the element, meaning he could sink into the ground and get away. The problem was that he couldn''t win the descendant of the ckthorn family when it came to the Earth element.


    ''My only option is to directly go against the power of a prevalent angel. I like that!'' Xander grinned crazily as his body transformed into lightning and shot through the earth dome and into the water serpent.


    In the blink of an eye, Xander moved through the body of the Water serpent as it was a conductor, and appeared not too far from the Prevalent angel.


    "Surprised?" The Prevalent Angel had a smirk glued on her face as hundreds of water spells were already waiting for Xander toe out.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Hundreds of spells instantly assaulted Xander, but during the bombardment, the Frostborne Descendant noticed a second lightning arc leaving the body of the water serpent.


    "Surprised?" Xander repeated her words as he appeared behind her.


    "Electric decoy!" The Frostborne descendant was shocked and annoyed that she had been tricked, but before she could react Xander had already made his move.


    Speed Domain!


    An Ethereal dome covered the area, slowing down everyone, while simultaneously increasing his speed.


    "Die!" Xander roared as he thrust his dagger forward.


    Ding!


    A Frost-blue barrier enveloped her as her amour''s life-saving skill activated in the nick of time.


    "Rich kids and fancy toys." Xander was a little bit disappointed as he immediately jumped back, but nheless his crazed smile never left his face. "It only means I just have to try a few more times."


    "You talk too much, brat." The Frostborne descendant cursed as the water wheel at her back began rotating with renewed vigour as tens of spells were instantly being produced.


    "You know, those that say that to me usually end up dead." Xander crouched as he was about to strike again, but that was when he noticed that both Seraphina and de backed out.


    "It''s already time? I was really enjoying our fight, what a drag." Xander shook his head as he sheathed his daggers.


    "Huh?" The 3 angels from the Synder empire noticed their movements and became confused, but that was when they noticed one of the normal humans in Granick''s camp stepping up.


    Their confusion soon changed to fear as they saw the left part of the human''s body swell. Distinct features of another human appeared on the swollen part, and soon after the swollen part separated.


    "We¡­ need to¡­ get¡­ out of¡­ here¡­ now!"


    Their fear turned to horror as they saw the Arboreal Reaper, Verdigris, but for some reason their thoughts were getting slow.


    Without needing a warning, the 3 Angels turned around to flee, but nt vines stronger than steel shot out of the ground and ensnared them.


    ''Shit! He¡­ is¡­ trying to¡­ turn us¡­ to¡­ his¡­ puppets.'' The ckthorn descendant cursed as he cast self-detonation.


    Due to the AquaTorrent Conduit formation being active, the fire element was greatly weakened, meaning that the Self-detonation spell wasn''t going to deal as much damage. However, he didn''t care about it because he just wanted to escape so he didn''t wait for the spell to fully charge before detonating.


    BOOM!


    His body exploded, and instantly reformed but before anyone could do anything he was already flying away.


    "He is getting away!" Seraphina screamed as she was about to give chase, but that was when Verdigris spoke.


    "Don''t bother, it makes no difference."


    Just a few secondster, the ckthorn descendant who was in the air suddenly began free-falling.


    THUD!


    "I knew he would do something like that, so I had my nts release poison gas into the air. So as his body reformed in the area, the gas was already inside him." Verdigris exined as he walked up to the 2 Angels that were twitching.


    He ced his hands on their head, and after a few seconds the twitching stopped, as the parasites he had released into the air hadpletely taken over the new hosts.

 Chapter 597 Last resort: Suicide

    Chapter 597 Last resort: Suicide


    "Finally I have gotten strong hosts as my puppets." A psychotic grin was stered on Verdigris'' face as he examined the Angels that stood still, waiting formands from their new master.


    "Too bad I couldn''t get the third one." He let out a sigh as he shook his head, not caring about the looks he was getting from his fellow members of the League.


    ''This guy needs to be locked up in an asylum, and only brought out for missions.'' Although Xander considered himself a little bit crazy, he saw Verdigris as a full-blown psychotic patient whenpared to him.


    The same went for Seraphina and de. They were always wary of him whenever they moved with Verdigris, especially his mind-controlling parasites because they feared his mind could flip at any time and he might decide to turn on them for fun.


    As for the Angels of the Synder empire, they were cautious enough to scan the power level of everybody in the camp when they attacked. However, thanks to Fernweave Assimtion spell that allowed him to merge into the body of a living organism to hide his presence, and the 3 members of the League in their line of sight. They didn''t notice the hard-to-detect parasites in the air.


    "You guys should stay here just in case they send another group to destroy the node." Verdigris instructed as he began merging with the Frostborne descendant.


    "Where are you going to?" Seraphina couldn''t help but ask.


    "To cause some chaos." Verdigris grinned as his bodypletely merged with the deceased prevalent Angel.


    "Good thing he is on our side." de let out a sigh of relief when the Arboreal reaper finally left the camp.


    ¡­.


    At the sky above the city, the situation was far from being the best for the Angels of the Synder empire.


    Shortly after the fight had begun, Commander Ethan and his men realized that the main aim of the AquaTorrent conduit formation wasn''t for the troops of Tigeria, but for their Angels!


    The formation not only tripled the power of the water element, and halved that of the fire element, but it also providedrge amounts of water, further boosting their advantage.


    Commander Ethan had activated the active abilities of his sword and artefact that boost the power of the fire element, but the quantity of water under Sea lord Granick''s control was just too much.


    CLANG!


    Ethan''s Molten de shed with Granick''s Aqua Crystal Staff, releasing terrifying waves of me and water, that caused the Angels of both sides to shift their battles to another side.


    "Why don''t you just give up, your efforts are futile?" Granick had a grin stered on his face as he taunted the batteredmander.


    "In the end, I will still die. So I have to make you work for your meal!" Commander Ethan said to Granick who looked as if he hadn''t been fighting for thest 10 minutes.


    The space of the entire area was locked down and coupled with the continuous healing that rendered all his efforts useless. Commander Ethan knew there was no way he was leaving here alive.


    "A true warrior, I like that." As he acknowledged Ethan''s bravery, streams of water began flowing into his body. His muscles began rapidly erging, and in a matter of seconds, he was thrice his original size.


    "Too bad it won''t make any difference." Granick withdrew his staff, before swinging it again with greater strength and speed.


    BOOM!


    Ethan was sent flying into the city''s dome, causing arge web of cracks to form on the barrier''s surface.


    "Shit!" Ethan cursed as an agonizing pain from his shattered bones washed over his body.


    However, just as he was getting up he saw a gigantic water dragon hurling toward him with a terrifying force.


    me Jump!


    Ethan was forced to warp multiple times to get out of the coverage of the water dragon''s impact, but he soon realized that he was just a secondary target.


    BOOM!


    The water dragon crashed into the city barrier like aet, further expanding the cracks in the barrier from a few meters to the entire barrier.


    Fortunately, the barrier began healing itself causing the inhabitants of the city to let out a sigh of relief. However, their moment of respite was short-lived as the water dragon began spinning like a drill.


    "Fuc¡­" Ethan didn''t have enough time to curse as an Ice spear stabbed into his abdomen the moment he appeared.


    "Did you think I forgot about you?" Granick chuckled as hundreds of water wheels were floating above him, aiming at Ethan.


    "Fu*k you!" Ethan cursed as hundreds of constructs of destruction appeared in mid-air and began firing at the water wheels.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    For the umpteenth time in the battle, a sea of spells flew at each other but unlike before, the winner was clear.


    The water spells overwhelmed the fire spells, drilling hundreds of holes in both Commander Ethan and the city barrier.


    "One¡­ more¡­" Ethan muttered with holes in all parts of his body as he cast me jump and appeared in the midst of Tigeria soldiers. Immediately, terrifying amounts of mana began gathering toward him.


    "Going... out¡­ with¡­ a¡­ bang!"


    Just as he was about to explode, waves of water enveloped his body.


    BOOM!


    A muffled explosion that shook the ground went off but no one was harmed.


    "Suicide is thest resort of all Pyromancers, too predictable." Sea lord Granick shook his head as he flew back into the air.


    At that moment, the city barrier shattered like ss, leaving the wall''s barrier that was taken down in seconds.


    As for the Angels still inbat, Sea lord Granick quickly dispatched the rest making sure that they did not suffer any more loss.


    With both barriers destroyed, the troops of Tigeria unleashed their spells on the enemies positioned outside the gate.


    "Mission aplished!" Granick smiled as his troops soon gained ess to the city, and concluded ended the battle by taking control of The Square.

 Chapter 598 Interlude.

    Chapter 598 Interlude.


    The Synder Empire had put many ns in ce to halt the invaders'' advance and give rise to chances of counterattacks across the empire. However, the space distortion formation rendered almost all their ns useless.


    The loss of Verdantovia was more than a reason to call for a meeting to re-strategize, as their previous ns have all been reduced to nothing but dog shit.


    "The rain formation might be a pain in the neck, but the space distortion formation is our main problem. The question now is how to defend against it?" Aurelius Frostborne asked the important question that was on everyone''s mind.


    However, Emperor Cinder''s response was unexpected, a vtile mix of fury and defiance.


    "Defend? When did we be cowards that only defended when being invaded?!" His booming voice reverberated through the chamber, sending shivers down the spines of the assembled councilmen.


    "Has centuries of peace gone to your brains and made you all forget who we truly are? We are Conquerors known for our raging and fiery might!" The Emperor''s deration was resolute. "Activate the Death silos and initiate the war bunker gueri warfare."


    When it came to technological advancement, the Synder empire was at the forefront. Before and amidst the tumult of impending conflict, the Synder Empire''s technological prowess flourished. Engineers toiled tirelessly, crafting mystical devices and arcane instruments, each an embodiment of the empire''s unwavering determination and technological superiority.


    "Yes, Your Highness!"


    With a stern nod, the councilmen bowed in unison before disconnecting from the calls, leaving Emperor Cinder to brood with an unsettling blend of determination and smouldering rage etched across his visage.


    Meanwhile, across the conquered territories, the Tigeria Empire, having triumphed in the siege of Verdantovia, opted for a strategic deceleration of their advance. This pause, while affording the Synder Empire a brief respite, primarily served the Tigerians'' need to consolidate their recent conquests.


    Tigeria''s forces, having swiftly captured crucial cities and resource points, fortified their positions meticulously. Soldiers were granted essential time to rest, allowing them to recover from the grueling battles and preventing the encroachment of fatigue within their ranks.


    Simultaneously, the Tigerian strategists aimed to exploit the psychological repercussions of their swift victories upon the Synder Empire. Their rapid territorial gains were intended to sow seeds of discontent among the Synder popce, in turn leading to unrest.


    However, this subtle maniption of sentiments would take time to bear fruit, for the citizens of the Synder Empire still regarded the Tigerian forces as unwee intruders, their hostility unwavering despite the invaders'' attempts at political maneuvering.


    As the two months passed, a cloak of rtive calm enveloped the battlefield. The Tigerian forces, refraining from major confrontations, engaged solely in smaller skirmishes and covert individual missions.


    With meticulous precision, a batch of seasoned Tigerian soldiers were deployed, their mission clear. Unbeknownst to them, however, the Synder Empire had been sharpening their vignce, their senses heightened specifically against the enemy''s Long Distance Warp Array.


    The Tigerian soldiers, ignorant of the shifting tides, advanced. Their footsteps echoed through the terrain, each movement calcted, yet thendscape seemed unnaturally still, devoid of the usual signs of conflict.


    At the foot of the towering mountain, the Tigerian forces assembled with precision, their movements synchronized as they set up the Long Distance Warp Array. The metallic contraption, etched with intricate symbols, emitted a low thrum as it powered to life. Within its centre, a swirling vortex began to form.


    Amidst the hum of the array, soldiers hustled about, organizing the arrival of reinforcements. From the depths of the swirling portal, figures emerged, stepping onto the rugged terrain one after another. The troops poured forth, their armor gleaming under the midday sun as they formed ranks, ready for themands that awaited.


    As the Tigerian forces established their camp, the sun dipped behind the horizon, casting an amber glow over thendscape. Tents were erected, fires kindled, and a sense of quiet anticipation settled over the encampment. Soldiers, weary yet vignt, awaited further directives from theirmanding officers.


    Meanwhile, in the capital of the Synder Empire, a foreboding darkness descended. The sky rippled with an ominous hue of dark purple as a beam of the same eerie shade shot upwards, tearing through the clouds with a haunting intensity. The citizens gazed skyward as whispers of an unknown threat spread through the streets like wildfire.


    Back at the mountain camp of the Tigerian forces, a sudden disturbance ruptured the tranquility of the night. A deafening roar echoed through the valley as an immense beam of malevolent purple energy descended from the heavens. The sky fractured as the beam descended, painting the clouds a ghastly shade of purple, consuming the entire mountain in a cataclysmic surge of destructive power.


    Soldiers, caught unaware by the apocalyptic disy, were engulfed in the unforgiving torrent of energy. The camp vanished in an instant, torn asunder by the overwhelming force of the otherworldly assault. Rocks shattered, trees splintered, and the earth trembled as the once-serene mountain became a scene of utter devastation.


    --------


    In the chamber adorned with luxurious curtains and shimmering chandeliers, Cassius sat perched upon his mana crystal throne elevated high above the room. Staring at the war table, Tidewalker IV emanated an air of controlled power. Opposite him stood Dorian, his presence shrouded in an aura of intrigue and calcted menace.


    Into this respected presence, a General strode, his manner of walking weighted with urgency. With a visible sense of submission and reverence, he fell to one knee before the trio of leaders, his demeanour conveying the gravity of the news he bore.


    "Your Majesties, esteemed leaders," his voice trembled slightly as he delivered the dire report, "Our assembled forces at the foot of the mountain... they were all wiped out."


    An oppressive silence descended upon the chamber, interrupted only by the soldier''sboured breaths, as Cassius, Tidewalker IV, and Dorian exchanged nces.


    Yet, while the slight shock etched onto the faces of Tidewalker IV and Dorian was evident, Cassius remained an epitome ofposure. His countenance, emotionless as ever as he received the news without any visible change.


    "The forces have been obliterated, Your Majesty," the soldier continued, his voiceced with a hint of despair, "With the exception of one, Sealord Dean, left grievously injured. He is the sole survivor."


    The revtion struck with the force of a thunderbolt, leaving Tidewalker IV and Dorian in a stunned silence, grappling with the enormity of the news. Their expressions reflected slight shock.

 Chapter 599 Retaliation.

    Chapter 599 Retaliation.


    Dorian soon spoke up, his tone calm even after learning of the tragedy that had urred.


    "We must devise a n to dismantle that cannon at any cost," his words reverberated through the room, urging swift action against the looming threat.


    The General, his voice filled with a mix of anxiety, continued his report.


    "Your Majesties, the energy signature of the annihting beam was traced... it originated from the heart of Tarius."


    The words hung in the air, a bitter revtion that was met with an unsettling silence through the chamber. Dorian''s visage remained calm as he digested the new information, while silently admitting his prior intentions had be more of an impossibility now the location of the cannon has been determined.


    The realization that the devastating energy surge had originated from within the Synder Empire''s own capital was a sobering blow. The only option now was to find ways of mitigating the effects of the death cannon until they could reach the capital.


    However, just as Dorian was delving deeper into his strategic discourse, the General filled with regret, interjected with an apologetic tone.


    "Forgive the interruption, Your Excellencies," he began. "I''m not done reporting."


    In a move that piqued their curiosity, the General withdrew a holographic device, its ethereal glow illuminating the room. With a series of deftmands, a luminous screen materialized, disying intricate details and vital information.


    The trio focused their attention on the screen, as the holographic screen flickered to life.


    In the holographic disy, the battlefield materialized in intricate detail, capturing the chaos and intensity of the conflict. The scene unfolded with Tigerian soldiers manoeuvring across the rugged terrain, their formations disciplined and resolute.


    Suddenly, with precision akin to predatory strikes, the Synder empire forces emerged from the shadows, ambushing the unsuspecting Tigerian backlines.


    zing weapons erupted in fiery bursts, casting an infernal glow across the battlefield. The scorching heat of the Synder soldiers'' weapons wrought havoc, cutting through the Tigerian ranks with searing efficiency. The acrid smell of smoke mingled with the desperate cries of wounded soldiers.


    Groups of Synder soldiers coalesced into clusters of five. Arcane energies crackled in the air as these assembled groups unleashed seething torrents of mes, engulfing swathes of the Tigerian army in roaring infernos. The onught was relentless, leaving chaos and destruction in its wake.


    As the Tigerian forces attempted to rally for a counterattack, the Synder soldiers executed a swift and calcted retreat. With eerie efficiency, they activated intricate warp devices, the soldiers vanished into thin air with a blinding burst of energy. The devices detonated instantaneously upon their departure, leaving behind nought but wisps of dissipating magic, making it impossible to track their spatial coordinates.


    As the holographic scene dissipated into a mere shimmer and the glow of the disy vanished, the General swiftly pocketed the intricate device with practised ease, concealing it from view.


    With aposed demeanour, the General prepared to deliver further intelligence, his gaze meeting the stoic looks of Dorian, Tidewalker IV, and Cassius.


    "Reports indicate a thorough search effort," the General began, his tone measured. "Our squads scoured the grounds, delving as deep as 4000 meters below the surface, yet found no trace of the Synder Empire''s hidden bunkers."


    Cassius, breaking his silence with a measured voice, spoke with a profound certainty that drew the attention of the assembly.


    "Most likely, their bunkers lie even deeper," his words resonated with a depth of understanding. "Their concealment requires depths beyond our current reach, necessitating the use of warp devices for their departure."


    The General''s visage registered a stunned surprise, a flicker of realization dancing in his eyes at Cassius''s astute deduction. Dorian and Tidewalker IV, acknowledging the truth in Cassius''s assessment, nodded in silent agreement, their countenances marked by a calm resolve.


    "The Synder Empire''s intent is clear, they aim to employ guerri warfare," Cassius'' words hung in the air,den with a weighty understanding of their adversary''s strategy.


    Tidewalker fixed aposed gaze on Cassius, seeking guidance amidst the mountingplexities.


    "There are too many problems arising, what course of action do you propose?" he inquired, acknowledging the multifaceted challenges they faced.


    Cassius, with a thoughtful nod, steered the discussion to the immediate concerns guing their strategizing.


    "Our primary issue lies with their cannons," he continued, his mind working through thebyrinth of possibilities. "These weapons possess the capability to neutralize even angels, suggesting an unparalleled destructive force. If they can destroy such powerful entities, they pose a grave threat to fortified cities protected by barriers."


    He paused, a glint of conviction in his eyes as he outlined a potential tactical approach.


    "As long as our soldiers maintain a presence within proximity to the Synder Empire''s cities, they are unlikely to deploy these cannons. Fear of obliterating their cities and their inhabitants will prevent them from using those cannons in such close quarters."


    "The Synder Empire has grown cautious of our long-distance warp arrays," his words hung in the air, signalling a shift in the enemy''s defensive measures.


    "They''ve extended patrols beyond their city sensory arrays, vignt to prevent any setup of our long-distance warp arrays."


    Dorian and Tidewalker IV exchanged silent nces, absorbing the gravity of the situation. Cassius''s astute observation shed light on the evolving tactics of their adversary.


    "To counter this," Cassius continued, "Our troops must refrain from marching directly towards cities. Continuous warping bes our sole solution to bypass their vignt patrols."


    The prospect of constant teleportation, while evading enemy detection offered a potential loophole in the enemy''s watchful eye.


    Cassius shifted the focus to a critical aspect of defence against the Synder Empire''s lethal cannons.


    "Furthermore," his voice resonated with urgency, "A member of each unit should be assigned to monitor the skies without interruptions. The moment signs of the cannon being deployed are spotted, immediate warnings must reach our army."


    The leaders nodded in solemn agreement, acknowledging the urgency of this vignce. The tactical advantage of early detection could spell the difference between survival and devastation in the face of the enemy''s formidable weaponry.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    5 chapters Mass releaseing up on the 19th!

 Chapter 600 Infiltrating the enemies ranks.

    Chapter 600 Infiltrating the enemies ranks.


    Cassius''s voice cut through the silence. "Our troops must act swiftly and decisively," he asserted, his tone calm. "Any dy, even a moment''s hesitation, will lead to their deaths. Dorian, the same goes for members of the League."


    His words hung heavy in the air, a stark reminder of the unforgiving nature of the battlefield. Dorian, Tidewalker IV, and the General nodded in solemn acknowledgement of the urgency underlying Cassius''s directive.


    "Regarding the bunkers," he continued, his gaze fixed on the Tidewalker, "Vignce will be our shield. Our soldiers must remain alert, eyes wide open to prevent the enemy''s stealthy manoeuvres from catching us off guard."


    The necessity of understanding the enemy''s patterns and anticipating their manoeuvres underscored the crucial importance of observation and readiness.


    "Once we discern their patterns," Cassius emphasized, his voice carrying the weight of strategic insight, "Only then can we effectively counter their insidious attacks."


    -------------


    Amidst the sprawlingndscapes and looming fortresses, the effects of Cassius''s strategic directives became evident. The once swift and expansive advancement of the Tigerian troops ground to a cautious crawl.


    With the threat of the devastating cannons looming overhead, the Tigerian forces moved as usual, however, they avoided gathering extra units as they had done in Verdantovia. This strategic shift was a necessary adjustment to avoid the potential decimation ofrge gatherings by the merciless Death silo of the Synder Empire.


    As a result, the Tigerian sieges encountered setbacks, their smaller units unable to muster the same forceful impact in certain ces. The enemy fortifications, previously thought vulnerable to overwhelming numbers, now withstood the sieges with a newfound resilience, frustrating the Tigerian forces'' attempts to breach the defences.


    Conversely, within the Synder Empire''s domain, a subtle but noticeable shift in their military movements unfolded. The increased vignce and caution from the Tigerian side prompted a proactive response from the Synder forces. Troops were marshalled and set into motion, marching around key resource points and cities, a preemptive countermeasure against the possibility of failed warping attempts from the space distortion formation.


    The Synder Empire maintained units on standby, a strategic readiness that ensured swift responses to any Tigerian siege attempts. This proactive stance, coupled with the bolstered defensive measures, aimed to counter any potential breaches in their defences, even if warping reinforcements proved ineffective.


    -----------


    Under the cloak of night, the Tigerian forces meticulously executed their n, positioning themselves with calcted precision outside the range of Duststar''s canons.


    As the Tigerian troops settled into their strategic encirclement, a silentmunication reverberated through the ranks. Each unit knew their ce in the orchestrated siege.


    Meanwhile, stationed in the mountain range not too far from Dustar City, the standby units received an urgent transmission to theirmunication devices. The message spurred them into immediate action as they began moving.


    Through the rustling night, the sound of armoured footsteps echoed against the terrain as they surged toward the threatened city with a determination born from duty and allegiance.


    Within Dustar City, the rm reverberated through the garrison. Soldiers darted through the streets as they readied the city''s defences. The fortified walls shimmered with protective purple and fiery orange barriers.


    Meanwhile, the Tigerian forces maintained their encirclement but made no attempt to attack. The standoff between the encroaching threat and the city''s defences heightened the tension.


    ----------


    Amidst the darkened expanse, the Synder Empire''s standby units surged forward along the designated route, their urgency fueled by the impending threat looming over the city. Unbeknownst to them, a silent ambushy in wait within the dense shroud of the forest.


    Deep within the enveloping shadows, Tigerian troopsy concealed, their figures barely discernible among the foliage. Their trained eyes tracked the movements of the approaching standby units, awaiting the opportune moment to strike.


    As Synder Empire''s troops traversed the forest path, the silence shattered abruptly. Spells whistled through the air, finding their marks among the unsuspecting soldiers. The ambush was swift and decisive, catching the standby units off guard as chaos erupted amidst the darkened woods.


    The sh was fierce and sudden. The Tigerian soldiers emerged from the cover of the forest, wielding water magic-enchanted weapons. des glistened with arcane power, as they shed through the ranks of the Synder Empire''s troops.


    The Synder forces rallied swiftly, fighting fiercely against the surprise assault. shing swords and echoing battle cries filled the air as the skirmish escted into a whirlwind of chaos.


    Just as the Synder standby units began to regroup and retaliate, the Tigerian soldiers executed a tactical retreat. With seamless precision, they faded back into the cover of the forest, their movements shrouded by the veils of the night.


    But the Tigerian troops did not depart without leaving their mark. They unleashed devastating battle array spells, weaving intricate patterns of power that coalesced into torrents of cascading water. The spells surged forth, engulfing the battlefield, wreaking havoc and leaving chaos in their wake.


    The Synder Empire''s troops fought valiantly, but the sudden ambush coupled with the overwhelming power of the battle array spells left them reeling. As the Tigerian soldiers swiftly disappeared into the depths of the forest, the Synder forces regrouped amidst the remnants of the skirmish, drenched, injured and battle-weary.


    Still cautious of an attack, the troops of the Synder Empire began attending to their fatally injuredrades, while silently mourning their fallen brothers and sisters. Once they were back to stable conditions, they had no choice to continue their march towards Dustar as it was moments away from being sieged.


    However, amidst the disciplined ranks, shadowy figures lurked undetected among the Synder forces in their uniforms. ke alongside Verdigris, the Arboreal Reaper, and a select few members of the League of Assassins marching amongst the enemy ranks remained unnoticed.


    As the standby units finally reached the city''s perimeter, they were greeted by an unexpected sight. The once-encircled cityy before them, eerily silent, devoid of the anticipated onught from the Tigerian forces. Confusion rippled through the ranks, perplexed expressions etched upon the soldiers'' faces at the unforeseen turn of events.


    Themanding officer, his brow furrowed with a mix of puzzlement and vignce, swiftly ordered his troops to enter the city. Amidst the uncertainty, the soldiers trod cautiously into the city''s protective walls, their movements tinged with apprehension and wariness.


    Within the city''s confines, the scene was one of controlled chaos. The wounded soldiers who had survived the earlier ambush were tended to by healers. Medics moved with urgency, their skills and dedication focused on providing aid to the wounded and ensuring their swift recovery.

 Chapter 601 Being a nuisance

    Chapter 601 Being a nuisance


    After arriving at the barracks, ke strode forward casually leaving behind aclone in his previous location while instantly entering a concealed state.


    "It''s time to shut down the barrier," he whispered to himself as he flew in the direction of The Square.


    In the wake of ke''s departure, the concealed clone he left behind swiftly sprang into action. It conjured ten spatial corridors across the expanse of the barracks, suspended in the air and drawing the attention of unsuspecting soldiers within thepound.


    As the soldiers'' curiosity piqued, their gazes fixed upon the spatial corridors, Ten Angels walked out of the spatial corridors one by one. "Aren''t those the Angels of Tigeria?"


    "How?"


    Fear gripped the hearts of the troops as they silently prayed for that their eyes were ying tricks on them.


    Without hesitation, the angels unleashed their formidable spells upon the barracks and its inhabitants. It was only after some soldiers and buildings were blown to bits that most of them came to their senses and began fleeing.


    An Angel with a wave of its hand, conjured arctic sts that crystallized the surroundings, encasing soldiers and barracks alike in ice, freezing the air with bone-chilling cold.


    At the same time, another Angel called forth thunderous storms. Lightning crackled across the barracks, striking with unrelenting force, and ripping through walls and structures.


    In a matter of seconds, chaos overwhelmed the barracks. However, the Angels positioned in The Square had arrived at the scene to confront them.


    ¡­


    In the medical area, numerous tents sprawled across the grounds, each housing wounded soldiers tended by healers. The air was heavy with the scent of medicinal herbs and echoes of muffled groans.


    Within one such tent, wounded soldiersy on beds, attended to by diligent healers. A healer worked fervently to bandage a soldier''s grievous stab wound to his belly. However, as the healer focused on the injury, a chilling transformation began to manifest. The soldier''s shoulder swelled, distorting unnaturally, revealing the unsettling shape of a contorted face lurking beneath the skin.


    Horror and disbelief gripped the healer''s face as the shoulder bloated further. Gasps and startled cries erupted from nearby patients and healers who turned their attention towards the unfolding spectacle, their faces etched with a mixture of shock and dread.


    Suddenly, the ground beneath the tent quivered as numerous thorny vines erupted with startling speed. Before anyone could react, the vines shot through the ground,shing out with deadly precision, impaling healers and patients alike.


