ã€ŠThe Demon Emperorã€‹


 Prologue

    ¡°OLD LIZARDS, COME OUT AND PLAY WITH ME!¡± A red-haired youth with ruby-colored eyes dressed in loose silver clothes was standing in a middle of an empty space. Meteorites were flying everywhere around him, but each of them avoided him as if he was a danger to their existence. His perfectly chiseled face was filled with an excitement and fighting spirit, his eyes looked to be kind and cheerful. Aura of this man was extraordinarily sharp and noble. If an ordinary mortal would see that man, he would unintentionally kneel and feel reverence toward the man.

    A few silent minutes later, the young man lost his patience and decided that if they didn¡¯t want to come out, then he would go in, ¡°Sorry for being impolite, but I don¡¯t have much time to waste with you. My wife will get mad if I won¡¯t get back before a dinner.¡± The young man waved his hand slightly and space in front of him started shattering.

    *CRAAAAACK*

    The young man waited calmly for a fissure to become terrifyingly huge, and only after that, he smiled and walked inside of it.

    Right after the young man¡¯s body went through the fissure in space, everything around him changed drastically. Previously, he was in a middle of an empty space with only random meteorites flying, but now there were more than twenty planets rotating around a light-blue star. The fissure behind him started closing as if the world was restoring itself.

    ¡°PRTVHUGNA ¡®THE GOLDEN MATRIARCH¡¯ OKLJUUVANI, I CAME HERE TO FIGHT YOU IN A FAIR FIGHT. MY FRIENDS TOLD ME THAT YOU DIDN¡¯T WANT TO ACCEPT ME AS THE STRONGEST, SO I CAME HERE TO CONVINCE YOU,¡± the young man laughed heartily as he said these words and his voice resounded thunderously throughout the whole world. His arrogant words and the fact that he barged into this world made sure that all the powerful beings of the world already noticed him.

    *ROAR*

    Suddenly, a two kilometers long golden dragon with three horns growing out of its head appeared out of nowhere. The young man looked like a speck of dust in front of the dragon, but he wasn¡¯t scared at all; he was actually disappointed because of the dragon¡¯s appearance.

    ¡°Brat, I called your ancestor to fight with me, I have no interest in little weak lizards.¡±

    ¡°You puny human, you dared to break into our sacred world and even called out my grandmother. Killing you would be too generous of me, so I will-¡± Before the dragon could finish his words, the young man waved his hand and an astounding pressure fell onto the dragon.

    *CRACK* *CRACK*

    The dragon tried to resist the pressure with all his might, but he couldn¡¯t do anything as his scales started falling off his body and a golden blood poured out of his injuries.

    ¡°Enough!¡± A cold voice resounded and the pressure on the dragon vanished. Behind the first dragon appeared a second golden dragon. This dragon was five times bigger than the first one, its scales weren¡¯t just golden in color, they were actually shining with a bright golden light and there were five horns growing out of its head. These horns made the dragon look like a queen with a crown on her head.

    Seeing a miserable condition of her grandson, the matriarch felt anger boil up inside of her. She then took a look at the arrogant young human and her expression changed, ¡°So you¡¯re a famous ¡®The Strongest¡¯, who appeared out of nowhere and started challenging all powerful beings of the universe? And you¡¯re already at a rank 10 of an immortal ascension at such a young age¡­¡± Even though The Strongest looked to be around twenty years of age, he was actually thirty thousand years old. But this age was nothing in dragons¡¯ eyes, their matriarch was the only one who managed to reach the rank 10 of the immortal ascension and she made it when she was older than two hundred thousand years.

    The Strongest clenched his hands into fists and a silver light engulfed his whole body. He then looked at the golden dragon¡¯s body and pointed a finger in the matriarch¡¯s direction. A huge ball of silver light condensed at a tip of The Strongest¡¯s finger and then slowly flew out. The matriarch saw the scene and her whole body felt imminent danger coming her way, she opened her mouth and an enormous ball of blue flames started to take a form.

    *BOOM*

    A silver ball of light was hundred times smaller than the blue ball of flames, but when two of them met each other, they both exploded and space around the explosion was shattered. A horrifying suction force started emanating from the center of the explosion as a little black hole started forming there, gradually devouring surrounding space. The Strongest lifted his palm and a translucent silver shield appeared before him, which stopped any energy from the blast coming his way. Meteorites that was flying past the explosion were all obliterated into nothingness. Terrifying energy waves surged forth from the center of the explosion. A lot of dragons of rank 6 of an immortal ascension and higher started appearing out of all planets and they all were concentrating their full might to defend their planets from just the collateral damage created by collision of two rank 10 immortal ascension masters. When energy waves reached dragons, they all used their best techniques to defend and a lot of huge cracks in the space were created from each collision. A lot of miserable cries of pain were heard from all over the space as each of the dragons suffered injuries and their bodies were now covered in silver energy that continued corroding them over time.

    When the energy undulations from the explosion died out and everything became calm, The Strongest was standing in the same place and even his clothes were as clean as they were before the battle. On the other side, the matriarch suffered some small injuries and one of her scales was bleeding. And on top of that, there were now barely noticeable silver specks of energy on her body.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°I admit defeat.¡± The huge golden dragon suddenly transformed into an old lady with wrinkles all over her face in a golden royal robes. If there weren¡¯t little golden scales all over her body and five little horns on her head, she would look like an ordinary human being. She lightly tapped on each silver speck of energy on her body and they instantly vanished, then she waved her both hands and all remaining energy waves around the world vanished.

    ¡°You are wiser than other old frogs.¡± The Strongest turned around and teared the space again to create a way out for himself. But at that moment the old lady¡¯s expression suddenly changed and her face was now gloomy and pensive.

    ¡°I just received news¡­ You better hurry and reach your home before something terrible happened there,¡± the old lady said these words and vanished.

    ¡°Something terrible?¡± The Strongest¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he felt that something was off. His whole body became covered in silver light, his hairs and pupils silver in color. Even though his movement speed was incredibly fast, he still needed a few hours to reach his own world from the dragons¡¯ world.

    When The Strongest reached his world¡¯s location, his heart stopped beating, his eyes immediately became wet and his soul was crashed to pieces. The huge gates that were the entrance to his world were destroyed, and he saw only endless black flames inside of his world. The Strongest jumped into the world and his mind collapsed when he saw what happened inside.

    All the planets of his world were shattered to fragments and the star that was supposed to be the center of the world, was nowhere to be seen. Previously, there were more than a billion living beings in his world and each one of them was somehow related to The Strongest. But now¡­ now there was only a complete silence and an odor of death everywhere in the world.

    The Strongest¡¯s legs were uncontrollably shaking, his mind was blank and his entire being was on a verge of collapse. He was just standing in a place and looking straight at the shattered planet, where his wife and children lived a happy life just a few hours ago. He cultivated for more than thirty thousand years and almost all that time he was accompanied by his wife. He had twenty children and all of them were precious treasures of his life. And now he lost all of them because he wanted to prove that he was The Strongest¡­

    His wife begged him many times to stay by her side and not risk his life. His children always asked to take them with him for his adventures, but he always left them in a safe world that he created while he was having fun in the outside universe.

    The Strongest tried to calm himself down and try to feel any presence of life in this world. When he finally managed to focus a little bit and felt something alive, he vanished from where he stood and reappeared on the planet where his family lived. He didn¡¯t just feel a random presence of life, he felt his wife¡¯s aura. That aura was extremely weak, but it was still alive.

    When The Strongest finally reached the spot where he felt the aura coming from, he saw his wife lying on the ground. She was as beautiful as ever, but her skin was as pale as a ghost. When The Strongest saw her, bloody tears started flowing out of his eyes as he fell onto the ground and tried to hug his dying wife.

    ¡°My love, is it you?¡± A frail gentle voice resounded in The Strongest¡¯s ears. When he lifted his head up, he saw that his wife didn¡¯t move, nor she opened her eyes. She was using last strands of her consciousness to talk to him.

    ¡°Frida, don¡¯t waste your energy on useless speeches.¡± The Strongest started using all his energy to try to heal Frida¡¯s injuries, but there were no injuries in her body. He understood that her soul was crashed and he had no way of saving her now.

    ¡°My love, I have to join our children so I could be reborn close to them. I will head there first and wait for your arrival as long as needed. Please, don¡¯t seek revenge for me or our children. I know that you will become The Strongest someday. I hope you will then find us somehow.¡± Frida¡¯s voice was becoming weaker with each word she spoke and her aura was gradually vanishing.

    ¡°NO! FRIDA, DO NOT REINCARNATE! WAIT FOR ME THERE! I WILL FIND A WAY TO BRING YOU ALL BACK HERE TO ME! YOU HEAR ME? DO NOT REINCARNATE!¡± The Strongest was yelling as loud as he could. He was grasping Frida¡¯s body in his hands and shaking her as if he could wake her up. He kept screaming these words as if trying to send them into the reincarnation cycle and reach Frida¡¯s ears, but it was all absolutely meaningless¡­

    The Strongest was absorbed in his sorrow and he didn¡¯t notice that the whole month has already gone by. After that month, everything around him has already crumbled and there was nothing around him except for his wife¡¯s corpse. He slowly stood up, took his wife¡¯s body and moved onto the random meteorite flying past him. He waved his hand, and a grave was created in a middle of the meteorite. He gently put his wife¡¯s body into the grave. He was looking at the grave for a few days before he finally waved his hand, and the grave was buried. He used his energy to create a statue that looked exactly like his wife and then statues of twenty young men and women appeared around the woman. The Strongest created a monument to his family from his pure silver energy. He then sat down, took an alcohol from his magic ring and started drinking it. He was flying on the meteorite for more than a year, but he never stood up nor stopped crying.

    When The Strongest finally stood up, his face was already filled with wrinkles and he didn¡¯t look as a young man anymore. He was now a middle-aged man in tattered silver-colored clothes and his eyes didn¡¯t have even a drop of his usual excitement and thirst for power. His gaze was now full of killing intent and hatred. He knew who attacked his world and who was responsible for deaths of his family, but he needed time to think over everything that happened.

    ¡°Frida asked me not to seek revenge, so I won¡¯t go to take revenge. I will not kill any of them, but i still have to punish that damned snake for her wrongdoings.¡± The Strongest finally made his decision. He stopped the meteorite from moving and created a silver temple around it. There was now a mysterious and indestructible silver tomb floating in an empty space of the universe.

    237846th year of the second era in the highest world, somewhere in a middle of a Forest of the Dead.

    ¡°It has been a hundred and sixty-five thousand years, but I finally found a clue I needed.¡± The Strongest was looking exactly the same as he was when he created the tomb for his family. He was now holding an ancient scroll in his hands.

    There was only one line of text in this scroll, but that line changed everything for The Strongest.

    ¡°It seems like I need to take in a few disciples and carefully nurture them to achieve my goal.¡± The Strongest¡¯s eyes sparkled with a mysterious shine as he folded the scroll and put it inside of his magic ring.

 Chapter 1 - Demon hunter academy

    ¡°Wake up or your brother will leave now and won''t escort you to your demon hunter initiation ceremony.¡± These were the first words Boe heard after his mother pinched him in his sleep. After couple of seconds, he jumped up from his bed and rushed out of his room into the kitchen. His father and two brothers were already eating their breakfast. His father was very bulky man in red uniform, which signified that he was one of the demon hunter crops commanders in their village. Boe was very proud of his father his whole life and always wanted to become demon hunter like him. Today was the day when 14-15 years old kids were enrolling into the demon hunter academy in Komyns city of Green Plains Kingdom. Boe Nas was 14 year old middle son from Nas family, he had short black hair, black eyes and ordinary face. Both his brothers and his father looked very similar to him in appearance. His mother was different than them, she was very graceful and beautiful, her hair were blonde and very long, her eyes were blue and herfacial features very exquisite.

    His older brother Rak was 17 years old and was in third and last grade indemon hunter academy. Rak came back from academy to this village specifically to escort Boe to the academy because the way from a village to the academy is very dangerous and Boe would most likely die to wild animals or bandits if he would go there without anyone strong enough to escort him. Rak was now demon hunter of first rank with fire attribute affinity so he could easily defeat any wild animals and bandits wouldn¡¯t attack him simply because they were afraid of organization behind Rak.

    ¡°Alright, are you ready to go now, Boe?¡± Rak asked after Boe ate his breakfast and said his farewells to parents and little brother.

    ¡°Yes, big bro, lets go to aca-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me big bro, from now on i¡¯m senior Rak for you. From today and onwards you will be disciple of Red Claw Academy and only people in your class will be your brothers and sisters, everyone else will become your rivals or superiors, including me.¡± Rak interrupted Boe and his tone wasn¡¯t of kind big brother Boe knew, he was speaking as if Boe was his subordinate.

    ¡°Yes, senior Rak.¡±

    ¡°Good, now we can set out to academy.¡±

    Trip to academy wasn¡¯t fun like Boe expected, two brothers was walking for three days already, but Rak was only speaking to Boe when he was instructing him to make a stop to rest or hide somewhere, when he was dealing with wild animals.

    ¡°Boe, hide behind that rock and don¡¯t make any noise.¡± Rak noticed that five wolves were coming their way from the woods. Rak pulled out a sword and started chanting words Boe didn¡¯t understand, but before Rak even had a chance to attack, one wolf exploded and other wolves ran away in fear of something.

    ¡°Who are you and what do you want?¡± Rak shouted into the air and Boe thought his brother is going insane since he couldn¡¯t see anyone there.

    ¡°Hello, human children, do you mind telling me in which direction should I go to reach the nearest village from here?¡± asked female voice from woods.

    ¡°Show yourself or I¡¯ll have to attack!¡± Rak didn¡¯t put away his sword, which was now covered in flames, it was one of Rak¡¯s magic spells which he chanted before. This technique was called ¡°Amplification¡± and was one of the easiest spells of fire magic from his academy. Even though Rak was sure in his ability to deal with wild animals and could even wipe out bandit squad of 5-10 people, for some reason he was feeling dread toward the owner of the voice.

    ¡°I do not plan to hurt you, so you can relax and just answer my question.¡± Right after Rak and Boe heard these words they saw beautiful girl with blonde hair and green eyes come out of the woods. This girl looked to be 16 years old and was the most beautiful girl they saw in their lives, but what shocked them was that girl wasn¡¯t a human, she had a long green tail behind her.

    ¡°You¡­ you are a forest nymph.¡± Rak was shocked, he heard about forest nymphs from his teacher in academy, but they were never seen in Green Plains Kingdom and were a rare sight even in central parts of continent. Only now did he realize why she called them ¡°human children¡±, even though she looked to be 16, she might be a few hundred years old already, since forest nymph are all born with a strong vitality and could live up to five thousand years without even training in any kind of magic.

    ¡°Indeed, I am a forest nymph and my name is Lith, can you answer my question now, child?¡± Lith smiled and Boe¡¯s heart stopped beating for a few seconds. Boe has never even heard of such creatures and would never imagine such beautiful girls walking on the same earth as him. But before he even had a chance to thoroughly ¡°inspect¡± Lith, he suddenly lost his footing and lost consciousness.

    After a few hours passed, Boe woke up and managed to get up after five tries. What he saw after he looked around shocked him and he froze. In a place where Lith stood was only a pool of blood and near the tree where his brother stood, was only one detached arm laying on the ground. Boe started crying and fell to his knees, shouting like crazy. After few minutes of yelling and crying, he managed to get up and started walking to the detached arm laying on the ground. When he walked up to the arm and took it into his arms, he saw a red bracelet with ¡°Nas¡± written on it.

    ¡°Kid, what happened here?¡± asked a man sitting on a giant green lizard, he wore a green battle armor with a sword behind his back. After he didn¡¯t get any response from Boe, he jumped off of his huge lizard, pulled out his sword and started walking toward Boe.

    ¡°Kid, answer me now or I¡¯ll have to use force to subdue you and take you to Komyns city to interrogate.¡±

    ¡°Captain Knoff, I don¡¯t think you need to unsheathe your sword or use any power to subdue that kid, he doesn¡¯t have any battle aura emanating from him¡± said another man in green armor sitting on a smaller lizard.

    ¡°Wel, you should never underestimate your enemies, he might be a powerful demon pretending to be a small child. If he¡¯s demon of rank 2 or above we won¡¯t even be able to detect any battle aura from him and he will easily slaughter all of us in a blink of an eye.¡±

    ¡°Captain, why would rank 2 demon need to pretend to be a child in front of us? He could just crash us like ants and do whatever he wants after.¡±

    ¡°Enough arguing, go ahead and talk to that child yourself if you are so brave and smart, Wel.¡± Captain Knoff stopped moving and put his sword back in sheath. Wel had no choice but to jump off of his lizard and start moving in Boe¡¯s direction, glancing at detached arm near a kneeling child. Wel came close to Boe and tried to shake him a bit to wake him up from his trance, but Boe didn¡¯t react in any way, so Wel had no choice but to come even closer and look into his eyes. After staring in Boe¡¯s eyes for a few seconds Wel just took the detached arm and inspected it.

    ¡°According to uniform on it, this arm belongs to a student of the demon hunter academy from our city and it seems like whoever lost this arm is related to this child, they both have bracelets with ¡°Nas¡± written on them,¡± Wel said while looking at his captain.

    ¡°Poor child, he doesn¡¯t even look to be of age to become a soldier and already saw his own brother killed by animals. No wonder he seems like he lost his mind, let¡¯s take him with us to the city and decide what to do with him there.¡±

    ¡°Captain, I don¡¯t think it was done by animals. The way this arm was detached seems like it was cut off using wind magic.¡±

    ¡°What? If it¡¯s true then we have to rush to the city and get demon hunters to investigate this. Take a kid with you on your lizard and give me that detached arm, I will store it in my magic case.¡±

    ¡°Commander Kigs, Captain Knoff is here with urgent report and wants your audience.¡±

    ¡°Ana, didn¡¯t I say that I don¡¯t want anyone to disturb me today even if demons will attack our city?¡±

    ¡°Commander, Knoff says that his case is urgent, it has something to do with demon hunters.¡±

    ¡°Demon hunters? Alright, let him in, but if what he says isn¡¯t worthy of my attention, I will make both of you work without a rest for the next month.¡± Kigs was obviously very displeased that Knoff came disturbing him right now. Kigs was playing with new magic artifact he got yesterday from one of people who needed his help in smuggling goods into the city.

    ¡°Commander Kigs, captain Knoff is here to report.¡± Knoff said in a very strict military way.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah ¡­ Just be quick and report everything you have, don¡¯t make me lose even more time with you, Knoff.¡± Knoff was very displeased with Kigs'' manners. Everyone in the city army knew that Kigs got his commander rank only because he has a very good relationship with city mayor and his brother is young genius rank 2 demon hunter. So Knoff didn¡¯t have any respect toward Kigs, but he had to be very polite since Kigs was his superior in army and he was the only one in horizon who had status high enough to speak to demon hunters.

    ¡°Commander, on the way back to city from our escort duty my squad met with a scene of murder and we stopped to inspe-.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright, stop chit-chat and go on to the main topic which somehow has something to do with demon hunters.¡± Kigs didn¡¯t have patience to listen to Knoff¡¯s official report and just wanted to get back to his games with his new magic artifact.

    ¡°Sir, this is an arm we found on the scene.¡± Knoff placed detached an arm on Kigs'' table.

    ¡°Stop! Remove that filth from my table! What does that shit has to do with demon hunters, you stupid fuck?!¡± Kigs was mad at Knoff for dirtying his table and didn¡¯t even try to stop himself from yelling at Knoff.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Sir, but that arm was detached using wind magic and we have no authority to investigate it any further, we need to report this to demon hunters, so I decided that I have to bring it to you.¡± Knoff was very calm on the surface, but inside he was ready to pull his sword out and butcher that stupid rat in front of him.

    ¡°Okay, take that shit with you and go to the demon hunter academy, I will inform my brother of your arrival.¡± Kigs started waving his hands to let Knoff know he doesn¡¯t want to see him in his office anymore.

    ¡°Are we really going to the demon hunter academy, Captain?¡± Wel was shocked that his captain was going to the demon hunter academy, which was like a sacred ground to common people like them. Wel has never even got close to the academy, since he didn¡¯t have any elemental affinity and couldn¡¯t become a demon hunter. Demon hunter academy was open only to teachers, students and very high ranked nobles of the city.

    ¡°Yes, our fat ass commander doesn¡¯t want to do shit himself and makes me do everything in his place.¡± Knoff treated Wel like he was his little brother so he could speak anything he wanted in front of him.

    ¡°Oh my god, I will have a chance to meet demon hunter lords! Maybe I will even have a chance to seduce a young demon hunter girl and will become a noble!¡±

    ¡°Stop dreaming, idiot. Mighty demon hunters will never even look in your direction, you are just an ant in their eyes. And if you will try to do anything funny in front of them, they can obliterate you by just waving their hands, so don¡¯t get cocky there and bow to anyone you see.¡±

    Demon hunter academy of Komyns city was only a third tier demon hunter academy and wasn¡¯t famous in the Kingdom, it has never produced any outstanding demon hunters of rank 3 or above, but any random rank 1 demon hunter was enough to kill an entire squad of ordinary soldiers of city horizon. In Green Plains Kingdom demon hunters were the main military power and were treated with a very high respect. Each and every demon hunter after advancing to rank 1 would become respected and called genius in Komyns city and after advancing to rank 2, would receive noble rank and get his own little castle in any city in the Green Plains Kingdom to manage as he wished. Rank 3 demon hunter could become governor of a region; mayor of Komyns city was of this rank, he was managing Komyns city and all villages around it. As for rank 4 demon hunters, they were pillars of Green Plains Kingdom and would all be respected at same level as princes and other highest ranked nobles. King of the Green Plains Kingdom was a rank 5 demon hunter, he was a hero of the nation who stopped a Demon King Alarys from conquering the Green Plains Kingdom 600 years ago. There were no other rank 5 demon hunter in the Green Plains Kingdom, but the Green Plains Kingdom was not considered to be a big kingdom on a territory of the Lin continent. Green Plains Kingdom only had a ~570000 square meters territory, while the biggest territory on a Lin continent belonged to the Demon Emperor¡¯s lands with ~13200000 square meters. Demon Emperor is considered one of the strongest beings on the Lin continent and has a power equal to rank 9 demon hunter, only the Grand Inquisitor from the Church of Lightand the King Karib from the Shadow Kingdom could contend against the Demon Emperor. The only thing that stopped these three from conquering all small lands from Kings of rank 8 and below, was the contract that three of them signed, it stops them from expanding their lands. And even if one of them wanted to expand their lands, they wouldn¡¯t even look in the Green Plains Kingdom¡¯s direction, because Green Plains Kingdom had a very low level of battle aura in an air and didn''t have any expensive resources.

    After 10 minutes of walking, Knoff and Wel came in front of the huge black gates and stood there not doing anything for an hour.

    ¡°Who are you and why are you blocking my way?¡± Knoff and Wel both jumped from shock, because they didn¡¯t hear or notice anyone coming their way. They both turned around and saw a young looking girl with black hair and black eyes, but feeling they got from looking at her was as if a huge and bloodthirsty crow was looking at them. Wel has never expected that first demon hunter he encountered today would be a young and beautiful girl. He always wished to meet a beautiful young female demon hunter to try to seduce her, but now his only wish was to run away from her as far as he could.

    ¡°We are very sorry for being in your way.¡± Knoff kneeled and made Wel wake up from his trance and kneel before the young girl. Girl didn¡¯t look angry at all and just moved past both soldiers, right after she came close to the black gatesa she disappeared.

    ¡°That was a director of this academy, a famous rank 2 demon huntress Gal Zi, so don¡¯t ever even think of her, she is the one of three rank 2 demon hunters in our city and she is fifty years old after all.¡± Wel was still shocked from a feeling he got from that young looking girl and couldn¡¯t even answer to Knoff. After a few seconds the black gates opened and Knoff saw a young looking boy coming out to meet them, Knoff immediately knelt and made Wel do the same.

    ¡°I am Captain Knoff of the city horizon army, here to report of a murder scene we encountered in woods near our city to Sir demon hunter Rigs¡±

    ¡°Alright, you both can stand up, my brother already told me the reason of your arrival. Where is an arm?¡± Rigslooked like he was only 15 years old, but Knoff knew that person in front of him was a powerful rank 2 demon hunter who was only second to a mayor of the city and a director of the academy. Knoff hurried to take out a detached arm from his magic case and tried to give it to Rigs. However Rigs hasn¡¯t even moved before speaking.

    ¡°There is definitely a wind magic aura on that hand and it seems like it belongs to one ofthe student of my academy, where did you find it?¡± Without even inspecting an arm or coming close to it, Rigs has already determined that an armwas cut off using a wind magic.

    ¡°We found it in 30 minutes north from the city and there were a pool of blood and a boy near this arm when we found it.¡± Knoff didn¡¯t keep anything hidden from Kigs and even described Boe as a 14-15 years old boy with slim body, black hair and black eyes. He even told Kigs everything about bewildered state of Boe when they found him.