    A bone-chillingughter reverberated through the tent, sending shivers down the spines of those present. The bloated shoulder finally separated from the body, revealing a horrifying sight. Emerging from the separated flesh was the Arboreal Reaper, Verdigris. His crazed grin stretched across his face as he spoke. "The chaos has finally begun."


    During the ambush he had unleashed his parasites on the champion realm Hero, easily taking control of his body. To avoid all forms of suspicion, he controlled the soldier to stab himself.


    Verdigris stood with an eerie calmness amidst the carnage as his shoulders began to swell, distorting unnaturally as a sinister transformation took shape.


    With a crackling sound, the bloated flesh of his shoulders split open. From within the swell, his recently acquired Angel puppets emerged, standing tall beside him.


    With a crazed smile etched upon his face, Verdigris spoke in a voice that sent chills down the spine of all who heard it. "Time to join the show."


    ¡­


    After warping the Angels of Tigeria into Dustar, ke''s clone hadn''t remained idle.


    Once the battle between the Angels began, the clone warped behind an Angel who was caught up defending lightning barrages.


    Inferno Strike!


    The clone used Emberforge to unleash a searing crescent me that enveloped the target before exploding.


    BOOM!


    The Angel was briefly distracted by the fiery attack but that was all that was needed as the lightning attack bypassed his defenses, dealing serious damage. Watching the Angel holding back his pained scream the clone knew the vitality of an Angel was not something that could be overwhelmed easily. The clone vanished, appearing behind his next target but at that moment, everyone was already aware of his presence. Sensing the clone appearing behind him, the new target snorted disdainfully as his body lit up in fierce me, surging around like a fiery tempest. The fierce mes soon solidified into a two-headed avatar with four hands, each covering both sides to keep an eye on his previous opponent and the clone. If ke was here, the first thing that would havee to his head was a Susanoo.


    ''Creation pathway of the fire element.'' The clone clicked its tongue as it saw the Susanoo was sentient.


    While the Synder empire Angel focused on his battle with the Tigerian empire Angel, the other face of the fiery avatar focused its attention on the clone behind.


    sping hands together and moving them apart, a fiery sword was conjured and without hesitation it shed at the clone brutally. "C''mon, you should know better by now." The clone calmly shook its head in response to the attack. When the sword was a few metres away from the clone''s head a spatial tear appeared in its path. An attack unleashed could not be withdrawn midway; the fiery de made its way into the spatial tear and came out at the exit positioned above an Angel of the Synder empire.


    "Shit!" The Angel was taken by surprise, but still managed to block the attack in time. However, that resulted to an opening that the Tigerian Angel didn''t miss.


    The clone was in no way done, it created another spatial tear that swallowed a fierce lightning spell of a Synder empire Angel. The exit appeared above the fiery construct and from there bolts of lightning descended, raining down on the fiery avatar relentlessly.


    "On to the next." The clone revealed a satisfied smirk as it warped to another part of the battlefield to continue being a nuisance.


    Within just a few minutes of its involvement in this battle, ke''s clone had created so much chaos for the enemy side, quickly turning the tide of battle in the favor of its allies.

 Chapter 602 Took so long.\

    Chapter 602 Took so long.


    Everything that has happened so far has consumed only a few minutes and just then two angels soared through the skies, their presencemanding attention amidst the frenzied battleground as they shot towards ke''s clone.


    The first angel had amanding presence, his brown hair billowed in the rushing wind as he traversed the skies. Adorning his form was a colourful magical armour, intricately designed with ornate runes etched across its surface and at the heart of the armour gleamed a ruby-coloured crystal, radiating with an otherworldly luminescence. His left hand gripped a circr shield adorned with a central ruby gem, embellished with ancient runes that traced the edges. The shield bore spiky adornments, an imposing symbol of both defence and offence. In his right hand, he wielded a sword of magnificent craftsmanship, its hilt fashioned in the likeness of a dragon, while the de itself glimmered with a crimson red hue, pulsating with mystical energy.


    Beside themanding figure, the second angel, adorned in contrasting attire. His blue hair fluttered in the gusts as he flew alongside hispanion, dressed in a ck leather jacket, a pristine white shirt, and sleek ck leather trousers that merged seamlessly with leather boots. In his grasp, he held a metallic staff, embellished with an array of vibrant blue runes that cascaded down its length. Atop the staff, a golden w clutched a brilliant blue sphere, shimmering with an unfathomable reservoir of potent energy.


    With a swift and determined motion, the vanguard angel surged forth, his sword held tightly as he propelled himself towards the clone.However, just as the angel''s de was poised to strike, the clone executed a rapid warp, vanishing from its initial position in a blur of motion.


    Appearing a significant distance away, the clone reappeared with its eyes on the vanguard angel. Sensing the abrupt shift in the clone''s location, the blue-haired angel halted his advance with a calm look on his face.


    He tightened his grip on the metallic staff, his knuckles whitening with the force of his grasp. Instantly, the blue orb nestled atop the staff began to radiate with an intense brilliance, filling the surroundings with a luminous azure glow.


    With practised ease, the blue-haired angel cast Water Wheel. "Stand and fight you rat!" The Angel said with a cruel glint in his eyes.


    In a breathtaking disy of magical prowess, tens of water wheels appeared behind him, each aglow with vibrant arcane energy amplified by his staff. The Water Wheels gathered into a graceful formation, rotating harmoniously in a mesmerising disy of aqueous might.


    Suddenly hundreds of ice needles rained out of the water wheels, covering a wide range.


    "You don''t care about the coteral damage caused by your spells because the foot soldiers and citizens can''t do anything." The clone snorted disdainfully as it once again warped, instantly dodging all the attacks. As the clone reappeared at another corner of the battlefield, the vanguard angel, skillfully navigated the chaotic skirmish, honing in on the spatial corridor that just forned in the battlefield. Once again, the clone was forced to warp but each warp became a strategic challenge as the angel relentlessly chased him down wherever he went like a rabid dog.


    Meanwhile, the second angel controlled the Water Wheels that spun rapidly behind him. Without even lifting a finger, he channelled a diverse array of water-based spells, each cast with precision. Torrents of water surged forth, manipted by the angel''s skilledmand of the element. Waves crashed and surged, taking various forms, cascading torrents, and pressurized jets, all aimed at disorienting the clone and disrupting its evasive manoeuvres.


    As the clone found itself bombarded by the relentless onught of water-based spells, it remained calm. Grasping the empty air, the clone tore open arge spatial tear, allowing the barrage of water spells to pour in before unleashing the spell on an unfortunate Angel of the Synder empire.


    Suddenly a figure emerged behind the clone, with his de gleaming brightly as he shed out ruthlessly forcing the clone to warp away.


    As the battle progressed the two angels'' coordinated attacks intensified. The first angel, closing in on ke''s clone with a murderous look in his eyes executed lightning-fast strikes, weaving a fabric of precise swordy and agile movements. Each calcted manoeuvre brought it closer to cornering the clone.


    ''Why so eager for my nuts, did I kill your mom?'' The clone muttered with a slight frown etched on its face.


    Meanwhile, the second angel followed the battle with his eyes, patiently waiting for an opportunity to show. With a skilfulmand of the swirling water wheels behind him, he unleashed a torrential onught. Cascading walls of water crashed upon the clone from above, forcing it to warp away but the vanguard angel seemed to have predicted his warp point. By the time the clone appeared the vanguard angel was already there swinging down his de. Left with no other choice, the clone warped once again but soon as it appeared the clone was met by high-pressure jets of water, leaving little room for escape. Instinctively it drifted to the side, narrowly escaping the attack.


    "That was close." It muttered as it looked ahead only to realize the vanguard angel was just a few meters away with a deep frown on his face. "This is where it ends." A cold voice rang from behind.


    Judging based on the bright blue light shining brightly from behind, the clone could tell it was the second angel standing behind him. He was going to speak but soon detected movements from the sides, only then did the clone realize it had been lured into a position where two more angels of the Synder empire were fighting. The clone waspletely surrounded!


    "It took you so long." The clone suddenly spoke up with a smirk on its face, not caring about the enemies that surround him.


    The Angels of the Synder empire originally thought they were being spoken to but out of nowhere, the fiery barrier protecting and city slowly began to fade. "How?"


    Confusion and dread washed through the angels as the sounds of war drums beganing from outside the walls of the city.

 Chapter 603 Complex emotions.

    603 Complex emotions.


    Amidst the chaos of the city, a spatial appeared in mid-air before expanding into a corridor which a figure walked out of.


    ke emerged, radiating no aura at all, but that was exactly what immediately captured the attention of all the angels locked in battle. His aura was like a stillke even in the midst of chaos, unbothered by the battles going on as if he were sightseeing.


    As their eyes fixated on him, a collective realisation washed over them. They exchanged startled nces, their expressions morphing from confusion to disbelief.


    For moments that felt like an eternity, their gazes moved back and forth between ke and the clone. The truth hit them like a bolt of lightning, they had been entangled in a frenzied struggle against a mere clone.


    A chill swept through the ranks of the angels, a shared sense of foreboding settling in their hearts. It wasmon knowledge that clones were universally recognized as inferior replicas.


    Fear crept into their thoughts as the stark realization settled in their minds. The clone, despite posing a formidable challenge, was a mere fraction of ke''s true strength. If this mere doppelganger had caused such turmoil and strife, the potential havoc that the genuine ke could unleash was unfathomable, especially when his Wolves joined the fray.


    The angels, shaken by the revtion of ke''s true presence and power, attempted a hasty retreat. Still, their path was abruptly intercepted and thwarted by the sudden appearance of Verdigris and Granick, imposing figures whose mere presence seemed to lock down the airspace, barring any chance of escape.


    Panic surged through the trapped angels, their eyes widening in rm as their escape route evaporated before their eyes. Before they could even process this new obstruction, a chilling voice, unmistakably ke''s, reverberated behind them, causing an involuntary shiver to ripple through their beings.


    "It''s over," echoed the cold, resolute voice, sending a shudder down their spines. Meanwhile, beyond the confines of the city, the Tigerian Empire''s troops marched into the city seemingly effortlessly while the angels of the Tigerian Empire moved with uncanny precision, swiftly neutralizing any remnants of the city defences and establishing control over the city of Dustar.


    The scene transitioned, revealing ke who remained suspended in mid-air as he surveyed the captured city from a vantage point high above. His expression, marred by a deep frown, betrayed aplex array of emotions raging within him.


    "Next up, Calton," murmured ke, his voice tinged with a mix of resolve andyered emotions that hinted at an inner conflict. His gaze lingered upon the city below, a subtle glint of determination overshadowed by a hint of reluctance.


    ----------------


    In the heart of Calton, the absence of ke left a void, a gaping wound that festered in the collective consciousness of Cami, Tessie and Brian.


    ke''s abrupt departure from the Synder empire, coupled with the unsettling news of his involvement in significant figures'' demise, cast a feeling of remorse and unease amongst them. However, what gnawed at their souls was the deafening silence that followed ke''s disappearance. The absence of any news, any trace of his whereabouts, left them in a state of anxiety and uncertainty.


    To make matters worse, Luciano and Castiel, once integral parts of their circle distanced themselves without exnation. The sudden rift within their friendship circle sent shockwaves through their already troubled minds, especially that of Brian since he was the closest to Castiel in the group.


    If there was a pair that was meant to leave the group, it should have been those two. The unanswered questions hung in the air like a heavy fog, each query digging deeper into their collective conscience. Unfortunately, there was no one there to give them the answers they needed, especially since the separation had been stretched for two long years.


    Amidst the whispers of peace, the news of Dustar''s fall shattered the fragile equilibrium, as the war had finally gotten to their doorstep.


    This also came with a revtion of ke''s involvement in the downfall of Dustar. It struck like a bolt of lightning, sending shockwaves through Carmi, who was gued with conflicting emotions. Within Carmi was a mix of disbelief, sorrow, and helplessness. She was excited that she would finally get a chance toy eyes on ke after being apart for so long. However, he was on the side that was attacking her homnd.


    Strangely Carmi couldn''t bring herself to me ke because the Synder empire pushed him this far and caused things to end this way. Thinking deeply about it, she realized that all members of the League of Assassins were on the other side because of the atrocitiesmitted by the Synder empire.


    This was literally a case of the monsters they madeing back to bite them.


    At this point, apart from her sentimental feelings towards the city of Calton, her homnd, whichpelled her to defend it, Carmi wasn''t sure what she was fighting for anymore.


    From what she heard about the other empires, the Synder empire had the highest rate of marginalization of themoners. Even their history books disyed how much of a tyrant the Synder empire was. She couldn''t help but wonder if the world would be a better ce if the Synder empire ceased to exist. She couldn''t help but wonder if she would be doing ke a great injustice by fighting against him, even though it is obvious he was the victim of the cruelty of the Synder empire.


    ----------------


    In the strategy room of the Tigerian empire, Cassius was seated on his throne with a calm look on his face as he observed the meeting taking ce. On a lower tform was a war table which disyed situations of the ongoing war on its screen. At the far end was Tidewalker, calmly observing the information on the screen in silence, and directly opposite him was Dorian whose gaze seemed distant and unfocused. Standing beside Dorian was ke, who remained stationary like a statue as he waited silently for the report.


    Standing by the right were the first and second Sea Lords and by the left were the third and fourth Sea Lords. They waited quietly for the meeting to officially begin.


    The Mass releasemences.

 Chapter 604 Is that water?

    604 Is that water?


    A general pushed the two mighty doors of the room open, attracting the gaze of all those seated around the war table, causing him to shudder involuntarily. As soon as the general reached the war table, he cleared his throat and began his report.


    "As suspected, the attacks from the bunkers of the Synder empire have increased exponentially since thest meeting."The general paused for a short while before he continued. "Thankfully, due to the directives provided by Lord Cassius, casualties from these attacks have reduced drastically."


    Hearing this everyone seated on the table nodded with approving looks on their faces. The general looked up hoping to gain a reaction from Cassius but he still carried the same look as always making it difficult to discern his thoughts.


    "And the death cannons?" Dorian''s question pulled the attention of the general while also promoting a questioning gaze from Tidewalker. ording to the information they received during thest meeting, the death cannons could be considered far more dangerous than the bunkers of the Synder empire, so it''s only natural for them to be more interested in them.


    "Errm." The General muttered, not looking as confident as before.


    "Just spit it out." Third Sea Lord said in a hoarse voice.


    "Yes, of course. As for the death cannons, unfortunately, the casualties are still as high." The general said while scanning the faces of those seated around the war table. "Because of this, we keep losing forces before we can put them to use."


    The general stepped closer to the war table as he tapped a few spots on the disy screen, bringing up a few charts, revealing the casualties suffered by them in the past month. The figures alone made everyone seated across the table wear twisted expressions. Only Dorian still carried an air of calmness while looking at the figures.


    "Taking into ount the number of forces lost during sieges, surprise attacks from the enemy bunkers, and the death cannons,it is safe to say, that our casualties are not too far from that of the Synder empire in this war." The general said with a stern look on his face. "Even if we win, we will note out unscathed."


    "We need to end this war as quickly as possible," Dorian said as he leaned back but his piercing gaze never left the disy screen. "They are employing guerri tactics and it only benefits them since all they have to do is reduce our number, while we have to capture cities to make progress." He added with a slight hint of frustration which was almost unnoticeable in his tone.


    Hearing this, the second Sea Lord nodded in agreement before shifting his attention to the general.


    "Since our soldiers have been doing well against the surprise bunker attacks, surely they must have caught some of these Synder rats and interrogated them?" Second Sea Lord asked with a deep frown etched across his face.


    The general revealed a defeated sigh before speaking.


    "True. Our soldiers have managed to catch a few of these Bunker units but unfortunately, we have failed to extract any information from them." The general said with a bitter smile on his face.


    "What do you mean?" The second Sea Lord asked with raised brows.


    "I mean, those who have been caught, end upmitting suicide even before they could be interrogated." The general said. "We have even tried to get our hands on their warp devices, unfortunately, they self-destructed even before we could find out anything important." "Hmmm" Everyone was lost for words as they situation was a veryplex one. "What are your ns for Calton?" ke who has been quiet all this while finally spoke up, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.


    Although he was higher in authority, his knowledge concerning warfare was stillcking inparison to that of those present in this room. More importantly, he wanted to make sure their ns would not affect his friends.


    "I know you are worried about your friends but this is war, we cannot guarantee anyone''s safety. However, If any of your friends are spotted during the siege we will make sure to inform you." Emperor Tidewalker answered.


    "I appreciate that," ke responded with a grateful nod as he knew that even the safety of the Sea lords weren''t even guaranteed.


    "Calton siege is extremely important because of the possibility that our forces may encounter a battle angel." Dorian suddenly spoke up.


    "Prince Bryon!" The 4th Sea Lord four sneered with disdain audible in his tone.


    "Even worse, the other 3 councillors may be present," Tidewalker said with a deep frown.


    "That''s why we are here." The 1st Sea Lord said calmly. "Once they show their ugly faces on the battlefield, we will be sure to make our moves."


    Upon hearing this, the other Sea lords nodded in agreement. Listening to them speak, ke couldn''t help but silently acknowledge that this could potentially be the hardest siege since the beginning of the war.


    -----------------------


    Since the fall of Dustar, the city of Calton has been on high alert. Soldiers mounted on every outpost, with steady rotations of shifts to make sure they were never caught off guard. Soldiers armed to the teeth patrol the walls of the city night and day, waiting for the attack that never seemed toe. Signs of formations being set up have always been their main focus but so far there has been nothing, until today.


    A few soldiers looked ahead on the horizon only to noticerge movement! But the problem was that it wasn''t humans.


    "Is that water?" A soldier stationed in one of the outposts asked with a look of disbelief written all over his face.


    He held the edge of the wall, sticking out and squinting his eyes as if he were trying to make sure his eyes weren''t ying tricks on him.


    "Shit! That is water!" He screamed in terror with a face that looked like that of someone who had just seen a ghost.


    "Where the hell did they get so much water from and how did it get here undetected?" Another soldier asked in disbelief.


    "The ocean?" The first soldier said with a tone that made it seem even he found it hard to believe his words.

 Chapter 605 3rd Sea Lord, Corsair.

    Chapter 605 3rd Sea Lord, Corsair.


    Prince Bryon and Darius were the first to respond as their figures appeared above the city, gazing at therge bodies of water slowly making their way toward the city. "How did they conjure so much water without any of our patrols noticing?" Colonel Darius was shocked as massive waves of water wereing toward Calton from all sides.


    "They didn''t conjure it; they warped the water from the ocean." Prince Bryon said with a frown etched across his face. At that moment angels of the city rose above the city as well waiting for themands of the Prince and Colonel Darius. "We need to stop the water from reaching the city." Darius said with a deep frown but Prince Bryon shook his head in refusal.


    "It''s not possible now. Take a good look for yourself." Prince Bryon said as he pointed ahead.


    Darius looked ahead with his eyes squinted as he noticed small figures hovering above therge bodies of water, they were the multiple Tigerian Angels taking control of therge bodies of watering from the four cardinal points of the city.


    All the Angels slowly waved their hands as if they were silently ordering an attack. At the same time, therge body of water began rising high into the air while they drifted backwards as they watched the water rise higher, towering over the walls of Calton in mere seconds.


    Simultaneously all the Angels clenched their open palms and an invisible ripple exploded from their bodies. Instantly, the huge bodies of water began to spin. At first, its movement seemed slow and sluggish but with time the speed and intensity increased drastically, turning the massive bodies of water into mighty drills, spinning at immense speed.


    Seeing this Colonel Darius'' face darkened and he quickly issued a series of orders to the Angels behind him.


    "Have the range of our barriers withdrawn to the city." Prince Brian turned his attention to a final Angel who was left behind. "We need its power concentrated on the city only and nothing else." "Understood!" The Angel bowed and vanished, leaving behind Prince Bryon and Darius who watched the water drills approach with stunning intensity.


    "The only good thing about the situation is that the warp nodes are still active," Darius said in hopes of improving the mood of Prince Bryon.


    "Of course, they are still active. To teleport this massive body of water undetected, they had to cast it from a range beyond our preying eyes. The warp distortion array cannot work from that distance." Prince Bryon seems unfazed by this news. At this moment, citizens and soldiers alike stood rooted to their spots as they looked toward the sky now blocked by the terrifying water drills, about to descend upon them. Many silently prayed while holding on to their kids tight while some couldn''t muster the courage needed to watch, they locked their homes and hid under their beds while saying silent prayers, hoping the heavens would hear their cries.


    Darius wanted to say more but he couldn''t as the water drills had already reached. A deafening explosion rocked the city of Calton as the drills hit, filling the air with screeching sounds. At first, it seemed like the barrier may hold but then visible web-shaped cracks began spreading across the surface of the barrier, spreading far and wide. "It won''t hold," Darius said with a deep frown but Prince Bryon remained silent, not even daring to blink.


    Following a second deafening explosion coupled with a ss-shattering sound, the barriers of the city crumbled as the water drills threatened to descend into the city.


    Civilians and soldiers below let out heart-wrenching cries as many shut their eyes in preparation for their ultimate demise. But then a loud and furious voice boomed across the city, giving the people a feeling of hope in this hopeless situation.


    "CALTON IS NOT YOURS TO TAKE!" Prince Bryon''s furious voice boomed across the skies as his eyes lit up with power.


    A fierce tempest of wind exploded from his body, surging far and wide as it took the shape of a sphere. The expansion of the wind sphere was so rapid, that it quickly reced the fallen barrier just a second after it was broken.


    A deafening explosion rocked the city once again as the water drills smashed into the wind sphere surrounding the city. The fierce sh seemed tost a few seconds before the water drills began receding.


    Almost instantly cheers from citizens and soldiers alike boomed across the city. Just when they thought all hope was lost Prince Bryon had stepped in and saved them from doom.


    Unfortunately, Prince Bryon didn''t share such sentiment with them. His frown was even more profound than before. It became clear to him that the sole purpose of the initial attack was never to destroy the city in one go, but the barriers!


    "Darius, have our soldiers prepare for an invasion! This battle is far from over." Prince Bryon ordered with a stern look on his face.


    "Yes, My Lord!" Darius responded with a light bow before vanishing and leaving the prince alone.


    -----------


    Outside the city, the third Sea Lord, Corsair appeared in view. He was a grizzly middle-aged man with a hulking figure and darker-toned skin. His upper half was left bare, revealing thick chest hairs, bulging muscles, and countless scares, a testament to the countless battles this man had fought.


    Meanwhile, below he wore typical pirate pants and boots. His left eye was covered with an eye patch while his thick grey beardplimented his ck bandana tied over his head. Around his neck were nes made with an equal amount of beads and bones, with a skull-shaped pendant attached to it.


    His four ck angelic wings fluttered majestically but what truly gained the attention of everyone was the spine-shaped bone whip in his hands with the bull skull hilt. This weapon kept twisting back and forth as if it possessed a life of its own.


    "Hahahahahahahaha!" The third Sea Lord''s domineeringughter filled the air, sending shivers down the spine of all those who heard it.

 Chapter 606 Scaling the wall.

    Chapter 606 Scaling the wall.


    "Charge!!!!" No one was certain who gave the order but their feet responded to it regardless. The ground began trembling violently as the Tigerian army charged and from a distance, they looked like an unstoppable tide.


    Standing on the Western wall was Major General Cami with a cold look on her face as she watched the Tigerian army approaching.


    "Major General, your orders." A soldier standing beside her spoke but she remained silent as she watched the enemy charge.


    As soon as the enemy forces got in range Cami raised her hand and gave out a series of orders.


    "Fire the cannons, have the zing Tanks on standby." Cami instructed and the soldier nodded with an excited look on his face as he ryed her message through hismunication device.


    Soon deafening explosions erupted from the walls, firing at the charging Tigerian soldiers. Explosions soon rocked the battlefield as the first set of shorts were able to obliterate a few Tigerian soldiers, but they soon caught on and reacted ordingly.


    Even in the frenzy of the battle, the Tigerian soldiers showcased discipline as they skillfully separated themselves, each creating a ten man team. By the time the second rounds of cannons were fired, they activated the mobile war barriers.


    Deafening explosions rocked the battlefield and dust rose from the ground, creating arge cloud of dust, preventing the Synder empire soldiers from a swing that was happening below. "Did we get them?"The soldier standing next to Cami muttered but she remained silent and kept watching with a deep furrow on her face. Suddenly Tigerian soldiers charged out of the body of dust with their mobile war barriers gleaming brightly. At the sight of this, the soldiers on the wall wore deep frowns as more cannons were shot but even then the casualties on the sides of the Tigerian soldiers had reduced exponentially.


    In mere seconds the distance between the Tigerian soldiers and the city walls was just a few hundred meters away at most.


    "Now!" Cami ordered and the gates of the city swung open.


    The headlights of the zing tanks lit up, causing Tigerian soldiers to squint their eyes in pain due to the bright light directed at them.Within the gates were the death tank which rumbled forward with an ominous presence. Enormous in size, it looked like death itself. Its colossal, spiked tires pierced the earth, leaving deep imprints on the barren terrain. The tank''s sleek, metallic surface bore scars of various kinds, making one wonder if they had been used in battle or if this was a design aimed at intimidating the enemy.


    It was working


    Atop this death tank stood the central cannon, a menacing elongated barrel that exuded power and lethality. Alongside thesepartments nestled at the tank''s sides, mini cannons were hidden within the metallic shell of the tank, waiting to be unleashed when the time was right.


    As the tank prowled forward, a deafening roar emanated from within its monstrous frame. Thepartments along its sides creaked open, revealing an arsenal of auxiliary cannons as it charged toward the Tigerian forces with malicious intentions.


    "What the hell is this?" A Tigerian soldiers muttered in shock as his weapon fell off his hands even without him noticing.


    The Soldiers petrified with fear screamed at the top of their lungs as they watched the death tanks bulldoze through mobile war barriers while cannons kept zing from all sides of the tank, destroying everything in its path. While the Tigerian soldiers believed the worst was happening, the back doors of the tank yanked open and soldiers of the Synder empire poured out with renewed vigour, they charged on the Tigerian forces with their weapons stabbing forward, engaging them in a brutal close-quarter battle.


    At the same time, the Tigerian siege weapons unleashed a relentless barrage of devastating attacks on the zing Tanks, badly damaging and even destroying a good number of them.


    At this point, the battle has begun with both sides suffering casualties at a staggering rate.


    "Why don''t youe out and fight?" Sea lord Corsair grunted disdainfully as he wore an impatient look on his face.


    Prince Bryon who was also a good distance away could hear his words and could tell they were directed at him.


    "If you are so eager to die, I don''t mind sending you off!" Prince Bryon chuckled as two pairs of golden angelic wings sprouted from his back.


    Like a beam of light, he and the third Sea Lord shoot towards each other before disappearing into their domain. With the two gone, Granick turned his attention to Colonel Darius and spoke.


    "That leaves you and I," Granick said as his eyes surged with power.


    "Although I can''t promise you a painless death, I''ll surely make this quickl." Darius sneered as his body shot forward without hesitation.


    "Cocky!" Granick roared as he charged forward to meet his foe in battle.


    Suddenly an Angel from the Synder empire shot out of the city with a ming spear in his hand. Without hesitation, he tossed the spear into the Tigerian side of the battlefield. "Die, Tigerian dogs!" He roared.


    The spear shot forward with inhuman precision, stabbing into a soldier and pinning him to the ground. It then lit up and exploded into a column of fire, consuming soldiers a hundred meters around the victim.


    "YOU DARE!" A Tigerian Angel roared in fury as countless water needles rained down on the Synder empire forces, turning a few hundred soldiers into porcupines.


    With this more angels from both sides shot out to meet each other in the air. Soon the air above the battlefield became the battleground for hundreds of angels and those beneath were not spared from the chaos.


    Meanwhile, Cami who was standing on the wall watched with a deep frown as she noticed the imbnces on some sides of the battlefield, leaving her with a slight frown.


    "Major General, the Tigerian soldiers are scaling the walls!" A soldier ran up to her with a worried look on his face as he blurted out those words.

 Chapter 607 Enigmatic figure.

    Chapter 607 Enigmatic figure.


    Even when the news reached Carmi she seemed calm as if all this fell under her expectations. Her gaze shifted to the distant chaotic battlefield littered with bodies of both sides.