    ¡°Take me to that boy, I need to talk to him. And even if he won¡¯t be able to speak with me, I can just directly search his memories and find out everything about an incident.¡± Kigs didn¡¯t care about some little random boy from some remote village, even if he had any connection to a dead disciple of his academy.

    ¡°You don¡¯t even care about that boy¡¯s condition and want to mess with his brains?!¡± Suddenly Wel spoke from behind Knoff. Before Knoff even had a chance to react to Wel¡¯s words he saw blue streak of light flying from a tip of Kigs¡¯ finger into Wel¡¯s head. After Kigs¡¯ attack hit Wel, he just dropped dead without even making a sound or reacting in any way.

    ¡°Hmph, I don¡¯t need a mere mortal to teach me how to work.¡± Kigs was looking very calm as he glanced at Knoff and started walking towards the city horizon headquarters. Knoff wanted to check on Wel¡¯s condition, but when he saw Kigs walking away from him, he had no choice but to abandon Wel¡¯s body at place and walk behind Kigs. In this world, powerful people, who could be of importance toa King and the Kingdom had an ability to do whatever they wanted with common people who had no backing, so it wasn¡¯t too rare for an ordinary soldier to die from hands of a demon hunter just because the demon hunter was in a bad mood.

    ¡°Here he is, Sir.¡± Knoff took Kigs straight to an infirmary of his squad where Boe was laying on a bed with open but empty eyes. Kigs looked at Boe and felt that Boe had some level of affinity toward shadow attribute magic so he didn¡¯t start his memories extraction, instead he finally took a glance at a detached arm and saw ¡°Nas¡± written on it.

    ¡°Looks like I know who he is and whose arm it is. Person who lost an arm should be Nas Rak, rank 1 fire attribute demon hunter and disciple of mine, this boy is his little brother. He was supposed to enroll into the academy tomorrow and become my new personal disciple. Whoever managed to cut off my disciple¡¯s arm andeven murder him, must be of rank 2 or higher, I must report this to a director and maybe even a mayor will have to act this time.¡± Kigs didn¡¯t seem angry at all even after finding out his personal disciple was probably murdered.

    ¡°So, what does our lord think we should do about this matter?¡± Kigs has gone to invite Gal Zi to speak with a mayor Kyp Zard about the death of his personal disciple, now two of them were standing below the golden throne where Kyp Zard was currently sitting.

    ¡°That Nas kid was definitely one of the best students we had in last tenyears and he was one of the strongest rank 1 demon hunters in region, so killer is definitely ofrank 2 or above. I don¡¯t think it was a demon hunter from neighbor region, since everyone are now busy with enrolling new students into their academies, nor do I think it is an attack by a demon since they can¡¯t use a wind magic at all. Do you two think it might be one of other races'' warriors or an elemental animal?¡± Kyp was very relaxed as he spoke, he was sure no one above rank 3 would come to his lands to make trouble and he was very confident in his ability to win over any being of rank 3 or below.

    ¡°Hahahaha, are you an idiot? It was obviously a level 4 demon who cut that arm off¡± Kyp was sure there were only three of them in a throne room before, but now he could clearly see a middle aged man in a simple silver colored robes with red hair and red eyes. Robes on that man looked very strange, as if he wasn¡¯t from the Green Plains Kingdom but came from some ancient civilization.

    ¡°What are you doing in here?! How did you break through my guards and how dare you speak to me in such a tone?¡± Kyp was enraged and already started chanting some mysterious words. Strange man started laughing even louder after he saw Kyp¡¯s magic being prepared.

    ¡°So this is how you use battle aura in your lowly world? The way you use it is awful, you waste too much energy and casting of spell takes too much time. Here, let me show you how its supposed to work.¡± As he said that, he flickered his right hand¡¯s index finger and a huge red dragon flew out from his finger and started flying in throne room looking at three demon hunters as if they¡¯re its prey. Even though the dragon shocked Kyp, he kept his calm and finished his chanting, right after it, a big orange tiger appeared next to Kyp and roared. Tiger noticed a dragon in the air and started trembling and kneeling as if he was in a presence of an emperor.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening? Leo, stop shaking and attack that dragon! It isn¡¯t as strong as it appears to be, I am absolutely sure that idiot just used up all his power aura to create a big but useless dragon to show off here.¡± Tiger didn¡¯t move even after his master ordered it to attack, but a dragon was obviously very unhappy by Kyp''swords and tapped tiger with 1 of his claws, tiger disintegrated instantly and Kyp coughed out few mouthfuls of blood. Kigs and Gal Zi were shocked when they noticed that their lord had not just lost a battle with his powerful tiger Leo, but Leo¡¯s aura disappeared from Kyp¡¯s body entirely as if Kyp lost his spirit animal partner.

    ¡°I am sorry about that stupid dragons actions, I really didn¡¯t mean to destroy your connection with that cute tiger of yours. Here, let me give you another animal spirit as a compensation.¡± Strange man waved his arm and a black bear appeared, his aura emanated a strength of level 3 just like the tiger from before, but it was much stronger as if the tiger was a mere cub in front of a mighty big bear. He then pointed atKyp and bear vanished into Kyp''sforehead.

    ¡°Thank you, my lord, for showing such a grace toward this lowly one after I insulted you. May I know the name of an esteemed lord?¡± Kigs and Gal Zi were absolutely stunned when they saw how hard their lord was licking an ass of that strange man, but they knelt and bowed their heads toward strange man.

    ¡°Waow, you sure know how to survive, huh? You can call me ¡°The Strongest¡±, kiddo. I am here to take in one person from your lowly world to become a disciple of mine.¡± All three demon hunters didn¡¯t believe how arrogant was person in front of them to call himself like that, but couldn¡¯t say anything since they knew they were a lot weaker than that person. After couple of seconds of thoughts, they all understood that becoming this person¡¯s disciple is a huge deal and decided to try their luck.

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about saying whatever you have on your minds right now, I¡¯m here not for any of you kids, I¡¯m here to find the most suitable person to become my disciple and none of you meet my criteria¡± The Strongest cut them off before they even had a chance to speak their minds out.

    ¡°I need that kid with lifeless eyes you encountered earlier. He will become a perfect Demon Emperor after a few years of my teachings. I felt his despair, hatred and rage few days ago so I came to this world, he is most suited to become my new disciple and will inherit one of my strongest battle teachings.¡±

 Chapter 2 - Awakening of the demon

    ¡°Demon Emperor? Are you really going to turn that child into a demon to make him your disciple?¡± Kys was terrified when he thought that ¡°The Strongest¡±, who he was so afraid of, might be a powerful demon himself. Humans of the Green Plain Kingdom were taught from childhood that demons are evil beings of pure darkness who could only kill, destroy and even ate human flesh.

    ¡°Don¡¯t overthink it, brat. ¡°Demon Emperor¡± I¡¯m talking about isn¡¯t the same as that Demon Emperor from your continent. That guy isn¡¯t half bad actually, considering he managed to get to peak of so-called ¡°rank 9¡± in an awful conditions of your lowly world, but he¡¯s too old to inherit my teachings so I have no interest in him or anyone on this planet except for that boy I mentioned before. Demon emperor of yours isn¡¯t actually a ¡°Demon Emperor¡±, but the emperor of demons of your continent, title ¡°Demon Emperor¡± doesn¡¯t mean a person has to be a demon himself physically. Emperor of demons is just a low level demon who happens to be stronger than most of other low level demons of your continent, but he is in no way worthy of the title ¡°Demon Emperor¡±. The one who deserves this title has to be absolutely savage, in front of a person with that title, all your strongest people will tremble in fear and will be annihilated if he will not be in right mood. But don¡¯t mind any of it, I shall take my leave now and take that kid with myself, farewell kids.¡± Before Kys could even think about saying anything, a person in front of him vanished into thin air.

    ¡°Hello, Boe Nas, are you willing to become my disciple?¡± Boe was standing in a middle of a beautiful green field even though he was in an infirmary of the Komyns'' city horizon headquarters just now. The Strongest somehow managed to drag Boe from his trance-like condition and move him to this field in a blink of an eye. If Boe would still be that innocent boy who was dreaming of becoming a demon hunter to make his father proud, he would be shocked by all of this, but now Boe felt like something inside of him died and he didn¡¯t feel joy or any other emotions at the moment.

    ¡°Who are you and what the fuck do you want from me, old man?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I like that attitude of yours, brat. I¡¯m the one who can make you strong enough to get revenge for your brother, I can actually make you the ruler of this continent of yours, if you wish.¡± The Strongest didn¡¯t get angry over Boe¡¯s words and only chuckled after hearing them.

    ¡°You can help me kill a person who killed my brother? I¡¯m willing to become your disciple and follow all your rules if you will kill that person!¡± Boe looked absolutely resolute and sincere while saying all this.

    ¡°I won¡¯t do anything myself, I will only pass some teachings of mine to you and this will allow you to kill people who killed your brother in a few years.¡±

    ¡°Few years? I don¡¯t have that much time, I want them dead right now and then I will become your disciple and do whatever you want me to do.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm ¡­ I actually wanted to keep those people alive for you to have a goal in mind while becoming stronger, but if you insist, we can go there right now and annihilate his whole family, it might actually be good for you to watch a good massacre to start you off on your road of becoming the Demon Emperor.¡± The Strongest was never a noble person himself and had no problems with killing a few people or even wiping out the whole planets if he had any reasons to do so.

    Before Boe could say anything else, he felt dizzy for a moment and then everything around him changed. The Strongest and Boe were now standing near the big blood-colored gates of a fortress, Boe looked at the top of the gates and saw that there were hundreds of spikes with a human head on each of them.

    ¡°What is this place?¡± Even though Boe was shocked after seeing this scene, for some reason it didn¡¯t make him feel as much as you could¡¯ve imagined. Boe himself thought that something changed inside of him if he didn¡¯t even feel a little pity toward all these dead people.

    ¡°That is hometown of a small demon clan near your Green Plain Kingdom. This is a place where a demon who killed your brother lives.¡± Right after he finished saying these words, The Strongest waved his hand and the huge gates just crumbled apart and flew off into the distance, creating a big passageway for Boe and him. Boe felt his body flying up from the ground and moving toward the city of demons, but he wasn¡¯t afraid even a little bit.

    ¡°Old man, are you really able to kill that much demons if they will attack you all at once?¡±

    ¡°Brat, even if all people of your tiny world will attack me at once, I won¡¯t need to make more than one move to annihilate all of them.¡± Boe obviously didn¡¯t believe him, but The Strongest didn¡¯t expect Boe to believe him right now, he was ready to show a little bit of his might to make sure Boe would become an obedient disciple in the future.

    ¡°Gagagagaga, do you really think you can contend against me, puny human?¡± At this moment in front of The Strongest and Boe appeared red skinned threemeters tall demon with one black horn on his head and black spikes sticking out from his elbows and shoulders, he had an aura of a rank 3 demon emanating from his body.

    ¡°That isn¡¯t the one who attacked your brother, but I don¡¯t like his appearance.¡± The Strongest waved his hand and the demon just fell dead to the ground without making any sound.

    Hundreds of demon of various appearances started appearing from the city with auras varying from rank 1 to rank 3, but they didn¡¯t dare to make a move on a middle aged man in front of them and was just gathering and staring at couple of humans.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Hello, esteemed lord, my name is Raago, I¡¯m a head of this tiny place, may I know a reason of your appearance in my worthless city?¡± Boe heard a pleasant voice coming from a middle of demon¡¯s group. All demons started dividing into two groups, creating a passage for their leader. Leader of this town looked a lot more humanoid than all other demons, he didn¡¯t have any horns, spikes or tail of any kind, the only thing that made him different from humans were his eyes. Raago had red eyes without pupils, they looked like deep pools of water and Boe felt like drowning after he glanced in his eyes for a second.

    ¡°You are surprisingly well behaved for a low level demon, Raago. Boe, this demon is the one who killed your brother, what should I do to him?¡±

    ¡°Why did you kill my brother but let me live?¡± For some reason Boe didn¡¯t feel any anger that he expected he would feel when facing a killer of his brother.

    ¡°Oh, so it seems I offended someone close to an esteemed lord and have to be punished accordingly. I beg of you to spare the people of my city and only take your revenge on me, noble lord.¡±

    ¡°Answer kid¡¯s question and stop fluttering me, brat.¡± The Strongest waved his hand and all demons on the left of Raago fell dead. Raago trembled from rage after seeing so many of his people dying for no reason, but he couldnt do anything in this situation. He was the leader of all these people, so he could only suppress his feelings and do all he could to make sure the other half would survive this calamity.

    ¡°Stop! Stop! I will tell everything you want to know, but please don¡¯t kill them all, let my bloodline continue existing. I didn¡¯t need any of two kids, I came there for a forest nymph, but that other kid stood in my way. I am pretty sure nymph used some charming spell to make that kid risk his life for her. And even after that, I didn¡¯t kill that kid, I only pushed him away from me, but that nymph used her wind magic to kill me so I had no choice other than to use the kid as a meat shield.¡± Raago was trying to be as polite as he could, but the rage inside of him was obvious for The Strongest.

    ¡°So it wasn¡¯t you who killed my brother, but that nymph. Where is she now?¡± Boe was calm as he spoke to a powerful rank 4demon lord. He now wondered why would rank 4demon need that nymph so much that he even came to the human kingdom to capture her and how powerful she was to try to attack a demon and even make him use his brother as a shield.

    ¡°That nymph managed to run away from me after that and I suspect that she used some teleportation technique to move to one of the nymph countries or even to other continent, because I found a strong battle aura around some ancient looking magic array on the ground in a place I last sensed her.¡± Raago told everything he knew without hiding anything and even drew that array from his memories in front of Boe and The Strongest.

    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s a teleportation array of the nymph race, considering formation of that array and power she had, she certainly didn¡¯t leave this planet and only moved to another continent. I suspect that she is now in lands of nymphs on Zak continent of this planet.¡± Boe didn¡¯t understand what ¡°other continent¡± is The Strongest talking about, but after witnessing his strength, Boe trusted him. Since The Strongest didn¡¯t need anything else from the demon, he waved his hand one more time and whole demon city started burning in black flames, Boe was watching and listening to all demons die miserable deaths with calm face and spark in his eyes.

    ¡°Can you take me to that continent and kill that nymph in front of me now?¡± After all demons stopped screaming, he wanted to finish what he started and hoped The Strongest would have an ability to move to other continent and kill the nymph.

    ¡°I already took you here and massacred the whole demon city for you, I think that¡¯s enough of help from me to you in your way of revenge. This massacre was good for wakingup the demon inside of you, but leaving someone you want dead for you to take revenge on them yourself is good too, it will keep you in need to improve for some time. I was kind enough to you already, now be obedient disciple and follow me out of this place.¡±

    ¡°Yes, master¡± After seeing massacre with his own eyes, something that woke up after his brother¡¯s death inside of Boe became even stronger and he felt strong desire to become powerful. He needed the strength to get his revenge, to make sure things like that wouldn''t ever happen to him again. His best choice right now was to follow this strange old man with an unfathomable strength and gain from himas much as he could.

    ¡°Now, let me introduce myself properly to you, my 22nd disciple, Boe Nas of the Demon Balthazar¡¯s world. My name is ¡°The Strongest¡±. I am a wandering adventurer who finds joy in raising strong disciples from all worlds of this universe. Last person who could fight me for more than a few minutes died 73000 years ago. Few thousand years ago there were still few people who fought me for my title, but none of them survived even a single attack from me. So 8000 years ago I started moving from world to world and teach worthy kids my battle teachings, I now have 16 disciples who are all your seniors from now on. Any one of them can kill you with just a wave of their hands before you will become strong enough to rule this world and defeat that brat Balthazar. But you don¡¯t need to worry, you won¡¯t have to fight them in near future, because I forbid all of them from attacking each other for now. Each and every disciple of mine are unique and train in different battle teachings I gave them, some of them are training light powers and became benevolent and noble rulers of their worlds, but you won¡¯t be like that, you will be learning the ¡°Demon Emperor¡± teaching from now on.¡±

    ¡°Will that power let me move from continent to continent and wipe out the nymph kingdom?¡± Boe interrupted his master and got hit on his head for that.

    ¡°If you will diligently learn everything I give, you will have a power to destroy this whole planet in a few hundreds of years, kid. My best disciple, Xander, was able to train his ¡°World Devourer¡± teaching up to the level of Immortal Ascension in only 6500 years and now considered one of top 10 strongest beings in the universe. But that level of power is too far away from you, so concentrate on training in teaching I will pass onto you right now. Remember, I will not guard you from dangers of this or any other world if it won¡¯t exceed your level by 2 or more levels so you might die if you are too arrogant and rash in your decisions, so be careful and think twice before doing anything. Even though I took in 22 disciples, right now only 17 of them are alive including you, exactly because they couldn¡¯t defend themselves from enemies of the same level.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master, I will definitely not fail you like my five deceased senior brothers.¡±

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough of an introduction, now we need to move from this little Kingdom to the lands of the Shadow Kingdom since their way of using battle aura is closer to your teachings and you will be able to absorb more shadow attribute battle aura there.¡± Moment later Boe found himself and his master in the dark forest and he heard people coming their way.

 Chapter 3 - Black Scorpio School

    ¡°Just ignore those people, they won¡¯t be able to notice us, I placed concealing barrier around us.¡± The Strongest raised his right hand and the ball of black energy appered in it, he then sent it flying toward Boe. Ball of energy flew into Boe¡¯s head and Boe felt a big stream of information being recorded in his memory. Boe now knew how to start learning teaching of the ¡°Demon Emperor¡± battle technique and what he needed to do to be able to collect and store shadow attribute battle aura around his body.

    ¡°Few days ago your affinity toward the shadow attribute battle aura were at level 2, which is quite low in my standards, but after experiencing death of your brother it increased to level 3 due to spark of the demon energy inside of your soul and this level is called 1 out of 100 genius level affinity even in higher worlds. After that I took you to massacre that city of demons where your inner demon woke up and guided hatred, rage and disappointment of all killed souls to nourish your soul and feed your inner demon, this allowed your shadow attribute affinity level to be raised to level 4, which is considered 1 out of 10000 genius in higher realms and in this lowly world there are only few people who has this kind of talent. Downside to that kind of sudden growth of your shadow attribute affinity is the fact that you started losing human feelings and became more of a dark side creature than ordinary humans, but on the other side it will help you cast out your unnecessary feelings and become the Demon Emperor faster. Now don¡¯t move or talk and let me prepare your body for transformation of your soul and battle aura.¡± The Strongest came close to Boe and put his hands on Boe¡¯s head. Boe felt something changing in his body, but couldn¡¯t grasp what was happening. After few minutes, The Strongest walked away from Boe, who was now sleeping on the ground, and disappeared from the forest without making any sounds.

    ¡°Are you sure he isn¡¯t a spy from light magi or from dark magi associations?¡±

    ¡°This child is only 14 years old and he has a level 4 shadow attribute affinity! We can¡¯t miss a chance to get such a genius into our school, he might become inheritor of King Karib. If we will nurture inheritor of our King, our school will prosper and become the strongest organization in the Shadow Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Where am i? Who are you people?¡± Boe woke up in an unfamiliar place surrounded by five people, closest to him was beautiful woman in very tight blue Chinese styled dress, four other people were standing further away from the bed he was laying on, all of them wore black hooded mantles and Boe couldn¡¯t see their faces.

    ¡°Hello, child, you are in the Black Scorpio school of dark wizards. We found you laying on the ground in a middle of the forest, so we took you here.¡± Woman in blue smiled charmingly as she spoke to Boe.

    At this moment something clicked inside of Boe¡¯s brain and he heard his master''s voice in his head, ¡°Boe, I passed battle technique¡¯s first three levels onto you and changed your body so it would be prepared for all transformations from learning it. If you want to meet me again and get next levels of teaching, you will have to pass my first three tests. For first test you have to learn all 3 levels of my teaching to perfection within next five years. For second test you have to kill director of school you are in right now. Third test is a secret for now, but to pass it you must find yourself four true friends.¡±

    ¡°Are you okay, child?¡± One of black hooded persons asked Boe, his voice sounded very old and hoarse.

    ¡°I am fine, thank you for your help, esteemed lords.¡± Boe jumped off the bed and knelt in front of five people. Boe understood that to pass his master¡¯s tests he has to be accepted to this school and raise his strength using their resources, so he had to gain trust of these people.

    ¡°No need to kneel before us, child, rise and come with me.¡± Blue dressed woman helped him get up and took his hand in her hand. They walked out of room they were before and Boe understood that he was previously in some kind of prison.

    ¡°I am sorry senior. But how should I call you?¡± Boe was hoping to make her have a good impression of him so he was speaking very respectfully.

    ¡°You can call me big sis SV, kid.¡± SV smiled at Boe and increased the speed of their walking. After they walked through a few dozens of prison cells, they came to some sort of an ancient looking elevator. Two of them walked inside of the elevator and SV whispered something, right after that, the elevator started moving. They moved for ~10 minutes on elevator and then it stopped, she took Boe¡¯s hand again, they walked out of elevator and came to a big hall with huge chandeliers hanging from ceiling.

    ¡°This is our cafeteria, its free to eat here for any student of our school. You can eat now, I will come to get you from here in half an hour and we will go to our director to officially make you a student of mine.¡± After finishing speaking SV just vanished from the cafeteria.

    Boe looked around him and saw a few student going in and out of cafeteria, some kind of buffet anda few hundreds of tables to eat on. He noticed a few people looking at him curiously, as if he was a new animal in zoo. Boe walked to the buffet and picked some food for himself, he was very hungry after everything he has gone through. He sat down alone at one of the tables in the corner of a hall. While he was eating, he thought about everything that happened to him in past couple of days and all of it felt unreal to him, he had a feeling like he was dreaming and would wake up at any moment by his mother and would go to the demon hunter academy with his brother.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡®No, enough thinking about the past, now I¡¯m different and I don¡¯t have time to think ¡°what would happen if¡­¡±, I need to get stronger and get back to my parents, they are worried about me for sure and I have to get even stronger to avenge Rak.¡¯ Look of determination flashed past Boe¡¯s eyes as he stood up and started walking toward tables full of students.

    ¡°Sorry for disturbance, my name is Boe Nas and I¡¯m a new student here, do you mind telling me a bit about the school?¡±

    ¡°Hello, Boe Nas, you can go fuck yourself, we aren¡¯t interested in speaking with some retarded country bumpkin.¡± First one to speak was a blonde haired young man.

    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him, kid, he is too arrogant to speak with anyone of common origin. Come here and sit with me, I¡¯ll tell you everything you want to know about the school.¡± Boe heard a pleasant female voice from the table in few meters of the one he walked to. Boe looked in the direction of the voice and saw a gorgeous white haired young lady with very a alluring body, dressed in dark yellow uniform of the school.

    ¡°I thank senior sister for invitation, I shall not refuse and will of course come and sit with you.¡± Even though Boe had common origin and was raised in a small village of the small kingdom, his mother always taught him how to speak respectfully with women.

    ¡°You can just call me senior Ella¡± Ella said with a charming smile on her face. Blonde young man who was rude to Boe, was now red from anger and was looking at Boe¡¯s back with hatred and his eyes were radiating obvious killing intent, but Boe didn¡¯t have any battle experiences so he couldn¡¯t feel any of it.

    ¡°Ella, why are you even talking with that trash? Am I, Harson of the great Vito family, not the only one who is worthy of your attention?¡± Harson obviously wanted Ella to be his woman and was ready to rip Boe to pieces right in the middle of the cafeteria. Boe understood all of it and half of him was telling him to get away from this couple to not get in trouble with Harson, but something inside of him was telling him to provoke Harson even more.

    ¡°You know that gentleman shouldn¡¯t harass a lady? You should really stop harassing my senior Ella, she is too good for you, honestly, in my opinion, you aren¡¯t even worthy of her boots.¡± Boe said all of it without even turning back to look at Harson.

    ¡°Do you have a death wish, kid? You obviously don¡¯t know who I am and what my family can do in these regions! Or do you really think that teachers will decide to go against my family just to defend someone like you?! I am already a rank 1 dark wizard and patriarch of my family is at the peak of a rank 3, almost at the same level as a director of school.¡± Harson was very proud of himself and his achievements, he was absolutely confident that his family can scare almost anyone in the region.

    ¡°Stop spouting nonsense, Harson, our director will definitely defend Boe from your family even if it will mean the start of a war between school and your family.¡± At this moment SV appeared close to Harson and he almost fell to the ground from fright.

    ¡°Big sis SV, have you come to get me to director already?¡± Boe grinned and jumped up from his table and started walking toward SV, while glancing at Harson and chuckling.

    ¡°Director is too busy right now, but he will meet you in person later for sure. For now, I came to give you everything you need to become an official student of the school and walk you to your room in our dormitory.¡± SV tossed a bag to Boe and started walking to the door. Boe bid farewell to senior Ella and ran to catch up with SV.