    "Adventurers, it''s time" Carmi said in a calm tone.


    Suddenly the wall began trembling aspartments began opening on the battlement. Soldiers peeped down the holes only to see members of the adventurers association being elevated onto the tform by some sort of elevator.


    In mere seconds the seemingly scanty-looking battlement was filled to the brim with adventurers of different sizes and colors, each carrying overbearing presences making even some soldiers feel ufortable.


    Suddenly a light gust of wind blew from above attracting the attention of everyone. It was Guild master Walden descending majestically to Carmi''s side within a wind sphere surging around him with green leaves caught in the twirling wind.


    Although members of the Adventurer Association were independent from the Synder Empire, it didn''t mean that they weren''t citizens of the empire. So, in the case of an invasion, they were obligated to protect their homnd.


    "The city of Calton has given so much to us, boys. It''s time we give back!" He said in a calm tone yet his words reached every part battlement, attracting loud cheers from the adventurers who seemed eager to join the battle and prove themselves.


    Brian who was now buffed with his muscles bulging out of any little space of his armor, stood beside Carmi with a serene look unfit for someone of his size and stature.


    His fist was adorned with what looked like a rusty metallic gauntlet, held together with green vines. On his palm and at the back of his hand were emerald crystals glowing brightly with power and around his fist area were pointy spikes.


    Carmi shot a questioning nce at the gauntlets and let out a mental mod. If someone fails to pay attention, they may end up writing off this weapon but she could feel the immense power bubbling within it. It felt like the vines were not only keeping the gauntlets together but also suppressing its power.


    "Stay safe." Carmi said with a flicker of emotions on her face. This was the first show of emotion since the war began.


    "You too." Brian said with a faint smile on his face.


    At that moment a Tigerian soldier jumped onto the battlement with a spear in his hand, stabbing forward.


    "Fool." Brian''s cold voice was filled with disgust as his body moved, leaving behind a blur.


    With his left hand, he shattered the spear with a casual p while his right hand sped forward, grabbing the Tigerian soldier by the head.


    "Let me go!" The muffled voice of the Tigerian soldier could be heard as he held Brian''s hand which easily covered his face, trashing and kicking around like a child.


    With little effort, the head of the soldier was crushed and his corpse was allowed to fall.


    "Buy me a drink after all of this." Brian said to Cami which she responded with a nod.


    With a loud bang, Brian jumped off the battlement, nting his feet on the walls. With the earth element he began running down the wall, each step causing the wall to tremble under his weight.


    "What the hell?"


    Forces of the Tigerian army still trying to make their way up that part of the wall found themselves unable to maintain their bnce, talk more of ascending the wall. Soon the Tigerian soldiers began falling off the walls one after the other.


    The ones trying desperately to hold on, look ahead only to see Brian''s hulking figure, charging down as a wheel of water formed behind him.


    "Shit!" A Tigerian soldier panicked as he knew what to expect. Without hesitation, he attempted to jump off the wall but a jet of pressurized water sped down, splitting him in two from his waist even before he could make his escape.


    Soon water jets and water spears began raining down on the Tigerian soldiers trying to climb the wall, cutting them down inrge numbers.


    At the same time, aet of dark purple mes shot forward, smashing into a section of the wall and releasing a fiery shockwave which sent scorched corpses hurling down the wall. The dark purple mes seemed to subside, revealing Instructor Zirrack''s figure.


    At the same time, Hoffenheim could be seen free-falling from the top of the wall with a calm smile on his face. He slowly sped his hands together and upon parting them slightly, a sphere of light could be seen forming between his palms.


    "I hate wars." Hoffenheim said as numerous beams of light exploded from that single sphere, stabbing into numerous Tigerian soldiers and forcing them off the wall.


    Two Tigerian soldiers could be seen dashing across the wall, as they hoped to attack Hoffenheim from both sides but before they could reach, two more beams of light erupted from the sphere stabbing into their chests, leaving behind gaping holes.


    "You will have to move faster than that if you hope to reach me." Hoffenheim said with the same calm smile on his face.


    One after the other, teachers of the magic school began to appear, joining the battle. The situation which was looking grim before soon changed as the tide of battle began to fall in the favor of the Synder empire defenders.


    Soldiers at the top of the battlement cheered, believing that the presence of these teachers meant absolute victory for them. Unfortunately, good things do notst forever.


    The wind can never blow only in one direction for too long.


    At that moment an explosion of dark purple mes erupted in an empty part of the air, drawing the attention of everyone.


    An enigmatic figure hidden beneath a hooded cloak that seemed to absorb the very essence of light appeared. His piercing, cold gaze was the only visible feature, revealing eyes that gleamed with an unsettlingbination of madness and predatory intelligence.


    "Shit!"


    Cami as well as everyone who knew this figure cursed as if the recent change in the tide of the battle was for naught.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    AN:


    Hi guys, I just started myst book on Webnovel. Please do me a favour and check it out. Feel free to ask any question and mention how the book will could be better.


    Book Name:


    Killing God: Wrath of the First Nephilim

 Chapter 608 Sun Eater, Xeros

    608 Sun Eater, Xeros


    This was Xeros, the third strongest member of the League of Assassins, he was also considered the most ruthless member of the League. He is someone whose madness was considered only second to Verdigris.


    In fact, Verdigris was only considered crazier because he indulged in gross acts with his nt element like the Fernwave assimtion spell.


    "W-what is he doing here? Do they want to destroy the entire Calton?" Carmi muttered while her body shuddered involuntarily.


    Xeros grabbed his cloak by the cor and in one graceful move, he pushed aside the hood draped over his head with a crazed grin spread across his face as the sky darkened and the clouds turned ck.


    The sudden change sent shivers down the spine and what was even more terrifying was watching the Angels of the League of Assassins backing away with looks of urgency on their faces.


    If his allies were terrified, how much more are his enemies meant to be?


    Soldiers on the battleground began taking cautious steps back but it was already toote. Xeros'' eyes lit up with dark purple light, sending a wave of terrifying aura to all parts of the battlefield and the ughter began.


    A soldier suddenly lit up in fierce dark purple mes, zing madly as his screams of cries and pains spread across the ears of everyone around him, causing them to scramble away in haste, fearing they may be the next victim.


    A cruel smile appeared on his face as his eyes lit up like a child who had been gifted new toys.


    Screams of scorching soldiers could be heard at random parts of the battlefield. What was more terrifying about this was the fact that thebustion of soldiers followed no specific pattern which meant anyone could die at any time.


    "Woah! Our people are safe? That''s new." Verdigrismented with a look of genuine shock on his face.


    He was expecting to see some of their Tigeria''s forces fall prey to Xeros'' mass ughter but strangely no one on their side had died yet. He couldn''t help but think this way because Xeros was known as a cmity that obliterated everything and everyone around him, allies included. He was once sent on a mission where he ended up killing the targets and his allies. That was why the Masked man was now only sending him to solo missions.


    "Running won''t solve anything! He is just one man. If we join hands we can put him down right now!" No one was sure who said this but for some reason, all the angels of Calton found this reasonable and they all regained their lost confidence¡ªcharging towards Xeros.


    The newly advanced battle Angel sneered, not bothering to move an inch even in the presence of overwhelming odds. Remaining unmoved, Xero''s cloak began turning ck, until it was nowpletely pitch ck and seemed to absorb the light around. At the same time, the ck cloak began twisting and contorting as if it had a life of its own while the shadow aura began diffusing from it.


    Watching one man standing unmoved by the presence of about a hundred angels charging at him with murderous intentions, even soldiers on the battlement couldn''t help but let out gasps of shock. This was a breathtaking sight which is only seen once in a lifetime! Something only a few could dream of.


    "Die." Furious cries of the angels could be heard as barrages of spells raced towards Xeros'' direction. Ranging from wind des to ice spears, fierce balls of fire, water jets, sr rays and many more spells of various elements but even in the face of this Xeros remained calm and indifferent about the situation with his grin growing wider than ever.


    "Useless!!" Xerosughed hysterically as a powerful shockwave of ck mes erupted from his body, obliterating all the spells sent his way.


    All those around a hundred meters close to Xeros were caught in the shockwave, exploding into ck mes while letting out pained cries. The approaching Angels stopped in their tracks as Xeros'' tyrannicalughter reverberated across the sky while the screaming Angels still covered in thick ck mes, began falling off the skies.


    The ck mes were a fusion spell of his cursed mes (dark-purple) and darkness elements, the darkness elements made it extremely difficult to put out the fire. It also drained the vitality of everything it made contact with while inducing fear to its victims.


    "Who said you can scream when I''m yet to get to the fun part?" Xeros'' amused voice rang in everyone''s ears making them shiver in fear as they shifted their attention from their fallenrades to the airborne Xeros.


    They were shaken to see numerous tendrils made purely with darkness dancing around him. In a swift motion, the shadow tendrils shot down at a terrifying speed, gasping up to the falling angel still screaming in pain due to the scorching ck mes.


    With the shadow tendrilstched on to them, their vitality got drained at an astonishing speed. In mere seconds it looked like these angels had aged by a few thousand years and in the next second, they were reduced to dust.


    At this moment, the slender tentacles expanded twice their original size, bubbling with the immense vitality of the angels it had just consumed. At the same time, Xeros'' shadow became visible while he was still standing in mid-air, something which should be considered unusual but that was just the beginning.


    Right before the eyes of many, his shadow split into two, each shifting to his side as it began morphing and taking the shape of Xeros. From mere shadows, imitating his shadow form, to them, actually bing Xeros. Seeing the addition of two clones to Xeros'' sides everyone''s heart sank, as they couldn''t help but wonder how they were meant to cope with three Xeros'' if they could not handle one.


    "Shit..." Carmi muttered with a face as pale as a sheet of paper. At this point, even she could feel the cold de of death reaper scythe pressing against her throat and that of every inhabitant living in Calton.

 Chapter 609 Gathering the gang.

    609 Gathering the gang.


    A ck cloak fluttered its way into Carmi''s view, blocking Xeros from her sight.Her eyes dted due to shock as she saw a familiar face, one which she had dreamed of seeing for the past two years. Her lips parted but before any word could be said, ke had vanished once again.This time she felt his palm gently pat her shoulder and, in an instant, she vanished right before the eyes of many.


    The soldiers in the battlement scrambled away in shock and fear while many were frozen at their spot. Their terrified gaze pinned on ke''s unmoving figure as they wondered if the major general could not even react to this man, who were they to dream of fighting him?


    Fortunately for them, ke had no interest in insignificant soldiers of their level. His stern gaze was pinned on Xeros'' figure airborne and even though they were on the same team, he couldn''t help but feel ufortable.


    "This guy is really crazy." ke muttered with a shocked expression before vanishing.


    Appearing in his pocket dimension where Carmi was warped to, a friendly smile spread across his face as he took a step forward and spoke in a low tone.


    "Told you I''lle back for you." He said expecting a hug from her or some sort of emotional reaction but what is saw left him heartbroken.


    Carmi stood there, rooted to that spot with her eyes pinned on ke strangely she wouldn''t move to him. Her eyes revealed her conflicted emotions and each time it seemed like she wanted to jump into his arms, she ended up hesitating.


    While ke was heartbroken, he already expected this since he was the enemy trying to burn down her home. It would be hypothetical for him to expect her to forgo everything and run into his arms because he was certain if the situation was reversed, he would hesitate.


    "I understand your doubts and I promise to exin everythingter, but first I need to get the rest." ke said.


    Without waiting for a response, he warped out of the pocket dimension. As soon as ke appeared on the wall he heard the scream of a Tigerian soldier hurling through the air like a cannonball. With a simple side step, he moved out of the way with a bitter smile on his face.


    It was Brian trashing Tigerian soldiers almost effortlessly. Even now Brian held a Tigerian soldier by his face, watching the soldier thrash around and struggle desperately just to escape his grasp.


    Seeing ke, Brian''s eyes revealed a glint of shock but it cleared just as fast as it came.


    "Long time no see." Brian said with a confusing smirk that made ke wonder if he was excited to see him or fight him.


    "Yeah." ke responded, unsure of what to say.


    Both men stood in silence for a short while in an awkward silence before ke finally spoke.


    "Can youe with me?" ke asked while fondling his white hair.


    "Sure." Brian said without hesitation, leaving even ke surprised. In a swift motion, he crushed the skull of the soldier and allowed the corpse to fall before putting away his gauntlets. Brian had no form of loyalty to the Synder empire especially since they took ke and Castiel from him. His main purpose of fighting now was simply because he had stayed in the Synder empire all his life, so joining the Tigerian empire was impossible. It was also because he was lost and uncertain of the next step he was to take.


    "That was easier than expected." kemented as he stretched his hand and tapped his shoulder, warping both of them to the pocket dimension where Carmi was.


    Seeing Carmi, Brian finally felt rxed. As long as she was safe here, he had nothing else to bother about. Carmi too had a simr reaction when she saw Brian. Seeing him here helped her believe she was doing the right thing.


    "I know where Tessie is but I can''t sense Castiel anywhere on the battlefield or in Calton." ke broke the silence but his words were met with an unexpected reaction.


    Theplex emotions visible in Carmi''s gaze intensified as she looked at Brian, hesitating to speak for a moment.


    "Don''t bother searching for Castiel, he is on Synder''s side." Brian said in a stern but regretful tone.


    "What do you mean?" ke was confused. "Aren''t you all on Synder''s side?" He asked with a even more puzzled look on his face.


    "It''s a long story, just don''t bother." Brian said while shaking his head. "We will have time to exin thingster." He added.


    Hearing this ke couldn''t help but frown. He wanted to ask a lot of questions but he had to bring Tessie over first.


    ------------


    On another part of the battlefield, a massive trunk covered 200 meters (656ft). The trunk''s height was about 50 meters sprouting thousands of aerial roots and a canopy that was 400 meters (1312ft) wide


    Tessie who was at the top of the canopy watched as thousands ofrge roots erupted from below ensnaring, crushing, and impaling every living thing that came within its range.


    Tessie had made the mother tree release sweet scents across the battlefield instantly sending numerous Tigerian soldiers into a frenzied state, making them unable to defend against the relentless roots.


    Using the locator spell, ke knew Tessie''s location. He appeared above the mother tree and upon seeing the chaos taking ce around he couldn''t help but frown.


    Likewise, Tessie noticed the presence of someone above her Mother tree, temporarily drawing her attention as she looked up but before she could make sense of what was happening ke had already warped away.


    Appearing at the location where Tessie was hidden, he performed a simple finger flick and theyers of the trunk where Tessie was hidden effortlessly opened up revealing Tessie.


    Tessie''s instincts were to phase through theyers of the trunk behind her, but on seeing that the intruder was ke, her mind turned nk.


    ______________________________________________________


    _________________________________________


    AN:


    Hi guys, I just started myst book on Webnovel. Please do me a favour and check it out. Feel free to ask any question and mention how the book will could be better.


    Book Name:


    Killing God: Wrath of the First Nephilim

 Chapter 610 Fall of the Eastern Capital.

    Chapter 610 Fall of the Eastern Capital.


    "Can I borrow you for a minute?" ke asked with an outstretched hand.


    Without giving it a thought, Tessie nodded as she stretched out her hand and grabbed his. In an instant, they both warped into the pocket dimension.


    Upon arrival, ke turned to everyone and spoke.


    "I know you all have a lot of questions to ask" he said as he froze space forming chairs. "But my exnation will answer everything, so you all should have a seat while I start from the beginning."


    As soon as ke sat down, two cute doll-sized wolves appeared on his shoulders. One had thick ck fur with red glowing patterns while the second had white fur with blue glowing patterns. The three of them were aware that this was Ebony and Ivory, but they felt a terrifying aura that instinctively made them swallow.


    "First things first, I''m not from Infinite realm." ke said which sent waves of confusion through everyone present.


    "Then where are you from?" Carmi and Tessie asked with raised brows. If ke said he wasn''t from the Synder empire that would be quite shocking but eptable. But saying he wasn''t from the realm entirely was something they couldn''t even fathom. ke nced at Brian for a brief moment before exining. "I am from a blue very far away from here, and I was summoned to this realm by the one you know as the All-Father."


    The girls were shocked and confused at the same time as it all seemed farfetched, but they didn''t interrupt him, gesturing for him to continue. "When I was summoned to Infinite realm, I was chased by morgs which led to a cave where I came in contact with the All-Father''s inheritance. It was then that Prince Bryon arrived and killed morgs before bringing me into Calton and enrolling me in the Magic school." ke began exining his life throughout his days in the school while skipping irrelevant details.


    "Throughout my days in the magic school, and even to the end of my career at the Ash Corps, my driving motive was toplete whatever task I had here and return to my mom." ke let out a helpless sigh as he still missed his mom, but he quickly snapped out of it and continued his story. "That was until I joined the League of Assassins and met my Dad." ke said causing even Brian to raise a brow in confusion.


    "I thought you said your dad died in your world when you were young?" Tessie couldn''t help but point out the contradiction.


    "That was what I thought until the feared Masked man who turns out to be my brother took me to him." ke exined, even going on to tell them about everything Cassius had told him including the secrets of the main realm, and the former All-Father''s betrayal.


    This left Brian, Cami and Tessie utterly speechless as they were still trying to digest so many mind-blowing secrets. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "The main of the war is to eliminate Synder and the former All-Father as they are variables that would eventually lead to the destruction of the realm." ke concluded his story.


    "From what I understood, this isn''t a matter we can interfere with. So why have you done so much just to tell us this?" Brian couldn''t help but wonder.


    "I didn''t want you all to feel that I betrayed you guys by being on the enemy''s side. Also, this was to make sure nothing happens to you all until the siege is over." ke said reminding them that a gruesome war was taking ce on the outside.


    --------------


    Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the receding water began returning sending shivers down the spine of the Synder empire soldiers littered across the battlefield.For them the return of the tide meant nothing but death but soon their greatest fear would be proven to be baseless.


    The surging tide of water ignored everything happening across the battlefield and began surging towards the skies, moving in the direction of the area where Prince Bryon and the third Sea Lord, Corsair had vanished.


    As a Battle Angel of the water element, Corsair had the authority of the oceans which allowed him to summon the tide of the oceans from anywhere, giving him a great advantage no matter where he chose to fight.


    On the Battlefield, things were not looking good for the Synder empire. The returning tide showed that the fight with Prince Bryon seemed to have only started, pushing him out of the equation.


    Xeros was like an unshakable force,ying waste to angels no matter how many gathered. To make matters worse, Major General Carmi who was in charge of the western wall had been abducted, leaving that position vacant and prone to enemy attacks.


    Right now it was clear the army of Calton was losing this war, plunging many into a state of fear and despair.


    "No one was expecting him to be here." Hoffenheim said with a strange level of calmness on his face even though things were not going as nned.


    "He is too dangerous, I cannot continue to fight." Hoffenheim concluded after giving the matter some thought. Xeros'' strength was well known and on the battlefield today, he has proven it to be true. Fighting against someone like this even after seeing his power directly was no different frommitting suicide. Hoffenheim was much smarter than that.


    "But if I run, that will be considered as treason." A strange thought suddenly struck Hoffenheim. "I will bebeled a deserter." He added with a slight show of difort on his face.


    "Well, all I have to do is return to Father." Hoffeinheim said with confidence. "I wonder where he is now..." He said before vanishing, exiting the battlefield without a second thought.


    Hoffenheim believed the empire brought this cmity upon itself by marginalizingmoners. He was not a citizen of Synder so he didn''t owe them any form of loyalty.


    Regardless, he still worried about his colleagues and his students whom he had formed bonds with during his stay here. It was sad they were caught up in this mess but he had no ns of dying, and neither did he have any intentions of getting Azkelwart involved in this war.


    Out of nowhere Prince Bryon appeared in mid-air, outside the city leaving many shocked as they expected this battle tost a bit longer. Looking at him, it was clear he wasn''t hurt, only having a few cuts and bruises.


    "Retreat!" Prince Bryon suddenly ordered leaving many shocked and confused.


    "Retreat to where?" Many muttered in confusion but it soon became clear to them that the message was not for them.


    The few important figures who understood what was going on quickly headed to the Square and vanished, leaving Calton in its time of need.


    Only now did the weight of their actions reach the soldiers of Calton. Their prince and a few other strong important figures left at the most crucial time of the battle.


    "Did we just get abandoned?" A soldier muttered as his weapons fell from his hands. His eyes filled with shock and disbelief.


    The same feeling gued every soul in Calton as they tried to wrap their head around everything that just happened but even then they were not given the chance.


    Explosions rocked the walls and gates of the city and one after the other the gates began to fall while soldiers of the Tigerian army began scaling the walls inrge numbers.


    The Tigerian forces had made their way into the city. It was clear to everyone that the battle had been lost.

 Chapter 611 Heart of the Synder Empire.

    Chapter 611 Heart of the Synder Empire.


    "So what now?" Brian couldn''t help but ask.


    "Once we deal with Synder and the previous All-Father everything should be okay." ke responded with aforting pat on his shoulder.


    "Just that simple?" Brian said with an apprehensive look on his face.


    "Although we are currently winning, I don''t believe it would be that easy."ke responded honestly, making Cassie and Tessie unsure of how to feel.


    Seeing that Cami and Tessie still acted distant, ke decided to end their conversation there since the siege had ended. He then warped them back to Calton before moving off. While he still wanted to spend time with them, he had other responsibilities now.


    Only a day had passed by and important figures had gathered at the flying base of the League of Assassins. While Dorian and ke stood by the ss wall, enjoying the stunning view, Xeros'' was seated in a corner of the room, his gaze pinned on the twirling ck mes dancing at the tips of his fingers.


    In front of the desk was Zyvexin, the 2nd strongest member of the League, who sat on the chair in front of the desk. Zyvexin''s muscr body was nothing short of impressive and he carried an intimidating air around him. Toplete his rugged look was thick red hair littered across his body. On his right shoulder was a miniature red dragon a person''s head. It stood there, gazing at the ck mes burning in Xeros'' palm with a look of interest in its eyes.


    During the siege on Calton, he was ced on standby in case another battle angel was sent to stop Xeros'' onught.


    "That was too easy. It even seemed like Bryon hadn''t put up a fight before escaping." ke voiced his concerns with a frown as he spoke to Dorian.


    ''When and how did they get so close?'' Zyvexin couldn''t help but ask with a look of disbelief.


    After staying with him for more than a century now, Zyvexin knew a lot about the personality of the masked man. No one knew what he was thinking at any given moment and his mood was quite vtile, changing to anything at any time. In fact, even till date, his identity was still a mystery to everyone apart from the upper echelons of the Tigerian empire. The same applied to his right-hand and left-hand men in the league. "Yes, it does feel strange. I even thought the other councillors would show up since none of their cities were being attacked." Dorian said thoughtfully.


    "In a way, it is expected but something doesn''t feel right." He added after thinking for a while.


    The Tigerian empire''s main reason for starting this war is due to their overwhelming strength from their coboration with the League of Assassins and their formations. However, it was feeling way too easy, which showed that something was wrong especially when facing their number one nemesis.


    Dorian understood ke''s worries and shared the same worries as well but now was not the time for them to have this discussion.


    "Anyways it''s time for the meeting." Dorian said as he turned to Zyvexin and Xeros. "Let''s head over to the war room."


    After saying this, Dorian warped four of them out of the flying base. He and ke appeared beside Cassius who was seated on the Mana crystal throne with a calm look on his face. Xeros and Zyvexin appeared on the lower tform where Tidewalker and the other Sea lords stood.


    ''Huh?''


    Even the indifferent Xeros was shocked by those around him. This was the first time he was entering a room with the top echelons of the Tigerian empire.


    Zyvexin was even more shocked to see ke standing next to Cassius who was unknown while Tidewalker the supposed emperor of Tigeria was standing below.


    ''Why does he get to stand up there when we are here? Also, who is that man sitting on the throne?'' Zyvexin was confused and had a lot of unanswered questions but that was when Cassius began speaking.


    "If we continue going city after city, we it would take more time than expected, and we will end up losing more troops." Cassius'' voice cut through the silence in the room drawing the attention of everyone. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "So we shall end the war tonight." Cassius'' words sent ripples across the room as everyone reacted with a look of shock on their faces.


    ''What?!'' ke muttered in shock, originally doubtful but on second thought it made sense.


    It was clear Synder was cooking something, plotting and nning behind the scenes. Instead of waiting to be served, it was best to attack them before they were done with their ns. Especially now they have the element of surprise!


    ''I have never heard about Tigeria setting up a long-distance warp array at the capital. So how are they nning on doing so?'' Just like most people in the room, Zyvexin was shocked by the news, but quickly began asking important questions.


    At that moment, Cassius'' mana crystal throne began glowing brightly.


    "Let''s end this..." Cassius said. His words sent another ripple of confusion across the room.


    ''Like right now?'' ke asked the question in the minds of the people in the room. Only Xeros grinned in this situation, clearly pleased with the direction this meeting was going.


    ----------------


    It was high noon in the capital of the Synder Empire, the streets bustling with activities. It seemed far busier ever since Synder lost Calton. However, out of nowhere the sky turned dark as numerous figures appeared above drawing the attention of people in the capital. Cassius remained seated on his throne, with an ever-present indifferent expression while his cold gaze was pinned on the capital as a whole. Standing beside him were ke and Dorian with the rest lined up behind them as they all gazed down on the city below.


    They had arrived at the heart of the Synder Empire, and unfortunately for their enemy, most of their forces were still spread out.

 Chapter 612 Raining Angels

    612 Raining Angels


    In the Synder Empire throne room, the arrangement of individuals during meetings was totally different and there were even more.


    The first was the founder of the Empire, Synder, who had descended in his physical form. He embodied the essence of divinebustion and radiated an aura of unquenchable white mes. His stiff face was decorated with fiery white eyebrows and a thick white fiery moustache.


    Adorned in an intricate ensemble of shimmering golden armour, Synder''s regal attire seems forged from the very essence of molten gold, each te and ornamentation intricately detailed. The armour, embellished with ornate patterns reminiscent of dancing mes, moulds seamlessly to Synder''s form, embodying strength, resilience, and an otherworldly elegance.


    Standing to his right was Emperor Cinder and at the left was Prince Bryon, while the councillors stood in their normal positions with their heads bowed in fear of angering the god of mes and destruction.


    Apart from the presence of the founding father of the empire, there were three new people in the room. The first was his beloved grandson, Luciano, who hadn''t changed much. The next was Castiel, who now had dark purple hair with a cruel smile spread across his face while his diabolical aura slowly diffused from his body.


    He had just stepped into the angel realm not too long ago and was the second to the weakest person among everyone present. However, he was the mostfortable with his head raised high even in the presence of Synder''s oppressive aura. Even his countenance felt like everyone else in the room except for Synder was beneath him.


    Thest but definitely not the least was the God of Light and leader of The Crusaders, Srael. Seated on a floating hard light construct, Srael was the embodiment of radiant splendour and the light element. Srael possessed an eternally youthful countenance, with chiselled features that reflected an otherworldly beauty. His eyes, akin to twin orbs of glistening sunlight, shimmered with an inner glow that mirrored the cosmic radiance of stars.


    Srael''s hair cascaded like liquid gold, flowing in waves of shimmering brilliance that caught and refracted the light around him. Each strand seems to radiate its own soft luminescence, adding to his divine allure.


    ''The enemy of my enemy is my friend''. This was the first thought that came to the God of light when he heard about the involvement of the masked man of the league in the war of both empires. Immediately, he made a decision to contact and join hands with Synder to enact his revenge.


    Once they formed the alliance, he got to know about Synder''s n with the ''All-Father''. However, he wasn''t told the full story all he was told was that the former All-Father had a way of breaking them out of the dimension if he was to return to the Deity realm.


    Knowing that this dimension that they were banished to was nothing but a cage that limited their growth. This made him quickly ept the deal.


    "How was your evaluation of the 3rd sea lord?" Synder asked in a calm tone that would make an outsider not believe that he was on the losing end of the war.


    "When ites to a real fight, I am certain I would defeat him," Prince Bryon said with unwavering confidence in his eyes.


    Contrary to what people believed, the battle at the city of Calton served a different purpose. It was an evaluation of the Tigerian empire''s true strength. As soon as Prince Bryon had acquired the information necessary from the Sea lord and the battle atrge, he ended the battle quickly and ordered a retreat.