    ¡°Who is that guy and why is he calling Professor Sky Venom ¡°big sis SV¡± and she even seems fine with it? Isn¡¯t she considered one of the scariest professors of our school?¡± Harson was shocked by what happened and started thinking of all possibilities that could make terrifying Professor Sky Venom to become so kind towards a regular student.

    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s a noble prince or a very talented kid with great affinity toward dark, shadow or death attribute magic aura?¡± Ella was staring at Boe¡¯s back with mysterious shine in her eyes.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that Harson anymore, he won¡¯t be bold enough to attack my disciple even with his backing. But be very careful with that girl Ella you talked to earlier, she might seem innocent to you right now, but she can manipulate men easily. She¡¯s definitely a lot more dangerous than stupid brute Harson.¡± SV sounded very caring while saying all these things to Boe. If Boe wouldn¡¯t be on a way to become the Demon Emperor, he would certainly fall for her ¡°caring attitude¡±, but now he didn¡¯t feel anything from her actions.

    ¡°Thanks for your help and concern about me, big sis SV. I will be very careful around Ella from now on. By the way, shouldn¡¯t I call you a mentor or a teacher, since I¡¯m your student now?¡± Boe wanted to distance himself from SV, he felt that she hid a lot more than he could think of right now so he didn¡¯t want to get involved in any troubles that may occur if he would be too close to her.

    ¡°No need to be so polite and official when we are alone, but I guess you should really call me a mentor when we are around other students or teachers.¡± SV was shocked that Boe was so quick-witted at his age and could already understand that she was trying to get closer to him, but it made her even more interested in Boe.

    ¡°That is your room, in bag I gave you, you will find a map of our school, introduction to our teachers, classes and rules. You can rest now, but I will need you to come tomorrow to my officeright after breakfast so we could decide which classes you will be attending.¡± SV walked Boe to the room number 2404, said all she wanted and left.

    Boe walked into his room and saw there 2 rooms, first one had a simple bed, big table, chair and a lamp, second room was looking like an experimental laboratory with a lot of empty tubes and equipment Boe have never seen, ¡°So, it seems that I will spend next 5 years of my life living in this room...¡±

 Chapter 4 - Resources and first mission

    On the next morning, Boe woke up when sun hasn¡¯t risen yet and started learning the battle teaching his master gave him. First step on a way to become the Demon Emperor is to feel a shadow attribute battle aura in an air around you and then absorb it using special chants of your specific battle teaching to attract battle aura toward your body. To feel a specific attribute of battle aura you must have a corresponding attribute affinity, higher level of your affinity toward battle aura attribute will help you feel battle aura around you and will provide a great assistance in attracting battle aura to your body. Boe now had a level 4 affinity toward the shadow attribute battle aura so he could easily feel and attract shadow elements around him, ¡®if its already this easy for me to feel and attract battle aura with level 4 affinity, then what kind of monsters are people with level 5 affinity?¡¯

    Boe was so concentrated on learning battle technique that he didn¡¯t notice it was already time to eat a breakfast, but knocking on his door woke him up from his trace-like condition, ¡°Boe Nas, professor Sky Venom told me to get you to her office right now or else she will come here herself and will make sure you won¡¯t ever forget about appointments you¡¯re making with her ever again.¡±

    Boe opened his door and saw a two meter tall muscular humanoid with a head of a rat in front of his door, creatures like that were called semi-humans and were very common on a territory of the Shadow Kingdom. ¡°Hello, my name is John, I was the youngest disciple of Lady Sky Venom before you joined our ranks, but now you will be the youngest and I will be your senior.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, senior John, I¡¯m very sorry for making you come all the way here just to remind me of my appointment with our mentor.¡± It was Boe¡¯s first time seeing semi-human, but he didn¡¯t make it obvious to John, ¡®What a fucking strange name ¡°John¡±, what were his parents thinking when they were naming him like that?¡¯

    After exchanging few more meaningless polite words with John, Boe went straight to SV¡¯s office.

    ¡°Good morning, mentor, I¡¯m very sorry for being late, I was just too tired after yesterday¡¯s incident and overslept.¡± Boe could easily lie even in front of a powerful people without being scared of them noticing he was lying since he lost most of his feelings and could control all remaining emotions easily.

    ¡°About that incident that happened to you, can you now tell me everything in details so I would be able to help you find any missing relatives or friends?¡± SV trusted her guts and was sure Boe wasn¡¯t a spy of any enemy organization, but a lot of other professors pushed on her to find out everything about that super talented kid they suddenly encountered in a middle of the forest laying alone, without scars or any damage dealt to him.

    Boe already made up story to tell to SV beforehand, since he couldn¡¯t just tell her about his strange master, and he was sure she would believe in his made-up story a lot more than story about an almighty being who randomly chose 14 year old kid to become his disciple, ¡°I was walking toward the Black Scorpio school with my older brother named Rak to enroll here when we were attacked by a demon, before I could even react, Rak used his battle aura to put me to sleep so I don¡¯t know what happened to Rak and that demon. But my brother is very strong! He¡¯s already a rank 2 wizard with fire attribute affinity so I¡¯m sure he¡¯s still alive and maybe even defeated the demon.¡± Boe made a face of an innocent little boy who believed in his own story, but deep down he felt sadness and rage.

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s good enough, now just give me the description of your brother and I will command people of our school to look for him around those woods.¡±

    After Boe finished describing his brother to SV, she pulled out a long list of classes Boe could go to and told him to choose any classes he wanted to visit. Alchemy, Summoning rituals, Path of sacrifices, Shadow healing, Battle practice, Mind control, Weapon forging, Spirits control, Magic arrays, History of Lin continent, Companions nurturing, Cultivation of physical strength¡­

    ¡®I would love to get some fighting experience through Battle practice classes, but I cant let anyone know I¡¯m learning the "Demon Emperor" technique yet, so I cant take this class, cultivation of physical strength on the other hand seems to be perfect for me so I will certainly choose this one. I should definitely choose Summoning rituals to get the creatures of another worlds to fight for me or Companions nurturing to get something to fight for me when I cant fight myself or need any help. Alchemy is a must have because I will always have potions on me if I will be able to become an alchemist. Path of sacrifices should be perfect to nurture my inner demon so I will pick this one too, shadow healing is too difficult to grasp and wont be of any help in life or death battles so I will skip this one. Mind control is very complicated and can even lead to losing my mind while trying to control the mind of someone else, so I will skip this one too. Weapon forging seems good for making money but I¡¯m not interested in money and I can just buy a weapon I will need when it¡¯s going to be needed so its useless for me. Magic arrays are very hard to understand but they might be very useful in future so I will try to understand it, but if I wont be able to learn it fast I will just drop it later. History of Lin continent seems absolutely useless and shouldn¡¯t even be class in this sort of school and I wont stay here for too long so I wont be taking that class for sure. Spirits control class seems to perfectly synergize with Path of sacrifices so I will choose this one too. All other smaller classes seems useless to me, so I will go for these six classes for now and will keep free time for learning my battle technique.¡® Boe looked through all classes and decided to pick six thathe thought would be useful to him.

    ¡°I will attend Alchemy, Path of sacrifices, Spirits control, Magic arrays, Companions nurturing and Cultivation of physical strength classes, mentor.¡±

    ¡°Good choices, Boe, you even chose my alchemy class so we¡¯ll be seeing each other a lot more than I expected. Since you just joined our school you shall receive some resources for your cultivation.¡± As SV said that, she threw a big bag to Boe. Boe caught it and saw three black rocks with shadow attribute battle aura emanating from them inside, two ordinary books, one heavy big book with a leather cover and bunch of plants, ¡°Those are three shadow magic stones, you can use them to quickly raise level of a power aura inside your body, books with a teaching of the basic attack technique ¡°Shadow arrow¡± and movement technique ¡°Shadow step¡±, both of them are very well suited for your shadow attribute affinity, few basic level plants to help you in your alchemy experiments and finally most important thing is a book with the battle teaching ¡°Black Scorpio¡± which can allow you to advance up to rank 4 wizard. You will be getting resources based on your contribution to the school every month, even if you won¡¯t do any missions you will be getting 1 magic stone with attribute of your choice and few plants of your choice as well. If you will want to get more resources, including magic stones, plants of level higher than basic or any new techniques you will just need to complete individual or group missions of our school, but I don¡¯t recommend you to take any missions before you will grasp both ¡°Shadow arrow¡± and ¡°Shadow step¡± to extent of being able to easily utilize them without wasting all your battle aura.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Back in his room, Boe was thinking about items he received from SV, he obviously wasn¡¯t interested in the battle technique of this school, since he already had far superior the ¡°Demon Emperor¡± technique, so he just tossed that book under his bed. After that, he read through contents of two techniques he got from SV and understood that he will first need to gather some battle aura inside of his body and only then he would be able to use those. Magic stones weren¡¯t actually as amazing as he expected, they were just an ordinary stones that existed inside of areas where battle aura was very thick so they were full of it; wizards were gathering them to absorb battle aura those stones had in them to hasten their progress in filling their body with battle aura. The next few days Boe spent getting used to his new life in the school at day and training in his battle technique at evening. He finally managed to grasp Demon Emperor¡¯s way of gathering battle aura from air into his body, ¡°Wow, feeling I get from absorbing even a little bit of shadow attribute battle aura into my body is amazing. Seems like breaking through to rank 1 wizard with my battle technique and shadow attribute affinity is very easy, I just need sufficient time. Since I now have some battle aura inside of me, I can finally start learning those 2 techniques SV gave me.¡± Boe was very diligent in learning his techniques, so he finished the basic level of training in both techniques in three weeks. He was already a full month int the school and he got used to all his classes and even made a great progress in alchemy and magic arrays, teachers were sure he got talent in both these fields, SV was especially satisfied when she saw how talented he was in alchemy. In cultivation of physical strength classes, he was a lot weaker than rest of his class since they had trained there for half a year longer than he did and he couldn¡¯t catch up to them for now, path of sacrifices needed basic knowledge of magic arrays so he could only attend it after he finished first year of magic arrays classes. Spirits control classes were hard for him since he had to catch up to them in basics individually without teachers help, but his senior John agreed to tutor him and that helped Boe a lot. After spending some time with John he understood that John was actually quite a nice guy and decided to befriend him. And finally, companions nurturing classes were like a torture to Boe, teacher seemed to dislike Boe for some reason and gave him a little black bat to nurture. Boe named his bat Wayne and was expecting to have fun raising his little bat, but Wayne was a night creature and it was awful for Boe since he was attending his classes at day, practiced battle technique at evening and couldn¡¯t stay awake at night to actually babysit Wayne.

    ¡°Hello, senior John, I heard you were looking for me?¡±

    ¡°Hi Boe, Lady Sky Venom told me to take you with me today for a group mission from school. She said she doesn¡¯t like that you didn¡¯t take any missions and was just staying at school for a whole month and some other professors were very displeased with that too for some reason.¡± John was very puzzled with all the attention Boe was getting from SV and all other teachers, he never heard of a student being so monitored by professors.

    ¡°Sure, if mentor wants me to go out for a mission I can only obey.¡± Boe understood some professors still suspected him and his origins even after his talk with SV, so he was expecting this kind of thing, he was even sure that the one who proposed this was companions nurturing classes professor Rid Hag. He would love to just stay inside of the school and keep getting stronger without getting himself in any kind of danger, but he had no choice but to agree to this.

    ¡°What¡¯s our mission, senior?¡±

    ¡°Mission this time is to eliminate a monster who kills people in the Dark Forest near our school. You don¡¯t have to worry about anything, our third companion for this mission is a senior Lok Tar and he¡¯s already a wizard of rank 1, so he will be dealing with monster himself, we¡¯re going there only as a backup for him to get some real battle experience.¡±

    ¡°With senior Lok accompanying us we have nothing to be afraid of in the dark forest.¡± Lok Tar was one of Boe¡¯s seniors he got to know through John, he was a big muscular man with green skin and battle axe as his main weapon.

    ¡°Be careful and don¡¯t go too far away from me, if that monster will attack suddenly I won¡¯t be able to save you if you¡¯re too far from me.¡± Lok Tar was calm and collected and was commanding both Boe and John as if they were frail ladies and he was a knight protecting them.

    ¡°Senior Lok, if reports of our men are correct then monster should be living inside that cave over there.¡± Boe noticed that there were a lot of holes near cave.

    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong then this monster should be some kind of huge spider and this cave is where it stores his food.¡±

    ¡°You are 100% correct, John, looks like we will be facing a Giant Huntsman spider. Don¡¯t let it bite you or you will be poisoned, lose your ability to move and I won¡¯t bother to save you from stones falling or other effects of my battle with spider. If this spider has any children or eggs laying inside of cave you two will have to destroy all of them while I fight big spider.¡±

    Boe felt goosebumps all over his body when he entered the cave. Three of them started walking deeper and deeper into the cave until they heard something moving. Before Boe could react, something big flashed behind them and attacked John, but before it could reach John, Lok Tar screamed something and attacked spider with his axe, ¡°Run deeper inside and destroy its children and eggs!¡±

    Boe and John immediately ran away from the big spider and went in even deeper into the cave without looking back even once. After two minutes of running they saw a big nest full of eggs. Boe and John both took out swords from behind their backs and started destroying eggs, but before they had a chance to destroy even a dozen of them, they heard something coming their way from a passageway in front of them.

    ¡°Spider wasn¡¯t alone! Another Giant Huntsman spider is coming our way, run for your life Boe.¡± But Boe didn¡¯t need any instructions from John, he already ran off in Lok¡¯s direction before John even finished screaming.

 Chapter 5 - Elder Tsude

    Boe started running earlier than John, but John was a lot faster than him, so John caught up with Boe in a few seconds, ¡°Did you really just abandoned me there and started running without even trying to warn me about the spider, you little fuck?!¡± John was obviously very angry at Boe. Before Boe had any chance to reply, John whispered some chants and his speed suddenly increased tenfold and his whole body started shining with green light.

    ¡®I¡¯m an idiot, I should have used my ¡°Shadow step¡± technique from the beginning.¡¯ Boe already grasped some of his movement technique but he forgot to use it in a face of danger and he was very upset with his reaction. He has always considered himself to be very quick-witted, especially after he lost some of his emotions, but with sudden appearance of another huge spider he lost his calm and just ran away for his life.

    ¡°Kyolyokyo kyimyl¡± It was a chant used to activate a ¡°Shadow step¡± technique. Boe¡¯s body suddenly became as light as feather and he felt like he could move as fast as lightning. Boe started moving even faster than John, but he felt something inside of him burning. This techniquecould be used as long as Boe''s battle aura wouldn''t ran out.

    When Boe caught up to John, he first noticed John¡¯s terrified expression and then saw that their way out was blocked, apparently a fight between a spider and Lok Tar destroyed portion of the cave. Boe started thinking of all possible ways to escape from the spider that will be here any moment, but he couldn¡¯t come up with any idea to survive. Mature Giant Huntsman spider¡¯s power should be above newly advanced rank 1 wizard so even if John and Boe would attack together and use all power they had, they had no chance of even injuring the spider.

    ¡°Your movement technique isn¡¯t just giving you a speed boost, my stupid disciple, it lets you become a real shadow temporarily, so use this ability wisely.¡± Boe heard his master¡¯s voice in his head. ¡®My master said he won¡¯t be helping me unless my opponent is two levels higher than me, but that spider is onlyone1 level higher, so why did he bother giving me a hint?¡¯ Boe calmed down and started searching for any way to survive using his ability to become a shadow.

    ¡°Boe, we should join hands and try to stall the spider for as long as we can, we may not have any hope in defeating the spider but we may be able to drag enough time for our senior Lok to finish his battle and save us.¡± John started chanting something and kept looking at Boe in hopes of receiving any help from him.

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, senior John, but I will have to leave you here for now and can¡¯t take you with me since you are specializing in earth attribute magic. I promise I will get back here with help from the school as soon as I will get out of the cave.¡± Boe wasn¡¯t planning risking his life by putting all hopes on Lok Tar, he already found a way to get out of this dangerous situation. ¡®Even though I don¡¯t know what is on the other side of that hole, chances of me surviving there must be higher than here.¡¯ Boe chanted ¡°Kyolyokyo kyimyl¡± again, turned into a shadow and slipped through a tiny hole on the right side of what used to be the passage out of the cave.

    ¡°So this technique really allows me to move through any tiny hole as if I¡¯m some kind of liquid.¡± Boe appeared on the other side of the hole, but he couldn¡¯t see anything here so he could only start moving his hands to inspect walls around him. He was walking like that for twentyminutes and already started thinking that he needed to acquire some kind of an illumination magic for situations like the current one. Boe was very careful with every step he was taking, afraid of falling or stepping on something alive, but that didn¡¯t save him from stepping on something slimy, he immediately pulled his foot out of that thing.

    ¡°Are you a guest or an enemy?¡± Two giant green eyes stared at Boe and he felt his whole body freeze.

    ¡°I am just a random passerby and came here with no bad intentions, esteemed lord, please excuse me for intruding into your lands.¡± Boe couldn¡¯t run away so he decided to speak with owner of huge eyes with as much respect as he could. He was already trembling from fear and a cold sweat was dripping down his back, the pressure from the creature in front of him was too much for him to handle.

    ¡°I¡¯m not lord, lord is my master, I¡¯m a merely servant of my almighty master. You don¡¯t seem like an enemy of my master and I don¡¯t feel any malicious intent from you, so you can be my guest and stay here with me, young human.¡± Two different colored torches started burning on two sides of the monster with huge green eyes. Boe could now clearly see what was standing in front of him, it was a ten meters tall yellow slug-like creature with two green eyes, black hole instead of mouth and two torches he saw weren¡¯t torches at all, those were two antennas on two sides of the slug, on top of one of them was burning a normal red fire, but on top of a second one, fire was of a blue color. Boe guessed that creature in front of him was some kind of a magic companion beast from ancient times someone left here to guard this place and never came back. Boe knew a lot of stories about secret lairs of ancient wizards where modern wizards could find all sorts of treasures and inheritances of ancient times.

    ¡°May I know how I should call this respected elder?¡±

    ¡°My master always called me Tsude.¡±

    ¡°Elder Tsude I¡¯m very sorry that I trespassed your master¡¯s territory so I won¡¯t be disturbing your rest any longer and shall take my leave right away.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°When did I say that I will allow you to leave this place? You already found out location of my master¡¯s hideout so I can¡¯t let you go outside to tell other people about it, you will be staying here with me until my master will come back and decide what to do with you.¡±

    Boe expected this kind of reaction from Tsude so he wasn¡¯t surprised or scared, he was happy that Tsude didn¡¯t just kill him right away, ¡°May I know when did your esteemed master leave and when was he planning to come back?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not certain but it must have been almost 300 years since my master left me here. As for coming back, my master had never reported to me what he was planning to do and how much time he was planning to spend outside.¡±

    ¡®300 years?! Is that fucking slug kidding me? Her master is probably just died outside a long time ago.¡¯ Boe wanted to scream at Tsude and explain to her that her master will never come back here, but he understood he had no chance of surviving if Tsude would decide to kill him, he couldn¡¯t even feel what sort of power she possessed. ¡®On the other hand if I will start a fight with that slug, my master will have to help me as per his promise.¡¯ an idea flashed in Boe¡¯s mind, but he was afraid of using his master like that. He knew that The Strongest was always watching him from somewhere so if slug were to attack him he would be fine, but he didn¡¯t know how his master would react if he would decide to provoke the slug on purpose. Even if The Strongest wouldn¡¯t let him die, he would probably be disappointed in a disciple that can¡¯t overcome any difficulties on his own and would use his master¡¯s power every time he got himself in trouble.

    ¡°Elder Tsude is there any way you can let me go back to my school? Or are you planning to let me in your master¡¯s hideout so I could inherit his teachings and items?¡±

    ¡°Stop joking around, kid, my master ordered me to never let anyone enter inside so even I have never been inside there and all people who dared to come here looking to rob my master were killed by me. The only reason you are still alive is that I didn¡¯t feel any greed from you when you first appeared here, but if you will show any greed toward my master¡¯s items I will eat you alive.¡±

    ¡°I would never dare to even think of taking anything from here by force, elder Tsude. I just want to know what am I supposed to do if I¡¯m not allowed to go outside or inside?¡±

    ¡°You shall stay here with me, of course.¡±

    ¡°Elder Tsude I will certainly die from starvation if I will just stay by your side without having an access to any kind of food or water.¡±

    ¡°I forgot that weak human beings have the need in food and water to sustain themselves¡­ It is such a pity to lose you, since I haven¡¯t had anyone to talk to for far too long, but I guess it''s your fate to die here from starvation.¡±

    Boe had no words to express his feelings right now, he felt rage inside of him starting to burn any intelligence he had left. He tried to calm himself down and try to figure out some plan to get out of this situation unharmed, but couldn¡¯t come up with anything. ¡®What if I will use my ¡°Shadow step¡± technique and run away through some hole?¡¯ Boe started looking around searching for any holes that would let him escape.

    ¡°If you think of using your worthless shadow technique to get away from me you should know that its absolutely useless against me since I can just burn you down even in shadow form.¡±

    ¡°I was just looking for a place to sit comfortably in here, but this place seems too rocky and uncomfortable all around.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, young people always think they¡¯re smarter than their seniors¡± Tsude started laughing and her whole body was jiggling like she was some kind of jelly.

    ¡°Elder Tsude, if you want me to keep you company, can you please help me get some food and water?¡±

    ¡°Why should I be helping you? My mission here is to protect my master¡¯s hideout and I won¡¯t be walking away from here.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to move from here, just destroy wall to my left and I will bring food here.¡±

    ¡°What are you planning, kid? Do you really think those two little spiders can help you fight or distract me?¡±

    ¡°I only want to get some food by killing those two spiders. I am sure you can kill both of them without even moving from this place so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem, right?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, let me see what you are planning, kid¡± Tsude waved her right antenna and a tiny red flame flew toward a wall.

    *BOOM*

    Boe didn¡¯t expect that the tiny red flame of Tsude would explode with such a tremendous power, but he didn¡¯t have time to think about it as he was evading rocks flying all over the place.

    ¡°Show me how you are going to get those tiny spiders to come here after that¡± Tsude started laughing as if she was playing with Boe.

    ¡°Elder Tsude, you sure made it hard for me, won¡¯t you be upset if I won¡¯t be able to get them here and will just die in a few days instead of keeping you a company for at least a few weeks?¡±

    ¡°I was alone here for almost 300 years and another 300 years are nothing for me, kid. Now go ahead and bring them here while I am in a good mood and ready to help you kill them, but don¡¯t try to do anything out of ordinary. If I will detect anything strange in your behavior I will burn you down in a blink of an eye.¡±

    Boe felt Tsude¡¯s aura locking onto him as he walked into the direction where he was destroying eggs previously. When he reached a place where he left John with the spider, he didn¡¯t see any blood or traces of battle, ¡®It seems like John was too weak and couldn¡¯t even fight back against that spider when he was captured to become one of stored food for them.¡¯

    ¡°Kyolyokyo jebe¡± Boe whispered ¡°Shadow arrow¡± chanting as he walked toward eggs and then used his energy to shoot a black arrow shaped shadow toward eggs.

    *BOOM*

    Half of eggs exploded and other half flew in random directions. Few seconds after that, he heard something coming his way from the passageway in front of him. ¡®Those spiders are my only chance of escaping from here.¡¯

    Moment later he saw a huge spider running in his direction, he felt frightening killing intent from them and immediately activated his ¡°Shadow step¡± technique. Tsude chuckled and burned the spider with just 1 wave of her red colored antenna. But what she didn¡¯t expect is that Boe didn¡¯t run in any direction but slipped through a tiny hole in the passageway that spiders came from.

    ¡°NOOOOOO! YOU CANT ENTER MY MASTER¡¯S HIDEOUT!¡± Tsude was furiousas she ran to the entrance of her master¡¯s hideout behind her, but right before she entered inside, she stopped as if some invisible force was stopping her from entering.

    ¡°As I thought, you can¡¯t enter inside because your master ordered you not to let ANYONE enter. Hahaha¡± Boe was very happy with himself as he put his hands behind his back and started walking leisurely inside of Tsude¡¯s master¡¯s hideout.

 Chapter 6 - Treasury and butler

    ¡°Get out of there or I will come in, catch you, skin you alive, then slowly break all your bones one by one and after you die I will catch your soul and torture it for my whole life!¡° Tsude was enraged like she had never been before in her entire life.

    ¡°Elder Tsude, you forced me to do this with your previous attitude. But don¡¯t you worry, I will not destroy or even touch anything in here¡­ as long as it is not interesting for me or expensive enough to make me want to take it.¡± As Boe said that, he started walking deeper inside of the corridor of Tsude¡¯s mysterious master¡¯s hideout.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare to touch anything in there! If you will take even one of my master¡¯s items I will kill you, all your friends, relatives and anyone who has any connection to you or your bloodline!¡± Tsude was yelling as loud as she could, but Boe was completely ignoring her and was already out of the corridor. When Boe left the corridor, he entered a very spacious hall, which started lighting up as soon as he stepped inside. Boe was pleasantly surprised with what he saw, hall had 10 meters tall walls, took roughly 200 square meters of space and all those walls were packed with ancient looking books. Boe started looking around and found out that all light was coming from strange yellow gems hovering near ceiling. Even though Boe wasn¡¯t sure about that, but gems were similar to his shadow attribute magic stones so he could only guess that those gems were some kind of light attribute magic stones used to illuminate rooms by rich wizards. Boe noted to himself that he should probably take them all with himself when he would decide to leave, because they would be valuable for sure and he wouldn¡¯t sleep well if he didn¡¯t take everything valuable from here. Boe wasn¡¯t very greedy, but he would definitely take all he could from people who offended him, and he already decided that he will surely get back at Tsude later, when he will have enough strength to make her bow before him.

    Boe started checking out some books that were close to him and found out that most of them were very valuable materials about alchemy, spirits control, wild monsters taming, magic arrays and some of them were even full battle techniques. Even though most of battle techniques were of low level, they would already be enough for someone to establish a clan or a small school. Boe didn¡¯t spend too much time with books, since he needed to find a way to escape out of here without encountering Tsude or he would just die in this treasury from hunger. Other than the one he came through, there were only three doors out of big hall. Boe came to first of them, but when he tried to open the door something pushed him off and he fell on his butt five meters from the door.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have master¡¯s permission to enter the treasury.¡± Boe heard a deep, ancient sounding voice from every direction of the hall.

    ¡°Who are you? Show yourself!¡± Boe was scared that master of this place left someone to watch over insides of a hideout, while Tsude was guarding outside.

    ¡°My name is Alfred. I¡¯m master Thomas¡¯ butler, I exist to watch over my master¡¯s wizard manor.¡± Right after voice answered Boe¡¯s question, blue person appeared next to Boe, Alfred looked to be just a spirit of some kind, but Boe didn¡¯t dare to relax because he knew that some spirits could attack people or even take over their bodies.

    ¡°My sincere apologies for my previous words, elder Alfred, I didn¡¯t mean to offend you, I was just surprised by your appearance.¡±

    ¡°There is no need in apologies to me. What is a purpose of your visit, young Sire?¡±

    ¡°I came here by my master¡¯s orders.¡± Boe immediately thought of a plan to make use of butler¡¯s loyalty to his old master.

    ¡°And who your master might be?¡±

    ¡°My master is great wizard Thomas, he sent me here to gather some experience and get treasures of my choice from his old manor.¡±

    ¡°Even though I¡¯m just a spirit, I¡¯m not stupid enough to believe nonsense you are spouting.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense? My master sent me to this precise location, saying that even after he wasn¡¯t here for almost 300 years his loyal butler and a beast companion would definitely still be guarding his manor. If I wasn¡¯t my master¡¯s disciple, how would I be able to find this place and even walk past elder Tsude?¡±

    ¡°Tsude has actually let you in?¡± Alfred appeared slightly shocked before he straightened his face and stared at Boe as if he was inspecting his soul.

    ¡°Yes, elder Tsude was already released by me from this place to go to my master¡¯s new manor.¡±

    ¡°New manor? Master built a new manor and even called Tsude to be by his side again?¡± Alfred¡¯s voice sounded depressed, but nothing was shown on his face this time.

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry to tell you these news, but you can¡¯t leave this place to become a butler of his new mansion, since master has already put elder Jarvis as his butler for a new manor.¡± Boe sounded very apologetic as he was saying that.

    ¡°My master is the wisest and if he decided so, then there are reasons for his decision. Even though I don¡¯t understand this decision, I¡¯m still my master¡¯s butler and will never leave task he entrusted me.¡± Boe¡¯s plan to gain trust of Alfred succeeded without a hitch and he was very happy with himself.

    ¡°Master told me to make sure you won¡¯t leave this manor even for a second, because he might come back here anytime to visit you, so don¡¯t feel too sad, elder Alfred.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°Thank you for your kind words, young master. May I know how should I call you, young master?¡± Alfred obviously trusted everything Boe said and was now considering him inheritor of his master.

    ¡°You can just call me Boe, since my master always talks with affection about you, elder Alfred.¡± Boe kept on flattering Alfred to make sure he would gain complete trust from the butler of this huge treasury.

    ¡°Even your manners are the same as my master¡¯s, young master Boe. I¡¯m very sorry for not trusting you from the beginning, but I have no choice since this place holds a lot of my master¡¯s treasures and I have to protect them from greedy thieves.¡±

    ¡°I understand, elder Alfred. I hope you won¡¯t be against me staying here for the time being since master sent me to this place to gain experience and I need a place to live when I¡¯m not on adventures?¡±

    ¡°Of course not, young master, you may use all benefits of my master¡¯s manor and I shall leave right now to prepare room for you to live in.¡±

    ¡°You are as smart and loyal as my master was always saying, elder Aldred. I will then have to use your services from this time on.¡±

    ¡°it is my pleasure, young master.¡± Alfred vanished into the thin air right after he bowed to Boe.

    ¡®That was risky, but it was sure worth it!¡¯ Boe was happy he took a gamble and Alfred wasn¡¯t smart enough to see through his blatant lies.

    ¡°Here is a room I prepared for you, my young master.¡± Alfred took Boe through the second door Boe saw earlier and after they walked for ten minutes, Alfred showed him his room with a huge bed, small table with various food on it and two chairs.

    ¡°As expected from elder Alfred, you already knew I was very hungry even before I told you anything.¡± Boe smiled brilliantly to Alfred and bowed deeply to him.

    ¡°No need to be so courteous around me, young master. All your wishes are my commands, that¡¯s my only job here. Now, I shall take my leave and let young master eat in silence. If you will ever need me, you can just call my name in any place of the manor and I will immediately come to serve you, young master.¡± Alfred bowed to Boe and disappeared from his sight.

    ¡®Did I really just hit jackpot? The only problem right now is Tsude, I need to make a plan to take her out or at least make sure Alfred wont find out that she is still here.¡¯ Boe sat down and started eating. Even though all meals were delicious, Boe couldn¡¯t enjoy the food because of a problem with Tsude.

    ¡°Alfred, do I have a permission to go into treasury now?¡± Boe couldn¡¯t make up a plan to eliminate Tsude¡¯s danger, so the only choice he had right now was the treasury. He hoped that there were some kind of treasure inside of the treasury that will allow Boe kill Tsude or somehow make Alfred his own loyal servant.

    ¡°Young master, I can¡¯t stop you from entering treasury, but I have to ask of you not to take more than three items from there at once. You can swap any item at any moment, but there shouldn¡¯t be more than three items out of treasury at same moment. That was the rule my master told me to follow in case his disciples will want to take something out of the treasury.¡± Boe now understood that he wasn¡¯t Thomas¡¯ only disciples, but since no one appeared in this manor for almost 300 years he thought that all disciples died together with their teacher.

    ¡°That is not an issue, elder Alfred. My master is wisest and if he thinks that three treasures are enough for me then it is definitely so.¡±

    ¡°Then please follow me, young master.¡± Alfred started float in the direction of a main hall and Boe followed closely behind him.

    ¡°What are other facilities I am allowed to enter in a master¡¯s manor?¡± Boe was very interested in what kind of good experience he could get from this place and Alfred was perfect to find everything he wanted to know about.

    ¡°You are allowed to enter all rooms except for master¡¯s personal room and his laboratory.¡± Boe now understood that even though Thomas was keeping a lot of treasures in treasury, most valuable treasures were probably hidden inside of his personal room and most valuable information was probably In the laboratory.

    ¡°Is there some kind of garden with plants used for alchemy in here?¡±

    ¡°Of course there is, I was watching over growth of all plants, trees, beasts and monsters inside of an inner garden since my master left.¡± Boe felt his heart beating faster and louder when he heard Alfred¡¯s words.

    ¡°Then I shall visit an inner garden after the treasury, I think I will need some alchemy ingredients for my experiments.¡± Boe showed no signs of being happy as if all he heard was very normal for him.

    ¡°Yes, young master¡± They already reached the door Boe tried to open when he first came into the main hall. Alfred opened a door in front of Boe.

    ¡°My master¡¯s treasury is sure rich with all sorts of artifacts.¡± Boe said calmly, but inside he was burning with desire to scream and run towards all those treasure he saw. There were a few hundreds of items inside of the room, which looked like an ordinary storehouse at first glance. Some items were hanging on walls, some were hidden inside of boxes and few even were displayed inside of glass boxes as if they were some kind of museum artifacts.

    ¡°Master was collecting all these items for almost 600 years and was very proud of his collection. Here is list of all items and brief description of each item.¡± Alfred handed a book to Boe and he started reading contents of it. After two hours of reading through the book, Boe already made choices on items he wanted to take out.

    ¡°I have to trouble elder Alfred to help me get ¡°Dark Elf King¡¯s bow¡±, ¡°Claws of Enthriil¡± and ¡°Medusa¡¯s glance¡± from the treasury.¡± Boe read through all information on all items inside of the treasury and there were definitely a lot of more powerful items than those that he picked, but these three were perfect for him right now and he could come and change them anytime he wanted.

    Dark Elf King¡¯s bow was an artifact created by the best weapon craftsman of the Dark Elves for a King of Dark Elves of ancient times. The only way to use this bow was to use a shadow attribute magic and condense arrows from the shadow attribute magic, which was perfect for Boe with his ¡°Shadow Arrow¡± attack technique.

    Claws of Enthriil was an artifact used by a famous assassin 450 years ago to kill his targets. He was very famous for his sneak attacks with these claws, they were made from a mysterious material that couldn¡¯t be broken, stained or scratched with anything. The one who created this artifact was unquestionably an extraordinary skillful blacksmith. Boe was using ¡°Shadow step¡± movement technique, which was perfect for sneak attacks and claws type weapon was good to make up his lack of close combat weapon.

    Medusa¡¯s glance was a very ancient artifact in form of a small grey ball with runes all over its surface. This artifact was used to turn user¡¯s opponents into a stone for a small period of time, it was one of the most valuable and powerful artifacts in here, because it allowed a user to defeat opponents of higher levels of strength if opponents didn¡¯t expect to be attacked. The only downside to this artifact was the fact that after each use, it became useless for a year. Boe decided to take this artifact to use it to kill Tsude. After Tsude¡¯s death he would become a sole owner of this manor and Boe was ready to gamble with his life to get this opportunity.

 Chapter 7 - Inner garden

    ¡°Elder Alfred, is there a room created to train in shadow attribute magic here?¡± Boe already had a plan to get rid of Tsude, but he first needed to boost his own strength as much as he could in this short period of time, so he decided that he will execute his plan only after advancing to rank 1 in his ¡°Demon Emperor¡± battle technique. He was now only a bit stronger than an ordinary human and would even lose in fight to well-trained soldier, but if he would achieve rank 1, his strength would increase tenfold in physical aspect alone. To achieve rank 1 he needed to gather a lot more shadow attribute magic battle aura into his body so some kind of special training ground would help him with that greatly.

    ¡°Yes, young master, please follow me.¡± Alfred took Boe out of treasury storehouse and they entered third door in main hall. Inside of third door were all kinds of training grounds, battle arenas and few closed rooms Boe didn¡¯t bother to inspect. Alfred led Boe to one of the training rooms, which had very sinister aura inside of it and Boe instantly understood that concentration of shadow attribute battle aura in here was at least ten times higher than even in his school.

    ¡°This place seems perfect for me to train in, thanks for allowing me to come in here, elder Alfred.¡± Boe was genuinely happy to have an opportunity to practice here.

    ¡°I shall leave young master alone to train, call me if you will need anything, young master.¡±

    ¡°I think I will be staying here for a long period of time, so please bring me food 3 times a day, but don¡¯t enter, just leave it behind the door, elder Alfred.¡±

    ¡°Your wish is my command, young master.¡± Alfred disappeared and left Boe alone in a dark room to train.

    After a full month of training, Boe found himself at some sort of a bottleneck in gathering shadow attribute battle aura. ¡®It seems that density of battle aura is too strong in here and my battle technique mastery can¡¯t keep up with it.¡¯ Before that, Boe was spending 6 hours on battle aura gathering, 6 hours on his battle technique trainings, 2 hours on eating and walking around manor and 10 hours sleeping every day, but now he decided to focus on battle technique. His battle technique was of higher level than any battle technique that existed in his world, so difficulty in training it was tremendous.

    ¡®It seems like I¡¯m doing something wrong with ¡°Demon awakening¡± step, but I don¡¯t get what am I doing wrong.¡¯ First level of ¡°Demon Emperor¡± battle technique consisted of 5 steps of mastery. First level was to feel battle aura around body, second level was to gather battle aura inside of a body, third level was to learn 26 battle moves, fourth level was to awaken demon inside of himself and final step was to use accumulated battle aura and release it using 26 moves in ¡°demonification¡± form. Boe was having troubles with awakening his inner demon, information he received from his maser only said to use your all negative emotions to awaken an inner demon. Boe tried to spark that feeling inside of him that he felt when his brother died or when he was witnessing his master¡¯s massacre, but it didn¡¯t receive any kind of response from his body or soul.

    ¡°Master, please help this dumb disciple of yours to understand how to awaken demon inside of me.¡± Boe said these words looking at wall in front of him while kneeling on one knee. He was hoping to get help from his master, since master hasn¡¯t actually instructed him on anything yet, but he didn¡¯t get any response even after staying in that position for half an hour.

    ¡®I guess he really won¡¯t see me before I will pass all his tests¡­¡¯ Boe was expecting this outcome, but he had to try to do it in most simple way he could think of, because he didn¡¯t have much time, he was scared that Tsude would eventually come inside of a manor or Alfred would find out that Tsude is still right outside of a door. Boe ended up spending all evening trying to awaken his inner demon using all negative memories he had, but it didn¡¯t work at all.

    ¡®is there really no other way other than to kill people with my own hands to awaken demon inside of me?¡¯ Even though Boe already lost most of his emotions and even watched massacre in front of him without displaying emotions, he hasn¡¯t killed any living person with his own hands in his life yet, so he was feeling very nervous about this possibility. Boe decided to try his last guess before going with that plan.

    ¡°Elder Alfred, I need to talk to you, can you come here please?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m listening, young master¡±

    ¡°Is there any way for me to experience real battle and even kill someone inside of a manor?¡±

    ¡°Of course there is, you can go into an inner garden and battle with beasts, monsters, demons or even people there.¡± Alfred answered as if it was absolutely normal thing to have monsters, demons and people in garden inside of a manor.

    ¡°Are there any living beings with lowest level of rank 1 power or highest level under rank 1 there?¡± Boe wanted to battle and gain experience, but didn¡¯t want to die in battle so he wanted an opponent of equal power.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°There are plenty of them inside, young master. I shall accompany you in garden to guard you from beings that are too strong for you right now.¡±

    ¡°Then letss enter an inner garden right now.¡± Boe followed Alfred out of his training room and went deeper into training grounds before they walked to simple old door. Alfred opened the door and Boe saw that on the other side of the door was only stairs leading downstairs, but when he looked down to check how much do they have to walk to reach the end of the stairs, he was shocked. He couldn¡¯t even see where stairs ended.

    ¡°Inner garden is the main reason my master built manor in this place. Deep underground of this mountain is a whole world hidden from people. When master discovered this world, he walked through whole world and was amazed to find out that this world was taking almost quarter of whole Shadow Kingdom and there were thousands of beasts and plants that are very rare in our continent. After that, he occupied mountain and divided an inner garden into 5 territories based on a level of danger inside. First level is where these stairs are leading to and it is the safest place in an inner garden and only requires strength of rank 1 wizard to be absolutely safe in there. Second territory requires at least rank 2 to walk inside and peak rank 2 to rule over all living beings there. Third territory is considered a forbidden zone for disciples and requires rank 3 power to walk inside and rank 4 to be absolutely safe there, that monster Tsude was captured in this zone and was one of the strongest in there. Fourth territory is where most of the captured demons and human enemies are being held and it requires rank 5 power to go there and come out alive. Fifth territory is a forbidden zone even for me, because there are entities even I can¡¯t contend against.¡±

    Boe was absolutely shocked after he heard all that information, it all meant that old master of this place was at least of rank 6 or even higher, while Tsude was probably monster of peak rank 3 or even rank 4 now. But what shocked him the most was the fact that Alfred was at least of rank 5. Spirit with a power of rank 5 was something he never heard of, with this kind of power Alfred could annihilate his Grain Plains Kingdom alone and no one could stop him there, but he was merely a butler of a wizard named Thomas. Boe now lost all his confidence in his plan to kill Tsude and needed to come up with new plan to leave this manor.

    ¡°Then I guess I will only walk inside of the first zone and will need a protection of an elder Alfred in case something will happen.¡± Boe was now even more respectful toward spirit butler in front of him.

    ¡°As you wish, my young master.¡± Alfred smiled to Boe as if he already knew what Boe was thinking about.

    ¡®I need to get to rank 1 as fast as I can and find a way to leave this place before Tsude came in or Alfred felt something is off about me.¡¯ Boe was very interested in a treasury, a training room and an inner garden, but he valued his life a lot more than those benefits.

    After walking for almost two hours they finally reached the end of the stairs and Boe saw what Alfred was referring to as an ¡±inner garden¡±. It was absolutely different world from what Boe used to see, there were no dark forests or barren lands, everything around him was green and he couldn¡¯t see anything but trees. What woke him up from his shock was loud growl he heard from inside of the trees, Boe looked in direction of a growl and saw black panther walking in his direction.

    ¡°It is a Shadow Panther, its level should be a little bit weaker thanrank 1, it should be at bottleneck of breakthrough to rank 1, should I leave it to young master to practice his fighting skills?¡± Alfred was looking at panther like it was just an ant in front of him.

    ¡°Yes, it will be a good warm-up for me, don¡¯t interfere in our battle, elder Alfred.¡±

    Boe started walking in panther¡¯s direction, took his Claws of Enthriil and put them on his hands, it was the first time he is going to use them in a real battle. Panther pounced at him and her claws was emitting strong killing intent and even some kind of dark attribute battle aura. Boe decided to check his claw¡¯s power and went to meet panther head on.

    *CLANG*

    When his Claws of Enthriil met with panther¡¯s claws not only didn¡¯t they get damaged, they even managed to cut off three panther¡¯s claws, but panther¡¯s physical strength was a lot more powerful than Boe¡¯s, so he was sent flying from impact. Boe immediately jumped up and was ready to fight panther further, but to his shock, panther has already ran away from him into trees.

    ¡°Claws of Enthriil are too strong for that panther and she got too scared of them so you couldn¡¯t enjoy a proper fight with her. Should I track her down or find a beast stronger for you to fight, young master?¡±

    ¡°No need chasing her, she isn¡¯t strong enough for me to experience a real battle, I guess I need someone of low level rank 1 power. Can you find me suitable target, elder Alfred?¡±

    ¡°Give me a minute, young master.¡± Alfred disappeared into thin air, Boe looked at Claws of Enthriil with a smile, he was very glad he chose this weapon as his melee weapon. Claws of Enthriil managed to cut through panther¡¯s claws even though he was much weaker than a panther, this meant that if he would use claws to sneak attack his enemies he would easily cut through any kind of typical defensive armor of humans. Boe was now thinking if he could defeat one of Giant Huntsman spiders he met in a cave before.

    ¡°There are a lot of potential opponents of needed power level, but close to us are only three of them. First one is Frost Bear of low level rank 1, second is Three Talon Hawk and last one is Fire Tiger, which one do you prefer to fight, young master?¡± Alfred came back after only a minute and reported what he found to Boe right away.

    ¡°Three Talon Hawk is too troublesome because it is a flying creature and it needs to be taken care of fast or our fight would be hawk attacking and me defending until I would lose or hit it with my bow. Frost Bear and Fire Tiger are both good targets so I guess I will fight both of them today. Lead me to the Frost Bear first, but please conceal your aura so I could attack it with sneak attack, elder Alfred.¡±

    ¡°Follow me, young master.¡± As Alfred said it he concealed his aura and Boe didn¡¯t feel him at all, if he wouldn¡¯t see Alfred with his own eyes right now, he wouldn¡¯t be able to notice Alfred even if he would be on alert.

    ¡°Kyolyokyo kyimyl¡± Boe whispered chant for Shadow Step technique and vanished into shadows of a tree, after he increased shadow attribute battle aura inside of his body, this technique became a lot stronger and common animals wouldn¡¯t notice him even if he would be right in front of them.

 Chapter 8 - Time for a hunt

    Boe was moving in shadow while Alfred was strolling through forest with his hands behind his back as if he was walking in his backyard. Only now did Boe understand how powerful Alfred was, even though he didn¡¯t use any techniques to conceal himself, his movements were nimble and didn¡¯t attract any attention from any living beings around. When he was passing trees and bushes, all branches and leaves were moving away from his body. Boe was wondering what attribute was Alfred using, but decided not to ask any question right now.

    ¡°Frost Bear is considered weak rank 1 beast and only has 1 special active ability, ¡°Frost Slash¡±, it uses claws to attack enemy with this ability, which upon landing on target will freeze small area and allow bear¡¯s claws to shatter that area. Bear¡¯s strongest side is defense due to very thick fur and massive body, which is considered to be on level close to rank 2, while weakest side is speed. But you have to understand that while bear¡¯s movement speed is rather slow, his attack speed is still pretty fast, so don¡¯t be too overconfident in your speed while you battle him.¡±

    Hearing all instructions from Alfred, Boe only nodded slightly and carried on moving in direction of Frost Bear. He was now rather nervous, but was still confident in his ability to battle Frost Bear. Even if bear would be stronger than he expected and would be able to harm Boe, he was sure that Alfred wouldn¡¯t let him die.

    Few minutes later Alfred stopped moving and pointed in west direction with his finger, Boe put Claws of Enthriil onto his hands and started moving slower in direction Alfred pointed. Boe understood that in this battle his first stealth attack would influence the outcome of the battle, so he was using his Shadow Step technique to the extreme. Frost Bear was two meters tall, his fur was gray in color and tips of his claws were shining as if they were frozen. Bear was busy eating something from the ground, it was probably some other animal killed by him.

    ¡®Weak points of Frost Bear¡¯s are their necks and thighs, if I¡¯ll be able to cut through bear¡¯s neck it will be instant victory, and if I¡¯ll cut through thighs It¡¯ll slow bear¡¯s movements and it will be good advantage for me in battle. I have to be decisive in battle, so I will go for neck straight away to snatch easy victory.¡¯, Boe already came up with a plan for his upcoming battle.

    *CLANG*

    However, expectations and hopes do not always become reality. When Boe attacked Frost Bear using his Shadow Step technique and Claws of Enthriil as a weapon, bear suddenly turned around and blocked Boe¡¯s attack with his mighty claws. Boe felt chill run down his spine. Frost Bear¡¯s Frost Slash ability has to be activated for attack, but tips of bear¡¯s claws were always frosty from using that ability all the time. Boe didn¡¯t make any mistakes in his strategy or actions, but Frost Bear were existence of rank 1 power and had years of experience of surviving in this forest, so he easily detected killing intent from Boe and reacted instantly. Boe was just too inexperienced and weak to kill mighty Frost Bear in one hit.

    Boe used impact from his attack and jumped away from bear to avoid any incoming attacks. When Boe looked at bear he realized that bear was already infuriated and ready to tear Boe¡¯s body to pieces. Bear looked at little creature that disturbed his meal and already decided to make a dessert out of Boe¡¯s body.

    *ROAR*

    Frost Bear roared and jumped to attack Boe, he didn¡¯t want to give Boe any chance of retreating. Seeing huge bear pouncing at him so fast, Boe didn¡¯t see why would that huge animal would be considered to be slow in movements. Bear used his ¡°Frost Slash¡± technique straight away, Boe barely managed to dodge that attack, but bear¡¯s claws scratched his back a little anyway. Boe now felt his whole back go stiff from coldness of that attack, his movement slowed down because of that.

    ¡°Kyolyokyo jebe¡± ¨C Boe whispered chanting of his ¡°Shadow arrow¡± technique and pointed in bear¡¯s direction. Black shadow in the shape of an arrow shot right at bear¡¯s neck. Boe was very proud of his fast decision making in that moment and looked at bear as if he was already dead. However, when Boe¡¯s attack reached bear¡¯s neck it didn¡¯t pierce through him, but only damaged him a little with just a few droplets of blood dripping from the wound. When bear felt Boe¡¯s attack he was enraged and started slashing all around with his claws.

    ¡°Young master, let¡¯s get back to mansion, I need to heal your injuries and this place will become very lively now. All beasts in this area will smell human blood and gather here to hunt you down.¡±, Alfred appeared, took Boe in his hands and moved in direction of stairs.