    "Good¡­" Synder said with an evil grin spreading across his face.


    With the coboration of the empire and The Crusaders still hidden from Tigeria, they had the element of surprise on their sides. Since the Tigerian empire had shown the full extent of their strength in this war, Synder nned that every Siegeid by the enemy from now on would be a trap to kill masters of the Tigeria.


    Since the top masters of the Synder empire were monitored, no one would the Crusaders to appear during each siege and ambush the top masters of the Tigerian empire. That was how their counter was meant to start, but then an unexpected issue arrived at their doorstep, taking the entire room by surprise.


    Siren sounds erupted in the room, one signalling the arrival of an intruder. A frown spread across the faces of everyone in the room because they believed anyone bold enough to attack the capital was not simple. Immediately, a screen lit up and the image of Cassius seated on his mana crystal throne appeared, by his sides were the masked man and ke. Standing behind the trio were the masters of the Tigerian empire and masters of the League of Assassins!


    The room fell silent as everyone was shocked by this new development. They never consider this possibility, leaving them with so many unanswered questions. Amongst everyone in the room, Castiel was the one most shaken up by the sudden development, seeing Cassius, the man who defeated him in the past and also foiled his n to take ke''s body, left a bad taste in his mouth.


    If he couldn''t win against Cassius in the past when he was the All-Father, how was he meant to stand up to him now he was in the body of a mere angel?


    Everything associated with Cassius gave him nothing but nightmares.


    "I guess the war will end sooner than expected," Synder said, his initial shock had faded and was now reced with a grin. His words drew the attention of everyone in the room. Even the councillors raised their heads, gazing at their God with expectant eyes. Even Prince Bryon and Emperor Cinder couldn''t help but look in Synder''s direction. They all believed If someone knew how to get them out of this mess, it was Synder! N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "It''s time to unveil our surprise." Synder said calmly in response to the expectant gazes.


    Upon saying this, the throne released a bright light, engulfing everyone in the room. As soon as the light faded, everyone was gone except Sreal.


    ¡ª-----------------


    Above the Synder empire capital, Cassius'' gaze casually shifted from below to the area in front and in response to his actions, ke, Dorian and the other masters of Tigeria and the League traced his eyes. At the spot where Cassius was looking at space seemed to twist and turn violently and the next instant numerous figures appeared at that spot.


    "I didn''t know you were so eager to die," Synder taunted as his figure came into view with his subordinates.


    In an instant, a fiery and malicious aura exploded from his body, washing through the entire area. The presence of the God of war and destruction was boundless and fierce. As if in response to their master''s aura, Angels of the Synder empire began rising into the air from the capital, their murderous gaze pinned on Cassius and his crew.


    At this point, the masters of Tigeria and the League felt pressured. The sheer number of the enemy forces was simply overwhelming, it was clear they were badly outnumbered. ''Why the fuck were we brought here?'' Zyvexin cursed under his breath as he wondered why a man he knew nothing of, seated on the crystal throne, brought just a few of them to fight Synder and his entire forces.


    "We do not need these small fries disturbing us, do we?" Cassius said, clearly unperturbed by Synder''s taunts or the staggering number of angels rising against them.


    Upon saying these words, the atmosphere turned heavy as an ominous feeling rippled from the crystal throne. It seemed as if time had slowed down as the feeling of death washed over the area and the crystal throne turned ck. A terrifying pulse of dark energy rippled from the ck throne, covering the entire area.


    There was silence for a second but what happened next left many shaken. Hundreds of angels began dropping from the skies, unconcious! To those above, such a disy of power has never been seen before. Even Zyvexin and Xeros couldn''t help but give Cassius another questioning look as they wondered who the hell this man was.


    For those below, walking on the streets of the capital, they watched with their mouth left wide open due to shock. Angels which are considered the main fighting force of any empire were disabled in an instant! It was raining angels! That was the only way they could describe what was happening.


    Unmoved by the oue of his attack, Cassius gently grabbed the armrest of his ck throne and pushed himself up. As soon as he was standing, the throne was consumed by a fog of darkness, blocking it from the view of everyone. A cool breeze blew across the battlefield, blowing away the fog while revealing a ck reaper''s scythe levitating by Cassius'' side, just within reach of his right hand. _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    AN:


    Hi guys, I just started myst book on Webnovel. Please do me a favour and check it out. Feel free to ask any question and mention how the book will could be better.


    Book Name:


    Killing God: Wrath of the First Nephilim


    ?

 Chapter 613 Beginning of the end

    613 Beginning of the end


    A gentle breeze blew across the area as a brief silence followed after Cassius'' earlier disy, the gaze of both enemies and allies was pinned on Cassius as they waited to see what he would do next.


    "I can see one scoundrel," Cassius said as his gaze settled on Castiel. "Where is the other one?" he asked.


    While his words left every other person confused, Synder was the only one who disyed shock. It felt like his secrets were never a secret to start with. Synder had lots of questions in his mind but he put all that aside and met Cassius'' gaze.


    "You know, the darkness is always aware of the light, but not the other way around," Cassius chuckled on seeing the shocked expression of the God of War.


    Upon hearing this a star-shaped body of light formed beside Synder, forcing everyone to cover their eyes due to the intensity of its rays. Normal citizens below who dared to look directly at this light were blinded at the spot. Only Cassius and Synder remained unfazed by the bright light.


    The light soon faded, revealing the imposing figure of the God of Light, Sreal. Beside him, Synder stood with a frown etched on his face as he pondered deeply on the implications of the recent developments. The fact that Cassius chose to attack them directly even though he knew he would be going against two Gods meant he was confident he would win. Such confidence from an individual like Cassius is not baseless, leaving Synder wondering what tricks Cassius may have hidden under his sleeves.


    "Do not underestimate him, he is more dangerous than you think," Castiel said to Synder, further making the God of war and destruction reevaluate his opinion of Cassius, especially since Valerius had been the one to go against him in the past.


    Synder and Sreal shared a nce before moving forward as their body phased out of reality, moving into the astral ne. Seeing this, Cassius casually took hold of his reaper scythe before phasing out of reality as he moved into the astral ne to meet the two Gods.


    They had no ns of fighting in the mortal ne as none of them had ns of having their forces and city caught up in the battle. Once the Gods were gone Emperor Cinder shifted his gaze to meet that of the masked man and the area turned tense. Meanwhile, ke locked eyes with Castiel, however, Castiel wasn''t the only one interested in him. Aurelius Frostborne, Cedric ckthorn, and Luciano all had their malicious gaze pinned on him. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    At that moment a fiery domain erupted from Emperor Cinder, expanding rapidly but the masked man had no intentions of remaining idle. Dark ripples began surging from his body, sending silent waves at the fiery domain. As the two forces shed, the surrounding space twisted before warping both of them away.


    As soon as Emperor Cinder and the masked man were gone, four people flew towards ke. Aurelius Frostborne was the first to act as he split into three. His water clones circled ke cutting off his possible paths of retreat before they all charged in together.


    "You will pay for her death!" the voices of all three Aurelius Frostborne were filled with rage that echoed from all directions as they raised ice-encased hands, stabbing forward with madness and fury dancing in their eyes.


    Although he had advanced to the angel realm, he was still no match for an experienced Battle Angel like Aurelius, talk more of dodging a three-pronged attack from him.


    However, even against the pressure of these three clones which would make one feel helpless, ke remained unbothered. At that moment, Emperor Tidewalker also split into three water clones and moved in to intercept the attack. DING! DING! DING!


    Loud shing sounds erupted from three directions as Tidewalker''s clones blocked the ice attacks with their tridents.


    While this was taking ce, gigantic vines erupted from the ground beneath, sprawling around each other as they raced to the skies, only stopping when they could kiss the clouds. The flower bud and the clouds parted while the rays of the sun seemed to focus on the flower alone.


    The towering sunflower released numerous dazzling colors as it charged up and in the next moment, a scorching beam erupted from the sunflower racing towards ke from above, threatening to consume not just him but everyone around him as well.


    At the same time, the figure of the second sea lord, Maridus, appeared above ke, gazing at the scorching sr beam with a smirk on his face. His hands moved gracefully, carrying a frosty wind with them as he threw them forward. Instantly an ice barrier formed a massive ice wall took form, meeting the sr beam directly.


    Upon impact, shockwaves erupted across the battlefield as the barrier trembled with visible web-shaped cracks spreading across it. Floating directly underneath it, the second sea lord seemed unmoved as he watched with narrowed eyes as some rays of light escaped through the cracks.


    After a few seconds, the trembling stopped and the ice wall shattered into numerous little pieces, revealing the second sea lord, whose gaze was pinned on the councilor standing atop the sunflower, and a charming smile bloomed on his face.


    Maridus stood tall and regal, exuding an aura of calmness that mirrored the depths of the ocean.


    His presence was striking yet serene¡ªa figure draped in flowing robes that rippled like gentle waves in a perpetual, soothing motion.


    Maridus'' eyes, a deep and serene shade of sea green, held an enigmatic wisdom that reflected the ancient secrets hidden within the depths of the ocean.


    His demeanor wasposed and tranquil, radiating a sense of inner peace that calms even the mightiest tempests. On his body, Maridus wore multiple jewelry ranging from rings to earrings filled with inscriptions that radiated magical power.


    "I will be your opponent." He said with a smile, revealing his razor-shaped teeth.


    As if kicking the ground, his body was propelled forward like a missile, shooting up to meet the councilor. Meanwhile, ke who was still sandwiched between Emperor Tidewalker, and Aurelius Frostborne quickly warped out, fearing he may be caught in the chaos of their battle.


    Turning his attention to Castiel and Luciano he couldn''t help but remember his discussion with his friends in the pocket dimension after he told them his story. Brian had revealed everything that happened with Castiel. From getting his hands on the fire inheritance to distancing himself.


    Immediately ke heard this, he understood what was going on. The only Fire God present was Synder and since he was working with the former All-Father, it was clear they had been grooming him to be the new host. Taking into ount what Castiel said to Synder before the battle started, it was clear the All-Father had already taken over his body.


    The feeling of guilt sipped into ke since he knew he was the one originally meant to be the host of the All-Father. The actions of Cassisu and Dorain were the reason the responsibility was shifted to Castiel, however, there was nothing he could do about it even if he wanted to help because Synder had always kept a close eye on Castiel. He soon turned his attention to Luciano and a feeling of rage began to emanate from his heart. After realizing that Luciano took part in Castiel''s conversion, he realized that Luciano had always been part of his grooming process. His friendship with him had always been fake, all their memories and rtionship with him was built on lies and pretense. He was one of the reasons Castiel turned out like this.


    ke was furious!

 Chapter 614 Almost perfect.

    614 Almost perfect.


    The recent revtions were enough to leave ke fuming with rage. Valerius understood the reason behind his anger and decided to exploit it. A cruel thought crossed his mind as a sinister smile bloomed on his face when he spoke,


    "Handover yourself, boy, and I promise your friend here will be fine," he said with an evil smirk.


    Contrary to his expectations, ke showed no reaction to his words,pletely ignoring him. His focus shifted to the beam of lights from the city below, racing toward the skies and even overtaking the clouds.


    The entire sky was painted gold for a short while as masters of the Crusaders joined the battle Watching them emerge, Zyvexin revealed a cruel smile as he turned his attention to the little red dragon on his shoulder.


    "We are up,"


    In response to his words, the red dragon let out a yelp of excitement before jumping off his shoulder, its body began to shiver, surging with power.


    The air itself seemed to respond to thistent power, resonating with a low hum that echoed through the air.


    At first, subtle changes manifested in the pet dragon''s physical appearance. Once small and tightly packed, its scales began to growrger and more pronounced. The ruby hue deepened, reflecting the intensity of an unquenchable me. The dragon''s horns, once mere protrusions, extended and curved, now resembling fiery tendrils reaching toward the heavens.


    As the transformation continued, the air crackled with energy, and the temperature around the area soared as the dragon''s body diffused immense heat.


    The wings of the dragon, once modest and unassuming, expanded with a resounding snap, revealing a magnificent span that now cast an imposing shadow over numerousbatants on the battlefield. mes danced along the edges of the wings, leaving trails of molten embers in their wake.


    The dragon''s eyes, once filled with youthful curiosity, now radiated wisdom and ancient power. A fiery glow emanated from within, reflecting the intense inferno that burned at the core of its being. The mighty dragon spread its wings, roaring with a thunderous sound that echoed through the mountains, marking the birth of a creature that wouldmand both fear and respect across the realms.


    At the same time, a crazed smile spread across Xeros'' face as he levitated higher into the air with a gaze fixated on the two battle Angels. ck me erupted around his palms initially before spreading to the other parts of his body.


    Xeros and Zyvexin shot towards the battle angels of the Crusaders, with the red dragon leading the charge. With the three gone, ke was left alone with Valerius and Luciano.


    "It seems all your helpers are preupied. How do you n to deal with us now?" Valerius said with a sinister glint in his eyes.


    Upon saying those words, Valerius'' body lit up for a second and as the light began to dim, an armour came into view. Each intricately designed te of the armour bore a mesmerizing pattern of swirling mes, captured withinyers of enchanted obsidian. The armour clung to Valerius form like a second skin, offering both protection and flexibility. The helm, crowned with a crest resembling a flickering me, shielded the wearer''s face while allowing a narrow slit for vision.


    In his hand was a spear. Its shaft was crafted from the charred wood of ancient trees that had witnessed centuries of volcanic eruptions. The spearhead, an imposing creation of molten obsidian and tempered dragon ss, shimmered with an inner fire that seemed to intensify as the weapon was wielded.


    ke gazed at the armour and spear yet offered no reaction facially. The hostility in his gaze seemed to look past Castiel''s physical form, peering deep into his mind and soul, where Valerius must be hiding.


    "You seem to have be talkative," ke said with a tone void of any form of emotions.


    "That''s great!" Valerius said while gritting his teeth. Suppressing his rage, Valerius channelled his power through his spear, allowing shadow and golden mes (from the inheritance) to engulf its de. At the same time, Luciano summoned his weapon. It was a dual sword, the des themselves were forged from the darkest obsidian, their edges honed to an almost supernatural sharpness. The obsidian gleamed with an inky lustre, hinting at the profound strength thaty within. Each de was slightly curved, and designed to slice through the air with effortless grace and speed.


    Instantly, Valerius burst into mes, vanishing from the spot. Almost at the same time, ke heard the low explosion sound caused by the me jump erupting behind him. He appeared behind ke, stabbing forward ruthlessly, his fiery de aimed at ke''s skull.


    Enhanced by the speed of lightning, ke considered Valerius'' attempt to catch him off-guardughable. Not bothering to look back, ke tilted his head to the left and felt the steaming wind brush of the across his cheek.


    At the same time, Luciano charged forward. Kicking the air, his body began spinning in the wind while golden mes exploded from his body. Soon Luciano was almost entirely engulfed in a body of golden mes, twice ke''s size at the very least.


    However, ke had no intentions of shing with him head-on. He warped away to dodge the attack but Valerius had already expected this, so he used me jump to warp alongside ke.


    Appearing at a different location, ke looked up upon sensing the spatial distortion above. It was Valerius, thrusting his spear at ke who responded by freezing multipleyers of space above him.


    Ding.


    The attack was blocked sessfully, but Valerius had expected this and twisted his body at the perfect moment to manoeuvre to ke''s left, stabbing forward ruthlessly with his spear. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Simultaneously, Luciano arrived at ke''s right with zing golden eyes. mming his swords together, they merged to form one zing golden sword. shing forward, a staggering amount of golden mes danced forward, speeding towards ke!


    This synergy¡­ is beautiful¡­ it is almost perfect

 Chapter 615 Unpleasant surprise.

    615 Unpleasant surprise.


    The coordinated attacks of Valerius and Luciano did not fail to catch ke''s attention, flooding his mind with a series of thoughts.


    "Perfect sync,'' ke was shocked. ''It''s as if they have been training together for a long time.'' ''Of course they have,'' he muttered in his head.


    ''Well, this is getting annoying," kemented as his eyes narrowed.


    With his fists clenched, an invisible force erupted from his body, bulldozing through the attacks.


    Peng. Valerius'' eyes widened as the scorching de of his spear met the expanding force, creating fiery sparks brushing past his face. Gritting his teeth, Valerius could feel the strength of his hands depleting rapidly, it was going numb.


    Boom. "Gah!"Valerius groaned as he was overwhelmed.


    His spear was blown away from his hands first, leaving him with no choice but to cross his hands over his face before getting blown away. Simultaneously, Luciano watched the invisible force bulldoze through his fiery attack, charging towards his exposed body. Using the fused sword as a shield, Luciano felt the impact of the attack, and instantly he was thrown back by an invisible force, not even given the chance to resist a bit like Valerius. However, ke had no intention of letting his enemies catch their breath.


    Lightning crackled around his palms, lighting up his surroundings, while the space twisted violently before tearing open. ke threw his hands into the spatial tear, firing lightning bolts at Luciano.


    Soon after, ke vanished appearing behind Valerius who had just managed to halt his retreat, however, Valerius was attuned to the space element and was able to notice ke''s presence. He turned to meet ke head-on, but that was ke''s n all along.


    Stealthily, a spatial tear appeared behind Valerius, and the lightning bolts fired at Luciano sprang out of it, racing toward his exposed back. However, Valerius had seen through his intentions as a wall of solid fire spiralled into existence, shielding him from the bolts of lightning


    shes of orange and blue light illuminated the battlefield as ke and Valerius stood, gazing at each other amid the chaos. The magic spear flew into Valerius'' hand and immediately its de was engulfed in ck and golden mes. "It seems you have forgotten I had the space element." He said in a mocking tone as he stabbed forward with his spear.


    Speed Domain!


    Suddenly it seemed as if the passage of time had slowed, but in reality, it reduced the speed of everything in a hundred meters range of ke. However, Valerius was no rookie and instantly spotted the changes taking ce, even then he remained resilient with eyes zing with determination.


    "That won''t save you!" He growled furiously, putting more effort into his attack.


    Seeing this, a mocking smile bloomed on ke''s face as he decided not to make a move. He stood there, not bothering to block or evade the attack


    The de of the spear soon made contact with the fabric of ke''s attire, piercing deeper, but strangely Valerius felt no resistance. His face turned cold as his instincts kept telling him something was wrong.


    Buzz.


    ke, struck by the attack, quickly burst into a body of electricity, justifying Valerius'' hunch. 19:40


    Electric Decoy!


    Valerius'' eyes darted around the battlefield in search of ke and just as expected ke appeared. As soon as ke appeared some distance away, Luciano''s figure came into sight, his hands gripping the hilt of his fused sword tightly. It was clear they had predicted his next move.


    Simultaneously, Valerius appeared behind ke, stabbing forward with his spear.


    "Hmph," ke let out a disdainful snort as immense lightning began diffusing from his body. The next moment, the lightning arcs had be a massive pir of lighting, shooting up into the sky and reaching the ground below.


    Retracting his attack, Valerius attempted to create some distance between himself and ke by pulling away, however, ke had no intentions of letting him go.


    ck Hole!


    Valerius'' retreating figure halted in midair, unable to move further away from ke. It felt like a powerful force had a strong grip on his body, pulling him in.


    "Shit!" Valeria muttered as he gripped his spear with two hands. He could feel the pull not only trying to drag him in but it was greedily pulling after their weapons too.


    Beads of sweat ran down his face as he struggled to hold onto his spear.


    Across ke was Luciano, who wasn''t faring any better as well. He gripped his sword tightly as it was moments from escaping his grip and shooting into the lightning pir.


    "Damn it!" Valerius cursed as he looked ahead, locking eyes with Luciano for a brief moment.


    As if making a silent agreement the duo burst into mes, vanishing and appearing some distance away, however, as soon as Valerius appeared a spatial tear opened right in front of him.


    Yet to recover from the strain put on him by the ck hole, Valerius was a tad bitte in his response. A Greatsword with a wolf design hilt sprang out of the spatial tear, its de easily tearing through his armour and lodging into his chest.


    Valerius felt a warm liquid rising up his throat. He tried as much as he could to keep it in but his body wouldn''t let him. He spat out a mouthful of blood, staining his lips and clothes while his body swayed weakly in the wind.


    "How?" He muttered in shock as he reassessed the situation in a bid to find out what went wrong.


    His eyes dted with surprise as he realized what happened. It turned out that when ke had warped away earlier, he had remained in the spatial corridor while sending out a clone to fight in his stead.


    "I see." Valerius squinted his eyes as he realized what he missed. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    His body hovered farther away from the battlefield in a bid to create more distance while his hands reached for the hilt of the de lodged in his chest.


    Blood trickled down his lips and he pulled out the sword with some effort, revealing a gaping wound in his heart.


    "Nice trick there but that won''t be enough!" Valerius hissed in disdain as a bright light shone around the heart region where he was hurt. Right before everyone''s eyes, his wounds began healing at a rapid pace leaving even ke momentarily shocked.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    AN:


    Hi guys, I just started myst book on Webnovel. Please do me a favour and check it out. Feel free to ask any question and mention how the book will could be better.

 Chapter 616 Primordial Darkness

    616 Primordial Darkness


    Valerius''s ruptured chest trembled as tendrils of radiant light gently weaved through the air, swiftly reconstructing the damaged fragments of a wounded heart. The pulsating glow intensified, as the already insane healing speed increased. In a mere second, the reconstruction of the heart waspleted and the hole in his chest was halfway done.


    Watching Valerius''s wound healing at a rapid rate, ke couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow in shock. "Hmmm."ke''s shock died as fast as it came, reced with realisation.


    "That exins what gave you two the confidence to face me." ke chuckled.


    ke figured out that the light element must have been an inheritance from the God of light, who just showed himself a few minutes ago.


    "You have be cockier than I remembered." Valerius sneered with a look of disdain as his body hovered backwards, illuminating with intense life.


    Valerius turned into a beam of light and charged in ke''s direction with blinding speed.


    "Fast!" ke muttered with a frown as he jerked back and tapped into the speed of lightning reinforcement & foresight ability.


    Lightning crackled around ke''s body while countless possibilities of Valerius''s next attack shed through his eyes.


    Without hesitation ke tilted his head to the right and just then Valerius appeared, stabbing to the left with his fiery ck spear. "Ha!" Valerius screamed in rage as he realized his attack missed. He swung his spear horizontally, aiming to decapitate ke in one swoop but he was a tad bit slow. ke ducked, feeling a scorching breeze sweep over him with strings of his white hair cut by the attack falling.


    Suddenly a spatial tear opened behind Valerius and the hand of ke''s clone emerged, racing towards Valerius''s exposed head.


    "I told you already, tricks like this won''t work on me!" Valerius sneered disdainfully as a solid firewall spiralled into existence.


    "Hmph!" ke snorted disdainfully at his words and a second spatial tear opened just before the clone''s hand could meet the solid firewall. The hand emerged from a new spatial tear at the other side of the solid firewall, at this point even Valerius was forced to dodge.


    Drifting to the left in a bid to avoid the handing from behind, Valerius left himself exposed and ke had no intentions of letting this opportunity slip.


    In a swift motion, ke moved with lightning-reinforced speed, shing at the hand welding the spear.


    "Argh!" Valerius cried out in pain with twitching eyes.


    He watched his hand spinning some distance away, still gripping tightly to the spear while countless drops of blood stood between him and his lost limb.


    Not nning to let this opportunity slide, ke made his move without bothering to give Valerius the chance to resist. Swinging his sword horizontally, ke intended to decapitate Valerius and put an end to this battle.


    However, Valerius spotted ke''s movements and didn''t even waste a second as his body turned into specks of light and moved away just when the de had reached its neck. If he had wasted more time he would have been decapitated for sure.


    However, this was the least of ke''s worries. What caught his attention was the decapitated arm which turned into specks of light as well, chasing after the main body. Valerius reappeared with his severed hand, reattached but his face was covered with beads of sweat.


    "This is getting annoying," kemented with a frown.


    The Angel realm of the light pathway was called Lightsworn poprly known as Unkible. It earned that title because it granted the users unreal healing capabilities, allowing them to recover from fatal injuries like a damaged heart. For normal people, the only viable means around this was destroying the brain of the Angel but even that was not an easy task.


    "If you that is all you have to show me, I also happen to have a surprise for you," ke said with a cruel smile spread across his face as darkness began diffusing from various parts of his body N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Shit!" Valerius cursed with a feeling of dread washing all over him.


    He had thought with the addition of the light element he would be on par with ke in terms of the number of elements. With both sides evened out, Valerius nned to use his millennia ofbat experience to suppress and ultimately defeat ke.


    However the appearance of a fourth element all the meticulous nningid down in his mind. "You may have gotten the light inheritance but I have awakened and acquired the darkness inheritance as well," ke''s shadow became visible while he was still standing in mid-air, Right before their eyes, his shadow split into two, each shifting to his side as they began morphing and taking the shape of ke. From mere shadows to imitating his shadow form, to them, actually bing ke. However, ke was not done with them.


    Night mist began pouring out of his body, spreading far and wide at a terrifying rate.


    "Fuck." Valerius muttered with narrowed eyebrows.


    19:41


    The duo tried to escape in different directions but ke''s clones were a step ahead, moving in to block their path.


    Not daring to waste even a second, Valerius transformed into a beam of light and shot in another direction; however, ke had expected this as well.


    A spatial tear appeared in the path of his retreat. From it, darkness began pouring out.


    "Primordial darkness! How?" Valerius was taken aback by the discovery.


    Primordial darkness was unlike normal darkness that just drained its targets of their vitality and energy. Instead, it consumed everything that made contact with it, not even leaving behind a trace.


    With no other choice, Valerius was forced to halt his retreat abruptly, returning to his tangible form. However, upon stopping Valerius noticed the presence of two ke''s nking him from two sides.


    Immediately, one ke conjured twelve darkness tendrils, sending them flying at Valerius, while the second clone dove in, shing at him with the Emberforge.


    With the primordial darkness behind him, Valerius frowned since he knew he had no other choice but to take them in a direct confrontation.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    AN:


    Hi guys, I just started myst book on Webnovel. Please do me a favour and check it out. Feel free to ask any question and mention how the book will could be better.


    Book Name:


    Killing God: Wrath of the First Nephilim

 Chapter 617 Dead weight.

    617 Dead weight.


    Attacked from two sides, Valerius remained calm as he moved to deal with the darkness tendrils first.


    Buzz.


    His body lit up as bright golden light surged from his body, solidifying to form a shell around him. Contrary to his expectations, all twelve darkness tendrils prated his defenses, riddling the light barrier with holes as they pierced Valerius''s body.


    Valerius''s gaze turned sour as he felt his vitality draining rmingly. The light barrier began to lose its lustre as Valerius struggled to maintain it in his current condition. Only then did the second ke wielding the Emberforge appear, mming the weapon into the fading barrier, which triggered a powerful explosion that shattered what was left of the dying barrier.


    Not daring to risk spending another second sandwiched between the two kes, Valerius''s body lit up once again as he transformed into a beam of light and vanished.


    Shooting out of the encirclement, Valerius returned to his tangible state only when he was some distance away from the chaos.


    Bam!


    Valerius felt a sharp pain in his heart while his body shivered involuntarily. Blood trickled down his lips as he looked down to see the de sticking out of his chest. Tilting his head slightly, he could see ke''s figure towering over him, but before he acted, ke had pulled out the de, causing Valerius to squint in pain.


    From the corner of his eyes, Valerius saw the de swinging down, but this time it was aiming for his neck. Immediately, Valerius scattered into numerous bodies of light, converging only a safe distance away. Valerius tried to move but felt an aching pain in his chest. He looked down and was stunned to see the gaping hole on his chest still there, only then did it dawn on him that the stab wound on his heart was not healing as fast. Moving his neck so much was met with aches, causing Valerius to feel it with his hand, only to notice shallow cuts and bruises there.


    "Fuck," he cursed as his gaze shifted to the weapon in ke''s hand, its de shrouded in primordial darkness. At this point, Valerius and Luciano realized they had been surrounded by the Night mist, helplessly watching it envelop the area. All their attempts to escape this have proven to be fruitless.


    "It is crazy you thought you could beat me by awakening an extra element." ke''s chuckle got the attention of the duo. "It seems you still see me as that na?ve major ke added as his tone now became serious.