    ¡°Difference between beasts of rank 1 and beasts who hasn¡¯t yet broken through to rank 1 is so huge?¡±, After Shadow Panther ran away from him, Boe was sure he can easily kill any beast under rank 1 so he wanted to fight rank 1 beasts. Only now did Boe understand that he was way too arrogant and started thinking about everything that happened, ¡®Panther ran away not because I was strong, but because Claws of Enthriil were able to cut off her claws. When we clashed I was even sent flying from impact, so even that panther was actually stronger than me, I overestimated my power today. If Alfred wasn¡¯t there to protect me, I would likely have lost my life there.¡¯

    ¡°In my opinion, it wasn¡¯t an issue of rank of the beast, problem was in selected opponent. Even though young master isn¡¯t a match for that Frost Bear, I think it was mostly because of experience and special attributes of that bear. If young master would pick Fire Tiger to fight and tiger would be young one, young master would be able to kill it with one strike with Claws of Enthriil. That Frost Bear was not only old and experienced, but his defense is his strongest side, so sneak attack isn¡¯t as effective on him as on Fire Tiger.¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    Back in mansion, Alfred took out small bottle and poured out liquid on Boe¡¯s injury. It was minor healing potion, right after Alfred finished pouring it out, all scars on Boe¡¯s back disappeared and all pain seemed to vanish, ¡®I really need to practice in alchemy, those potions are going to be very useful for me in future if I want to gain battle experience in outer world.¡¯

    ¡°Thanks for saving my life, elder Alfred. If it wasn¡¯t for you, I would already be in that bear¡¯s stomach.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just doing my job.¡±

    ¡°Elder Alfred, I think I will need to learn more shadow techniques. Can you please gather all shadow attribute movement, attack and defense techniques for me?¡±

    ¡°As you wish, young master.¡±, Alfred vanished right after he finished healing Boe.

    Boe was sitting in his training room and looking at five books in front of him. These books were all shadow techniques suitable for training before reaching rank 1 Alfred found in Thomas¡¯ mansion.

    ¡°Shadow clone¡± is attack technique, it creates clone using shadow attribute battle aura, clone would be identical to user, but it wouldn¡¯t be able to move, talk or even move a muscle. This technique is a copy of high level ¡°Shadow clone¡± technique which can create real clone, which canmove, attack and even use battle techniques, but user has to be of rank 5 or higher to use it.

    ¡°Shadow hand¡± is attack technique, it creates huge hand from shadow attribute battle aura, which can grab and restrict opponent¡¯s movements. If opponent is of lower rank than user, he will be frozen in place for a few seconds. If opponent is of same rank as user, his movement speed will be slowed down for 50-80% depending on opponent¡¯s strength for a few seconds. If opponent¡¯s rank is higher than user¡¯s, his movement speed will be slowed down depending on difference of ranks.

    ¡°Blinding darkness¡± is illusionary attack technique, which attacks opponent¡¯s mind. It creates illusion of being in absolute darkness, but it only works on opponents of same or lower ranks as user.

    ¡°Shield of regret¡± is defense technique, which creates transparent shield from shadow attribute battle aura around user¡¯s body. This technique is considered of the strongest from all known shadow techniques. This shield doesn¡¯t block all damage, but any damage dealt to shield is divided, 50% of damage then goes back to attacker and another 50% are received by user. This technique is copy of higher level technique which can actually deflect all 100% of damage to attacker, but requirement to use it is to be of at least rank 4.

    "Phantom translocation" is movement technique, which allows user to teleport anywhere inside of one shadow, user can¡¯t move through any lightened ground while using it. This technique is considered to be very powerful, but it has one big problem, it requires user to be in shadow form for at least one second. In other words, if opponent will be able to lighten whole shadow within that second then user will perish with that shadow. There were a lot of people in history who died while using that technique, so anyone using it had to be absolutely confident in being able to preserve shadow for at least a second. And it considered to be taboo technique when shadow attribute wizard was fighting light attribute wizards.

    ¡°Alfred, I will be learning all those techniques, so please don¡¯t bother me for the time being.¡±, Boe decided to go into inner garden again when he will finish learning all those techniques.

    ¡°Yes, young master¡±, Alfred left training room with joyful smile on his face, he was very happy that his new young master wasn¡¯t arrogant and stupid child who would charge into inner garden after the loss just to prove himself to be strong and brave.

    Two months later Boe finally walked out of his training room with satisfied look on his face. He managed to grasp all five techniques, it took him a lot less time than he anticipated. He would come out even earlier, but ¡°Shield of regret¡± was truly hard to master, Boe spent whole month on this technique alone, when each of all other four techniques took him only around a week to master.

    ¡°As expected of young master, it took you only two months to master five techniques. Back when my master was teaching his students ¡°Blinding darkness¡± technique, best result was whole month to master it. And when master tried to teach ¡°Shield of regret¡± to his best students, even top geniuses couldn¡¯t grasp it after a year of trying.¡±, Alfred was looking very happy, but Boe noticed that in Alfred¡¯s gaze was something strange now.

    ¡°Young master, can you tell me which shadow attribute battle technique do you train in? I thought I know all battle techniques my master has, but it seems like your technique is rather unique and unknown to me.¡±, Boe started panicking in his heart, afraid that Alfred found out he wasn¡¯t Thomas¡¯ student, but he didn¡¯t show any sign of panic on his face and already came up with story.

    ¡°It is expectable for you to not recognize my battle technique since my master acquired it from some ancient tomb just a hundred years ago. It is indeed very unique and I¡¯m the first student of my master who managed to grasp this technique, that is the reason why I¡¯m still struggling to break through to rank 1, while my peers are all broke through long ago. It didn¡¯t have any name when my master got a hold of it, so he called it ¡°Demonification¡± himself.¡±

    ¡°That is rather interesting name¡­ Well, I guess I can¡¯t fathom my master¡¯s thoughts, so I won¡¯t be asking any further about it.¡±, As Alfred said it, his eyes became kind as usual. Boe sighed with relief, it seems like his story worked out and he wouldn¡¯t be killed on spot.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to inner garden, I want to take my revenge on that bear.¡±, Alfred only nodded in response and they both walked in inner garden¡¯s direction.

    ¡°Kyolyokyo Kol¡±, Boe whispered chant for Shadow hand technique, pointed in bear¡¯s direction and jumped to attack him with Claws of Enthriil. But this time he wasn¡¯t as stupid as he was before and attacked bear¡¯s left thigh. Bear tried to block attack, but he was slowed down by Shadow hand technique already, so he wasn¡¯t able to do it. Blood sprayed from bear¡¯s right thigh as he roared in rage.

    *ROAR*

    Bear immediately leapt in Boe¡¯s direction and managed to catch up to him, he then slashed at Boe with his claw and used Frost slash. Bear¡¯s attack landed on Boe¡¯s body, but to his shock, there were no blood, only black fog.

    ¡°Kyolyokyo Kylon¡±, Bear attacked not Boe¡¯s real body, but shadow clone that Boe prepared according to his plan.

    *SLASH*

    Blood sprayed everywhere around bear from his neck. Boe attacked bear from the branch of a tree and cut through bear''s neck with his Claws of Enthriil. Boe wasn¡¯t sure he could cut through bear¡¯s fur with just his strength, so he used power of gravity to strengthen power of his attack.

    *Clap, clap, clap*

    ¡°Nice job, young master.¡±, Alfred seemed very pleased as he was clapping.

    ¡°It¡¯s time for a hunt now, elder Alfred, find me another prey.¡±, Boe¡¯s eyes were glowing red and his smile seemed extremely sinister as he was saying those words and looking at his bloodstained hands.

 Chapter 9 - Breakthrough

    In the next few days Boe was hunting down all beasts of low rank 1 power level and got used to all his new techniques. Boe managed to kill adult Fire Tiger with one sneak attack using his Claws of Enthriil. Then he started hunting down Three Talon Hawkand killed it with one hit from his Dark Elf King¡¯s bow with Shadow Arrow. Bow was definitely his most deadly weapon as of this moment, but to use it in battle Boe had to be some distance away from his target and he needed time to properly aim. Boe didn¡¯t train in using bows yet, so his aim was pretty bad and his first one hit kill was just a pure luck. He decided to properly train in archery when he would go back to his school since this kind of stealth killing was very fitting to his shadow attribute techniques.

    For all his next opponents Boe was using his bow to shoot once and if he missed, he was just using his Claws of Enthriil in close combat. In just ten next days Boe managed to kill twenty-five low rank 1 beasts, he didn¡¯t get seriously injured in any of battles, but light injuries were a very common thing. All his injuries were instantly healed by Alfred, so Boe was always in top condition to fight.

    Alfred started noticing that after each kill Boe¡¯s eyes were getting more and more red and his desire to fight was growing as well. Boe was still very dissatisfied though, even after killing so many beasts stronger than him, he didn¡¯t breakthrough to rank 1 and couldn¡¯t even feel awakening of demon inside of him.

    ¡®What¡¯s the problem with this technique? Am I supposed to kill human beings or do I have to massacre even more beasts?¡¯ Boe was very frustrated already and wanted an advice from his master, but he never answered no matter how Boe called him.

    ¡°Alfred, find me a beast with middle level rank 1 power, but make sure it¡¯s weak side is defense.¡± For some reason Boe stopped adding ¡°elder¡± to Alfred¡¯s name.

    ¡°Young master, even though you can now easily kill low level rank 1 beasts, I wouldn¡¯t recommend you to fight beasts of middle level rank 1 beasts. You definitely can kill most of middle level rank 1 beasts, but if you will meet adult experienced beast, it can kill you with a single hit.¡±

    ¡°Alfred, heed my orders and just be prepared to save me if something will go wrong.¡± Boe became very rude to Alfred past few days, but Alfred didn¡¯t change his attitude toward his young master even after that.

    ¡°My apologies, young master. There are only two beasts of middle level rank 1 power close to us, that match your requirements. One of them is a Fiery Monkey and second one is a Saber-toothed Hog, both of them have weak defense compared to attack. Fiery Monkey has same weight and height as ordinary human, it¡¯s attack pattern is unpredictable and it has one special ability. ¡°Scorching Palm¡± is a powerful attack technique, which concentrates fire attribute battle aura on monkey¡¯s palms for as long as monkey is fighting. Saber-toothed Hog is a lot more predictable in fight, but it has two special abilities. First one is called ¡°Fury Charge¡±, which is basically just a charge in straight line, but with higher speed and might than hog¡¯s normal attacks. Second ability is ¡°Wind Slash¡±, which allows hog to send a slash filled with wind attribute battle aura, from any of it¡¯s four legs.¡±

    ¡°Bring me to Fiery Monkey, unpredictability is a good training for me.¡± Boe¡¯s mouth curved in a very sinister smile as he said that.

    In a few minutes Alfred stopped near one of the trees and pointed at monkey in twenty meters. Boe was hidden in shadow of a tree in his Shadow Step technique. He slowly took out his Dark Elf King¡¯s bow and charged it with Shadow Arrow, ¡°what is this monkey¡¯s weak spot on body?¡± it was his first time fighting Fiery Monkey, so Boe had to get that information from Alfred.

    ¡°Front side of neck and eyes.¡± Alfred was very concerned with his young master¡¯s current behavior. Boe was very timid and respectful when they first met, but right now he seemed like some kind of savage to Alfred.

    ¡°Kyolyokyo jebe¡± Boe whispered his Shadow Arrow technique chant and shot it in monkey¡¯s direction.

    *SWISH*

    Fiery Monkey easily dodged arrow, turned to look at Boe and immediately got enraged.

    *ROAR*

    Monkey activated Scorching Palm, jumped at Boe and crashed his head.

    ¡°Kyolyokyo Kylon¡± Monkey¡¯s palm passed through Boe¡¯s shadow clone, but monkey didn¡¯t seem surprised as it jumped few meter to the left. Boe¡¯s Claws of Enthriil slashed through the space where monkey stood just a moment ago, but Boe didn¡¯t look too shocked as well as it wasn''t the first time a beast managed to avoid his surprise attack after usage of a shadow clone technique.

    ¡°Eles Kyochyu¡± Boe instantly used his Phantom Translocation technique and moved behind his opponent. Monkey was shocked when Boe suddenly disappeared and started looking around it.

    ¡°Kyolyokyo Kol¡± Boe used his Shadow Hand technique right when he appeared behind monkey, it worked very fast since Boe was very close to monkey. Boe targeted monkey¡¯s liver and ruthlessly slashed at it, he managed to pierce through monkey¡¯s fur and even damaged monkey slightly, but he didn¡¯t reach internal organs.

    *ROAR*

    Monkey¡¯s eyes became red with blood from anger as she attacked Boe with left palm, Boe barely dodged it to the side, but his clothes got burned.

    ¡°Kaigyruu Kalkan¡± Boe didn¡¯t have time to run away or dodge monkey¡¯s next attack so he had no other way than to activate his Shield of Regret.

    *BANG* *BOOM*

    Monkey¡¯s right palm landed on Boe¡¯s shoulder and he was sent flying ten meters before he slammed into the tree and fell to the ground. Monkey cried in pain, her hand was broken and a lot of fire was burning on it. Monkey extinguished fire on her right palm and looked in Boe¡¯s direction with fear In her eyes. She wasn¡¯t afraid of Boe¡¯s Shield of Regret, nor was she afraid because of her injury, she was trembling in fear as Boe¡¯s aura completely changed and now she felt as if that little boy transformed into a devil.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    When Boe fell to the ground, he didn¡¯t feel any pain from his shoulder even though it was broken and his right hand wasn¡¯t moving at all. Boe only felt deep hatred, anger and thirst for blood right now. He successfully awakened the demon inside of him and the demon was now demanding blood of that monkey. When Boe stood up, his appearance didn¡¯t change in any way, only his pupils became deep red in color. The main change in Boe was his aura, he gave off a feeling of a dreadful demon. Even an air around him was slightly trembling as if Boe was an entity that could threaten the existence of the whole world.

    ¡®His aura¡­ Why does it resemble demons and devils? What kind of battle technique does he train in to have that kind of aura?¡¯ Alfred was absolutely shocked with Boe¡¯s current appearance and aura.

    ¡°Monkey, I am very grateful to you for my awakening, so I will grant you a quick death.¡± Boe lost both his claws when he was sent flying and his right hand wasn¡¯t working at the moment, but he moved slowly in monkey¡¯s direction nevertheless.

    Fiery Monkey was trembling from head to toe, she wanted to run away from Boe, but she couldn¡¯t move her body. Boe walked right next to her, slowly grabbed monkey by her neck and just squeezed his hand. Monkey¡¯s front side of the neck was her weak point, so Boe easily pierced through her fur and the blood sprayed all over Boe.

    ¡°Alfred, protect me from beasts from now on, I have to start training in here right now.¡± Before monkey¡¯s body even fell to the ground, Boe talked to Alfred without even turning his head toward Alfred.

    ¡°Will do my best, young master.¡± Alfred now understood that all this killing was not for gaining experience, but to awaken this sinister power of his young master. He created some kind of barrier over their current location and sat down to watch over his young master¡¯s training.

    Boe already knew twenty-six moves of rank 1 training of his battle technique and was able to easily use them so he started using them in his demonification form without a delay.

    *POW* *SWISH* *POW* *BANG*¡­

    When Boe used these moves previously they were just simple fighting moves as if he was just training in some kind of martial art, but in his demonification form each move was releasing a little bit of shadow attribute battle aura. Some moves were simple punches, but they were sending waves of battle aura now. Some moves were just his palm making slashes, but now they were able to slash through rocks and trees. Some moves were powerful punches and kicks, but now each of them were creating little explosions of battle aura. Boe now understood that all these moves were powerful battle moves, that he could use during the battle without even need of weapons or attack techniques.

    Alfred was watching all of this happening with wide opened eyes, he never before saw anything like this training of his young master. All battle techniques he knew of were just instructions of how to gather, circulate and release battle aura. Even his battle technique, which was considered to be high level one, was far too inferior. It was possible to get couple of attack, defense or movement technique from top level battle technique, but Alfred never heard of battle technique that can actually let user to gain so many attack techniques. Even though attack techniques his young master was using right now all were considered to be weak, there were twenty-six of them and they didn¡¯t require Boe to chant anything or use a lot of his battle aura to unleash them.

    After two hours of training his battle moves in demonification form, Boe was exhausted and starving, so he stopped his training. Right after he stopped moving his body, he felt his whole body go numb and fell to the ground.

    When Boe opened his eyes again, he was in his living room in mansion. He now felt a lot more powerful than he has ever been, even his eyesight got a lot better. ¡®It seems like I finally broke through to rank 1.¡¯ Boe was very happy with his progress and tried to gather battle aura into his body, he was shocked how fast battle aura was gathering inside of him now. It appears that after Boe became rank 1 wizard, his ability to gather battle aura increased tenfold.

    ¡®Should I stay in mansion for a bit longer and train myself or should I find an exit, which won¡¯t send me to Tsude and leave as fast as I can?¡¯ Boe wanted to train in here as long as he could, but there was always possibility that Alfred will find out Boe was lying to him this whole time, so he needed to leave as soon as possible.

    ¡°Good morning, young master. How do you feel?¡± Alfred was now smiling with even kinder smile than before, his respect for young master now was on level close to his old master.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, elder Alfred, thank you for getting me out of there. How much did I sleep?¡±

    ¡°You slept for only three days.¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha, no wonder I¡¯m so hungry, can we have a breakfast now?¡±

    ¡°Everything is already prepared in dining room, young master. I shall wait for you there.¡± Alfred vanished as usual. Boe stood up, got dressed and decided to try to use his demonification. After only one try he succeeded, his pupils became red and his aura became terrifying and bloodthirsty.

    ¡®So I didn¡¯t need to be angry, sad or mad to use demonification, I just needed a desire to fight, kill and destroy¡­¡¯ Boe now understood why he couldn¡¯t succeed when he was training in mansion, he only wanted to become stronger back then and it was not what he needed to feel in order to become Demon Emperor.

    After he finished eating and talking to Alfred about his battle moves, Boe asked Alfred to get him all attack, defense and movement techniques suitable for shadow attribute wizards of rank 1, 2 and 3. He also asked resources needed for alchemy, few rare books about path of sacrifices, spirits control, magic arrays, companions nurturing and cultivation of physical strength. Boe wasn¡¯t planning to return here before he would reach at least level 4 or 5 so he wouldn¡¯t be afraid of Alfred, but when he would return he would definitely take everything he is interested in from here.

    When Alfred got back he didn¡¯t bring a lot of items with him, he only tossed one ring to Boe. ¡°It is storage magical equipment, even though level of that ring isn¡¯t very high, you have to be careful with it, because it is very expensive and a lot of even rank 2 and 3 wizards won¡¯t be able to get it for themselves.¡±

    Boe tried to put ring on his finger, but it was too big for him, he was 14 years old after all. When Alfred saw what happened, he took out simple thin silver chain and gave it to Boe. Boe hanged ring on chain and then put on chain on his neck.

    ¡°You just need to put a little of your battle aura inside of ring and you will be able to feel what is inside and take out anything you need.¡± Boe tried doing as Alfred said and was shocked to find that inside of ring was a room 10 meterslong, 5meterswide and 5 meters in height. In the corner of a room were bunch of books, a lot of plants, test-tubes and a few glass boxes.

    ¡°This junior thanks elder Alfred for all generosity and kindness,¡± Boe slightly bowed to Alfred, he was really grateful for everything Alfred done for him so far.

    ¡°By the way, elder Alfred, can you please tell me if there is any other exit from mansion, because the cave I came from was packed with Giant Huntsman Spiders and there might be other dangerous beasts.¡± Boe couldn¡¯t kill Tsude yet, so he needed to find another way out of mansion for now.

    ¡°Yes, of course there is, follow me, young master.¡± Alfred started walking deeper into living part of mansion. When they reached Boe¡¯s living room, Alfred stopped and smiled to Boe. ¡°There is an emergency evacuation route and every living room has a secret door that leads to it.¡±

 Chapter 10 - Back to school

    Boe was walking in complete darkness of a secret passage for three hours before he finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. When he walked close to the light, he saw a little metallic door on a ceiling of the passage. He jumped up and punched the door.

    *CREEEEAK*

    Boe jumped up and crawled out of the small door. He was now in a middle of a small room of an old house. House was abandoned, but Boe still heard people speaking.

    ¡°I heard that owner of the house killed his whole family with a butcher knife and then killed himself too right in that closed room.¡± Boe heard child¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Syril, stop scaring us!¡± Little girl was scared and even her voice was trembling when she said it.

    ¡°Clara, I¡¯m only telling you all what I heard from my grandfather. He lived in the house next door when all that happened, so he definitely told me the truth.¡± Syril even tried to make his voice sound creepy when he was saying those things to Clara.

    ¡°My father once told me about this house too, owner of this house was a local butcher and everyone in village loved him. But one day he found out that both his kids were not from him, that¡¯s why he killed his family.¡± Another boy joined Syril in scaring Clara.

    ¡°I hate you, boys. I don¡¯t want to stay here anymore, I¡¯m leaving!¡± Boe now heard light footsteps walking out of the house.

    ¡°Hahaha, she really got scared. All girls are stupid after all.¡± Syril and another boy were evidently happy that their plan worked out.

    *CREEEEEEEEEEEEEAK*

    At that moment Boe decided to open the door of the little room he was in and walk out. But two little boys only saw dark silhouette walking out from the closed little room.

    ¡°AAAAAAAAAHH¡± Both boys started screaming and running away from the abandoned house, but before they reached the door Syril stumbled and fell on the floor.

    ¡°Don¡¯t leave me here to die!!!¡± Syril was screaming as loud as he could, but the other boy didn¡¯t even react as he ran out of the house.

    ¡°Senior ghost of a butcher, please don¡¯t kill me, I didn¡¯t want to intrude into your house, I just wanted to play with my friends. Please spare me, I am the only child of my father and mother, they will not be able to live after my death. Please spare me, senior.¡± Syril started pleading as hard as he could without even lifting his head to look at Boe.

    ¡°Kid, do I look like a ghost to you?¡± Boe was standing before Syril with kind smile on his face, but inside he was barely able to hold himself from laughing. All these emotions surprised Boe, he rarely felt anything after his brother¡¯s death, but these little kids brought joy into his life.

    ¡°Are you sure you aren¡¯t a ghost, big brother?¡± Syril already looked at Boe, he was looking like an ordinary human being, but his presence was as if he was some kind of magical creature. Boe was now almost fifteen years old, but his body was already a lot stronger than ordinary adults. Boe¡¯s hair were still black, but now there were some kind of barely visible black spark running through them. Boe¡¯s eyes were now even darker shade of black than they were. Boe¡¯s face became a little bit better looking somehow, even though nothing changed in it, it was as if he was noble prince with an ordinary face, but a very noble presence.

    ¡°I am definitely not dead yet. Little Syril, can you tell me where am I right now? What¡¯s the name of your village and where should I go if I want to go to the Black Scorpio school?¡±

    ¡°Black Scorpio school? I don¡¯t know any school with such a name. Village I live in is called ¡°Edison village¡± and we are in the Shadow Kingdom territory.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, little Syril.¡± Boe decided to play around with little Syril and used his Shadow Step technique to vanish from his sight in a split second.

    Syril stood there motionless for a few seconds without even blinking, he was now sure that big brother from before was a real ghost and just lied to him.

    Boe was now standing on a roof of the highest building in the Edison village. ¡®I have no idea where am I right now, so I guess I will have to go to a local pub and get information from there, I hope common folk here knows something about Black Scorpio school''s whereabouts.¡¯

    When he entered the biggest pub of the village, a heavy alcohol odor of the wine assaulted his nose, and Boe almost threw up because of that. After all, Boe was now only fourteen years old and has never drank alcohol yet.

    ¡°Oi, pretty boy, that¡¯s not a place for you to play in. Get the fuck out of here or I¡¯ll have to smack your ass and hand you to your parents.¡± Barman looked to be sixty years old and he was certainly a warrior in his youth.

    ¡°I¡¯m here just to get information I need; I don¡¯t need alcohol or any problems here. I can even pay for information if needed.¡± Boe only smiled in response and was talking to the barman as if he was a respectable senior.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ¡°One copper coin for each question of yours.¡± Barman checked out Boe¡¯s appearance and guessed that he was some noble because of his school uniform.

    ¡°Alright, do you know anything about the Black Scorpio school?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do.¡±

    ¡°Where is it?¡±

    ¡°Pay up for your first question, then I will answer your second one.¡± Barman held out his hand to show Boe that he won¡¯t be answering any more questions before he will pay. Boe didn¡¯t like barman¡¯s attitude from the beginning, but now he was really mad.

    ¡°How do you value your life, old man? Is it worth more than two copper coins?¡± Boe activated his demonification and looked at the barman with his red eyes. Barman wanted to say something, but his words got stuck in his throat and his legs started trembling, he felt like he was standing before a real devil. Seeing barman¡¯s reaction, Boe slightly chuckled and deactivated his demonification.

    ¡°Please spare my life, esteemed lord. Black Scorpio school is in thirty kilometers to the east from this village. There are few bandit gangs on the way from here to that place, but they will definitely be nothing in front of your might. I would never dare to be impolite to you if I would know who you are.¡± Barman dropped to his knees and was almost crying while begging to spare his life.

    Boe didn¡¯t say anything to the barman and just walked out of the bar; he didn¡¯t have any desire to stay even a moment longer in that place.