    Valerius''s only saving grace was that his senses were notpletely blocked out by ke''s night mist. While his darkness element was inferior to that of ke, coupled with the fact that ke had the authority of the primordial darkness, he still had some level of resistance.


    His senses were dulled by the Night mist, making him unable to pinpoint ke''s location. He could only guess the general locations of the three kes.


    However, Unlike Valerius, Luciano was left blind and defenceless. He wasn''t like Valerius who had some resistance to darkness, leaving him frustrated. With no other choice left, Luciano attempted the incantation in hopes of chasing away the darkness and burning ke. "The lord of chaos, bestow upon this ground the light that destroys all iniquity."


    However, even after using his trusty artefact that assured him victory against every darkness user he had faced, nothing happened. "Do you think I have forgotten about that toy?" ke''s chuckles echoed with the darkness.


    The artefact made use of Synder''s authority of destruction to destroy the darkness and its source, however, ke had the protection of God of Darkness. Such artefacts didn''t pose a threat to him!


    ''This is bad'' Valerius muttered in his head after listening to ke''s words.


    The already bad situation had gotten worse with this revtion. Not only was the night mist constantly draining their vitality, but ke''s speed domain was also robbing them of their speed, making escaping even harder. To Valerius, this meant that as time went on, even his light speed would be getting only slower.


    The question guing his mind now was, ''What was he going to do?''


    Before Valerius could even think of what to do next, he heard ke''s voice.


    "Let me help you get rid of the dead weight," ke''s voice resounded in his ears, sending a shiver down his spine.


    He appeared near Luciano with the Emberforge in his hand. Without hesitation, he shed down at Luciano, aiming for his neck while sixteen spatial tears appeared around Luciano, cutting off all possible paths of retreat. Darkness tendrils shot out of the spatial tears, attacking Luciano from all directions.


    While all of this was taking ce, ke noticed Luciano was somehow able to sense things going on around him. It left ke wondering how this was possible, but he quickly brushed aside the thought since he believed it didn''t matter. ''Sensing danger and being able to evade are two different things.'' ke thought with an indifferent expression.


    However, just when the ck tendrils and the Emberforge de were about to reach Luciano, his earrings let out an unusual glow. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Boom.


    A force erupted from him the next instant, destroying the darkness tendrils, and forcing Emberforge to fly back. ke was momentarily stunned, but It was then that something unexpected urred.


    Buzz.


    A peak angel rank eagle appeared amid the chaos, its plumage a breathtaking disy of multicoloured hues that transition seamlessly between iridescent whites, silvers, and soft golds. Each feather caught and reflected light in a mesmerizing dance, creating an otherworldly glow around the majestic creature.


    A halo of soft, luminous energy enveloped the eagle, casting a gentle glow that entuates its heavenly presence. This aura seemed to extend to its talons, which were adorned with a shimmering, silver-like essence.


    Its appearance was something that caught ke off guard, causing a dy in his reaction as he watched the eagle p its wings, releasing fierce wind currents with each p, pushing ke''s clones back.


    ''Long time no see.'' ke was quick to remember that this was the same bird that transported them to Calton when they got to the infinite realm.


    Buzz.


    While still trying to make sense of this revtion, the golden mes and lightning erupted from the bird,pletely shrouding its body in it. The temperature of the battlefield skyrocketed in mere seconds, leaving ke with a slight frown etched on his face.

 Chapter 618 Giving up.

    618 Giving up.


    Dazzling golden mes danced around the peak angel-rank eagle, and its fierce gaze shifted to ke''s clones in possession of Emberforge..


    Buzz.


    The peak angel-rank eagle pped its wings, hovering backwards as it was preparing to charge at ke''s clone, however, ke had no intention of standing there and watching the beast act freely.


    GRRR!


    Out of thin air, Ebony appeared by the side of the eagle, catching it off guard. The reaction of the peak angel rank eagle was fast as it turned to see the new addition to the battlefield, but Ebony was faster.


    Lunging forward with savagery, Ebony bulldozed its way through the golden mes and its fangs reached the eagle''s neck.


    "Ca!" the eagle let out a pained cry as it wiggled desperately in an attempt to shake Ebony off, however, it was unsessful.


    At this moment, thick darkness tendrils shot out from Ebony, stabbing into the eagle.


    "Is that the darkness element?" Lucian and Valerius said in shock as their hearts sank.


    Valerius cursed silently as he observed Ebony''s Haiti appearance after its evolution.


    Ebony''s now massive muscr frame which stood at 20 meters tall was shrouded in a thick obsidian-ck fur and its head was crowned by a fearsome set of pointed ears that held eyes that could pierce through the shadows with an even more intense crimson glow. Massive, razor-sharp teeth lined its powerful jaws and extending from its massive paws were ws that appeared as if forged from the darkest abyss. While grabbing onto the eagle''s throat with its fangs, its tail danced around with a flickering me tipped at the edge.


    The evolved Ebony was brimming with power and had even awakened the darkness element from this evolution.


    ''I have to save it, or we won''t even have a chance'' Valerius thought as he watched the eagle struggle for its life.


    He knew the moment it died, their hopes of surviving this battle would fall drastically as well. But what bothered him was his suspicion towards ke and his recent actions.


    The fact that ke allowed them to see through the Night mist to see Ebony''s new appearance meant that he wanted them to try to save the eagle. It was as if they were being baited to do something, however, he didn''t have a choice.


    If the beast died, how would they be able to defend against Ebony and Ivory when ke alone was giving them a hard time? The thought of adding Ebony and Ivory into the fray was enough to make Valerius shiver.


    He quickly made up his mind. He needed to do something and do it fast!


    Valerius quickly took out two items; one being a beast''s tooth marked with inscriptions and a medallion. He watched the items grow rapidly until they transformed into a python and a Jaguar peak angel rank beasts.


    On emergence, both beasts wasted no time before springing forward in Ebony''s direction, however, their path was swiftly blocked by Ivory.


    Ivory stood tall with her regal stature adorned with a lush, pristine coat of snow-white fur which flowed seamlessly over her thin and agile frame.


    As the python and the Jaguar approached, they noticed delicate light blue markings traced intricate patterns across Ivory''s fur... These markings emitted a gentle luminosity, casting a soft, azure glow that added an enchanting dimension to her already mesmerising appearance.


    Her head leaned forward, revealing pointed ears and held a pair of eyes that gleamed with a serene radiance. Her paws were adorned with glistening ws, seemingly carved from a liquid crystal that left a trail of shimmering droplets as she moved.


    Lingering over her head was a radiant blue tail that mirrored the gentle undtion of water in motion, carrying with it the essence of her elemental control.


    Watching the approaching foes, Ivory''s body stood tall as a body of water carrying the same shape emerged from her body and moved to her side. The body of water soon turned solid and gained a striking resemnce to Ivory, both in statues and in presence. The two waited to meet the iing beasts in battle and with that another round of battle began.


    However, Valerius and Luciano didn''t have the luxury of observing the battle for long, as the world turned dark once again.Almost instantly, Valerius frowned as he detected movements within the darkness. But he was just too slow to react since ke''s speed was enhanced by five things.


    Bam. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Valerius felt a warm liquid rise in his throat, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. He could feel the Ember forge stabbing deep into his heart, but this time the darkness was not only limiting his healing abilities but also draining his vitality rapidly "Are you really willing to kill your friend, just like that?" Valerius asked, hoping to take advantage of ke''s rtionship with the real owner of the body.


    His questions proved effective as ke paused to ponder. This was a question he had been asking himself right from the moment he suspected Valerius had taken over Castiel''s body.


    However, after pondering silently for a short while, ke shifted his gaze back to Valerius with resolve brimming in his eyes.


    "Yes," ke responded.


    Listening to this response, Valerius was momentarily surprised, but it didn''tst long. He let out a sigh of defeat, and the fighting spirit in his eyes began to fade.


    While he wasn''t expecting ke to change his mind and let him go, this was his final attempt to survive, and seeing it didn''t work he saw no reason to struggle pointlessly.


    Valerius had given up!


    It had be clear that he and Luciano could not defeat ke, neither could he escape since ke could easily chase him down to the ends of the infinite realm with the space element.


    The only thing that could save him now was receiving the protection of a God. However, from the look of things, he wasn''t confident that Synder would make it out alive from his battle with Cassius.


    While Valerius could try hard to survive, he was tired of running. He was truly defeated, both in body and spirit.

 Chapter 619 Too brutal

    619 Too brutal


    While Valerius stood still and waited for death, ke''s eyes were pinned on Castiel''s face as memories of their past adventures and interactions shed through his mind. He was reminded of their first meeting, the fun and hard times they endured together, and finally theirst meeting.


    "I guess this is his fate," ke muttered sadly.


    Saying this, ke shifted his attention to Luciano, who was still fighting. With the peak angel rank eagle dead and its corpse, knocked off the skies, Luciano was forced to take on Ebony alone, and he was taking a trashing of a lifetime.


    Luciano''s armour had been reduced to scrap as most of it had been torn to peices, and even then Ebony was still attacking relentlessly.


    BANG!


    Luciano was knocked back, leaving behind a w-shaped wound on his chest from which fresh blood sipped out of it. Sensing Ebony wasing, Luciano gritted his teeth as he tried to move to the left, unfortunately, he was a tad bit slow.


    Crack.


    Luciano squinted in pain as he felt Ebony''s fangs sinking into the flesh of his right arm and clutching his bone tight. With a single pull, Luciano''s right arm was torn off, causing blood to squirt out of the wound while he hovered back.


    "Argh!" Luciano let out a painful cry as he covered his wound with his right palm in a bid to slow down the bleeding.


    His eyes let out a golden glow as a golden aura escaped his body, taking the shape of a barrier that acted as a shield while healing his wound simultaneously.


    Swoosh!


    Ebony''s figure appeared in front of Luciano the next second, its eyes zing with hostility as its paw descended from the heavens like thunder.


    Boom!


    The golden barrier shattered when met with Ebony''s destructive power, leaving Luciano once again, defenceless. Standing beneath Ebony''s descending palm, Luciano felt like a mountain was falling upon him. Without hesitation, he raised his hand over his head to defend, but it was useless.


    Bang!


    Like a fly swatted off the air, Luciano was hurled down to the city below, smashing into the city barrier and causing web-shaped cracks to appear where he hit.


    Luciano wanted to move, but his limbs were so sore and his vision blurred due to the impact. He could barely lift his hands or legs, talk more of getting back to his feet. Luciano felt a warm liquid move up in his throat, causing him to cough up some blood, which sttered on his lips and nose since he was lying on his back.


    His vision cleared up enough to see a scorching hurricane of mes descending from above. At first, he wondered if his eyes were ying tricks on him, but after narrowing his eyes to improve his blurry vision, Luciano was shaken by what he saw.


    In the heart of the swirling inferno, Ebony twirled fervently, unleashing rapid mes that merged seamlessly with the raging tempest. The fiery vortex intensified as the mes entwined with Ebony''s rapid dance, growing in magnitude with each fleeting moment.


    "Shit!" Luciano groaned painfully as he tried to move, but it was toote.


    Boom!


    The fiery tempest smashed into Luciano, creating a powerful shockwave and also causing the initial cracks on the barrier to spread to a wider area.


    CRACK!


    Luciano, on the other hand, was just a few steps away from Death''sembrace, his body had received severe burn injuries, and almost all of his bones had been shattered.


    Luciano''s breathing was heavy and noisy. It was clear that he was putting in much effort to breathe, and even then he could barely get enough oxygen.


    Ebony stood proudly over the defeated prince, with one of its heavy paws on his chest to pin him down. It lowered its head and its eyes revealed cruelty as it bit into Luciano''s left hand and ripped it off his body.


    At this point, Luciano didn''t make a sound, but his eyes revealed how much pain he was in. His body was already scorched, and his right hand had been lost not too long again. Right now, he was too physically and mentally weak to even cry out in pain. He could onlyy there and watch in silence while hoping the suffering would end soon, however, Ebony had more ns for him as it sank its fangs into his waist and flung him into the air. Kicking itself off the barrier, Ebonyunched itself into the air in pursuit of Luciano. Its body began twirling, creating another swirling fiery tempest as it climbed higher at a rapid pace.


    Bang!


    The fiery tempest smashed into Luciano, dragging him higher into the sky. Meanwhile, from above, Ivory descended while twirling violently, creating a frosty tempest. Boom!


    Smashing into Luciano from behind, Luciano''s body and his battered armour could not withstand the sheer power of the attacks and exploded.


    Blood, flesh, and bits of Luciano''s armour rained down on the barrier, leaving the observing civilians and soldiers below dumbstruck. They just witnessed the brutal end of a prince, creating an eerie silence across the capital.


    Ebony and Ivory stood tall amid the silence and their murderous gazes shifted to Valerius who shuddered involuntarily. After witnessing Luciano''s brutal demise, even he was shaken up mentally.


    At this point, Valerius'' body had shrunken considerably, and even then his life force kept surging out of him painfully. Against ke''s darkness, he was left helpless and could only ept his fate. However, he still believed he was still lucky whenpared to Luciano, who was obliterated by Ebony and Ivory. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Don''t you think your pets are too brutal?" Valerius asked with a bitter smile.


    "They are just reflecting the anger of their master," ke said, with his disdain noticeable in his tone. "Now, it''s your turn to bear their wrath!"


    Saying this, ke pulled out the Ember forge from Valerius'' chest and kicked him away. He stood above and watched as Valerius fell from the skies while Ebony and Ivory greedily lunged at him.


    ...


    AN: I have been sick for a few days now, and although I haven''t fully recovered, I had to put out something.

 Chapter 620 Defeated in one punch!

    620 Defeated in one punch!


    Valerius''s eyes widened in shock as he felt two chilling presences by his sides before he could move.


    They were Ebony and Ivory!


    Crack!


    Valerius wanted to move, but the two wolves sank their fangs into his arms, causing him to let out a painful cry. With a swift pull, Ebony and Ivory tore his arms from his body, causing blood to squirt out from the open wound without control.


    "Argh!" Valerius cried out in pain, but his suffering was far from over.


    Ebony''s paw swiped vertically, and his ws ripped through Valerius''s skull, tearing open his face and finally tearing through his body, leaving behind a trail of bloody wounds.


    Bam!


    From the left, Ivory''s paw descended from above, smashing into Valerius''s head. In a stunning show of brute force, Ivory''s attack knocked off his head and sent it spiralling down


    While all this happened, the look in Valerius''s eyes was that of pain and terror, which he wasn''t even allowed to voice out. Bam!


    Before Valerius'' head could go far, an ice spike tore through the wind with uncanny precision as it stabbed through his mouth, shattering his teeth and stabbing out of the back of his head.


    ke watched as the head was frozen in less than a second after getting stabbed, and in the next moment, it exploded into bits. ''That was a little bit too brutal'' ke couldn''t help but confess as he watched the bloody execution.


    Even he was shaken by the cruelty of Ebony and Ivory. However, he wasn''t allowed to dwell on that thought for too long, as he felt a surge of energy spreading across the battlefield.


    Knitting his eyebrows, ke turned around to realize he wasn''t the only one moved by this power surge. Practically everyone had halted their battles just to find the source of this power.


    Buzz.


    A domain began to undo and Prince Bryon''s figure came into view. Unlike his usual graceful appearance, his hair was dishevelled, his clothing was ripped in some ces with stains of blood littered all over it.


    Dried blood stuck to his lips, with a few cuts and bruises ruining his once impable look. However, what caught everyone''s attention was the head of the third Sea Lord, Corsair, in his hand. It turned out that their battle had already been decided, and Prince Bryon emerged as the victor.


    The sight of this prince left everyone shocked. However, Prince Bryon had no time to entertain the gaze of everyone on the battlefield. His frosty gaze shifted to ke, with immense rage bubbling deep within him.


    Even without being told, everyone was certain Prince Bryon was furious over the death of Luciano, but what they didn''t expect was ke''s calm response to his anger.


    ''You sent him to kill me, now I killed him, and you are angry?'' ke scoffed with a hint of disdain in his eyes.


    As if in response to ke''s, Ebony and Ivory lit up brightly and the two lights merged. As the light began to dim, a feral grey wolf twice their original size emerged.


    Its thick grey fur was adorned with abination of red and blue markings, which matched its red and blue eyes. Standing tall behind ke, the mighty grey wolf diffused a chilling and fiery wind from its body, and its aura skyrocketed exponentially.


    "Awwoooooooooooo!" Ebony and Ivory let out a fierce howl that made an ethereal current surge around them in waves before shooting into the clouds above like a beam. BANG!


    The grey wolf sprang forward at an astonishing speed as it charged in Prince Bryon''s direction. Kicking the air, the gray wolf began twirling in circles, releasing abination of ice and fire.


    As it moved, the ice and fire surging from its body kept umting, until it had be a dark-red and blue hurricane which dwarfed Prince Bryon and made him look tiny inparison. Watching the sheer disy of power, ke revealed a proud smirk and nodded in approval.


    Ebony and Ivory are truly a terrifying force!


    However, Prince Bryon did not share the same sentiments. The cold and hot breeze from the iing hurricane made his hair and clothes flutter but failed to make him feel any sense of urgency. With a disdainful snort, Prince Bryon stretched forth his hand casually and waited for the gray wolf to reach.


    Boom!


    The impact was cataclysmic, and it sent fierce shockwaves across the battlefield but failed to move the prince from his position. "Shit!" ke eximed in shock.


    He had always known Prince Bryon was powerful, but he had never gotten the opportunity to see the full extent of his strength until today. Thebination of Ebony and Ivory improved their strength to the first stage of the Battle Angel rank, yet they failed to move the Prince.


    The Battle Angel rank had three stages which were the Exalted, Dominion, and Immacte. ke was aware that Prince Bryon and the councilors were at the Dominion stage.


    Still, blocking Ebony and Ivory''s attacks with his bare hand was not something ke thought Prince Bryon would be capable of. He ignored all the ice pouring at him which was quenching his me, instead his gaze was pinned on the grey wolf within at the centre of the fiery and icy tempest.


    Bang!


    Prince Bryon plunged his hand deeper into the fiery and icy tempest and struck the chest of the gray wolf, causing it to loosen its grip on the prince as it skidded backwards while letting out a painful cry.


    "Shit!" ke cursed as he heard the pained howl of the grey wolf. At first, he was slightly confused and thought they were in pain from the impact of Prince Bryon''s retaliation. However, when he looked deeper, ke realized there was something wrong with the grey wolf, and only then did he notice the fierce golden mes ravaging the grey wolf from inside. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ke noticed the golden light that shone brightly and moved within the thick fur of the grey wolf, which made it stagger around while letting out pained howls. Not long after, Ebony and Ivory had disintegrated from their Haiti and Skoll form and returned to ke''s hand in their sword form!


    They had been defeated!

 Chapter 621 Close call.

    Chapter 621 Close call.


    The effortless defeat of Ebony and Ivory sent shivers down ke''s spine, and he now realized how dangerous Prince Bryon was.The initial confidence that he had earlier had crumbled fatally, leaving him with only one thought!


    To run!


    ''I need to leave, fast!'' ke said to himself as he was about to warp into his pocket dimension, however things didn''t go as expected.


    A blurry figure entered his line of sight, and before he could react, a firm hand grabbed him by the throat, squeezing it with a firm and strong grip, causing ke''s eyes to squint due to the pain.


    Since the assant was extremely fast, ke was unable to make sense of his face until his attacks had hit. It was Prince Bryon! ''Fuck!'' ke cursed as he held Prince Bryon''s hands with his own and struggled to break free; however, it was pointless.


    ke thought of various options and numerous things he could do in the situation; however, considering how strong Prince Bryon was, he concluded that none of them could save him.


    At that moment, a portal tore open and Azkelwart walked out of it wearing a simple white robe, that looked frail, but could withstand the full brunt of Deities. He looked like a normal human that had mistakenly entered the wrong ce, but his presence spread across the battlefield, and the pressure from his aura made everyone on the battlefield feel like a heavy load was ce on them.


    Instinctively everyone turned their attention to Azkelwart, including Bryon, however, Azkelwart didn''t seem moved by their gaze. His eyes scanned the battlefield, and he shook his head with a look of indifference in his eyes before he finally shifted his gaze to ke and Prince Bryon.


    "Who dares hurt my babies?" Azkelwart said in a Stoic tone and as if in response to his question the world responded.


    Streams of information cascaded toward Azkelwart in a mesmerizing dance, resembling the rhythmic flow of musical notes. The data, like harmonious melodies, weaved and surged towards him.


    As if conducting an ethereal orchestra, Azkelwart stood at the centre, immersed in the fluidity of information as he absorbed the harmonious rhythms of data unfolding around him.


    "I see¡­" Azkelwart muttered with a look of understanding in his eyes. "I know you want him dead, however, my son wants me to save him," Azkelwart said in a calm tone. "So unhand him."


    His words made Prince Bryon pause momentarily to think, however, his eyes dted, filled with resolve as he tightened his grip in an attempt to crush ke''s neck.


    Swoosh!


    Prince Bryon stood there with a look of shock on his face, unsure of what happened. He was just about to crush ke''s neck, but before he could apply pressure, he couldn''t feel his palm anymore. His confused gaze shifted to his right hand, and his eyes widened in shock as he realized his wrist had been cut off without him knowing when or how it happened.


    Grinding his teeth in rage, Prince Bryon clenched his left fist and promptly struck at ke. He believed even if he lost his hands, as long as he could kill ke all of it was worth it, however, the time he spent observing his severed palm was enough for ke to warp out.


    Carrying a murderous gaze on his face, Prince Bryon turned his attention to ke, who appeared beside Azkelwart. Ignoring the prince, Azkelwart turned to ke and gestured for him to follow.


    The duo turned and started walking towards the portal, showing their backs to Prince Bryon, who was fuming with rage. Did ke really think he could walk out of here unscathed after killing Luciano?


    Pa.


    Prince Bryon sps his hands together before throwing them toward the sky as he conjured a sphere of golden mes five times Azkelwart and ke''s size. Without hesitation, he tossed the ball of golden mes in their direction.


    To his greatest shock, as the ball of fire got closer it began to dissipate rapidly.Before it could reach Azkelwart and ke, it hadpletely vanished like it never existed.


    "It seems you have chosen your fate," Azkelwart said as he turned around to meet Prince Bryon''s gaze.


    Xiu!


    Azkelwart''s eyes let out a strange sh, and instantly a thin beam of light shot into Prince Bryon''s chest even before he could move or react to his words.


    Bang.


    Prince Bryon spat out a mouthful of blood and his eyes reflected the shock and confusion in his heart as he looked at his chest only to see a cone-shaped light spike that stuck out of his chest.


    Bang.


    More light spikes began erupting out of Prince Bryon''s body with each passing second. On his chest alone were three protruding light spikes, and on his back were three as well. From these wounds, blood constantly flowed out, and what made it worse was the feeling of his mana being drained rapidly.


    "Arrrgh!"


    Prince Bryon cried in fury and pain as he threw his hands forward unleashing a torrent of fierce golden mes, but before his attack could reach Azkelwart, it once again dissipated into nothing.


    The shock Prince Bryon felt by the recent development did not hinder his anger. Without hesitation, he aggressivelyunched numerous spears of golden mes but none could reach its target.


    Bang.


    Bang.


    Prince Bryon raised his hand with a twirling golden fireball; however, numerous light spikes erupted from his hand, causing the mes to vanish.


    He was yet to make another move, and more light spikes protruded from his legs and back that made him resemble a porcupine. In this condition, Prince Bryon''s movements had be sluggish and hisplexion deadly pale.


    Below him was a puddle of blood and his body felt extremely heavy, making it difficult for him to remain airborne.The fury in his eyes was still in existence and his vengeful gaze remained pinned on ke as he opened his mouth only to reveal a twirling golden me surging above his tongue, however, before he could unleash the attack another set of light spikes erupted from his skull.


    Bang!


    One light spike was protruding out of his mouth while the other came out from the back of his head and the final one was located between his eyes.


    ke watched with a strange look in his eyes as Prince Bryon''s corpse fell off the sky and crashed into the barrier below. ke initially thought that Ebony and Ivory were brutal but seeing the way Prince Bryon died led him to believe his pets couldn''t hold a candle to Azkelwart in terms of cruelty.


    ''That was a close one.'' ke couldn''t help but think.


    After all the rage and hatred Prince Bryon expressed earlier, he still failed to put up a fight or even put a scratch on Azkelwart or him. Deep down in his heart, he was expecting more from the prince.


    "Now that''s taken care of, let''s go," Azkelwart said, snapping ke out of his train of thought. The two turned around and walked into the portal, which closed behind them. ke found himself in a room in Azkelwart''s base. The walls were adorned with tapestries that depicted scenes of advanced technologicalndscapes interwoven with medieval castles and knights.


    In the center, a holographic disy table surrounded by intricately carved wooden chairs with a touch of cybeic embellishments. ke followed Azkelwart to the center table, where he sat down and observed the room in silence.


    "Liquor or coffee?" Azkelwart''s words got ke''s attention as this reminded him of a simr question being asked by Hoffenheim when he had returned from this base previously.


    "Tea," ke replied. "But first, can you help me heal ebony and ivory?" He asked as he pulled out the swords.


    "They heal naturally, but it will take some time," Azkelwart responded as he took the sword from ke and examined it for some time.


    After observing, he created an orb of light at the tip of his index finger, which he injected into the sword with a single tap. ke watched intently as the bright light slowly spread across the sword and fixed the cracks as it moved. After a few seconds into the recovery process, the cracks riddled all over the de had been fixed, causing the sword to transform into two puppy-sized versions of Ebony and Ivory. Woof!


    Upon seeing Azkelwart their tails wagged joyously as they barked a bit before jumping into his hands. ke let out a sigh of relief and watched with a smile as Azkelwart yed with Ebony and Ivory. They rolled over on their back and howled joyously as he rubbed their belly.


    "Haha haha. Okay, okay. That''s enough" Azkelwartughed heartily. "I need to have a chat with ke," He added. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    As soon as Ebony and Ivory heard this, they barked once more and cutely ran over to the side, where they sat and watched ke and Azkelwart in silence.


    "Back to where we were¡­" Azkelwart said as a teapot and teacup appeared in his hands.


    ke remained silent and watched Azkelwart ce the teacup in front of him and then poured steaming hot green tea into the cup.


    "I know you have a lot of questions," He said to ke as he dropped the teapot on the table and sat down. "Feel free to ask away while we wait for Zultra" He added.

 Chapter 622 Controlling the Mother-Stream

    Chapter 622 Controlling the Mother-Stream


    ke took a sip of tea as he constructed his first question. Thankfully, Azkelwart remained seated and waited patiently for him.


    "Why didn''t you help out in taking down Valerius or Synder who were against the realm?" ke finally asked his question. "I knew the war would eventually take ce, but I didn''t know it would erupt so quickly as I was outside the dimension," Azkelwart responded immediately as if he was expecting that question.


    He reached for the silver te, took a biscuit, and tossed it into his mouth. Azkewalrt chewed in silence for a short while before he continued.


    "Also, I wasn''t worried about returning so soon since I knew Cassius could handle it," he added, but ke still couldn''t wrap his head around his words.


    It wasn''t about who won or lost, people died in this war. Good people who didn''t deserve to die were killed in battle, and this was something avoidable if Azkelwart had joined them from the beginning. ke was about to take another sip of tea, but he paused mid-way and put the cup down.


    "What of the casualties in the war?" ke blurted out. "You could have saved them from dying,"


    Images of Corsair''s head and thousands of soldiers who lost their lives in battle shed through his eyes, and the feeling of grief washed over him.


    ke felt more emotional not because Tigeria had suffered the least losses, but because he had spent most of his years in the Synder empire. To make matters worse, he knew most of the soldiers on the side of the Synder empire were innocent and knew nothing about their treacherous rulers, but they were still pushed to wage war for them.


    The core of the pain he felt didn''te from Tigeria''s losses but from the deaths of the innocent soldiers of the Synder empire. Azkelwart could only sit in silence and sip some tea while he listened to ke.


    "I understand you deities don''t care about low-level humans because you see them as insignificant. However, they would end up being useful in the war against the Neons," ke argued.


    After talking so much, his throat felt dry, and he took a sip of tea before reaching for the biscuit on the silver te.


    "I had the same thought, and that was why I nned on returning early. But you see, all of it didn''t matter at all¡­ at least a while ago," Azkelwart finally spoke up.