    ¡°Nick, what the fuck was that? Why would you kneel and beg for your life in front of that pretty boy? Is he some kind of big-shot noble? Should we catch up to him and rob him while he¡¯s alone?¡± Big fierce-looking man with a huge scar on his face walked up to the barman with a greedy look on his face.

    ¡°Go ahead and try him out, Johan. I know you were once famous bandit leader, but that kid is a fucking demon. A real fucking demon¡­¡±

    Boe was now walking in a middle of a forest in a direction of his school. ¡®I should have killed that barman there, that would be a good first human murder experience. I am a dark wizard after all, and even a future Demon Emperor¡­ Killing ordinary humans should be a normal thing for me.¡¯ Boe now felt that he got scared of killing that barman, he killed a lot of beasts already, but couldn¡¯t force himself to kill one mere human. That man wasn¡¯t even a decent person to begin with, but even with that in mind, Boe couldn¡¯t do it for some reason.

    *WHISTLE*

    ¡°Hey, pretty boy, why don¡¯t you stop and chat with this big brother here?¡± When Boe turned around, he saw three men sitting on a big stone. First one was the one who whistled and said all these things to Boe, he was almost two meters tall, very thin, had a lot of scars all over his face and held a curved short blade in his hands. Second one was almost same height as the first one, but his body was very muscular, his face looked like he was hit in a head in his childhood. The last one was a very young looking guy with red hair, brown eyes, perfect facial features, muscular body and he held a beautiful black sword in his hands.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want any problems, so please just let me go my way.¡± Boe felt that first two guys wouldn¡¯t be a problem to deal with, but the last one was emitting a strange aura. Boe was sure he wasn¡¯t a wizard, so he couldn¡¯t understand how an ordinary human could emit any kind of aura.

    ¡°Brother, I¡¯m sorry for Krem¡¯s behavior, he wasn¡¯t educated so he doesn¡¯t know how to properly greet people,¡± Young man said as he hit Krem on the head.

    ¡°No worries,¡± Boe answered, turned around and started walking away again.

    ¡°Brother, please don¡¯t leave so fast. We got lost and need help in finding Black Scorpio school, can you please help us out?¡± Young man ran past Boe and blocked his way. Boe was shocked by the young man¡¯s movement speed, he was definitely not inferior to Fiery Monkey, but how was that possible?

    ¡°Are you sure you want to start a fight with me?¡± Boe felt his desire to fight flaring up.

    ¡°Brother, we don¡¯t want to fight with you at all. I can tell that you are a dark wizard, so you are probably from Black Scorpio school, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Big bro, stop that bullshit and just force him to tell us everything he knows.¡± Krem was obviously used to use force to get anything he wants in life.

    ¡°Shut your mouth when I¡¯m talking, Krem.¡± Young man looked at Krem with a very angry expression on his face. Krem retreated few steps back and sat down near big guy.

    ¡°How rude of me to ask a questions without introducing myself. My name is Kamys, I¡¯m an ordinary citizen of our great Kingdom. I was training in Cultivation of a physical strength in my little town when my master noticed that I was emitting fire attribute battle aura. He then got me tested for affinity toward battle aura, and they told me that I have a level 2 affinity toward fire attribute battle aura. They called me one in ten thousand genius wizard and sent me here to study magic.¡± Boe now understood that Kamys was emitting strange aura because he had relatively high affinity toward battle aura, but didn¡¯t gather any of it into his body, so battle aura was always around him, but couldn¡¯t get inside of him.

    ¡°This rude idiot is called Krem, even though he is a little rash and stupid, he is a very honorable warrior. That big guy over there is named Oman, he is always quite, but unstoppable in battle. They both are my sworn brothers from hometown, my master sent them with me so they would accompany me and then get back to town to deliver good news if I would be accepted into Black Scorpio school.¡± Kamys seemed like was used to be the center of attention back in his hometown and everyone loved him for his amiable character.

    ¡°Boe, student wizard from Black Scorpio school. You can follow me if you want.¡± Boe turned around and started walking again. He didn¡¯t really mind those three guys following him, he might even make that Kamys guy his first friend for his master¡¯s mysterious last test.

    When four men reached the territory of the Black Scorpio school, Boe took a last glance at Kamys and went in his room¡¯s direction. Kamys slightly nodded at Boe and went in different direction, he walked straight to the director¡¯s office.

    *KNOCK-KNOCK*

    ¡°Come in.¡± Old voice sounded from inside of the office.

    ¡°Greetings, honorable elder.¡± Kamys deeply bowed right after he entered.

    ¡°Kamys Tad, I suppose?¡± When Kamys raised his head, he saw a middle-aged man with dark black hair and black eyes dressed in completely black official suit sitting in big chair.

    ¡°My father told me you will be expecting me and I will have an opportunity to become a student in your school.¡± Kamys was respectful, but at the same time arrogant, when he spoke to director.

    ¡°You are already an official student in my school, even though I don¡¯t have much time to teach you myself, I appointed you to become a student of the best professor of my school. Go and introduce yourself to your new teacher right now, she¡¯s waiting for you in the next office.¡±

 Chapter 11 - Reason to enter

    *KNOCK-KNOCK*

    Boe has been in his room only for a few minutes when someone came knocking on his door. He slowly got up and walked to open his door.

    ¡°So you¡¯re really alive, where is another kid?¡± As Boe expected the one who came looking for him was his senior Lok Tar, who was with him back in a spider¡¯s cave.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened to him, when a second spider appeared we ran in different directions and I never seen him again after that. I went deeper into cave while John ran in your direction.¡± Boe came up with this story long ago, so Lok¡¯s questions were not a problem for him.

    ¡°Come with me to the professor Sky Venom¡¯s office.¡± Lok didn¡¯t even wait for Boe¡¯s answer as he turned around and started walking.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you survived, Boe. I already punished Lok Tar for his stupid actions in the cave. He shouldn¡¯t¡­¡± Before Sky Venom finished saying what she wanted to say, she noticed that Boe has already became a rank 1 wizard and her eyes went wide from shock.

    ¡°How did you breakthrough to the rank 1 in merely three months? And you weren¡¯t even training in school, did you find some kind of ancient legacy in that cave? Quick, tell me everything that happened to you in these three months without hiding anything.¡± Sky Venom¡¯s eyes changed and Boe felt shock and greed from them.

    ¡°When me and John went deeper into the cave, we found spider¡¯s eggs and started destroying them, but after a few seconds another Giant Huntsman spider appeared. When it attacked us, John ran back to senior Lok¡¯s direction while I dodged the attack and went in deeper into the cave. After running for an hour I didn¡¯t notice a hole on the floor, fell into it and lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was in complete darkness, but I wasn¡¯t injured at all. I tried to move around, but found out that I was inside of a little room. Then I noticed that density of shadow attribute battle aura inside of that room was insanely high, so I started training in a battle teaching and trying to breakthrough to the rank 1. I spent 3 months inside that cave doing nothing but training and eating mushrooms. When I managed to breakthrough I jumped out of the room and escaped from the cave.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just jumped out of that room right after you fell?¡± Lok Tar didn¡¯t believe in Boe¡¯s words at all.

    ¡°I tried to do it, but I was too weak and couldn¡¯t jump so high at the moment. When I brokethrough to the rank 1, my physical strength increased tenfold so it became very easy for me to get out and I did it straight away.¡±

    ¡°I guess this speed of progress is possible with your attribute affinity if that room had a shadow attribute density higher than in our school¡¯s territory.¡± Sky Venom didn¡¯t look very convinced, but Boe didn¡¯t really care about that. If she would decide to go check that cave out and somehow found Thomas¡¯ mansion, she would definitely be killed by Tsude. In this school only director of the school could be Tsude¡¯s match, but even if he went there, found a mansion, killed Tsude and entered it, he would certainly die by Alfred¡¯s hands.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t have any other questions, I would like to go to the cafeteria to eat proper food and then go back to my room to sleep in comfortable bed.¡± Boe was acting as if he was very tired and didn¡¯t eat anything other than mushrooms for three months.

    ¡°You can go for now, but come here tomorrow, I have a few things I want to discuss with you.¡±

    When Boe left Sky Venom¡¯s office he went to the cafeteria. He was walking without looking at anyone on his way, thinking that he shouldn¡¯t activate his demonification or use any techniques he got from the Thomas¡¯ mansion for now. He was planning to check all shadow attribute techniques available in this school and only use those that wouldn¡¯t get anyone¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Brother Boe, what a nice surprise to see you again so soon!¡± Kamys walked up to Boe with cheerful look on his face.

    ¡°So you were accepted, congratulations, Kamys Tad.¡± Boe was very cold and absent-minded.

    ¡°You should just call me Kamys since we are now both students of the same professor.¡± It appears that Kamys decided to befriend Boe despite his cold character.

    ¡°So you¡¯re the rumored genius level new guy?¡± Before Boe could say anything else he heard a very sweet voice behind him. When he turned around he saw Ella walking up to them.

    ¡°I¡¯m Kamys Tad, may I know your name my beautiful princess?¡± To Boe¡¯s and Ella¡¯s shock, Kamys suddenly ran to Ella, knelt on one knee, took her arm and kissed it before anyone could react.

    ¡°Wh-what are you doing, get away from me!!¡± Even though Ella was usually very graceful, her face now was red and she started falling when she tried to step back from Kamys.

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry I scared you, my love.¡± Right when she almost hit the floor, Kamys managed to stand up, get close to Ella and catch her. Ella was now laying in Kamys arms, while he was looking right in her eyes with a gaze full of love and desire.

    ¡°Kamys, stop bullying her, she is your senior sister here, after all¡± Boe was chuckling, he never expected Kamys to be this kind of man.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Kamys helped Ella to stand back up and then walked and stood close to Boe, ¡°I wasn¡¯t bullying her, she is my future wife, so I had to be courteous and gentle when I first met her.¡±

    ¡°Future wife? What makes you think you have what it takes to become my husband? I¡¯m Elleanore Kenthy, second daughter of ancient Kenthy family. If you will touch me one more time, then don¡¯t blame me for what will happen to you after.¡± Ella calmed herself and was now looking as elegant as ever.

    ¡°I already decided that you will be my wife, so no matter what you think or say now, you will be mine for sure.¡± Kamys looked like he was saying a very obvious thing, he wasn¡¯t looking arrogant at all when he was saying that.

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Ella turned around and left without saying a single word in response. While Kamys was very straight forward and a little too pushy, he was after all a very attractive young man, so Ella had a very flushed face at the moment.

    ¡°Alright, brother Boe, lets now drink for our new friendship!¡± Kamys looked to be even happier than he usually been after all that.

    ¡°We are in school, Kamys, there are no alcohol here¡­¡± Boe felt like emotions started to appear in him again.

    Boe then spent entire evening with Kamys, he liked being with Kamys for some reason. After he got back to his room, he directly went to sleep. On the next morning Boe went to the SV¡¯s office right after he woke up.

    *KNOCK-KNOCK*

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    ¡°Big sis SV, why did you need me here today?¡±

    ¡°Since you have already advanced to rank 1 wizard, you are now eligible to participate in our school¡¯s annual ranking competition. Director wants you to participate in it, but I think it¡¯s too early for you to be there. You don¡¯t have enough techniques to use in combat and you have zero battle experience. Even though director personally recommended you to participate, you can decline the invitation.¡±

    ¡°What kind of competition is it? What are rules and what will I get if I will win?¡± Boe was interested in experiencing battles against other wizards, but he didn¡¯t want to get injured or reveal his hidden abilities, so he wouldn¡¯t agree to it if it was too dangerous.

    ¡°Each year all students who reached rank 1 are allowed to register to participate in power ranking competition. In two months, school will stop accepting applications and will create a list of all participants. Everyone who already participated in power ranking competitions before will be listed according to last year¡¯s results and will have their own rank. All new participants will just be listed in alphabetical order after them without a rank. From the moment when school will release a power ranking list, all participants will have an opportunity to raise their ranks for three months.¡±

    ¡°What should participant do in order to raise his rank?¡± Boe felt that system was quite fair so far.

    ¡°All new participants can challenge any unranked participants and if they win they will take the last place in ranking. All participants who already have a rank can challenge anyone who is within 50 ranks above them, if they win they will take a rank of a loser, while loser will drop 1 rank down. And you can¡¯t decline a challenge from anyone whose rank is lower than yours within 50 ranks. Also, anyone can challenge participants who have a lower rank than them. While you can decline this kind of challenge without any problems, if you will be able to win in that challenge then you will get challenger¡¯s rank and challenger will drop to the last place.¡±

    ¡°Those rules are very intriguing, can you let me think about them for a month?¡±

    ¡°Take your time and think it through. If you will need any help in getting more techniques or anything else just come to me.¡± SV evidently placed high hopes on Boe and was treating him a lot better than any other student of hers.

    ¡°Then I have to be rude and ask big sis to help me right now¡­¡± Boe then asked SV to give him a weapon to use and all shadow attribute techniques she could get.

    Even though Boe had to flatter and even beg SV, he got to see quite a lot of techniques. SV didn¡¯t give all of them to him, but let him choose any five techniques he wanted to learn.

    First one he got was ¡°Shadow Clone¡± which wasn¡¯t the technique he already knew, but rank 1 attack technique. This technique had the same chant, but it was using a lot more battle aura and was a little different in core aspects of forming a clone from battle aura. Clone formed with this technique could talk and even make a few moves before dissipating.

    Second and third techniques were ¡°Shadow Hand¡± and ¡°Blinding darkness¡± and they were the same techniques he already knew. These techniques were one of the core techniques of all shadow wizards, they were easy to learn and were raising in power together with their user.

    Fourth technique he chose was called ¡°Amplification¡±, it was one of the most common techniques in the whole world. Even his brother used it back when they encountered wild beasts. The function of this technique was just to add a layer of the battle aura onto weapon or body of the user. It was a very simple but effective technique, the power of this technique was completely dependent on a power of the user.

    The last technique was ¡°Vitality devourer¡±, it was a forbidden attack technique, which allowed the user to drain battle aura from the enemy and restore his own battle aura. Only dark wizards who are not scared of light wizards and other heroes would use this technique on their enemies.

    As for a weapon, Boe tried to get some kind of claws from SV, but there weren¡¯t any weapons in a form of claws available in school¡¯s weaponry. SV allowed Boe to enter first level of weaponry and choose anything he wanted, after Boe looked through all weapons there, he felt very dispirited. After seeing Thomas¡¯ weaponry and being used to fight with his Claws of Enthriil, every weapon in here seemed like a dried branch in comparison.

    In the end, Boe just picked a bow from weaponry and decided to practice his archery with it. SV was very disappointed in his choice, she told him many times that he needed close combat weapon in case he will decide to participate in power ranking competition, but Boe didn¡¯t listen to her at all. He was planning to use only his fists and techniques to win a competition if he would participate.

    When he finished picking everything he wanted, he left SV in her office and went to his room.

    ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you supposed to be dead?¡± Right when Boe almost entered his room, he heard a familiar voice.

    ¡°Harson of the great Vito family, right?¡± Boe still remembered that this blonde young man was trying to bully him for no reason when he just entered the school.

    ¡°You¡¯re already a rank 1 wizard?!¡± Harson was shocked when he noticed it.

    ¡°Yep.¡± Boe didn¡¯t want to talk with Harson so he turned around and was planning to enter his room.

    ¡°So what if you¡¯re rank 1 wizard, trash is still trash! Do you dare to enter power ranking competition and fight me?¡± Boe didn¡¯t understand why would Harson hate him so much, but he wouldn¡¯t let some spoilt child offend him.

    ¡°I guess now I have a reason to enter that competition¡­¡± As he said those words, Boe activated his demonification for a split second and looked Harson in the eyes. When Harson met Boe¡¯s gaze, he felt his legs go numb as he fell to his knees. When Boe closed the door behind him, Harson understood what¡¯s happened and immediately stood up as if nothing happened, but his whole body was still trembling and covered with cold sweat.

 Chapter 12 - Kamys vs Harson

    Boe spent next two months to learn all rank 1 techniques he got from SV, train in archery, read through all books on alchemy and even tried experimenting.

    ¡°Shadow Clone¡±, ¡°Shadow Hand¡± and ¡°Blinding darkness¡± didn¡¯t even take a day for him to master, since he already had a foundation from their lower level copies. It took him only three days to completely grasp ¡°Amplification¡± technique, when he used it first time on his hands, he saw how shadow attribute battle aura condensed on his hands. This scene reminded him how his older brother used the same technique to cover his blade with flames to fight wild beasts, Boe thought his brother was invincible at the moment. How foolish was he back then?

    ¡°Vitality devourer¡± turned out to be the only one hard to learn for Boe. Boe spent two weeks comprehending it, and only then did he start to understand how to use it in theory, the only way to use it on practice was to use it on people who already had a battle aura inside of their bodies.

    All remaining time Boe was practicing archery and learning alchemy. Alchemy was one of the hardest professions in the world of wizards, so even though Boe spent almost one and a half months on learning it and even used a lot of his precious herbs from Thomas¡¯ mansion, he didn¡¯t really progress much. After finishing almost one hundred experiments, he only succeeded once, and the potion he created was one of the easiest to brew even amongst the lowest level of potions. It was ¡°Basic external healing potion¡±, it could only heal minor external injuries. Only now did Boe understand how precious were all those potions that Alfred used on him while he was training in the inner garden.

    ¡®It seems that I don¡¯t have a talent for alchemy, but I will still try to learn it at least to the beginners¡¯ level. I can¡¯t always depend on buying healing potions, there is always a possibility that I will somehow end up in an uninhabited place or will be surrounded by enemies.¡¯ Boe decided not to focus his attention on alchemy too much, but couldn¡¯t drop it forever either.

    When Boe was using his bow in Thomas¡¯ inner garden, he could only hit his target if it wasn¡¯t moving one out of five times, but after practicing in archery at school for some time he was now confident in dealing a killing blow to any motionless target. As for moving targets, he still had no certainty in hitting them even one out of ten times.

    Apart from all that, he started training in second level of his battle technique ¡°Demon Emperor¡±, which consisted of five steps. First step was to somehow link up twenty-six moves into thirteen moves. Second step was to practice these thirteen moves in demonification form until they would each be able to send a little amount of shadow attribute battle aura five meters away out of his body. Third step was to establish some kind of mental connection with his inner demon. Fourth step was to be able to borrow his inner demon¡¯s power without activating demonification. And final step to breakthrough to rank 2 was to use a power of his inner demon with his thirteen moves without activating his demonification form.

    But even though he tried to combine all twenty-six moves with each other while training, he couldn¡¯t combine any of them together. He felt like they were each separated moves and had no links to each other. Boe was very frustrated that he couldn¡¯t accomplish anything in this field so he tried to ask for his master¡¯s help a few times, but The Strongest ignored all Boe¡¯s attempts to contact him.

    *BANG-BANG*

    Someone was banging on Boe¡¯s door even though it was only 6 in the morning, without even asking or looking, Boe already knew it was his only friend in this school, Kamys Tad. For the last two months, every time Boe was going to cafeteria, Kamys was appearing out of nowhere and would walk with Boe and talk non-stop about all the things that happened to him. Few days ago Kamys managed to breakthrough and become rank 1 fire attribute wizard, so he decided to participate in a competition with Boe. Apart from Kamys, Ella was now the third person in their group, she didn¡¯t want to become part of Boe¡¯s and Kamys¡¯ group, but Kamys would always sit next to her and take Boe with him. Kamys was very persistent and would always call her ¡°my love¡± or ¡°my future wife¡±, she was arguing and shouting at Kamys first few times, but eventually had to give up and just ignore Kamys¡¯ pestering. Because of that, Harson Vito hated Kamys even more than he hated Boe, he was trying to make Ella to like him for years, but she always ignored and detested him and now she was sitting with Kamys every day and he even told everyone that wasElla¡¯s future husband already.

    ¡°Brother Boe, you have to wake up already and come out or I¡¯ll have to break this door and bring you out myself.¡± Even though Boe liked to be alone and train, he really enjoyed Kamys¡¯ company for some reason. All other student of the school didn¡¯t understand why would such a bright and cheerful person as Kamys become friend of a gloomy and cold Boe.

    ¡°Don¡¯t break my door, let me dress up and I will come out.¡±

    Today was the day when power ranking list is going to be released and all participants will start challenging each other, so Kamys wanted to be the first to see the list and challenge Harson to humiliate him. When Boe walked out of his room, Kamys was already too excited to stand still so he took Boe¡¯s arm and ran toward the main hall of the school.

    Power ranking list was already on the information board. All 9875 places were already occupied by senior members of the school, while all new participants were in a different list, there were 3218 of them. All you had to do to challenge someone from the list was to press your student token onto the name of a person you wanted to challenge. If you were allowed to challenge that person by the rules, your two names would appear next to each other on main information board together with a time and a place of your battle.

    Kamys was currently looking through the list of new participants, and when he found Harson¡¯s name on it, he immediately pressed on it with his student¡¯s token. Second later ¡°KAMYS TAD VS. HARSON VITO 12:00, Black Turtle scene.¡± appeared on central information board. Their fight was already scheduled and whole school could see it.

    ¡°Are you sure you can win? What do you know about Harson¡¯s abilities?¡± Boe knew that Kamys was a lot stronger than ordinary rank 1 wizard because of his powerful background of physical training. Before Kamys even became a rank 1 wizard, his physical strength and agility were already on the level of a rank 1 wizard, so after he brokethrough, he definitely became one of the strongest rank 1 wizards in school. Kamys also had a lot of combat experience, but all those battles were without any magic in them, so even if his reaction and confidence were understandable he still could greatly underestimate Harson¡¯s power.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°Are you kidding? He is just a mere spoilt brat from rich family who has never dirtied his hands in a real battle, while I was experiencing life-and-death battles numerous time while I was training in my hometown. I also know that he is training in death attribute battle aura, which means his magic is superior to my fire attribute, but his physical strength is one of the weakest of all wizards while I¡¯m superior to any rank 1 wizard in our school in this aspect.¡±

    ¡°Well, if you¡¯ll be able to win I¡¯ll be happy for both your victory and his humiliation. And even if you¡¯ll lose, I will just have to avenge your pitiful ass.¡± Boe smiled and patted Kamys¡¯ shoulder as if he was a big brother protecting his weak little brother.

    ¡°I always knew that under your cold looks you¡¯re hiding a very arrogant personality!¡± Kamys started loudly laughing and it attracted a lot of attention to them.

    ¡°Alright, enough laughing, let¡¯s go to big sis SV¡¯s office and report about your fight to her or she will scold you again for not informing her about your actions.¡± Kamys previously didn¡¯t report to SV that he became rank 1 wizard and she scolded him in front of whole school in the cafeteria, all students were laughing at him for two weeks after that.

    ¡°What? You challenged Harson Vito to fight? Were you hit in your head in childhood or something?!¡± SV was furious when she heard Kamys¡¯ report.

    ¡°Yes, I did. Have you thought I wouldn¡¯t dare to challenge him just because he is from some kind of rich family of this region, big sis SV?¡± Kamys was very proud of his actions, he thought he was very brave and righteous.

    ¡°Idiot ¡­ You are just an idiot. The problem isn¡¯t in his family, but in his strength. You¡¯ve just became a rank 1 wizard and only know one rank 1 technique and a few rank 0 techniques, while he became rank 1 wizard more than half a year ago and already mastered eight death attribute techniques. I know that physically you are a lot stronger than any rank 1 wizard and even most of the rank 2 wizards, but you have no chance against him with just that. And I have told you million times already, never call me big sis SV, call me professor Sky Venom.¡± SV was now really sure that Kamys¡¯ parents dropped him on his head in his childhood.

    ¡°Big sis SV, I¡¯m absolutely certain that I can defeat him with my speed and ¡°Scorching Palm¡± technique in one blow!¡± SV now looked even angrier than she has ever been, how could this foolish student of hers be so confident if he has never fought a wizard before?

    ¡°Big sis SV, don¡¯t worry about it, when he¡¯ll lose, I will just challenge Harson and regain your lost pride immediately.¡± Boe chuckled and said it to calm SV and mock Kamys at the same time.

    ¡°You are a lot smarter and stronger than Kamys, but you shouldn¡¯t underestimate Harson¡¯s power too. Alright, since Boe will regain what Kamys will lose, you both can go and prepare to fight.¡± SV was behaving as a loving big sister in front of Boe, she evidently liked this student of hers a lot more than the other one.

    When Boe and Kamys walked out of SV¡¯s office, they decided to go to cafeteria to have a breakfast.

    ¡°My love, I knew you would be waiting for me here.¡± Right after they entered the cafeteria, Kamys noticed Ella and ran to sit with her.

    ¡°Hello, Boe, how are you? I heard you already have a fight scheduled in power ranking competition?¡± Ella ignored Kamys¡¯ words and actions as she spoke to Boe.

    ¡°Me? Someone already challenged me?¡± Boe didn¡¯t expect anyone to challenge him, since Harson was already challenged by Kamys.