    "What do you mean?" ke asked with a look of confusion etched on his face.


    "The Neons are just too powerful. Infinite realm won''t be the first nor the tenth realm that would meet its end if they seed," Azkelwart exined. "So you can''t expect us to win a race that had so much time to amass so much power,"


    ke listened attentively and understood the point Azkelwart was trying to make. Against a race like the Neon, their hopes of survival were close to zero. It''s only natural for Azkelwart to feel helpless against them.


    If anyone else had said these words to him, he wouldn''t have bothered. However, it came from Azkelwart and as expected this left him deeply troubled. If someone as powerful as Azkelwart believed they couldn''t win, then maybe they really had no hope of winning.


    "Then what changed your mind?" ke couldn''t help but as he felt a feeling of dread creep into his heart.


    "You," Azkelwart said confidently, leaving ke deeply shocked.


    Cassius has told him something like this in the past, but this was without knowing what Azkelwart had recently figured out.


    "How can I be of help when you guys can''t do anything?" ke asked with visible confusion on his face.


    He failed to understand what he could do that legendary figures like Azkelwart and Cassius couldn''t. Azkelwart ignored his question and took a biscuit from the silver te and broke it into two. He fed them to Ebony and Ivory without saying a word and petted the two a bit after feeding them.


    "For one, you are the first in history to have four different elements," Azkelwart chuckled since he understood the reason ke doubted his words.


    "Having four elements doesn''t change the fact that I''m still an angel," ke argued.


    "Your power level isn''t too necessary since the enemy cannot be destroyed," Azkelwart said with a smile. "Rather, the aim is to repair the barrier," Azkelwart added.


    This exnation wasn''t enough to make ke understand his point, instead, it left him even more confused than before. ke pulled up his cup only to realize it was empty, and a frustrated look appeared on his face.


    "Refill?" Azkelwart asked as he picked up the teapot, and ke nodded.


    "What does repairing the barrier have to do with me?" While his cup was being refilled, ke couldn''t help but ask, as the fact that the option of repairing the barrier existed but hadn''t been done meant that something was needed.


    "The barrier can only be repaired by the mother stream, but the rate of its repair is slower than the rate at which the Neons are damaging it," Azkelwart said as he put down the teapot.


    "The problem is that the Mother stream doesn''t recognize the external threats since they are not a part of it," Azkelwart exined. "So to quicken its regeneration rate, it has to be taken off autopilot mode." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Hearing this, ke grasped a surface understanding of the solution to their problem.


    "You are saying we should take control of the mother stream?" ke asked with a surprised look on his face.


    To this, Azkelwart nodded in agreement but provided no further exnation and casually took a sip of tea.


    "How?" ke was forced to ask.


    "That brings me to the second part of how it relies on you," Azkelwart said with a beaming smile as if he had been waiting for this question.


    "You see, the All-Father has the highest connection to the Mother-Stream since he or she was chosen by it. However, the connection is not enough to control it as it is evident that the title can be withdrawn just like the case of Valerius," Azkelwart exined as he put down his cup.


    "My theory is that in order to increase the connection to the extent of controlling the Mother stream, the one needs to have all nine elements," Azkelwart said.

 Chapter 623 Stages of saving the realm.

    Chapter 623 Stages of saving the realm.


    "That¡­ makes sense, but that''s crazy." ke said,pletely shocked by the discovery.


    Although everything came from the mother stream, one had to awaken an element to have a true connection with it. This meant that the elements were the connection to the mother stream, thus having all the elements meant bing one with the Mother-Stream which could equate to having a high chance of controlling it.


    "If I''m not mistaken, you are nning on bestowing the inheritance of the other five elements on me?" ke asked with a look of understanding, and Azkelwart''s nod affirmed his belief.


    "Doesn''t that mean it can also be bestowed on my dad?" ke asked. " I mean, although it would be a longer process, it would be more beneficial since he is already the All-Father. The connection with the mother stream would increase the chances of sess,"


    ke expected a response to these words, but Azkelwart remained silent as he refilled his cup and sipped tea.


    "That brings me to the third part," Azkelwar said in response to ke''s question.


    "The maximum number of elements one''s soul can withstand is three, but somehow you have four," Azkelwart said, which made ke freeze due to shock. ke had always believed he wasn''t special and anyone owned four elements if given the opportunity, but it turned out he was wrong. Seeing the confusion in ke''s eyes, Azkelwart chuckled as he broke another biscuit in two and fed them to Ebony and Ivory.


    He watched the two joyfully and gently feed from his hand. Only when they were done did he turn his attention to ke,


    "Your speciality mighte from the fact that you got an inheritance containing two elements even before you awakened your elements. So it affected your body and soul." Azkelwart said with a tinge of uncertainty in his voice. "Or maybe it has to do with fate¡­ or maybe both," He added in a pondering tone.


    The fact remained that ke''s condition was something he termed a miracle. This was something he doubted would happen again in the future¡­ that was if there would be any future. "Anyway, you are the only one that can save the realm," Azkelwart said these words in a stern tone. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "..." Hearing those words made ke feel like a heavy load had been dropped on his shoulders.


    A look of confusion was etched on his face since he didn''t know how to feel about this or how to respond to these words. He had finally found his true purpose in the infinite realm, but the weight of responsibility that came with it was just too much for him to bear.


    After sitting in silence for a while, ke shut his eyes and inhaled deeply. He opened his eyes, picked up the tea cup, and emptied its contents in one gulp before shifting his gaze to Azkelwart.


    "What is the n?" ke asked with newfound resolve zing in his eyes.


    "The first step of the n is for you to go to the southern continent and liberate the human race from this prison," Azkelwart said as he lowered his teacup.


    "Wouldn''t that waste a lot of time?" ke asked, "Why don''t those outside open up the prison, or better still, you can take those necessary out of the dimension?"


    However, Azkelwart shook his head with a bitter smile on his face.


    "I wish it was that simple," He said. "This is a prison that only I can leave because I have permission to. I can''t take anyone with me, that''s why Zultra has to remain here every time I went out," He exined.


    Azkelwart''s gaze shifted to Ebony who was wagging his tail and he petted his head. Immediately, Ivory stepped in with the hope of getting the same treatment.


    "For your second question, those outside cannot open the prison even though they knew how to, that was just how it was designed." Azkelwart exined. "The only ones who can liberate humans are themselves." he added.


    "However," Azkelwart continued. "That is almost impossible as the key to the gate is both the space and the darkness element," Hearing this, a look of realization shed across ke''s face as he finally understood something crucial. "Let me guess, they never wanted us to leave?" ke let out a wryugh.


    The space and darkness elements were extremely rare elements, and the only people at the pinnacle of both pathways were arch enemies, meaning it was an impossiblity.


    To this, Azkelwart simply nodded in response.He let go of Ebony and Ivory before moving to the teapot and refilling his cup. His gaze then shifted to ke''s empty cup.


    "Refill?" He asked, but ke shook his head in refusal.


    "So what is the next stage?" ke asked.


    "If you return to the main realm, we would have to convince or beat a god into submission for them to grant their inheritances," Azkelwart said, but ke was taken aback by his words.


    "Why do we have to convince them when it involves the safety of the realm?" ke asked with a mixture of frustration and confusion in his gaze.


    "First of all, the other races don''t like the humans," Azkelwart responded. "The second reason is that the humans caused our current problem in the first ce, so why should they trust another human?" His words left ke speechless.


    "The third reason is that it is only I who knows of the solution since I only discovered it recently" Azkelwart continued, "Finally, not every one of them is actually on the side of the infinite realm. You surely don''t expect Valerius to be the only possible traitor,"


    His words opened a whole new set of possibilities, that ke was blind to. Thinking deeply about these words, he realized he had been ignorant of the possibility that Valerius may have other aplices in high ces. Azkelwart sat in silence and drank his tea while observing ke''s constantly changing facial expressions.


    He wanted to give ke enough time to digest the information he just received before he spoke again.


    "As for the third stage, you would be doing it at the same time as the second stage," Azkelwart finally spoke after a while.


    "What is the third stage?" ke couldn''t help but ask.


    "Bing the All-Father."

 Chapter 624 End of the Synder Empire

    Chapter 624 End of the Synder Empire


    ke sat in silence with his gaze pinned on Azkelwart who drank his tea in silence. As soon as he had emptied the content of his teacup, Azkelwart put the cup aside and turned his attention to ke.


    "Bing the All-Father,"He responded to ke''s question.


    "What?!" ke eximed in shock as he couldn''t believe his ears.


    ke''s body jolted in shock as soon as he heard those words. His mind was prepared for numerous possible responses, but never did it cross his mind this would be Azkelwart''s answer to his question.


    "We have only one chance to do it, so we have to make it count," Azkelwart said, seeminglypletely unaware of the turmoil in ke''s mind.


    "Doesn''t that mean¡­" ke''s eyebrows furrowed as he spoke, but Azkelwart cut him off. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Cassius will relinquish his role as the all-father when the timees, so you don''t have to worry about him," Azkelwart chuckled since he understood ke''s worries.


    Only after hearing this did ke let out a sigh of relief. At this point, his mind drifted back to Azkelwart''s initial words about himbining the second and third stages.


    "What did you mean when you said I mustbine the second and third stages?" ke asked.


    "To be the All-Father, you have to prove to the Mother-Stream that you are worthy," Azkelwart exined. "To do this you have to help the inhabitants of the realm,"


    "The first stage would be freeing the human race from its unjust captivity." Azkelwart continued. "This alone would go a long way as it involves the entire realm,"


    As ke listened to Azkelwart''s exnation, he understood the reason behind the first task.


    "With that, once you enter the main realm you would continue to prove your worth to the Mother Stream while in search of Gods and their inheritances," Azkelwart said and ke nodded in understanding.


    ke silently mulled over Azkelwart''s words, and he understood this would not be an easy task. He was tasked with saving the human race from prison and defeating Gods for their inheritance. If this wasn''t rted to the survival of the infinite realm, ke was certain he would have politely declined.


    "Ooh, remember that there would be some traitors also vying for the position of the All-Father, so it won''t be an easy mission," Azkelwart added and keughed bitterly in his heart.


    Even without the traitors getting involved, this could be considered a very dangerous task. With the traitors included, it was not only dangerous but tricky as well.


    However, he understood that if a traitor became the All-Father, they would do the same thing as Valerius. This was the worst-case scenario ke was determined to prevent at all costs.


    At that moment the door to the room opened and Zultra walked in, his appearance was a carbon copy of Azkelwart. As if in response to his return, Fury''s voice echoed across the room, and this got ke''s attention.


    "Wee back home¡­"


    "Nice to hear your voice again, Fury," Zultra responded with a light chuckle. "Long time no see Zultra or should I call you Professor Hoffenheim?" ke said with a smirk.


    Hearing that name, Zultra couldn''t help but smile deeply.


    "My favorite student!" He eximed excitedly. "I heard about all the wonders you were doing," Zultra said.


    Although he had stayed in the Synder empire for years, he never saw it as his home. Because of this, he wasn''t bothered when ke turned rogue, instead, he was fascinated by his aplishments.


    "It''s nothing much," ke responded earnestly. "To be honest, it''s all thanks to Ebony and Ivory."


    Saying those words, ke smiled at the two puppy-sized wolves and patted their heads, causing them to bark joyfully while they wagged their tails.


    "By the way, thanks for the gift," ke said to Zultra. "It saved my life"


    Hearing this, Zultra simply smiled and patted Ebony and Ivory''s heads as well.


    "It''s nothing much, I am really d it was useful," he said.


    He then turned his attention to Azekelwart, and a bright smile bloomed on his face.


    "d to see you, Dad¡­" Zultra said.


    ¡­ Meanwhile¡­


    Dorian appeared in the sky, in his right hand was a beating heart and some distance away from him was Emperor Synder who stood like a statue with a look of shock on his face.


    His armour was battered and broken, and his face was covered in blood. There was a gaping hole on his chest and if one looked carefully they would be able to see primordial darkness dancing within him, eating away his insides.


    The emperor swayed a bit in midair, with a reddened face, as he struggled for the veryst time. His vision of Dorian wielding his heart became blurrier, and he instinctively reached for it.


    Bam!


    Dorian clenched his fist and crushed the heart. The dying Emperor shed a final look with a face mixed with pain, hatred and denial before falling off the sky.


    At that moment, Cassius appeared, but his condition was worse than Dorian''s.His body was riddled with bruises and some spots on his attire were soaked in ck blood. His body swayed back and forth as it struggled to remain afloat. Seeing this, Dorian appeared by his side and quickly supported Cassius. Dorian''s pensive gaze nced around in hopes of finding the corpses of Cassius'' foes, but after searching, he realized that nothing hade out with Cassius because the bodies of the two deities had been destroyed.


    The appearance of these two could only mean one thing, the Synder empire had lost! Their Gods and Emperor had been defeated, this shattered the fighting spirit of the forces of the Synder empire.


    With no choice left, they quickly surrendered, even though Cassius was clearly hurt from his battle. They all knew, that even in this condition, they still didn''t stand a chance.


    They understood that the difference between a being like Cassius and them was just too great.


    Weapons began being dismissed from the hands of the Synder empire soldiers. They all knew that with the conclusion of this war, the glorious age of the Synder empire hade to an end.


    AN: End of Volume Three, two more to go!!!

 Chapter 625 Theoretical solution.

    Chapter 625 Theoretical solution.


    Cassius watched in silence as the soldiers of the Synder empire dropped their arms and surrendered. However, none of this got his attention. Instead, his piercing gaze moved around in search of something and after he couldn''t find it, he turned to Dorian.


    "W-where is ke?" Cassius asked in a semi-panting tone showing his exhaustion from the fight.


    Before Dorian could respond, the space in front of them began to twist and turn. After a second of its futile resistance, it tore open, revealing a spatial corridor.


    Dorian and Cassius watched this ur with taciturn expressions as three figures emerged from the spatial corridor.


    They were Azkelwart, Zultra, and ke.


    Upon exiting the spatial corridor, Azkelwart saw Cassius'' condition and smiled slightly. "It''s been a long time old friend, hope the battle wasn''t too much of a stress." Azkelwart said as he stretched his hand forward. "Let me help you with your injuries," he added.


    Immediately Cassius'' body lit up and his body was shrouded in light rays. Right before everyone''s eyes, his wounds began to heal at a rapid pace and in merely over a few seconds he waspletely healed.


    "Thanks¡­" Cassius said as soon as soon as the healing wasplete and he felt his strength return.


    Azkelwart silently nodded while his eyes scanned the battlefield and he noticed many of Cassius'' subordinates were hurt. He casually extended his index finger and an orb of light formed.


    From that orb of light, numerous beams of light shot out and found their way to their allies including Dorian. Every one of them was enveloped in a ray of light and the healing process for them began as well.


    "Let''s go to a quiet ce, I have a lot to update you on." Azkelwart finally shifted his gaze back to Cassius.


    "I think I know the perfect ce," Cassius responded with a mischievous smirk which left ke wondering what was going on in his head at that moment.


    Momentster Cassius, Azkelwart, Dorian, ke, Zultra, Cedrik ckthorn, and Aurelius Frostborne walked through the corridor leading to the Synder Empire throne room in silence. The mighty doors swung open as they arrived and Cassius casually made his way towards Synder''s throne. Upon arrival, his body began bubbling with darkness which sprang forward and immediately consumed the throne, reducing it to dust.


    At the same time, his ck crystal Scythe lost its pitch-ck colour and turned crystal blue before transforming back into his trusty blue mana crystal throne.


    Cassius stood and watched the mana crystal throne rece Synder''s old throne before he sat down. Meanwhile, Azkelwart snapped his finger as a bright light shone and slowly solidified forming a throne made of hard light.


    Dorian on the other hand stood beside Cassius'' throne with a face void of any form of emotions, while waiting for the update. As for Cedric ckthorn and Aurelius Frostborne, they felt an eerie resemnce. In their heads, they believed there was not much difference between this and the scene from some hours ago. They stood silently, afraid of angering Cassius just like they were afraid of Synder. While Azkelwart was sitting on a simr light-constructed throne just like Srael did. The only difference was that Zultra was standing beside the God of Wisdom and Knowledge. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    As for the Sea lords, they were outside to make sure that the troops of Synder and Srael did nothing funny.


    "Things are worse than everyone thought," Azkelwart broke the silence with his words as he leaned back on his throne and let out a sigh.


    "How so?" Cassius asked.


    "The barrier initially had the power to destroy any external forces that came in contact with it," Azkelwart exined. "However after Valerius'' failed attempt at opening the barrier, the safeguard was gone." His words attracted deep frowns from everyone as they all exchanged worried nces. They understood the implications of Azkelwart''s words and they left them deeply concerned.


    "This means the Neons can actively attack the barrier without any form of repercussions," Azkelwart added.


    Cassius sat in silence as he pondered on Azkelwart''s words. His facial expression made it difficult for them to determine what was going through his mind and after a while, he finally spoke.


    "How long do we have?" Cassius asked with a deep frown.


    In response, Azkelwart shrugged his shoulders in response.It was clear to everyone he didn''t have that information and this plunged them deeper into despair.


    "I can''t say how much time we have on our hands but I can say this, it''s not a hopeless situation," Azkelwart said and observed the eyes of everyone present light up with hope.


    They all instinctively leaned in to hear more of what he had to say.


    "The Neons can''t destroy the barrier as quickly as they like."Azkelwart said confidently.


    "And why is that?" Cassius asked with a raised brow, prompting everyone''s gaze to shift back to Azkelwart.


    "The only damage done to the barrier by Valerius is the safeguard," Azkelwart exined. "However, if the integrity of the barrier falls sharply, the mother stream will noticed and immediately heal itself. Obviously at the expense of the inhabitants within it." he added.


    His exnation was met with understanding nods and for the first time since the conversation began a look of hope could be seen in the eyes of the people.


    "So the Neons n to gradually whittle the barrier''s integrity to the point that even if the Mother-stream acts, it won''t be enough to stop them." Azkelwart continued his exnation.


    "So, we have more time than we expected but of what use is it?" Dorian spoke up for the first time since the meeting started and he didn''t look as optimistic as others.


    "So, we have more time than we expected but of what use is it?" Dorian spoke up for the first time since the meeting started and he didn''t look as optimistic as others.


    "Fortunately, I also discovered a theoretical solution to our problem." Azkelwart said with a smirk on his face, but it only caused confusion as they didn''t like or understand what he meant by a theoretical solution.


    "Everything about our n has to do with him." Azkelwart said pointing at ke.

 Chapter 626 Uniting the human race

    Chapter 626 Uniting the human race


    Azkelwart''s im of finding a solution was met with expectant eyes as everyone became attentive to what he had to say. He began recounting everything he had told ke, and during the exnation, they would asionally turn to ke.


    As soon as he was done speaking, the entire room was plunged into a deep silence as they pondered on his words silently.


    "That is actually feasible," Cassius said with a thoughtful look on his face His gaze danced around the room, taking note of the thoughtful look on the faces of everyone present.


    "Alright then, what are we waiting for?" Cassius said. "Let''s get to work!" His words took ke by surprise, and he looked in Cassius''s direction with a strange look in his eyes. They just concluded a bloody war, so ke thought they would be allowed to rest for a day or two.


    "Wait, now?" He couldn''t help but ask. ke clearly had no intention of going to the southern continent so soon. Everything was happening so quickly and he didn''t like it.


    ''For god''s sake, we just finished a war!''


    "No, not now" Cassius chuckled since he understood the reason for ke''s question.


    "First we have to announce to the citizens of the Synder empire their new rulers before we start making preparations," Cassius exined.


    Hearing this, ke let out a sigh of relief and nodded in response. Cassius, on the other hand, decided to begin his broadcast. Countless holographic images of Cassius began appearing across the Synder empire. They covered the kingdoms, cities,mercial areas, rural areas, and every street in the empire.


    "Citizens of the Synder empire, I am Cassius, Lord of darkness and current All-Father," Cassius began with an introduction that raised a lot of eyebrows and filled everyone with confusion.


    "I stand before you not as a conqueror seeking power, but as a liberator, bringing an end to the tyranny that has oppressed you for far too long. The empire of the evil-oppressive God of war and mes has fallen, and with it, his nefarious schemes have been exposed."


    "It grieves me to reveal that Synder, driven by greed and ambition, conspired to betray not only his own people but all of humanity. His n was nothing short of treachery, as he sought to bargain with alien forces, willing to sacrifice our entire universe for his gain. But fear not, for his ns have been thwarted." Cassius went on to exin the history of the Human race before their banishment from Infinite realm.


    His words were met with confusion, doubt, and shock in the hearts of the people of the Synder empire.


    "Under my leadership, I shall rebuild the human race on principles of justice, equality, andpassion. Your lives will no longer be governed by fear and oppression but by opportunity and freedom. Together, we will forge a future where every human can thrive, regardless of their background or station in life." Cassius gave a brief pause after these words.


    "I understand that change can be daunting, but I urge you to embrace it with hope and optimism. We have the chance to create a society that we can all be proud of, where every voice is heard, and every individual is valued." He continued.


    He let the people digest his words before he continued.


    "I understand that change can be daunting, but I urge you to embrace it with hope and optimism. We have the chance to create a society that we can all be proud of, where every voice is heard, and every individual is valued." He continued.


    "As we embark on this journey together, let us remember the lessons of the past and strive to build a brighter tomorrow. Together, we will ovee any obstacle, united in our pursuit of a better future for ourselves and for generations toe." Cassius said as he threw his hands open and his voice carried more vigor and energy.


    "Long live humanity!"


    After the speech was concluded, Dorian sensed hismunication amulet ringing and he summoned it from his pocket dimension. Themunication amulet levitated to the centre of the room, and the hologram of a man was disyed.


    It was Thalorin Verdantheart, the emperor of Kaldron who stood tall and regal with a demeanor that exuded both strength and grace. He possessed an oval face, with a chiselled jawline and nostril softened by an aura of gentleness.


    His skin had a hue of rich mahogany, and his eyes were deep pools of earthy brown, thatplimented his cascading waves of dark hair flowing like silken strands of midnight.


    Emperor Thalorin was dressed in a flowing green robe. Its cor was adorned with golden embroidery while its lower part had a wave design, sown with earthy brown threads.


    Since the banishment of the human race and the formation of the Kaldorn empire in the north, somehow they hadn''t been swallowed by the rest.Many believed that it was due to the terrain between the empires, but that was far from the truth.


    Firstly, Cassius had no eyes on them, and all he wanted was to take down Synder and Valerius. As for Synder, they were afraid of spreading themselves too thin, especially because of the threat of the Tigerian empire hovering over them like hawks.


    "What a pleasant surprise," Dorian said. "To what do I owe this call?" Dorian asked as the emperor''s projection was left open for all to see. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''Why was I expecting a muscr savage as the emperor of Kaldron?'' ke muttered to himself while observing in silence.


    "I tuned into Lord Cassius'' beautiful speech and as you know, our aim during the formation of the empire was to avoid the conflict between you and Synder," Emperor Thalorin Verdantheart said with a confident smile stered on his face.


    "Now he is gone,that brings us to the most important topic," Emperor Thalorin Verdantheart paused for a while before he continued. "Freeing the humans from the prison," Hearing this, Dorian and everyone else in the room remained calm.


    "My request is that you also free the people of Kaldron," he said.


    After listening to his speech Cassius showed no emotions and simply waved off his words.


    "Are the inhabitants of Kaldron not part of the human race?" Cassius asked with a raised eyebrow. "You don''t have to worry, when the timees arrangements will be made," Cassius said casually, leaving Emperor Thalorin Verdantheart shocked.


    He had thought he would have to swear allegiance to Cassius before they would be saved, but it became clear to him that his impression of the new All-Father was wrong.

 Chapter 627 Crazy question

    Chapter 627 Crazy question


    "Thank you, Lord Cassius." Emperor Thalorin said with sincerity as he bowed. After the events of today, the emperor saw Cassius in a new light.


    Meanwhile, ke, who had been observing the interaction between the two from the sidelines, was left shocked. He had never seen or imagined a God bowing to another God until today.


    With that over, themunication link was cut, and a brief silence prevailed in the room for a while before Cassius spoke up.


    "Now that''s all over, let''s start preparing you for your journey." Cassius turned his attention to ke.


    "The first part of this preparation is knowing what you would be dealing with." Cassius rhythmically tapped the armrest of his throne.


    ''The southern continent challenges people based on their power level, meaning it would actively spawn traps and phenomena at the power level of the challengers." Cassius exined. "Normally this shouldn''t be an issue, but something that would cause trouble that might even spread past the coast of the continent."


    After listening to this, ke finally realized why they just didn''t send a God to handle this.


    "Now that is out of the way, I have to tell you that there are problems that would arise that not only you can solve." Cassius returned his focus to ke.


    No one was perfect, everyone had their weaknesses and strengths but in the presence of a team, they could bnce their weaknesses.


    ke understood the reason behind Cassius''s words and couldn''t help but frown. After destroying their home, Luke wasn''t sure how his friends felt towards him.


    "With everything going on, I''m not sure if they would want to join me on the expedition." ke shook his head with a bitter smile on his face.


    "There is no harm in trying unless you want to team up with members of the league?" Cassius slightly chuckled while he asked.


    ''Not those crazy bastards.'' ke almost choked at the suggestion.


    Although they were all capable, almost all members of the league had mental problems or just straight up evil characters.


    "I agree." ke nodded at the idea.


    After getting the option of working with the members of the League, convincing his friends to join him in his journey didn''t seem difficult anymore.


    ¡­


    In Calton city, a yard away from the gate of his duplex, a spatial corridor opened and ke stepped out. He stood outside and reminisced about his time here in the past.


    He walked towards the gate only to find out it was unlocked. Giving it a gentle push, ke watched as it swung wide open before walking in.


    Taking gentle strides forward, he observed his vicinity and realized his traps had been disabled.


    Swoosh!


    Almost immediately the daggers strapped to his waist lit up, taking the form of Ebony and Ivory in their puppy forms.


    "It has been a while." ke said, unsure of how to feel about this ce, especially since it came with a lot of good memories.


    Woof!


    Woof!


    The duo barked loudly at his words and chased after ke when they saw him walking into the building.


    nk!


    Immediately the door swung open, Ebony and Ivory barked loudly as they ran into the house, vanishing from ke''s sight in mere seconds.


    "I guess they are more excited than I am." ke chuckled as he walked in.


    Moving through the entrance, he stopped by a ssden door which led to the kitchen at the right.


    As he walked inside, ke admired the massive room partitioned into two.The kitchen countertop was positioned at the centre of the room, with the dining area with a six-chair dining table stationed next to the sliding ss walls.


    ke ran his index finger along the dusty dining table as he walked towards the ss doors to enjoy the sight a bit. He took a few seconds to enjoy the sight before leaving the room


    Just as ke walked into the living room, Ebony ran into the room, running in circles around the two three-seater sofas and a center table, all covered with cambricks.


    Behind the sofas was a staircase leading to the next floor and to the left was a corridor which led to the guest room.


    ke only spared the corridor a nce before walking up the staircase.


    Entering the top floor, ke couldn''t help but smile the moment he saw the king-sized bed. He was instantly reminded of the moments when Cami and Tessie wouldugh and chat with him about all sorts of things in this room.


    The ss walls provided a beautiful scenery which made every second spent here more memorable.


    ''My time here wasn''t that bad.'' ke admitted.


    However, he was pulled out of his reverie by Ivory''s barksing from the forging room and at the left was the library.


    Before he could decide whether to go in and check, Ivory walked out of the forging room, sneezing repeatedly while Ebony followed behind.


    The two walked up to ke, staring at him with their puppy eyes, both covered in dust and cobwebs.


    "I guess I should clean up first." ke chuckled at the scene. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    With a snap of his finger, he used magic to clean up his home in a few seconds.


    With Ebony and Ivory in his hands, ke left the room and returned to the living room. He gently put Ebony and Ivory down on the sofa before he summoned hismunication device and called his friends over.


    "Let''s hope it goes well." ke let out a heavy sigh while he spoke.


    He could only sit and y with Ebony and Ivory as he waited for them toe. An hourter or so, ke''s friends began to arrive, with Brian being the first.


    Cami and Tessie arrived not long after and the living room was nearly filled up.


    Old friends sat together in an awkward silence between them for a while before Brian finally spoke up.


    "So why did you call us here?" Brian asked.


    His words diverted the attention of everyone in the room to ke.


    "Well, this may sound crazy." ke chuckled strangely while scratching his hair nervously. "But, I want you guys to apany me to the southern continent.


    His words left Brian, Cami, and Tessie totally confused and shocked, especially since this request was something they never expected to happen.


    The southern continent was the only ck zone on the map, and it was a ce where people way stronger than them had visited but failed, and now ke was asking them to go there with him.


    The southern continent was the only ck zone on the map, and it was a ce where people way stronger than them had visited but failed, and now ke was asking them to go there with him.

 Chapter 628 Crazy question (part 2)

    Chapter 628 Crazy question (part 2)


    The southern continent was the only ck zone on the map, and it was a ce where people stronger than them had visited but failed, and now ke was asking them to go there with him.


    "For what? Also, why us?!" Cami couldn''t help but ask the question that was on their minds.


    "With all of the human race being united, the next step for us is to escape this prison." ke said further confusing the three of them.


    "Let me start from the beginning¡­" ke went on to exin the story of the human race right from when Valerius had be All-father to the current day.


    After spending more than an hour telling the story, ke finally returned to the point of the meeting.


    "The gateway to Infinite realm is at the southern continent and the key to opening it is with the space and darkness element I have." ke exined.


    "As for why I am requesting your help. It is because high-level beings can''t enter there and I need a team I can trust because I can''t do it alone." ke told them exactly what Cassius had exined.


    "Is it me or the other races don''t want the human race to be set free at all cost." Brian couldn''t help but voice his thoughts.


    "That was exactly what I thought when I first heard it, but it is exactly what it is." ke let out a helpless sigh when he thought about it.


    It was a human that had almost doomed the entire realm, and even though it was also a human that saved them, the Neons were notpletely defeated. So that was the perfect opportunity to get rid of all of the humans and make them weaker than the other races.


    A short awkward silence quickly filled the living room as everyone seemed to be deep in their thoughts, but Brian was the one who broke the silence.


    "After careful consideration, all I have to say is sign me up!" Brian said with excitement lighting up his eyes, and causing everyone in the room to turn to him."


    ''Careful consideration?! Are you sure you know the meaning of careful and consideration?'' That was exactly the look that Carmi and Tessie shot at him, causing ke tough out loud.


    Even if the location they were heading to were inside the Malock desert it would be a difficult decision to make, but Brian was here talking as if they were going on a stroll to the city park instead of the most dangerous ce known to man.


    "I think we need some time to think about it." Cami said as she turned to Tessie who nodded in agreement.


    "Take your time, there is no need to rush." ke didn''t want to pressure them into doing something this important.


    Once again, an awkward silence came upon the room, but ke quickly noticed from their bodynguage that they had something to say but couldn''t get themselves to spit out the words.


    Tessie''s indecisiveness was the most visible, while Carmi sat like a statue without showing any emotions but that was exactly the problem. ke had always known her as the most expressive.


    "I know your feelings areplicated, especially since your home was just conquered, but you should know I am only doing all this for the benefit of the entire human race."


    After a while, Cami and Tessie stood up to take their leave, and ke followed to see them off. The trio walked in silence all the way to the yard''s gate where they stopped and faced each other.


    Both parties didn''t know what to say to each other, but after what seemed like forever, Tessie finally spoke up.


    "I missed you." Tessie said as she lunged at ke and gave him a big hug, and soon after Cami followed suit and joined in the hug.


    "I missed you girls too." ke said as he embraced them. However, he refrained from kissing them on their foreheads since he was unsure if they had hugged him because he was a friend gone missing or a boyfriend.


    After a while, they finally let go of themselves and the girls entered into their family carriages that had been waiting for them and left.


    ''That ended better than I expected¡­'' ke said to himself as he watched the carriages leave his range of view before walking back into the house.


    "What have you been up totely? I mean apart from the war." ke asked Brian as he made his way back into the house. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Come to think of it, it''s crazy that some weeks ago I was going on missions." Brian was astonished when he realized how short the warsted¡­ Was that even considered a war?


    "Anyways, I haven''t been up to anything apart from missions with the adventurer association. I mean, what else was there to do when everyone was busy with their different lives? To make matters worse, the person I trusted the most left me out of nowhere." Brian shook his head.


    "Sorry." ke could feel the loneliness in Brian''s tone.


    "No need to be sorry for me, I actually felt less betrayed when I discovered that he was being controlled by Synder. I just kind of feel sad that he died without understanding what was going on." Brian let out a helpless sigh as he took out a bottle filled with dark blue alcohol.


    "Don''t tell me you have been drinking." ke asked with a raised brow.


    "Maybe¡­" Brian shrugged with a sheepish smile causing both of them to chuckle out loud.


    "Pour me a round!" ke said as 2 ss cups floated from the kitchen into the living room.


    "That''s the spirit!" Brianughed out loud as he grabbed the bottle of alcohol filled both cups.


    After taking a few sips of the dark-blue alcohol that had a strong burning sensation as it slid down the throat, Brian spoke up.


    "How about you? What have you been up to, especially during the war?" Brian asked.

 Chapter 629 Touring a conquered city.

    Chapter 629 Touring a conquered city.


    "Funny enough, I didn''t get to do much in the war. Right from the time I joined the League of Assassins to thete stages of the war, I was just looked up in a room, training." ke took another sip of the dark blue liquid before continuing. "I would actually love to chill a little bit before going on with the next stage of all this, but it seems we don''t have time."


    ke let out a helpless sigh as he shook his head and asked.


    "With everything that has happened so far, has your stance on returning to Earth changed?" This made Brian look toward the ceiling and stroke his beard while pondering the question.


    After close to a minute, Brian finally replied "My stance still remains the same."


    "You see, I grew up in the trenches and my family is barely above the poverty line. My Dad has been absent even before I was conceived and my mom is a call girl¡­ You know, the typical ck man''s story."


    "Going back would mean returning to poverty and a life of misery. Also, I have no clue what the time difference between the two worlds is, meaning a lot of issues concerning our disappearance would surelye up."


    "So why should I go back to all that when I have money and power to defend myself and control my life?" Brian exined.


    "I understand, even I wouldn''t want to go back to such a life." ke nodded as he took another sip of his alcohol before continuing. "As for the time difference, I had always thought of using the time authority of the space pathway to revert things to how they were. However, not only do I not know the implications of such actions, but from what I have heard about the space element it is incapable of achieving such feats."


    If the time authority of the space element could rewind time to such a degree, then it would have been impossible to foil any of Valerius'' ns, talk less of killing him.


    "What about bringing your mom over here?" Since all that ke cared for on Earth was his mom, it made sense that she was brought over here instead of going to the extent of rewinding time.


    "Yeah, that would definitely be the best option especially since my dad is also here. However, that would have to wait until will deal with all the problems we are currently facing here, as well as the Neons."


    There was no point in bringing her into Infinite realm to start worrying about everything getting destroyed. Also, they still didn''t know how Valerius had managed to summon them into Infinite realm. So it was best to channel their energy into something more productive and worry about itter.


    After close to two hours of talking and drinking, the bottle was emptied. Brian dropped the ss cup on the table and rose to his feet before saying.


    "See youter today, I have to meet my adventurer party and inform them that we would be disbanding. The original gang is here!" Brian said as he was making his way to the door.


    On cing his hand on the door handle, he suddenly remembered a matter. "Is it okay if I crash here?"


    "Of course." ke gave him a thumbs up.


    "Thanks bro." Brian didn''t waste time swinging the door open and leaving.


    ''He is speaking as if the others have already epted.'' ke chuckled as he was left alone in the room.


    "What to do now?"


    After sitting in silence for more than 5 minutes, ke was clueless about what next to do, and that included Ebony and Ivory who shrugged when he turned to them for suggestions.


    Having spent thest few years doing nothing else but training and cultivating, ke seemed to have forgotten how to have fun¡­ at least the little Cami and Tessie had impacted on him just before he left. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Let''s go tour the city then." ke immediately rose to his feet and cleared the ss cups and bottles before heading out of the house with Ebony and Ivory sitting on his shoulders in their miniature form.


    Spreading out his senses, ke detected the nearest empty carriage and warped toward it.


    "What the" The carriage driver was startled as a white-haired individual dressed in all ck appeared beside the road, but what made things even more crazy was that the individual was stopping him.


    ''Did he just appear here just for me to pick him up?'' The driver was trying to make it make sense because anyone who could teleport at will was able to directly move to their destination.


    Seeing no reason to reject money, the carriage driver reined the horses toe to a halt.


    ke opened the door and took a seat before Ebony and Ivory rushed down from his shoulders and moved to the windows.


    "To where Sir?" The carriage driver asked politely.


    "I want to tour the city, so just drive in any direction you want. You will bepensated handsomely." ke replied with a smile.


    ''Praise the heavens!'' The driver screamed in his head as he began taking back all the stupid questions he had asked concerning the white-haired man.


    Without wasting another second, the carriage began moving at a steady pace, allowing the passengers to enjoy what was meant to be a breathtaking view of the city.


    ''Thinking about it, it is quite crazy that I decided to tour the city that I assisted in capturing. How would people receive me when they recognize me?'' ke asked Ebony and Ivory but they just gave him an incredulous look.


    ''You guys are right, it doesn''t matter. Who would dare attack me, they must be tired of living.'' ke quietly chuckled.


    Not only would it be difficult for someone to recognize him inside the carriage, but people with the power level that could pose him danger weren''t just wondering about the streets of Calton.

 Chapter 630 No point fighting

    630 No point fighting


    Just as instructed, the carriage driver rode through the streets of Calton at a steady pace. Since it was clear that the passenger wanted to enjoy the view of the city, he only went through the streets of the middle region and the central region.


    After more than two hours of movement, the carriage approached the Adventurer Association building. That was when a thought came to ke, causing him to call the Driver''s attention.


    "Stop here." ke said to the carriage driver who quickly reined the horse.


    "Is there anything wrong sir?" The carriage driver asked in fear that he had done something wrong.


    "Not at all, I enjoyed every bit of the ride. Here is for the good job." ke took out a gold coin and handed it over to the driver causing his eyes to widen in shock.


    "Thank you so much sir." The driver was stunned by the gold coin but quickly epted it in fear that ke woulde to his senses and take it back.


    "Have a nice day." ke smiled at the driver and began making his way to the Adventurer Association.


    If anyone else who was an enemy of the state was to walk into an Adventurer association, it would be no different from nting andmine and stepping on it. The Association building was equipped with many defence mechanisms like spatial lockdown, traps, and teleportation to bring the defenders directly to the intruders.


    However, all of those didn''t bother ke that much. The Synder empire was no more, so anyone looking to attack him was only digging their graves. And even if they were zealots who would want to sacrifice themselves for his head, he could forcefully break the spatial lockdown and escape. That was if the enemies were too strong to face.


    ''I doubt there would be anyone who could force me to flee immediately.''


    With Ebony and Ivory on his side, even a Battle Angel could not stop him from fleeing instantly. All he had to do was survive for a few seconds, and Cassius, Damian, and the Sea Lords would appear to rain down hell on the enemies.


    On approaching the automatic door, ke expected to be surrounded by people or at least not granted entrance. However, the doors slid open and he made his way into the building.


    The moment he stepped in, everyone in the lobby instantly turned to him. ke couldn''t tell if it was his white hair or his all-ck dressing or the presence of Ebony and Ivory on his shoulders that made him stand out.


    ''Definitely the three¡­'' ke held back hisughter as he walked forward.


    A lot of people in the lobby knew about the famous adventurer with a 100% mission sess rate who joined the Ash Corps and quickly rose to the rank of Major General before defecting to the League of Assassins and then the Tigeria empire.


    A thick cloud of hostility had formed in the lobby, but a slight release of aura from Ebony and Ivory instantly sent shivers down the spine of the adventurers in the area.


    Without caring about the res he got, ke walked across the lobby and made his way into the Association''s restaurant.


    ''Beautiful as always¡­''


    ke was about to take a sit on one of the tables but that was when he spotted a familiar face sitting in the bar section.


    "You have a lot of guts to show your face here." Zirrack said without turning as ke approached him.


    "I learnt from the best, I guess." ke replied as he took a sit beside him and ordered a cocktail.


    "What makes you think I wouldn''t attack you right now?" Zirrack finally dropped his ss cup and turned to him.


    "Because you don''t care enough about the Synder empire to engage in meaningless squabbles. That is why you left the Ash Corps in the first ce." ke said with an indifferent gaze as the waiter ced the cocktail on the table.


    "Hmmm¡­" Zirrack turned back to his drink and took a shot before squeezing his face and saying. "You are right, but that isn''t all. You are confident because you think you can beat me."


    "Think?" ke shook his head and smiled. "It''s more like I know I can beat you, and you also know that too."


    Normally, such insolent words would have bruised anyone''s ego and lead to a brawl out in the bar, but Zirrack didn''t care about all that. All he cared about in this life was a good fight.


    "Then why don''t we go and test it out." A crazed smile appeared on his face. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I would have loved to indulge you, but not only am I not in the mood, you wouldn''t get to enjoy the fight." ke said as he conjured a darkness tendril, causing Zirrack''s eyes to widen in shock.


    From his Jail break, a lot of people had learnt that ke had inherited the space element and that was disyed in the war. However, no one else from Synder expect for Valerius and Luciano which were all dead knew about the darkness element.


    Zirrack was so shocked that he began questioning a lot of stupid questions, with one being if elements were now being sold in the market.


    "I see¡­" His expression quickly returned to normal as he requested for another round.


    The reason Zirrack Loved fighting was because he believed it was tough battles that broke humans and reforged them into a better version of themselves. However, in a situation where the gap between both sides was too much, the only thing that would be broken down was their will.


    "How does it feel having conquered The Synder empire?" Having seen there was no point in fighting, Zirrack made small talk with ke.


    "I don''t really care about it, so I don''t even know how I feel." ke chuckled dryly before adding. "I have a whole lot more important things to worry about."


    Although Cassius had exined the reason for the invasion and the war, ke knew that most citizens of Synder wouldn''t believe it, but he didn''t care about what they thought or felt.

 Chapter 631 Quick decision.

    631 Quick decision.


    After a little bit more chat with Zirrack, ke excused


    himself and made his way to the restaurant section and took a seat before


    scanning the menu.


    As an Angel, ke had no need for food as his organs most


    especially, had evolved to being able to survive solely on the environmental


    mana which it automatically absorbed. However, since his advancement into the


    Angel realm, ke had never stopped indulging himself in mouth-watering


    delicacies.


    It has always been one of his favourite things to do, and it


    always reminded him of how simple life used to be.


    Once he had made up his mind on what he wanted, ke


    informed the waiter who took the order, and soon after came the food for him, Ebony,


    and Ivory.


    For appetizer, he was servedrge mushroom caps filled with


    a mixture of cream cheese, parmesan, garlic, and chopped crab meat, then baked


    until golden and bubbly.


    The main course was an oven-baked salmon fillet seasoned


    with herbs and lemon, served on a bed of savoury lentils cooked with onions and


    garlic, and apanied by saut¨¦ed spinach.


    Dessert was silky smooth chocte mousse made with silken


    tofu, dark chocte, and a hint of vani, topped with a sprinkle of cocoa


    powder and fresh raspberries.


    The sumptuous three-course meal was just the first round of


    course. ke had order 2 more rounds of 3 course meals while ignoring the


    shocked expressions on the faces of the customers in the restaurant.


    It was just like the good old days of Magic school!


    "The good thing about being an Angel is having full control


    of your metabolism rate, so I don''t have to worry about staying in shape as I


    can easily burn all the unwanted fat." It wasn''t as if he ever has issues with


    maintaining a healthy weight, but the idea that he could go all out whenever he


    ate made him happy.


    Ebony and Ivory who were done with their food couldn''t help


    but look at him with widened eyes when they heard his crazy thought process.


    ''He has never gone all out before?!''


    "That actually exins why I have never seen an overweight


    Angel before!" ke was stunned by the sudden revtion causing him to miss


    their reaction.


    After settling the bill with his ck card that was given


    to him by Luciano, ke began making his way out of the Adventurer Association


    building.


    "It''s quite shocking that they didn''t cease the money in my


    ount, but I feel it was one of their ns to track my location if I was ever to make a payment through the card." ke chuckled at the thought of their


    ns leaving him with absurd amounts of money. "Too bad all of this doesn''t


    mean much to me again."


    It didn''t take long for him to board a carriage, and in less


    than 20 minutes he was already back home.


    Having left the door open, ke pushed the door and made


    his way inside the house. In fact, all the doors in the house had been busted


    open when the Ash Corps came looking for him, and up till now, they hadn''t been


    fixed.


    However, he didn''t see the point of getting them fixed. Anyone


    strong enough to be a threat to him could instantly blow up the house, while


    anyone else who might be snooping around the house was literally asking for a


    death wish.


    "It''s surprising that he isn''t back yet." ke shrugged his


    shoulders and made his way to his room upstairs.


    He currently had nothing to do but he was long used to being


    bored. So he floated in a crossed-legged position directly in front of his full


    ss window. He, Ebony and Ivory sat in silence as they enjoyed the stunning


    view of the sunset.


    An hour-pluster, the sun had gone down below the horizon,


    sound of the front door downstairs opened, they didn''t move. It was only when


    Brian finally came upstairs and saw them, and they finally turned to him.


    "That''s so cool!" Brian couldn''t help but confess as ke


    looked like a heavenly entity with two powerful beasts resting beside him.


    "Finally, you are back."


    For the rest for the day, nothing noteworthy happened.


    Having had a long day, Brian didn''t take long before going to bed, while ke


    who could go months without sleep stayed in the same position all through the


    night.


    Although he didn''t show it, he still had a lot of internal


    issues and feelings to sort out with the toughest being the exploration of the


    southern continent and the race to bing All-Father.


    ¡­


    The next day, ke watched as the sun rose high up in the


    sky, and only moved when Cami and Tessie arrived at his ce.


    Once their carriages has stopped in front of hispound,


    ke made his way down to the door where he opened the door even before they


    knocked.


    "Wee back." ke smiled as he gestured for them toe


    inside.


    "Where is Brian?" Cami asked as the living was empty.


    "Normal Brian, he is still asleep." ke shut the door and


    took a seat in between the two.


    "Did you girls miss already or did you finally make up your


    mind?" ke teased, causing Tessie to turn red while a naughty smile appeared


    on Cami''s face and a deep sexual tension emanated from her.


    "Why don''t we find out¡­" Cami ced her hands on him,


    but before she could rub his chest, they heard the sound of the guest room door


    opening.


    Immediately, she took her hand off ke and a few seconds n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ter, Brian walked into the living room while rubbing his eyes.


    "Eh?" Brian was surprised to see Cami and Tessie, but


    instead of wondering how long he had slept he said. "That was quick, I thought


    you guys would be here in the afternoon at best?"


    "It is already afternoon." Tessie giggled.

 Chapter 632 Lost since the Empires creation.

    Chapter 632 Lost since the Empire''s creation.


    "Serious?" It was then that look through the window to see


    the sun high up in the sky.


    "That''s crazy." Brian rubbed his head before taking a seat and


    looking at them with an inquisitive look on his face.


    "What?" Cami and Tessie asked in unison.


    "What decision did you guys take?" A confused


    expression was written all over his face because wasn''t that the main reason they


    were all here in the first ce.


    "Oh¡­" Brian''s question brought their minds back to reality.


    "After a lot of considerations, we finally decided to


    apany you on your journey to find the gate out of this prison." Cami


    announced and Tessie nodded in agreement.


    "That''s nice to hear, thank you so much." ke embraced Cami


    and Tessie.


    "What time are we leaving?" Brian asked once the three were


    done being all touchy.


    ke turned to Cami and Tessie, expecting them to


    protest since it sounded so sudden, but to his surprise, they also had the same


    look on their faces.


    ''Well, it makes sense.'' ke said to himself as he


    remembered that the Ash Corps no longer existed meaning Cami was currently


    unemployed.


    The same went for Tessie. With the vtile state of the empire,


    almost all businesses were put on hold especially those of noble families. This


    meant that the Winchester family''s logistics business was also on pause.


    "Now?" ke asked as he rose to his feet.


    "Alright¡­" The three agreed as they all rose to their feet


    and came closer.


    ke would have loved toment on how he didn''t need them


    toe close for them to be teleported, but he chose to keep it to himself as


    he waited for Ebony and Ivory to turn to their miniature form and hop on his


    shoulders before warping them away.


    The group found themselves in the corridor leading to the


    Synder throne room. It was an impressive, grand passageway, designed to awe all


    who entered.


    Tall, ornate marble columns lined both sides and the stone walls were


    adorned with rich tapestries depicting ancient battles and heroic legends, each


    telling a story of the conquered Empire''s storied past. A plush red carpet,


    embroidered with golden threads, stretched the length of the corridor, guiding


    visitors toward the massive doors of the throne room.


    "The atmosphere already feels suffocating, imagine what it would


    have been like when Synder was still alive." Brian was in awe as this was the


    first time any one of them except for ke had been to the capital''s pce.


    "What about Damon? What happened to him?" Tessie remembered and asked as


    they made their way to the throne room.


    Due to being caught up in a lot of things, they had all


    forgotten about Damon which made them feel bad that they were just


    remembering him now.


    What even made it worse was that Damon and his family were


    the ones in the most danger since they were part of the leaders of the former


    empire.


    "I haven''t seen him, so I don''t actually know, but I''ll ask


    The room was not only upied by The All-Father and terrifying


    my Dad once we are in." ke replied as he pushed therge door open with no


    difficulty.


    On entering the throne room, Brian, Cami and Tessie felt


    primal fear washed over their entire bodies almost causing their legs to lose


    their strength, if not for ke who used telekinesis to hold them in ce.


    The room was not only upied by The All-Father and terrifying


    Battle Angels, but also by supreme killers who struck fear in the hearts of


    many just by the mention of their names.


    "Speaking of the devil." ke was surprised to see that


    standing not too far from Cassius were Jaeger Nyx and Damon.


    "Is there something I don''t know?" ke asked Cassius, n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    further dissolving the tension in the air¡ª the tension in his friends.


    ''From the way Jaeger and Damon are standing quite close to


    the throne, they didn''t look anything simr to when Frostborne and ckthorn


    were here.''


    ''Wait a minute, where was Jaeger when Frostborne and


    ckthorn were here?!'' ke was quite confused by the scene ying in front


    of him.


    ke''s thought process had been that if Cinder and Bryon had ended up dying in the battle, then it wasn''t surprising if Jaeger had joined him. So he didn''t think much about them, especially since he had a lot more fish to fry.


    "ke meet Jaeger Nyx, who you already know as the councillor of the Synder Empire, but is also the descendant of a mole sent to infiltrate the higher-ups of the Synder Empire." Cassius said with a devious smirk that sent the group''s eyes wide.


    "Say what now?" ke was stunned by the revtion.


    "When the humans split into two sides, I knew it was only a matter of decades before one of Valerius'' believers rose and united them to form an empire. So I sent someone to assist in the said person''s rise and gain his trust." Cassius chuckled when he saw ke''s incredulous expression.


    As the other 2nd group of humans were staunch believers of Valerius, it was certain that when the traitor had awakened from his forced slumber, he would meet the Emperor to reenact his ns.


    With this master n of theirs Cassius and the Tigeria Empire were aware of all nsmunicated to the Synder Empire by Valerius including most of their tactics during the war.


    ''They didn''t stand a chance at all.'' ke felt admiration towards his Dad''s foresight and craftiness, but his friends couldn''t help but t shiver at the revtion.


    ''And I was hear thinking that we lost due tock of fire, not knowing that we lost from the start of the Empire''s creation!'' Cami couldn''t help but shake her head.


    ''This just proves that going against ancient entities like Dad is no different from suicide, but I guess I will worry about that when we are finally out of this prison.'' ke thought before walking forward.


    "Wee, and thank you for your services." ke said with a sincere bow.

 Chapter 633 Traumatic flashbacks

    Chapter 633 Traumatic shbacks


    "It''s my pleasure being an instrument of use to Lord Cassius." Jaeger Nyx bowed in return.


    "¡­" Damon who was standing right beside his father didn''t know how to react to any of these.


    He has no clue his family were moles in the Synder empire, or at least he hadn''t yete of age to know. What made it even weirder was the way his dad was being so zealous.


    His dad''s interaction with thete Emperor back then had seemed perfectly normal, but seeing Jaeger''s reaction to ke''s Dad made him feel a level of distrust. It wasn''t that he had reacted in the wrong way, it just felt alien to him.


    ''Everything else I have known since remains the same, but¡­'' Having advanced in the art of hiding one''s facial expressions, Damon was going through an internal turmoil without anyone noticing.


    ''But a lot of things now make sense.'' Damon now seemed to understand why the Nyx family always possessed darkness-rted artifacts and resources even though more than an ancestral family should have had.


    "Now the introduction is all over, it''s time for us to get to the reason for your assembly." Cassius turned to the other people in the room and said. "Excuse us for a moment."


    Darkness surged out of Cassius'' throne and wrapped around members of the group as well as Damon, before teleporting them to an empty room.


    Still sitting on his Crystal mana throne, Cassius spoke. "Thank you for heeding ke''s call and agreeing to join him in his quest to free the human race from this prison."


    "The southern continent, although smaller than the others is tens of times more dangerous. As you all know, thest joint expedition led to the mysterious death of a Peak Angel on the very first day, thus leading to the abrupt end of the expedition."


    "This isn''t to scare you but to paint a picture of the challenges that you''ll be facing in a matter of months. You will be dealing with even more dangerous situations as you will be transversing the cursednds to make it to the heart of the continent." When Cassius was done with his exnation, he was surprised to see the unwavering determination on the faces of the five youths, which left him impressed.


    "The first agenda is to increase your power levels because even though Gods and Angels shouldn''t be going there, it still doesn''t mean weaklings can survive there even for an hour."


    Having already read their files and seen their strengths and weaknesses, their training was to start immediately.


    The training consisted of two simple things; the first was cultivating in a high mana-dense room to quicken their advancement, while the second was being taught by true masters of their different pathways.


    They were simple, but also extremely effective as these were most of the things they needed. As for ke, his training was a little bit different.


    Since he was already in the Angel realm, there was not much use for him to focus on cultivating especially since there were better things for him to do.


    While the others were to begin their training, ke was tasked to gather a lot of information concerning the southern continent. The reason for this was that even though no one knew what was waiting for them there, ke''s locator spell and keen intuition would be able to help him locate relevant information. All he had to do was ask the right questions.


    "You all may now leave, except for ke." Cassius said to the rest of the group.


    Brian would have loved to remind the God of Darkness that this was their first time here and he even made it worse because they also had no clue of where they were teleported to. However, he didn''t dare to bother such an entity for such minuscle things.


    "What''s up Dad?" ke asked for a status update and the reason why the reason why he was asked to stay behind while the others all made their way out of the room.


    "Nothing too serious except I have a request." Cassius said causing ke to slightly furrow his brows.


    ''Normally he would spill the beans immediately, but he is dying.'' ke was now worried about what the request would be. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    After a few seconds of contemtion, Cassius finally spoke. "I want to transfer a part of my consciousness to your mind."


    "¡­"


    The request made ke experience shbacks that left him so stunned that he couldn''t form words in his head.


    During his early days in Infinite realm, ke had formed a connection with Valerius who had posed as the system. Discovering that he was being used left him scarred and a bit traumatized, especially after seeing how he would have died helplessly like Castiel.


    "I was reluctant to tell you about this because of your history with Valerius, but after continuously searching for other solutions without any sess, I had no other choice than to ask you." Cassius exined as he saw fear being emitted from ke''s body.


    "Solution for what?" ke managed topose himself and ask.


    "In the southern continent, there will be unexpected situations the five of you won''t be able to solve due tock of experience or knowledge or even both. That is where Ie in; my consciousness will act as a guide, that way there will be no consequences for being a high-level entity." Cassius exined.


    "That makes sense. So how do we go about it?" Seeing that it was a request that would only improve their chances of survival, ke wasted no time agreeing to it.


    "First I have to split part of my consciousness, before transferring them to you. The former will take some time, so you just need to continue with the training until I am ready." Cassius answered.