    ¡°Yep, you¡¯ll fight Loseac Vito at 14:00 on Yellow Snake scene. He¡¯s Harson¡¯s cousin of the same age as you, he became death attribute rank 1 wizard eight months ago and already mastered seven rank 1 techniques.¡±

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to defeat Harson¡¯s cousin before avenging you, Kamys.¡± Boe looked as calm as ever, as if he didn¡¯t place rank 1 wizard with seven rank 1 techniques in his eyes at all.

    ¡°Try not to lose to Harson¡¯s henchman while I¡¯m stomping Harson himself.¡± Kamys¡¯ only laughed in response.

    "KAMYS TAD AND HARSON VITO, PROCEED TO BLACK TURTLE SCENE, YOUR FIGHT STARTS IN ONE MINUTE."

    ¡°Good luck, Kamys.¡± Boe said while smiling and patted Kamys¡¯ shoulder few times.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need luck against that trash.¡± Kamys jumped up to the scene and immediately took out his black sword. Kamys looked like he was a real hero from fairy tales with his perfect looks and thesword in hands.

    ¡°I never expected that a filthy dog that runs around my Ella would dare to challenge me.¡± Harson appeared on stage and laughed while saying that. He was looking like he is a noble prince with his long blonde hair, emerald green eyes and expensive clothes.

    ¡°Stop talking and fight.¡± In a middle of a scene appeared a middle-aged man, he was one of low ranked teachers in school and was a referee of this match.

    ¡°Ajal Koochak¡± Harson immediately chanted his ¡°Death¡¯s embrace¡± technique, which was a death attribute defensive technique. Whenever user was attacked, he would only receive 25% of attack¡¯s power, while 75% would just drain user¡¯s battle aura. That meant that as long as user had sufficient amount of battle aura he would be protected from 75% of any attacks¡¯ power.

    ¡°Kuykalochoo Alakan¡° Kamys chanted his ¡°Scorching Palm¡± technique, which was basically upgraded version of ¡°Amplification¡± technique. This technique added a layer of battle aura on Kamys¡¯ palm, and in addition added an effect of burning anything it touched for a few seconds.

    "Olgon Cheryuu" Harson chanted his ¡°Dead Warrior¡± technique, which was a summoning attack technique. This technique was able to summon a dead warrior, who already had a bond with a summoner. Harson¡¯s family helped him to create a bond with a powerful warrior that was killed specifically to serve Vito family. This warrior had a physical strength on a level of regular rank 2 wizard and was a very outstanding summoned unit to have for a rank 1 wizard.

    When Harson was summoning his warrior, Kamys has already started moving and was close to the dead warrior. Harson commanded his warrior to attack Kamys and already started chanting his next technique. Kamys was moving toward the dead warrior with a very high speed, but when he was just one meter away from the dead warrior, he suddenly jumped to the side and started moving in Harson¡¯s direction twice faster than before. In just a split second, Kamys jumped away from the dead warrior, changed his direction and was already one meter away from Harson. Kamys already swung his blade to attack Harson, but Harson only smiled in response.

    ¡°Ajal Kylych¡± Harson finished chanting his ¡°Death¡¯s sword¡± technique, which created a very sinister looking powerful black-red sword, and attacked Kamys¡¯ blade with it.

    ¡°Hmph, weakling.¡± When Kamys¡¯ blade and Harson¡¯s technique met each other, Kamys smiled and suddenly attacked Harson with his left hand, which was covered with ¡°Scorching Palm¡± technique.

    *BOOM*

    Harson was sent flying off the stage by Kamys¡¯ attack, when he landed he looked to be extremely injured and his stomach was burning with bright red flames.

    ¡®Kamys¡¯ attack was so strong that it sent flying and heavily injured Harson even though he already activated defensive technique, which absorbed 75% of attack¡¯s power. I guess I have to reconsider how I treat that kid¡­¡¯ SV was very shocked when she saw what happened.

    ¡°You saw that, brother Boe? Don¡¯t you dare to lose against this trash¡¯s henchman and we shall see who will be ranked higher by the end of the competition!¡±

 Chapter 13 - Boe vs Loseac

    ¡°Seems like he can do something other than talk nonsense all the time.¡± Ella had a charming smile on her face when she looked at Kamys, after he won the battle. But when Kamys turned his head to look at her, she only snorted coldly and her face was already absolutely emotionless as if this victory didn¡¯t impress her at all. Only now did Boe understand why SV told him to be careful with Ella¡­

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to let him know you¡¯re happy that he won, I¡¯ll do it myself,¡± Boe whispered to Ella and immediately moved toward Kamys.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare to say anything, Boe!¡± Ella was confused, scared and embarrassed at the same time. When she saw Boe approaching Kamys, she quickly turned around and left.

    ¡°What was that about, brother Boe?¡±

    ¡°Nothing much, forget about it. Congratulations on your first victory! Should we go celebrate or do you want to chase after Ella and celebrate this victory with her?¡± Boe was smiling like an idiot while saying all this to Kamys.

    ¡°I get a feeling that you¡¯re mocking me.¡±

    ¡°Kid, you are better than I expected. How did you manage to break his ¡°Death¡¯s embrace¡± defense?¡± Right when Kamys wanted to hit Boe for his mocking tone, SV came up to him and started a conversation.

    ¡°It was very easy, big sis SV, I just hit him with my ¡°Scorching Palm¡± once and he went flying, didn¡¯t you see it yourself?¡± Kamys looked at SV as if she asked the most stupid question he ever heard.

    ¡°You are an idiot after all¡­ Go and have a rest, I¡¯m pretty sure someone from Vito family will challenge you today to avenge their young master.¡± SV didn¡¯t want to waste her time on that idiot anymore so she left without waiting for Kamys¡¯ response.

    ¡°Wha-what? Why would she call me an idiot if she were the one who asked such a stupid question?!¡± Kamys got mad over SV¡¯s words and even wanted to chase after her and start a fight with her.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s true that fire attribute wizards are very passionate and are easily angered. You should really get some rest and prepare to fight all the Vito family members who are going to be within 50 ranks below you now.¡±

    ¡°Let them come¡­ I will crush each and every one of them. Ella will see all that and will become my woman after that.¡± Kamys¡¯ eyes were shining like little stars when he was talking about Ella.

    ¡°You¡¯re always forgetting that Ella is our senior, she is a rank 2 wizard and has been in this school for two years already.¡± Boe laughed and reminded Kamys that he is far inferior to Ella right now both in status and strength.

    ¡°Stop telling me that, it won¡¯t stop me from making her my wife. You know what? Go and prepare for your own fight, I don¡¯t have any more time to waste here with you.¡± Kamys turned around and ran away toward the direction in which Ella went before.

    "LOSEAC VITO AND BOE NAS, PROCEED TO YELLOW SNAKE SCENE, YOUR FIGHT STARTS IN ONE MINUTE."

    When Boe heard those words, he stood up and jumped up onto the scene before him, when he landed, he saw that two people were already standing on the scene. One of them was a middle-aged man with thick black brows, long black hair, brown eyes and a long black beard. It was obviously one of the low ranked teachers who was chosen to be a referee of this battle. The second person was a young man, who looked to be the same age as Boe, he had blonde hairs, green eyes and even his facial features resembled Harson¡¯s, but his clothes weren¡¯t as expensive. He obviously held a lot lower status in Vito family compared to Harson, but his talent was evidently a lot better than Harson¡¯s. He was only 14 years old and yet he became a rank 1 wizard eight months ago, while Harson became a rank 1 wizard only six months ago when he was already almost 16.

    ¡°I¡¯m Loseac of the great Vito family. I don¡¯t have any grudges with you, but my father told me to fight you with all my might, so I apologize in advance for all the injuries I might deal to your body or spirit.¡± Boe was surprised to hear all that, he never expected that even though Loseac was sent by the Harson¡¯s family, he would actually be a decent person.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize, let¡¯s just enjoy our battle.¡± Boe was now smiling. He wasn¡¯t sure he could win against Loseac unless he activated his demonification, but Boe didn''t want to show that power to anyone yet. He was afraid that someone would think that his demonification is some ancient attacking technique or a battle teaching. He was sure that even the director of the school would go crazy over the battle teaching that is capable of displaying that kind of power. He was afraid to become sixth disciple of The Strongest to perish.

    ¡°You can start a fight.¡± Referee waved his hand and walked back a little.

    ¡°Ajal Koochak¡±, ¡°Olgon Cheryuu¡± Loseac chanted both ¡°Death¡¯s embrace¡± to shield himself and ¡°Dead Warrior¡± to create a warrior and attack Boe in a split second. He was evidently a lot more talented and smart than Harson, he didn¡¯t relax even after all that.

    ¡°Kyuchyotyu¡±, ¡°Kyolyokyo Jebe¡±, ¡°Kyolyokyo Jebe¡± In response, Boe took out his bow, used his ¡°Amplification¡± technique on his bow, and shot two ¡°Shadow Arrows¡± into the dead warrior and Loseac.

    *BOOM*

    ¡°Ajal Kyimyl¡± When arrow hit the dead warrior, his head exploded and the rest of his body simply dissipated. The second arrow was sent in Loseac¡¯s direction, but he managed to use his ¡°Death¡¯s step¡± movement technique before it reached him. When he activated the technique, his whole body became transparent as if he became a ghost. In this state, he could move three times faster than before. But even so, he barely dodged the arrow as it flew past him whistling over his head. This technique granted more speed than Boe¡¯s ¡°Shadow Step¡±, but it didn¡¯t make him undetectable to enemies. Loseac used this technique only to dodge Boe¡¯s arrow, so his body became normal again after he moved two meters away from Boe¡¯s attack.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Kogochto Karangy¡± Boe immediately used his ¡°Blinding Darkness¡± technique, he wanted to blind Loseac temporarily so he could finish the battle with his bare hands.

    ¡°Sezim Juyuu¡± Loseac used his ¡°Dispell illusion¡± defensive technique as soon as he heard Boe¡¯s chant. Loseac had a lot of wizard¡¯s combat experience. Unlike Harson, he didn¡¯t hold a high status in his family, so he had to fight for any resources he needed.

    ¡°Orokchu Shoola¡± Loseac¡¯s quick reaction surprised Boe, so he lost his chance to attack Loseac again. Seizing this opportunity, Loseac immediately chanted his ¡°Reaper¡¯s beam¡± attack technique and directed it at Boe. In Loseac¡¯s arms appeared a green, sinister looking light which immediately shot in Boe¡¯s direction.

    ¡°Kyolyokyo Kyimyl¡± Boe used his ¡°Shadow Step¡± technique, which turned him into a shadow on the floor. Loseac¡¯s beam of light suddenly changed its direction as it landed on the floor and attacked Boe in his shadow form. Right after Loseac¡¯s attack landed, Boe returned to his human form, and a huge burn mark appeared on his stomach.

    ¡°Ajal Kyimyl¡± Before Boe even had a chance to catch a breath, Loseac used his ¡°Death¡¯s step¡± technique and started moving in Boe¡¯s direction.

    ¡°Orokchu Uruu¡± When Loseac was two meter away from Boe, he chanted his ¡°Reaper¡¯s attack¡± technique. This technique created the dark silhouette with a scythe in its hands. When Loseac moved his hands in Boe¡¯s direction, dark cloaked silhouette behind him swung the scythe and sent a terrifying amount of a death attribute battle aura right in Boe¡¯s head direction.

    *BOOM*

    Everyone around the stage heard a very loud explosion and saw a great amount of dark attribute battle aura on the stage. Kamys clenched both his fists, he was sure that the attack of such power would gravely injure Boe if it landed on him. He was ready to jump up onto the stage to rescue Boe and beat the shit out of Loseac for being too ruthless in just a fight between schoolmates.

    ¡°Kyolyokyo Kylon¡± When dust from the explosion dissipated, everyone saw that in the middle of the huge amount of death attribute battle aura were a few little clouds of shadow attribute battle aura. Boe managed to chant and activate his ¡°Shadow Clone¡± technique a moment before Loseac¡¯s attack landed on him.

    When the scene became clear from the death attribute battle aura, Kamys saw that in a middle of the scene were two young men. Loseac was uninjured, but he wasted too much battle aura on his previous attack, so he was panting and trying to gather as much of it inside of his body as he could, while he had a chance. Boe was laying on the floor with the burn mark on his stomach; the explosion didn¡¯t injure him, but it pushed him a few meters away from Loseac.

    ¡°Stand up and crash him, brother!¡± Kamys couldn¡¯t hold himself back anymore. He was now red from anger and SV had to step in to calm him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let him back up again, show him the might of the Vito family.¡± Harson appeared out of nowhere and said these words as if it was an order.

    Loseac looked at Harson, clenched his fists and moved in Boe¡¯s direction. He had a very low amount of the battle aura in his body left; he wanted to finish the battle with one attack so he needed to be closer to Boe to make sure he won¡¯t miss it and Boe won¡¯t have a chance to dodge it.

    ¡°Kyolyokyo Kol¡± When Loseac was three meters away from Boe, he suddenly saw the huge black hand, which appeared out of Boe¡¯s body and grabbed him tightly. It was Boe¡¯s ¡°Shadow Hand¡± attack technique, which he chanted right after his ¡°Shadow Clone¡± technique, so Loseac didn¡¯t hear or saw him do it because of the explosion.

    ¡°Kyuchyotyu¡± Boe jumped up, chanted his ¡°Amplification¡± technique and used it on his hands. Loseac tried to dodge Boe¡¯s attack, but he was too close to do it, so he could only hope that his ¡°Death¡¯s embrace¡± defensive technique will be able to protect him.

    Everyone expected Boe to hit Loseac in the next moment, but to their surprise Boe suddenly stopped moving and closed his eyes. He then moved his right leg one step back, clenched both his hands into fists, connected them right in front of his chest and attacked Loseac with both of them at the same time as he moved his right leg two steps forward.

    *BOOM*

    Boe¡¯s fists not just hit Loseac¡¯s body, but created a very loud explosion out of nowhere. Loseac was sent flying out of the scene even further than Harson, after he got hit by Kamys¡¯ attack.

    Complete silence¡­ When Loseac hit the wall of the building and fell to the floor, no one in the building even moved to help him at first. Everyone were absolutely shocked as they were staring at Boe. When he attacked Loseac, he definitely didn¡¯t use any attack technique as there were no traces of battle aura in his attack. But how has he managed to create such a loud explosion and send Loseac flying off the stage then?

    The answer to that question was very simple. When Boe got injured and had to defend himself from Loseac¡¯s ¡°Reaper¡¯s attack¡± technique, he suddenly thought that he doesn¡¯t have any attack technique that can be used in close combat. Then he thought about twenty-six moves of his battle teaching and the fact that he needed to combine them into thirteen moves. Just like that, in the middle of an intense battle, Boe had an idea to combine the move which used his right leg to move back and then explosively fast forward, and the move which used both his hands to clasp them at his chest and attack with both fists forward.

    Boe knew that these thirteen moves would display a terrifying might in his demonification form, but he never expected that they would be this strong even in his normal form. If he would know this beforehand, he would never dare to use it before all the people gathered in this building. He now didn¡¯t know how he would explain this phenomenon to big sis SV and all other teachers.

    ¡°So, brother Boe trained in a powerful physical battle teaching as well. Why haven¡¯t you told me about it before? Ah, I understand, you wanted to keep it a secret to surprise attack your opponents when you had no other choice in this competition? That¡¯s a very wise strategy, as expected from my brother!¡± Suddenly Kamys started laughing and saying all these things as he jumped up onto the scene to help Boe get down from it. Boe was shocked when he heard everything Kamys said, but he now felt a lot better. He could now just say to all the teachers that he trained in physical battle teaching of his family and it was a secret legacy of his family.

    ¡°You gave me a pleasant surprise, Boe. You may not know, but Loseac is considered to be one of the five strongest rank 1 wizards of all the new participants in this competition.¡± SV met Boe and Kamys when they got down from the scene and gave two potions to Boe. One of them was a ¡°Skin regeneration¡± potion and second was a ¡°Antitoxin¡± potion, so Boe could easily treat the burn on his stomach now.

    ¡°Thank you, big sis SV.¡± Boe¡¯s face was pale, but he had a very big smile on it. He wasn¡¯t happy because of a victory or potions he received, he was happy that he made a breakthrough in the first step of his rank 2 battle teaching.

 Chapter 14 - Five Families

    It was only the first day of the power ranking competition, but both Kamys and Boe became somewhat famous. Kamys managed to defeat young master of Vito family in a single strike even though he became a student of the school only couple of months ago. And Boe defeated one of the top five geniuses of all the new rank 1 wizards.

    Black Scorpio school had 3218 new rank 1 wizards entering power ranking competition this year. All these students were local geniuses with decent battle aura affinities, but everyone knew that there were five outstanding young geniuses from the five strongest families of the Kayteese City.

    Kayteese City is one of the middle-ranked cities in the Shadow Kingdom. Officially the city is under the rule of the Mayor, but in reality it¡¯s being ruled by the five ancient wizard families. Each year there are five geniuses from five families entering the Black Scorpio school, people call them ¡°The Five¡±. Almost every year top five spots of new rank 1 wizards are held by those geniuses. From time to time, few geniuses appear from other families who can contend with The Five, but they have never been placed lower than tenth place in last fifty years.

    First family is the Vito family, which specializes in the death attribute. They¡¯re responsible for the internal order of the Kayteese City and considered to be the protectors of citizens. Harson is a third son of the current patriarch of the family. Loseac is considered to be the strongest wizard of a current young generation of the Vito family, but he¡¯s the weakest of The Five.

    Second is the Kenthy family, which specializes in the water attribute. They¡¯re responsible for the healthcare of the Kayteese City. Patriarch of the family is a famous healer even outside of the city. Ella is the only daughter and second child of the current patriarch of the family, she is the third strongest of five geniuses of previous young generation from five families. Charles Kenthy is the strongest wizard of a current generation of the Kenthy family and people believe that he¡¯s a little stronger than Loseac.

    Third is the Ligu family, which specializes in the shadow attribute. Common people think that they¡¯re just a merchant family, but in reality they¡¯re responsible for espionage and assassinations. The strongest rank 1 wizard of the current generation is Shi Ligu, he¡¯s ranked third of The Five.

    Fourth is the Popov family, which specializes in nurturing spirit and beast companions. People of this family do not specialize in any particular attribute, they¡¯re born with random attributes. Founder of the Popov family was the legendary Alex Popov ¡°The Ferocious Beastmaster¡±, he was one of the strongest wizards of the Shadow Kingdom five hundred years ago. Members of this family each have a beast by their side from the moment they¡¯re born, they spend each and every moment of their lives with a beast by their side. Their strength isn¡¯t determined by their own might, but by the level of their connection to their beast. The most talented people can even turn their beast into the spirit animal and train in legendary ¡°One with the beast¡± battle teaching. They¡¯re responsible for food provision and taming of the wild beasts. The most talented youth of this family is Ivan Popov, it is known that he managed to turn his Ironback Bear into the spirit animal when he was 14 years old. He¡¯s considered to be the best beast nurturer in the past three hundred years. But for some reason he called himself ¡°#2 of the current generation of The Five¡±.

    Fifth family is the Carter family, which specializes in the destruction attribute and sword techniques. They were always the strongest of all the families and responsible for protection of the city from outer dangers. Patriarch of the family is the Commander of the Kayteese City¡¯s army. He was once the General of the Shadow Kingdom, but for some reason he left the army and came back to his hometown. No one knows how old was the patriarch, but everyone knows that he¡¯s definitely the strongest person in the city, even director of the Black Scorpio school is inferior to him. Most of the members are part of the army, but all the best geniuses of previous generations are just disappearing after graduating the school and no one knows where they are now. Richard Carter is the strongest member of the current generation of The Five, but common people don¡¯t know how strong he is and why four other geniuses agreed to call him the strongest. He may be from the strongest family, but how could he be stronger than Ivan Popov?

    After the first day ended, the news about Kamys and Boe spread faster than forest fire. Boe and Kamys were now sitting in the cafeteria, they were waiting for Ella to come so Kamys could brag about his one hit win to her.

    ¡°You know what? I now think you have a chance with her.¡± Boe was smiling from ear to ear when he remembered Ella¡¯s reaction after Kamys¡¯ fight.

    ¡°What do you mean? Did she say something to you? She said she loves me, didn¡¯t she?!¡± Kamys didn¡¯t even give a chance to Boe to answer before he got excited and started jumping around the table like a little child.

    At this moment Ella appeared in the doors of the cafeteria, she was walking with her friends when she noticed Kamys. She immediately turned around and started walking away from cafeteria.

    ¡°Ella, my love, where are you going? Are you embarrassed after you confessed your love to me? Boe already told me everything. Don¡¯t be shy, let me hug you!¡± Kamys already ran toward Ella.

    ¡°When did I say anything like that?¡± Boe said it, but Kamys completely ignored him.

    Ella glanced at Boe with an obvious killing intent, then moved even faster and vanished from Kamys¡¯ sight. But Kamys didn¡¯t give up and kept chasing after her.

    ¡°And this was the idiot who humiliated Harson? I guess Vito family has really deteriorated after all.¡± When Boe heard these words, he turned around to look at person who said it. It was a short and thin young man in a very tight black clothes, he had short black hair and his face was extremely ordinary.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± When young man noticed Boe looking at him, he turned around and asked Boe in a very aggressive manner.

    ¡°Nothing, I¡¯m just wondering why would a weakling like you dare to call my friend an idiot?¡± Even though Boe didn¡¯t want to create troubles for himself, he still couldn¡¯t stand people offending his only friend for no reason.

    ¡°Who the fuck are you to call me a weakling? I¡¯m Han Ligu of the Ligu family, do you dare to repeat what you just said?¡± Young man looked like he was an emperor and Boe was just a trash in his eyes.

    ¡°Alright, W-E-A-K-L-I-N-G, why don¡¯t you call my friend an idiot in his face, if you dare?¡± Boe wore a very sinister smile while he slowly pronounced every letter of the word ¡°weakling¡±.

    ¡°Hahahaha, I guess you are really tired of living. You don¡¯t even know what Ligu family means and you can¡¯t even recognize your senior when he stands before you.¡± Boe now understood that Han was from some kind of big family and he was studying in the Black Scorpio school for more than a year already.

    ¡°Senior? You are rank 1 wizard just like me, why would I consider you to be my senior? You are studying in this school more than a year already and couldn¡¯t even break through to rank 2, aren¡¯t you a weakling then?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste your time talking with an idiot, you can¡¯t beat him up on a school¡¯s territory and he knows it. Just challenge him in power ranking competition and you can do whatever you want with him there,¡± one of the Han¡¯s henchmen proposed it to Han.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right, you think you can offend anyone you want just because teachers will always protect you? Do you dare to accept my challenge in power ranking competition then?¡± Han looked at Boe with a very vicious look in his face, he was obviously trying to scare Boe by challenging him.

    ¡°Sure, why would I be scared to accept a challenge from a weakling?¡± Boe wasn¡¯t sure he would be able to win against Han without using his demonification form, but he couldn¡¯t back down now, when all the people in cafeteria were watching this show.

    When Boe left the cafeteria and just came to his own room, he was summoned by SV for some reason.

    ¡°You are an idiot. Why would you accept the challenge from him? Don¡¯t you know who he is?¡± SV seemed to be very upset with Boe.

    ¡°Is he really that powerful? He is rank 1 wizard just like me and I even defeated one of The Five after all¡­¡±

    ¡°He isn¡¯t very talented, but it¡¯s already his third year in school. He became a rank 1 wizard more than two years ago and already mastered more than twenty shadow attribute techniques. And the most important part is that he¡¯s from Ligu family.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s so special about Ligu family? Didn¡¯t I defeat number one genius of current generation for the Vito family?¡± Boe was genuinely confused. After he encountered Harson, he came to know about the five ancient wizard families, but they didn¡¯t seem so special to him.

    ¡°Ligu family is different. They¡¯re all trained to be professional assassins from their childhood. All their children are born with shadow attribute affinity, and they¡¯re training in their own shadow attribute battle teaching. They have special shadow techniques, which even our school doesn¡¯t have. All these techniques are created to kill their targets. I was hoping that you would be able to befriend that family or even marry someone from there, so you could get all those mysterious techniques or even practice in their unique battle teaching.¡±

    ¡°Big sis SV, I don¡¯t need their battle teaching or any shadow techniques. I would never humiliate myself just to get resources.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to become part of their family it is fine, but why would you decide to pick a fight with Han of all people? He¡¯s the youngest son of the current patriarch of the Ligu family, his father loves him more than all other children. He isn¡¯t the most talented or smart of patriarch¡¯s children, but his looks and character are identical to his father. You should forfeit the match and apologize to the kid. You will already never be able to live here in peace after you offended Vito family, but if you will offend Ligu family you might die in an accident.¡±

    ¡°What? Forfeit the match and apologize to that idiot? I wouldn¡¯t call myself the proudest child of the heavens, but I still have my pride to protect, big sis SV. Is there really no other way to solve this problem?¡±

    ¡°Even if the director of the school will personally try to protect you within the school, Ligu family will be able to kill you if they¡¯ll decide to do it seriously.¡± Big sis SV was very serious as she looked in Boe¡¯s eyes and tried to persuade him. Ligu family were after all professional spies and assassins, so if they wanted to infiltrate and kill someone, they had abilities to do so. But in this case, they didn¡¯t even need to infiltrate, there were a lot of students inside of school ready to act at any moment already.