    "I have no problem with the arrangement."


    After confirming there was nothing else to talk about, ke began making his way out of the room to meet his friends.

 Chapter 634 Its time.

    634 It''s time.


    The major aim of the training was to get all group members to the Angel realm. This took six and half months to aplish, and another half a month to get ustomed to their new ability- of course through gruesome fights with themselves and even members of the League.


    On the day scheduled for their departure, ke was called into the throne room by Cassius, he was finally ready for the ritual. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Are you ready?" Cassius asked with an excited smile stered on his face.


    "Yes I am, but why do you seem so excited?" ke asked with a smile and a raised brow because this was one of the rare asions where Cassius let his emotions show.


    "As a Deity, I don''t get to have much fun.I end up sitting the entire day observing. Now I get to explore the cursednds of the southern continent and explore what happened there." Cassius replied with a chuckle.


    "That makes sense." ke nodded because he knew if he were in Cassius'' position he would grab any chance he got to learn about the things that eluded even the Deities.


    "But wait..." ke just realized something wrong with his statement. "What do you mean by ''what happened'' there?"


    "That is a story for our journey to the southern continent. For now, let''s get this over with." Cassius replied to him.


    "If you say so." ke shrugged but at that time a dark ethereal aura had already enveloped Cassius'' right hand.


    He brought his right hand to his chest, and right in front of ke''s eyes, his hand phased right through and went into his body.


    "There are very few items and abilities in existence that could affect one''s soul, especially below the Battle Angel realm. However, above that everything changes." Cassius exined without pausing in his actions.


    "At the Battle Angel realm, one possesses limited capabilities of affecting a soul, which only includes protecting and attacking the soul body. As for the Deity realm, we can heal and split a soul body, but not create one."


    Cassius finally retracted his hand from his body and out came an ethereal blob that gave ke a splitting headache when he looked at it, causing him to instantly shut his eyes.


    "The soul of a Deity is so profound that even Battle Angels shouldn''t cast their gaze on it." Cassius exined ke''s reaction before continuing. "It is also the reason why the separated part of the soul can retain sentience."


    Cassius finally rose from his mana crystal throne and walked up to ke with the shimmering ethereal blob in his hand.


    Without being able to control his body, ke waspelled to go on one knee without daring to open his eyes.


    Cassius always suppressed his aura when he was around anyone below the Deity realm to prevent Angels from instantly losing consciousness and Battle Angels from suffocating. Even now he was suppressing the aura of his split soul, but its presence in the real world was an oddity that still came with adverse effects. "It is done, you can stand now." Cassius said causing ke to doubt his senses but reluctantly open his eyes.


    "How?" It was only then that he realized that not only was the oppressive aura of the split soul gone, but the ethereal blob was no longer in Cassius'' hand.


    "Just like that?" ke was still in shock as well as confused about what happened.


    "Yes." Cassius answered, but ke realized that he hadn''t opened his mouth when he replied.


    It was the voice in his head!


    "You are wondering why you didn''t feel any pain like your first encounter with Valerius?" Cassius'' consciousness in his mind asked to which ke nodded.


    "Your first encounter with Valerius was not just a transfer of consciousness but also a transfer of inheritance. The creation of the fire and space pathways in your body was the reason for the pain." Cassius exined.


    "What about the vision I had?" ke couldn''t help but ask.


    "The vision was just part of his memory left in the split portion of his soul. The aim of that was to give you a false sense of purpose and make you get stronger while taking your mind off his heinous plot to take over your body."


    At this point, Cassius'' original body finally spoke up. "If that is all of your questions, then let''s not keep the others waiting.


    With all thatpleted, both of them warped to the top floor of the Pce where the other members of the group were asked to wait.


    "It''s time for you guys to get going." Immediately after Cassius made the statement, a gigantic aircraft covering their view of the sky appeared.


    "What the¡­." Cami, Damon and Tessie were stunned by the sheer size of the contraption.


    "Isn''t that a Helicarrier?" Brian couldn''t believe his eyes.


    "I saw that in my vision." This was one of the ships he saw during Infinite realm''s peak.


    The hull of the Helicarrier was forged from a blend of mana-infused metals, giving it a smooth, polished finish that reflected the light with a soft, magical glow. It was covered in intricate patterns of runes and sigils that pulsed with the pink light of Thanium.


    "What are you talking about, you have been on it multiple times." Cassius chuckled at ke''s shock.


    "Wait¡­" ke''s eyes widened in shock. "Is that the League''s base?!"


    "Exactly." Cassius nodded.


    "So the League had this all this while, but didn''t use it throughout the war?" Brian asked with confusion writing all over his face, but Cassius'' silence answered it all.


    "At this point, it seems like saving me from Valerius was the hardest part of the war." ke shook his head inughter when he thought about how Synder would have reacted if he had known about all of this.


    "It''s time." Cassius said as a pink light fell from the Helicarrier onto the group, and instantly they were warped into the ship.

 Chapter 635 Before the Black Zone.

    635 Before the ck Zone.


    The moment the pink light enveloped them, the group felt their bodies being pulled upward but in the next instant they were already in what seemed to be a teleportation room which ke was familiar with.


    The Teleportation Room is strategically located near the centre of the Arcane Bastion, providing easy ess to all critical areas of the Arcane Bastion. The room was circr in shape, with a high, domed ceiling. The walls were crafted from the same mana-infused metal as the rest of the bastion, adorned with intricate, glowing runes that pulsed gently with mana energy.


    At the centre of the room was the main teleportation tform, arge, circr dais raised slightly above the floor level. The tform was made of polished mana crystals, with intricate patterns and symbols carved into its surface.


    Surrounding the tform were invisible barrier wards that activate during teleportation to protect against potential disruptions or idents. These wards form a shimmering, protective dome when engaged.


    "This is the most extravagant warp array I have seen in my life, and it seems so different from anything I have seen." As an A-rank adventurer, Brian had gone through hundreds of warp arrays and this didn''t have any form of corrtion with them.


    "The Arcane Bastion is from the main realm, where every form of our outdated tech was derived from." ke exined.


    "It''s quite disappointing that your dad didn''t give us any pep talk." Damon who was unimpressed by the teleportation room changed the topic.


    "That''s because he is still with us but in here." ke pointed at his head causing everyone to widen their eyes in shock.


    Damon was shocked because that was not the tone he would use to address a Deity. As for Brian, Cami and Tessie, they were surprised that ke had once again allowed another consciousness to live in his head.


    Before they could fully process their feelings, Dorian appeared in the room, this time without his mask.


    "Wee aboard, I am ke''s younger but older brother, Dorian. You might also know me as the Masked Man." Dorian''s introduction confused them but this only made him smile. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Since their number one enemy was now dead, there was no point in him keeping his identity hidden.


    After the introduction, Dorian gave the group a tour of the Arcane Bastion. This included the multiple areas that had been closed off to ke during his time here.


    They were also introduced to its insane features like long-distance warping, extreme cloaking capabilities that not even the Synder Empire could detect, and weapons that could easily level a fortified city.


    "If these weapons were incorporated into a ship, sailing the Ocean Tribirus would be safe."


    Once the tour of the almost empty ship waspleted, they were shown their rooms for the next week, before they all settled at the central hub where they were to be briefed.


    "To make sure that the mission isn''t jeopardized in any way, the number of personnel was reduced to the bare minimum; Me for controlling the Arcane Bastion and the problems that may arise, and you guys for the mission."


    "Our estimated time of arrival is a week, and everything you need is avable most especially a one-year supply of food." Dorian stated as he turned to ke, causing the entire group to chuckle.


    "If there are no questions, then I will be handing over to my Dad." Dorian moved to the side, and a holographic projection of Cassius sitting on his Mana crystal throne appeared.


    "I would have loved to apany you all, at least on your journey to the southern continent, but I can''t leave the maind as two deities are still atrge." Cassius apologized before going on with the main reason for the briefing.


    "Every prison has guards preventing the inmates from leaving, the same goes for this cell of ours." Cassius began the story he had promised to tell ke.


    "When the human race was first banished individuals from the different races were selected to act as guards. Their task wasn''t to stop the humans from leaving, but to make sure they only used the right method to open the gate."


    "Normally, this would mean they were also prisoners, but the catch here was that after a century a new set of guards would take their position. The problem with this was that during the failed joint operation of the three empires, none of these guards hade to meet the humans that stepped on the continent, and everything about the continent had also seemed to change." Cassius paused to let them absorb the information before proceeding.


    "There are multiple possibilities as to what might have happened, but three are the most usible. The first is that they didn''t want toe out, which is highly unlikely. Second is that all guards have exited the prison and the gate has beenpletely locked."


    After a deep breath, he stated thest option. "Finally, it could be that they are all dead, meaning we have more issues to deal with."


    Instantly, deep frowns appeared on their faces as they knew the implications of his words.


    The fact that the guards were stationed there to keep things in order meant that they were very powerful. Anything strong enough to eliminate them meant big trouble for the group.


    "The chances of thetter happening are quite slim since the new guardsing should have dealt with the issue by now." Cassius exined.


    "You mentioned that the southern continent has changed. What do you mean by that?" ke couldn''t help but ask.


    "This ce used to be like every other piece ofnd: peaceful, a thriving nt and beast ecosystem, and a small civilization formed by the guards. However, over the years the continent has continuously been shrouded by darkness." Cassius'' exnation made them imagine what the ck Zone would have looked like in its heyday.


    "The second option is the most usible, and at the same time, the best option. However, that doesn''t mean we should disregard the rest."

 Chapter 636 Dusk stalker

    636 Dusk stalker


    Their journey to the southern continent was smooth, mostly thanks to the Arcane Bastion. Although the dangers of the sky were nowherepared to Ocean Tribirus, there were still a lot of


    dangers lurking in the sky.


    What made the sky and ocean dangerous was the disadvantaged movement of the travellers. Even if they were part of the Wind and water pathways, their movement capabilities were no match for the creatures in their natural habitat.


    Fortunately, ke and the crew didn''t have to bother about any of that as the Arcane Bastion stealthily passed the beasts or shot down everything directly in their path.


    Just as predicted, in thete hours of the 7th day, thend of the southern continent appeared on the horizon, prompting Dorian to announce it to the group scattered all over the Bastion.


    ke who was meditating at the training ground where he fought both Xander and de, teleported straight to the deck.


    It didn''t take long before the rest gathered and set their eyes on the ck Zone.


    From an aerial perspective, the continenty shrouded in an imprable veil of mist, casting an eerie pall over its vast expanse. The dense, swirling fog cloaked thend in perpetual twilight, its tendrils seeming to reach out hungrily toward any who dared approach.


    At the continent''s heart, piercing through the oppressive gloom, stood a solitary white spire, its pristine surface gleaming ghostly against the surrounding murk. This enigmatic monolith exuded an otherworldly aura, a silent sentinel in a sea of shadows.


    The mist that engulfed the continent was of course no ordinary fog; it was a supernatural barrier, silencing all forms ofmunication, both magical and technological, rendering thend an isted enigma.


    "Before you ask if we could fly directly to the spire, the answer is no." Dorian took the words out of Brian''s mouth. "We tried it during the expedition, but the artefacts lost connection with the controller and the volunteer that flew above the continent never came back."


    "I can''t believe I was eager to do this." Brian couldn''t help but gulp at the sight of the eerie continent.


    "If not that this was a ck zone, your confidence back at Calton would have made me believe you had explored the continent twice." ke chuckled at his reaction, but hisid-back expression made the rest wonder if he wasn''t joining them in the exploration.


    At that moment, darkness converged to form a projection of Cassius. "Dorian will be stationed outside here until we are out."


    ''What if we don''t make it out, what would he do?'' Brian was curious but didn''t dare to voice his thoughts to not reduce the team''s already low morale.


    Once they were done taking in the view of the continent, the team made their final preparation before proceeding to the teleportation room to get beamed down to the continent. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Nost words before I leave?" ke asked Dorian who had already manned the controls.


    "Are you nning on dying?" Dorian asked with a raised brow to which ke shook his head with a smile. "Then I''ll talk to you when you get back."


    At that moment, the teleportation tform lit up and the group were warped to the shores of the continent, exactly where the joint expedition team hadnded.


    Upon setting foot on the continent, the oppressive mist abruptly dissipated, restoring their vision to normalcy, though a palpable sense of unease remained.


    "What the hell?" The group were shocked and apprehensive by the sudden development.


    In the outskirts of the continent, thendscape was a patchwork of diverse terrains, ranging from dense, shadowy forests to arid, wind-swept deserts.


    Immediately they understood what they were about to face, ke instinctively turned back to the shore.


    "Sure enough, we can always leave if we want." ke let out a sigh of relief as he was afraid that the shore would have vanished just like in horror movies.


    "Is it me or does this mist feel oddly familiar with Night mist?" Damon turned to ke who was the only person that could rte.


    The mist''s clearance just after they stepped foot on the continent, felt too familiar to how they could grant vision people within the night mist their vision. The rules here were simple; no vision unless you are within.


    "Yes, I can even detect the mist sapping at our vitality. Thankfully, our Angelic bodies drastically reduce the rate of absorption and replenish our vitality with its natural rejuvenation." ke exined the results of his scan.


    "What next?" Brain asked while looking around, it was then that Cassius'' figure once again appeared.


    "Although it might sound easier than it seems, our goal is to reach the spire as it is the gateway to the main realm. It is now up to you guys to decide how " Cassius pointed at the structure located at the centre of the continent.


    Out of nowhere, ke felt an extremely dangerous aura wash over causing him to abruptly turn to the right with a deep frown etched on his face, then to the left but there was nothing he could see.


    "We need to leave now!" ke said to his confused teammates as he teleported them into his pocket dimension without their permission.


    Once he sensed that the feeling was gone, ke dropped to the ground and let out a deep sigh of relief.


    "What happened?" The team were totally confused and worried about ke''s abrupt actions.


    "I had a premonition that if we remained there for a bit longer, one of us would have died." ke shook his head a few more seconds ofteness would have led to history repeating itself.


    "How is that possible?"


    The group couldn''t believe there was something that could stop 5 Angels and 2 Emperor beasts from escaping if they wanted.


    "During this past few months, my intuition led me to study a book titled Corruption. What we just encountered now is a corrupted entity called, a Dusk stalker." ke exined.

 Chapter 637 Corruption and Rituals

    637 Corruption and Rituals


    The book titled, Corruption, exposed ke to a term that was foreign to most of the human race but extremely important.


    From the onset of creation, the term corruption didn''t exist as the Mother-stream only controlled life and death. However, all that ended during Valerius'' betrayal of the realm, which led to the opening of the barrier.


    With the troops of Neons that managed to make it into the universe, came Pure evil known as Anti-life or corruption; whichever one wished to call it. The worst part of the situation was that even when the Neons were dealt with, the corruption remained. Although it is actively being restricted from spreading by the Mother-stream it still manages to infiltrate multiple areas and infect things unfortunate enough to encounter it.


    Contrary to what one might think, Anti-life or corruption doesn''t outrightly kill an unfortunate target (at least most of the time), instead it takes full control of the target leading to all sorts of mutations.


    The mutations were not only physical but also magical. The powers of the unfortunate hosts not only became twisted and distorted, but the infected also began awakening irregr abilities outside the pathways.


    Dusk stalkers were one-eyed corrupted humanoid creatures with pale-purple skin tones. They usually possessedrger than no heads, wrinkled skin, and anky physique that was poor forbat but optimum for speed and stealth. Unlike almost every creature in the southern continent that was physically dangerous, thebat capabilities of the Dusks stalkers were abysmal. In fact, if put against a champion realm human, the chances of the humaning out on top were extremely high.


    However, Dusk stalkers had a unique kind of strength that made them one of the most dangerous creatures in the ck zone, Stalking.


    The mutation of these corrupted creatures gave them affinity to the darkness element as well as darkness-rted abilities. No one knows if it was a result of their original element being Darkness or an external factor altogether. However, this trait made them masters of stealth, who are almost undetectable even by Peak Angels.


    Thisid a foundation for one of the most insane abilities ke had ever heard about, Instant Death.


    "What do you mean by Instant Death?" Brian was terrified.


    "When a target has been stalked for a certain period by the Dusk Stalker, Instant automatically activates, killing the target on sight." ke exined causing the group to go pale as they realize what would have happened to one of them if ke hadn''t informed them on time.


    "I think that exins what happened to the unfortunate member of the joint expedition." Damon rubbed his hand on his chin and asked. "How do we counter it?"


    "You don''t¡­ at least from the little I know." ke shook his head and continued. "Dusk stalkers are rare and at the same time extremely difficult to discover talk less of capturing. The only reason I knew about its presence was my Foresight ability that warned me of the extreme danger about to


    befall us. It was only from it that I was able to deduce what we were dealing


    with."


    "ording to the book, they''re instances where people in the main realm tried to capture dusk stalkers, but it never ended well. Even if you are able to discover a Dusk stalker, it still doesn''t interrupt the stalking ability. So as long as you don''t kill it in time, the Instant Death ability will still activate." ke exined.


    "So we should just keep running any time we encounter one?" Cami couldn''t help but ask.


    "Exactly, although I doubt we would constantly be on the run, as dusk stalkers are rare." ke answered.


    "Wow, the first thing we met on this continent is a very rare corrupted creature, what wonderful luck we have." Brian said with a tone that oozed with sarcasm.


    "Ignoring Brian''s tone, why do I have a feeling that the Dusk stalker isn''t the only rare kind of creature we will meet?" Tessie expressed her concern.


    "Then your intuition will be correct..." Cassius answered as darkness formed a projection of his body.


    "If you remember correctly, I mentioned that there was something wrong with the southern continent. The presence of a corrupted creature most likely means there are more of them. Corruption is highly contagious, and from what I have seen so far, it exins the oddity in the environment." Cassius further went on to exin the deductions he had made with their little discovery.


    "But what could lead to corruption on a continent-scale?" ke couldn''t help but ask, especially since this prison was sealed from interacting with anything outside.


    "A ritual¡­ A Deity-level ritual." Cassius rubbed his chin as he answered in a pondering tone, before going on to exin in detail.


    "Corruption shouldn''t be present in this prison, meaning it was brought in by something or someone. The someone could be Azkelwart as he is the only one who could leave the prison but that is unlikely as he shows no signs of corruption."


    "As for the second option; the only thing I know that could bypass the seal of this prison is a ritual. Although I don''t have the details of it, Valerius conducted a ritual to bring you here, but that coupled with his injuries from our battlepletely drained him forcing him into a slumber." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    What even made him certain that the ritual wasn''t the source of the corruption was that ke and everyone else from Earth were still normal, and there were no reported cases of corruption in any of the empires.


    "Conducting a ritual is basically establishing a connection with the Mother-stream to make a special request. And of course, one must pay an equivalent price for the request to be granted. It is most likely during this exchange that corruption found its way into the seal. However, I have no clue what the motive of the ritual might be." Cassius exined.


    "I have a feeling that we would only get to know at the spire." ke said.


    Their main purpose ofing to the Southern continent was for setting the human race free. So staying in the pocket dimension wasn''t an option.


    After close to an hour, the group finally decided to return to the ck zone and continue their journey to the Spire.

 Chapter 638 Plan? Survive!

    638 n? Survive!


    Once they were out of the pocket dimension, the group quickly scanned their surrounding in search of the Dusk Stalker. Unfortunately, they were unable to spot any traces of it, making them feel even more ufortable as they were unsure if it was still in the vicinity or had left.


    Nheless, the group wasted no time taking flight. Except for ke who didn''t require wings to fly, the rest conjured water and darkness wings in conjunction with mana maniption in order to stay afloat.


    ke and Damon used the darkness element to conceal the entire group as they sojourned towards the spire to avoid being targets for every cursed creature in the southern continent.


    Two hourster from their point of lift-off, Brian who had been constantly scanning the ins and forests below pointed out.


    "ording to all the stories I have heard about this ce, the entire continent is meant to be teeming with beasts, but we haven''t seen any other one so far."


    "And I think it''s best it remains that way¡­" Carmi shot Brian a re that read ''You better not jinx it or else!''


    "If the stories are urate, then the silence means our current situation is problematic. However, I hope the stories aren''t." Damon pointed out the w in her logic.


    It was from Damon''s statement that ke began scrutinizing their environment even more as he began suspecting that something was truly off.


    After one more hour of traveling, ke whose brows had been unconsciously furrowing from his discoveries decided to make the teamnd.


    "We are not making any progress." ke who was at the helm of the formation turned and announced the bad news to the team.


    "How do you mean?" Damon who clearly saw the terrain changing couldn''t help but ask.


    "We are in something called spatial distortion. The environment has been distorted in such a way that to normal eyes it is changing, but in terms of spatial coordinates, we are still in the same ce. Whenever or if we ever get to the edge of the distortion field, we will be sent back to the beginning." ke exined causing the team to look at each other in confusion.


    As a locator, it was impossible for ke to get lost. Among many other things, he always knew his spatial location and could instinctively know the distance between himself and his target even without using the locator spell. The problem here was that the distance between them and the spire never seemed to be decreasing.


    "Should we try other directions?" Tessie suggested.


    "It wouldn''t change anything." ke shook his head as he went on to exin. "The only three ways of escaping a distortion field is to directly warp out of the field or destroy it using sheer power or finding an exit point."


    The first and second options were out of the question as theycked the power to undo the distortion and their main aim was the spire. Thest option was the only feasible one out of the three, but that was easier said than done.


    "What should we be looking out for?" Cami asked.


    "The exit point could be anything; a tree, a rock, anything at all. The only thing we can hope for is that the locator spell can find it."


    ke exined as he was about to cast the locator spell, but it was at that moment that the ground began quaking.


    "What the hell is going on?!"


    Before they could understand what was going on, arge portion of the ground 10 meters away shot up. At the same time, the surrounding ground began squirming and more parts of the ground began shooting up.


    "It¡­ it feels like a mountain range is forming¡­ We need to leave the ground!" Brian immediately alerted the group.


    Without wasting another second, the group conjured their wings and took to the air in hopes of escaping whatever was going on below them, but it was then that clouds appeared from nowhere and blocked out the sky.


    "I have a bad feeling about this¡­" Brian voiced his concern as the group had to slow down their ent to ascertain whether they should proceed or not.


    "Can you shut up already?!" Cami and Tessie screamed in unison when they saw that Brian had no ns to stop jinxing them.


    Ignoring the ruckus happening, ke began analyzing the current situation they had found themselves in.


    ''Foresight tells me that flying towards the clouds means instant death, but at the same time we can''t fly out of the changing terrain in time because it seems the entire continent is undergoing a simr change.''


    ''What of going back to the pocket dimension?'' Cassius asked.


    ''We can''t continue relying on that if wee across any issue. If we continue at this pace we would neverplete our exploration.'' ke shook his head as he continued scanning the environment for a way out.


    ''Your liveses first, we are not in a rush toplete the exploration.'' Cassius reminded him.


    ''I haven''t forgotten that, but my intuition tells me that this is our chance to exit the distortion field. If any of our lives are in danger, I''ll send all of us back.''


    Just as if the devil heard their conversation, ke began noticing that wind was building up at one point hundreds of meters away, and it was getting stronger by the second.


    At the same time, the ins below them could no longer be considered t as the lowest parts had risen over 200 meters, while the tallest part was already nearing 400 meters.


    "A cyclone is forming." Damon couldn''t help alert ke who has seemed to have dazed-off.


    "I am aware." ke replied as he saw that their wings need even more effort to keep them afloat. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "What''s the n?" Cami was the one to ask as the situation seemed to be spiraling out of control every passing second.


    "Try your best to survive."


    Just like clockwork, the strength of the cyclone tripled, causing them to put in triple the effort to stay afloat, while uprooting trees and all loosely ced objects on the changingndscape.

 Chapter 639 The exit.

    639 The exit.


    Without any of them having time toin, a massive tree shot from behind them at blinding speeds. With their disadvantageous position in the air, blocking wasn''t the best option but from the looks of things it seemed like they didn''t have many options.


    Fortunately, as ke had given them the warning, he also set up arge gravitational field that went against the pull of the cyclone, around the group, thus slowing down all projectiles making their way in.


    "This exins why there are almost no beasts in this area." Brian gritted his teeth as he moved out in time for the tree to zip past them and into the cyclone.


    With the amount of terrain shift that was taking ce, he was wondering how something like the Dusk Stalker would survive, especially if this was a regr urrence.


    At the same time, the ground below them, once again shot up to insane heights, causing the uprooted objects to crash into them, thus increasing the number of debrising their way.


    "Do something about the rocks!" Damon screamed at Brian who was some meters away dodging and blocking projectilesing his way.


    "I can''t, it won''t obey me!" Brian replied in frustration and confusion as he failed to manipte the earth for the umpteenth time.


    One of the first things they had checked when they got on the southern continent was if they could use their abilities, and then everything was all right. Even their current mode of flight was a testament to everything being normal. So, he was very confused when it seemed it was only his ability that was failing.


    They didn''t know that the terrain swap was an anomaly caused by the corruption ushered into the dimension by the ritual.


    Just like the distortion field, the terrain swap which was interchanging the different geographicalndmarks all around the continent, was also an environmental anomaly. The naturalws that guided all creation had been tampered with, thus the natural method of maniption which are the pathways would no longer suffice.


    "What exactly are we waiting for here?!" Cami had to ask as the situation had gotten to the point that three of them were now using Water wheels to deflect and block the projectilesing their way.


    ''Is it me or is that cycloneing closer?'' Although he could swear that his eyes were not ying tricks on him, Brian didn''t dare to voice his discovery.


    "More cyclones would be forming soon at random ces! We don''t want to be in the middle one, so this is the safest ce to stay!" ke exined as he rapidly turned his sight to random points, while simultaneously dodging everything that wasing his way.


    "More cyclones?!" The entire team were dumbfounded, they thought that their situation was already chaotic, but that would be childsy when more cyclones began forming.


    "Then why haven''t we gone back to the pocket dimension?!" Damon was getting even more confused by the second. ke elegantly dodged everything as if all this was a walk in the park, but at the same time, he was frantically looking around as if searching for something.


    "I have found the exit point of the distortion field, but it keeps moving around." ke''s announcement lit up lights in their eyes, but that soon vanished as a bolt of meter-thick lightning descended from the sky and struck a peak not too far away from them.


    To make matters worse, followed after that was a torrent of rain, but that didn''t mean the lighting show was over.


    "I have a bad feeling that every bad thing happening is gravitating towards us!" Tessie shared her concern about how things were now bing too much of a coincidence.


    ''Oh, but when I say it, I get crucified!'' Brianined in his head of course.


    "We need to move!"


    ke warned the team, and immediately they shot forward while the gravitational field moved along with them.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The moment they left the area, three Battle-Angel-level thunderbolts hammered down on their previous location at frightening speeds.


    "That''s not all, we need to keep moving!" ke informed the team as he swiped his hand to move a bouldering their way.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Just as they had feared, the thunderbolts were hot on their tails, but that made it even more confusing when ke stopped in his tracks.


    "Why are¡­" Before Brian could finish his question, a cyclone popped into existence and they were right in the middle of it.


    ''Shit!''


    The group simultaneously cursed not only at the appearance of the cyclone but also because of the possible aftermath. If the cyclone could appear out of thin air, the chances of instantly tripling in strength were high. Also, this didn''t mean that the thunderbolts couldn''t find their way inside.


    "Hmmm" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    With only a second of dy to instantly make hundreds of calctions, ke warped the team outside the cyclone, but that wasn''t all.


    ''Aren''t you a little bit predictable?'' ke smirked as he once again warped the team, saving them from a barrage of thunderbolts that descended on their previous location. "What the hell?!" The team were shocked by how insidious whatever was behind this mess was, but that didn''t stop them from moving.


    At this point, they were utterly confused by what exactly they were dealing with. The unknown entity could create cyclones and terrifying thunderbolts as well as shape the environment as it saw fit.


    "Shit!" For the first time, ke was so frustrated that he spoke outside telepathy. "The exit has stopped moving!"


    This was meant to be the good news they had all been waiting for, but when they saw the look on ke''s face, they knew something was wrong.


    "Where is it?" Cami asked.


    "See for yourselves." ke said as he warped them to their initial position when the storm had started.


    "Damn¡­" Brian as well as the entire team were speechless when they saw themselves in the centre of two cyclones.


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