    ¡°Thanks for an advice, big sis SV.¡± Boe was very dispirited, he didn¡¯t expect that he had to bow his head to someone in his life after he became a disciple of The Strongest.

    Boe was walking from SV¡¯s office to his room, he was now thinking which path should he choose. Did he really have to humiliate himself in order to survive or was there another way to solve this incident?

    ¡®Maybe I can ask my teacher to help me out with this, I bet he doesn¡¯t want to see his disciple humiliating himself in front of these people.¡¯

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about involving me in your little problems, kid.¡± Boe suddenly heard a familiar voice in his head.

    ¡®You can even read my mind, master?¡¯ Boe was shocked when he realized that The Strongest reacted to his previous thoughts.

    ¡°I can¡¯t read your mind, you are just too predictable, idiot.¡± Voice of The Strongest rang in Boe¡¯s mind again.

    ¡°Will you really let me humiliate myself in this lowly world? If I humiliate myself, I¡¯ll humiliate my master too, you know that right?¡±

    ¡°If you can¡¯t even handle this kind of problems by yourself what will you do when you will get into higher worlds?¡±

    ¡°Fair enough. Can you at least give me an advice on this situation?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    Boe was sitting in his room, thinking what he should do when he received a magic notification.

    ¡°Your fight with Han Ligu will be in three days at the Golden Dragon scene.¡±

    ¡®They even chose the biggest scene for our fight, I guess Ligu family made this to humiliate me in front of as many people as they could to set an example for all students. I guess I¡¯ll just go with the flow and decide what to do right before the fight, I need to train now while I still remember the feeling of combining my 26 moves.¡¯

    On the next day, Kamys came to Boe¡¯s room, took his hand and ran toward battle scenes.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Boe was shocked when he saw how excited and scared Kamys was.

    ¡°Ella¡­ Ella is going to fight in a few minutes!¡± Kamys barely managed to speak.

    ¡°Ella? She¡¯s already a rank 2 wizard, her fight will definitely be spectacular.¡± Boe was now very excited too, he never saw rank 2 wizards fight before.

    "ELLEANORE KENTHY AND DAGU BRONALES, PROCEED TO GOLDEN DRAGON SCENE, YOUR FIGHT STARTS IN ONE MINUTE."

 Chapter 15 - Ella vs Dagu

    The Golden Dragon scene is the best battle scene in the Black Scorpio school. It is the only battle scene in the entire school that has its own building and can accommodate up to ten thousand people on spectators¡¯ sits. When Boe and Kamys entered the building, they heard announcer¡¯s words and only then noticed that all seats were already taken.

    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to stand and watch her fight.¡± Boe was very interested in this fight, but he kept his calm.

    ¡°Why are there so many outsiders here? Isn¡¯t that just a fight of two students?¡± Kamys was evidently very angry. He wanted to be in a first row to witness Ella¡¯s fight. He was ready to jump onto the stage if something would happen to her.

    ¡°Kid, are you retarded? Every family, city and sect around our school sent their people to watch Elleanore Kenthy fight,¡± middle-aged man in yellow robe heard their conversation and could not stand their ignorance, so he immediately angrily said these words.

    ¡°They all came to watch Ella¡¯s fight? Is she that famous outside of our school?¡± Just when Kamys wanted to start a fight with a middle-aged man, Boe stopped him and asked politely.

    ¡°You don¡¯t even know this kind of stuff and yet call her Ella? She currently holds 34<sup>th</sup> place in the power ranking list and her last fight was more than a year ago. Above her in the power ranking list are only 31 rank 3 wizards of our school and two rank 2 genius wizards of Vito and Ligu families.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what? Ella is that powerful? Why have I never heard of it from her then?¡± Kamys was shocked at first, but then he clenched his fists and looked at the scene with a very serious expression on his face.

    ¡°It seems like you finally understand that you are no match for her, she is far more talented, famous and powerful than you are.¡± Boe was now smiling from ear to ear, he was always happy to tease his friend.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s exactly the opposite, only a woman like that could be worthy to become my wife.¡± Boe was stunned when he heard Kamys¡¯ words, but before he could say anything else, he noticed that Kamys was already staring at something on the scene with a crazy glow in his eyes.

    Ella was already standing in a middle of the scene, she looked to be very calm and indifferent as if she was just waiting for her tea to boil up. When people noticed that she appeared there, all of them started quietly discussing her. Some people were chatting about her outstanding beauty, some were surprised that she appeared out of nowhere, but most of the them were discussing her last fight. Boe was listening to all these people and found out that Ella fought against a genius from the Popov family more than a year ago. The fight lasted for more than ten minutes, but she only moved once during that fight and It was enough to defeat her opponent.

    ¡°Elleanore, you are as arrogant as usual.¡± A very tall and muscular youth in a violet robe appeared on the scene. The tall youth had a very bright violet eyes, violet hair and distinctively feminine facial features. A little violet lightings were crackling around him, which shocked Boe to the extreme.

    ¡®Thunder attribute battle aura? What are those little lightings and why is there a heavy thunder attribute battle aura emitting from them?¡¯ Boe has never heard of anything like that before so he as very interested in the tall youth now.

    ¡°Dagu, your thunder body seemed to become a lot stronger compared to our previous meeting.¡± Ella coldly looked at Dagu; her pose and gaze didn¡¯t change at all.

    ¡°Since you humiliated me two years ago, I was training like a madman without a break. I entered thunder cave and spent two months practicing my skills inside, so my thunder body is no longer at first level. I am now absolutely certain that I will crush you under my feet within five moves.¡± As Dagu said these words, he clenched his fists and a few more lightings appeared around his body.

    ¡°Dagu has upgraded his thunder body to the second level? Isn¡¯t he only nineteen years old now? How can a mere nineteen-year-old brat be able to control this kind of power?¡± Boe didn¡¯t understand what second level thunder body meant, but he was sure it was something amazing when he heard SV¡¯s shocked voice.

    Thunder body was a special type of bloodline, which allowed wizards to have a much stronger ability to gather battle aura and use it to its maximum potential. Basically, thunder body allowed Dagu to have easier time practicing thunder attribute battle teachings and use techniques to their utmost potential.

    ¡°Crush me under your feet within five moves? You know what, I will let you hit me with five moves while I won¡¯t chant any techniques or even move from this spot.¡± Ella faintly smiled and crossed her hands in a middle of her chest.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare to underestimate me this time!¡± Dagu was boiling from anger. Two years ago, Ella let him hit her with three moves before she made a move herself. Dagu used his three strongest techniques, but was unable to even scratch Ella. After that, she defeated him with a single attack without even moving from her position.

    ¡°Big sis SV, is she really going to be ok with just defending? He has thunder body after all¡­¡± Kamys was evidently very worried for Ella, so he couldn¡¯t help but ask SV this question.

    ¡°Second level thunder body is definitely strong, but it is still nothing in front of Ella¡¯s might.¡±

    ¡°As far as I know, water attribute battle aura is strongest as a healing magic or a supporting magic. So how can Ella withstand an attack from thunder attribute, which is especially strong against water attribute?¡± Boe was very confused, everyone knew that all attributes have their strong and weak sides. For example, light attribute is very strong against dark and shadow, but weak against earth and death attributes. Water attribute is very weak against thunder, but strong against fire. Also, water attribute is mainly used in a healing or supportive magic, but thunder attribute is strong in attacking and purifying magic.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    ¡°What you said is true, but when the difference in strength between wizards is too big, all those rules are meaningless. Rank 1 light attribute wizard won¡¯t be able to do anything in front of rank 2 dark attribute wizard.¡± SV was explaining everything very calmly, she was obviously very certain in Ella¡¯s victory.

    ¡°But both of them are rank 2 wizards, how can there be such a big difference in their strength?¡± Boe now thought that SV¡¯s words are contradicting themselves.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can explain that to you that easily, just watch their fight and you will understand everything yourself.¡±

    ¡°You can start a fight.¡±

    ¡°Kyurkyuryuoo Uruu¡± Dagu was enraged when he saw that Ella didn¡¯t move or chant anything, so he started the fight with one of his strongest moves. ¡°Thunder strike¡± was rank 2 attacking technique, which gathered thunder attribute battle aura in user¡¯s hands into a shape of a spear. Dagu looked like an ancient thunder god with violet lighting dancing around his body and violet thunder spear in his hands. His feminine face was red from anger as he threw the spear in Ella¡¯s direction.

    Boe was expecting an explosion from this attack, but when the spear was two meters away from Ella, she just glanced at the spear and it vanished into thin air. He was absolutely stunned when he saw what happened. Ella didn¡¯t chant any technique and didn¡¯t use any item to block Dagu¡¯s attack, so he couldn¡¯t comprehend what just happened.

    ¡°This is the main reason why Ella is the third strongest rank 2 wizard within our school. ¡°Mother¡¯s tear¡± is a protective magic, which surrounds Ella¡¯s body at all times. Even if she won¡¯t try to defend herself, this magic barrier will always protect her from harm.¡± SV noticed Boe¡¯s shocked expression and explained everything to him, but even after that, Boe hadn¡¯t really understand this kind of magic.

    ¡°Kyurkyuryuoo Ajydaar¡± It seemed like Dagu expected that to happen, so he immediately chanted his second attacking technique. ¡°Thunder Dragon¡± was one of the strongest thunder attacking techniques known to the Black Scorpio school. A violet dragon twice as big as an ordinary person appeared in front of Dagu and roared like it was a real living dragon. Then Dagu pointed a finger in Ela¡¯s direction and dragon immediately flew toward her, but before dragon could reach Ella¡¯s body, it just vanished just like a spear from before.

    ¡°So you really can still easily block my ordinary attacks? Then I have to be impolite and call my spirit animal to fight with me.¡± Suddenly all observers heard a loud cry of a bird from Dagu¡¯s body. A magnificent violet hawk appeared out of Dagu¡¯s body and flew into the sky. The hawk circled few times around the whole building before returning and stopping in mid-air near Dagu.

    ¡°That¡¯s a Thunderborn Hawk, I managed to catch and subdue him near the thunder cave few months ago. Since then, I trained with him and now I can combine my techniques with his power. Are you sure you want to just receive my next attack without defending?¡± Spirit animals were once just beasts, but wizards could use special techniques to subdue them and make them their spirit animals. The strength of a spirit animals depended on beasts¡¯ strength, bond between beast and wizard, and a level of subduing technique wizard used on a beast. After beast became the spirit animal of the wizard, it could live inside of wizard¡¯s body and be used as a weapon at any time. Wizards could use their spirit animals as partners and fight two versus one or could use animal¡¯s power to strengthen their techniques.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have all day to chat here with you, use your three remaining moves as fast as you can so I could leave this place.¡± Ella didn¡¯t seem concerned with Dagu¡¯s spirit animal nor his combined attacks at all.

    ¡°You¡¯ll regret this!¡± ¡°Kyurkyuryuoo Uruu¡± Dagu chanted ¡°Thunder strike¡± again, but this time he fused his spirit animal into his thunder spear. After the fusion, the spear became twice bigger than before. Dagu roared and sent the spear flying toward Ella. Ella saw the spear flying at her, she furrowed her brows for a moment, but still didn¡¯t move to block this attack. When the spear was two meters away from Ella, the transparent magic barrier appeared once again, but this time it was a little more noticeable. The spear vanished when it touched the barrier, but it took a couple moments this time so Boe managed to notice that barrier shook a little.

    ¡°Kyurkyuryuoo Ajydaar¡± Dagu slightly smiled when he saw that his attack was somewhat able to shake Ella¡¯s defense and immediately chanted the ¡°Thunder Dragon¡± attacking technique. When the dragon appeared this time, it didn¡¯t fly out to the skies, but directly shot toward the hawk. Dragon swallowed the hawk and roared twice as loud as before, but its appearance didn¡¯t change at all.

    ¡°Try to block this!¡± Dagu shouted and pointed in Ella¡¯s direction, dragon roared even louder than before and flew toward Ella twice as fast as previous one. When Ella felt the power of the incoming attack, her expression changed. She wasn¡¯t worried about this dragon but the next Dagu¡¯s attack. Her barrier would definitely be able to withstand this kind of power, but she wasn¡¯t sure that Dagu wouldn¡¯t have even stronger attacking technique in his sleeves.

    When the dragon almost reached Ella, the thick transparent barrier appeared and started swallowing the dragon. It took full three seconds to swallow the dragon this time and spectators even heard a very quiet cracking sound from the barrier.

    ¡°That barrier of yours is truly remarkable. I didn¡¯t expect that I will have to use this technique to fight against you, I was planning to keep it for Jifar Ligu. Even though I practiced this technique a few times, I still can¡¯t fully control its power so be careful and don¡¯t die.¡±

    ¡°Dyuinyuo Ayak¡± Dagu slowly chanted these words and all his thunder attribute battle aura started gathering between his hands. ¡°Apocalypse¡± was the strongest rank 2 thunder attribute attacking technique of Bronales family. The real ¡°Apocalypse¡± was rumored to be a rank 9 technique, but Dagu¡¯s ancestor simplified it to all lower ranks for his descendants to use. This was the ultimate move that drained all battle aura from user¡¯s body and needed a lot of time to be prepared, so it wasn¡¯t suitable to be used in a real battle.

    Ella saw what was happening in front of her and her face became very serious, she was now certain that her barrier wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand this attack. She promised Dagu five moves before she would make a move herself, so she couldn¡¯t attack him now or else she would feel humiliated. Ella started silently sending all her battle aura into the barrier, she now could only hope that her battle aura was enough to strengthen the barrier to defend against Dagu¡¯s attack.

    ¡°HAAAAAH¡± Dagu screamed and threw the violet thunderball toward Ella, he then collapsed to the ground without any strength to move.

    *BOOM*

    ¡­

    *CRACK* *CRACK*

    ¡­

    Thunderball crashed onto the barrier and a loud explosion shocked everyone around. Then they saw Ella¡¯s barrier cracking all over the place and Ella¡¯s face became ashen in color.

    When all the sounds died out and violet lightings vanished, spectators saw Dagu laying on the ground without a single drop of battle aura inside of him and Ella were still standing in the same place.

    ¡°She defeated him without even making a single move¡­¡± Kamys¡¯ eyes were sparkling as he jumped up to the stage and hugged Ella in front of more than ten thousand people.

    Kamys expected that Ella will scream at him and push him away, but she silently fell into his embrace and lost consciousness.

 Chapter 16 - Unexpected guest

    Ella¡¯s condition scared Kamys out of his mind, but at the same time he was very happy to feel her body in his embrace. Boe came up to him and slapped his back to wake him up from his dreams. Kamys quickly regained his calm and jumped up from the stage with Ella in his hands, he took her straight out of the building and went to the infirmary of the school.

    Boe was left alone on the stage, but he was already very used to Kamys¡¯ behavior so he didn¡¯t mind it at all. He slowly came down from the stage and started walking in his room¡¯s direction. While walking, he was thinking about Ella¡¯s unbreakable barrier and Dagu¡¯s terrifying attack technique. Before he saw this fight, he was sure he could contend against rank 2 wizards in his demonification form, but now he knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to survive even the weakest attack Dagu used against Ella. In addition to that, he was sure he couldn¡¯t break through Ella¡¯s barrier with any of his attacks.

    Few minutes later, Boe was already near his room. Boe was still dazed by rank 2 wizards¡¯ power when he opened his room and walked in.

    ¡°Hello, little brother.¡± When Boe heard the voice, a shiver ran down his spine and cold sweat formed all over his body immediately. Before he could even saw the person talking to him, just the voice made his body tremble and his mind shake from fear. It was a pleasant female voice, yet it contained a frightening killing intent and an overwhelmingly domineering aura.

    When Boe looked in a direction of the voice, he saw a bizarre figure there. It was two meters tall slender female with a very alluring body, dressed in a very tight bright green dress. Her hairs were green and even her skin seemed to be green-ish in color. But the most distinguishing feature of the visitor was the fact that she had strange green scales all over her body and there were three little horns growing on top of her head.

    ¡°Wh-who are you?¡± Boe tried to sound as calm as he could, but his voice was still trembling from fear.

    ¡°In your language my name is Krstvinga ¡°The Toxin Queen¡± Aanhzbrind, but you can call me ¡°Eldest sister¡±. I am the third disciple of The Strongest, but the first female one.¡± Krstvinga smiled and her gaze ran through Boe¡¯s whole body and stopped on his forehead.

    ¡°Greetings, eldest sister. My name is Boe Nas, master has just taken me in as disciple so I¡¯m not familiar with my seniors.¡± Boe slightly bowed, he was still trying to calm himself down. He now knew that his guest wouldn¡¯t kill him, but her aura was too fierce and he couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that she could see through him.

    ¡°Our master received an important invitation yesterday, so he left this tiny world and won¡¯t be coming back here soon. He instructed me to watch over you for the time being, because he was worried about your survival.¡± Krstvinga chuckled after she said these words. Boe felt this chuckle to be somewhat mocking and sinister for some reason.

    ¡°Sorry for disturbing you, eldest sister. I will be in your care from now on then.¡± Boe bowed once more and noticed that Krstvinga¡¯s gaze hadn¡¯t left his forehead for a long time already.

    ¡°What art you are cultivating and why did our master put a powerful soul inside of you?¡± Krstvinga was still focusing on Boe¡¯s forehead as she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

    ¡°Powerful soul inside of me? Wh-what are you taking about, eldest sister?¡± Boe was shocked when he heard Krstvinga¡¯s words, he never heard of anything like that from his master.

    ¡°I guess master didn¡¯t tell you about it and I shouldn¡¯t have told you anything either¡­¡± Krstvinga had a guilty expression on her face, but there was a teasing look in her eyes.

    Boe gulped down his saliva with a very loud voice, he couldn¡¯t tell if Krstvinga was lying to him or he really had something inside of him. But then he thought of a ¡°demon¡± inside of him and froze.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be scared, it¡¯s definitely safe for you. Master wouldn¡¯t harm you on purpose¡­ At least not until you will become strong enough for him to play with¡­¡± When Krstvinga finished speaking, she smiled and seemed to be thinking of something.

    Krstvinga was silent for a few minutes, so Boe didn¡¯t know what to say and he was just standing awkwardly, looking at her from time to time.

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t mind what I said earlier and just focus on getting stronger. If you¡¯ll have any problems, just call me and I¡¯ll come help you out. By the way, you still didn¡¯t tell me what arts are you cultivating.¡±

    ¡°Master gave me the ¡°The Demon Emperor¡± battle teaching if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking about.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re actually the future Demon Emperor, it explains the soul inside of you¡­ That¡¯s rather interesting. Your path will definitely be entertaining; I guess I will be watching over you even after master will come back.¡± Krstvinga laughed and took a glance at Boe¡¯s forehead once again.

    ¡°Eldest sister, what kind of person is our master?¡± Boe didn¡¯t spend much time with his master, so he didn¡¯t really understand his character.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ That¡¯s a very hard question to answer. He destroyed a lot of worlds, killed countless people and even annihilated few races, so some people consider him to be the cruelest devil of all worlds. At the same time, he saved a lot of worlds and people from destruction, created few worlds from nothing by himself and helped abandoned people to populate it, so these people see our master as a most benevolent god.¡±

    ¡°And how did he treat his disciples?¡± Boe didn¡¯t really care about those worlds, they were too far away from him now. He only wanted to know what to expect from his master.

    ¡°This question is even harder to answer. Each disciple of our master gets a unique art to cultivate and different attitude from our master. In my case, master sees me as his personal maid, I¡¯m always by his side and help him with all the little things he doesn¡¯t have time to consider. His favorite and most talented disciple is Xander ¡°The World Devourer¡± Shintu. Master is treating him as if Xander is his son. The worst relationship master has is with his first disciple, Arlin ¡°The Hero¡± Geulimja. Even I don¡¯t know what happened between them, but master almost killed him a few thousand years ago. When I just became master¡¯s disciple, Arlin was the most trusted person in master¡¯s eyes and I think he¡¯s even more powerful and talented than Xander. Unfortunately, master punished him and locked him up in one of the lowest and distant worlds of our universe.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°So as long as I am talented enough and don¡¯t go against his will, master will be good to me?¡± At the moment, Boe felt that all those elder disciples were something too distant from him, so even though he wanted to know more about Xander and Arlin, he was focused on himself.

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily so. Second disciple of our master is very talented and they never had any conflicts, but I have never seen him even though I never left our master for almost 7000 years now. And I only once heard our master talking about him, he said that Gron ¡°The Creator¡± Masdin is the most talented person he ever encountered, but he wastes his talent on useless things. You should really stop thinking about all that, you will definitely never be able to understand The Strongest¡¯s way of thinking. Everything he does have a deep meaning to it, which no one else will be able to comprehend.¡±

    ¡°Alright, sorry for taking so much of your time, eldest sister.¡± Boe could only give up on this topic and try to get stronger as fast as he could, so his life wouldn¡¯t depend on his master¡¯s mood.

    ¡°Good child, now keep training and try not to lose your life in this lowly world.¡± Krstvinga nodded and disappeared.

    After the talk with Krstvinga, Boe couldn¡¯t concentrate on training and spent the whole evening imagining what kind of existences were ¡°The Toxin Queen¡±, ¡°The World Devourer¡±, ¡°The Hero¡± and ¡°The Creator¡±. In his mind, Krstvinga was a master of poisons, who could destroy the whole army with just a bottle of toxin. Xander was a huge giant, who could literally devour thousands of people to make himself stronger by absorbing their powers. Arlin was the brave and righteous knight, who saved millions of people from evil creatures. Gron was the mystery, which Boe couldn¡¯t even imagine.

    He was now thinking what kind of being he will become when he will reach the highest realms of his ¡°The Demon Emperor¡± battle teaching. Will he really become the emperor of all demons or is it just the name of his future power? Will he be the cruelest being in the world that will scare even the real kings of demons? Or will he use his power to punish the evil and help the weak? He then thought about the sinister and bloodthirsty soul inside of him, he now felt that his demonification form might not be his own power, but the power he was borrowing from that soul. Boe didn¡¯t realize that his personality has already changed since he first awakened the demon inside of him. He was once a cheerful and dreamy kid, whose only wish was to become as strong as his father, but now he became a lot colder and distant from human feelings.

    On the next morning, Boe woke up and decided to go to the cafeteria as usual, but he didn¡¯t meet Kamys or Ella on his way for some reason. When he entered the cafeteria, he encountered SV.

    ¡°Hello, big sis SV,¡± Boe politely greeted his teacher and started walking away from her to not disturb her meal.

    ¡°Good morning, Boe. Come here for a minute and sit with me, I have something I want to discuss with you.¡± SV smiled, but her face seemed to be filled with worries.

    Boe took what he wanted to eat and then sat down close to SV.

    ¡°We received an invitation from the Dark Elf Kingdom to their talent competition. This competition only happens once every three years and only students of the first year are participating. That¡¯s a very great honor for our school, since we¡¯re only rank 3 school. Usually, dark elves would never invite anyone from our school, but this year we have Richard Carter and Ivan Popov from The Five, so we received five invitations. Since you defeated Loseac Vito, you are now eligible to compete for one of the spots.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in participating in some kind of competition just to bring glory to our school, I have my own problems to solve right now.¡± Boe wanted to fight with talents of the world, but he couldn¡¯t leave the school right now because of Vito and Ligu families.

    ¡°I understand all that, that¡¯s why I advise you to publicly apologize to Han Ligu and forfeit your match. Rewards for this competition are something that our school won¡¯t be able to provide for you. Elves promised that anyone who will enter top five will each be able to choose any weapon from their weaponry. In addition to that, third place will be rewarded with ¡°Spirit nourishing¡± pill. Second place will get a rank 3 spirit animal. And the winner of competition will receive the magic essence of their choice.¡±

    Boe was shocked when he heard all the prizes SV listed. Weapon from the Dark Elf Kingdom weaponry will definitely be enough to make even rank 3 wizard choke in their greed, but it was nothing to Boe since he already had ¡°Dark Elf King¡¯s bow¡± and ¡°Claws of Enthriil¡±.

    ¡°Spirit nourishing¡± pill is a high ranked pill, that could be made only by at least a rank 3 alchemist, and they¡¯re are very rare. There were actually none of them in the Black Scorpio school, the best alchemist here was someone who barely made it to rank 2. This pill allows a wizard to instantly boost the capability of wizard¡¯s body to store the battle aura. For a regular wizard it means that they¡¯ll be able to breakthrough to the next level faster, but for Boe it wasn''t as useful, because he practiced ¡°The Demon Emperor¡± battle teaching. To make a breakthrough he didn¡¯t need to gather more battle aura into his body, he needed to actually reach certain stages of control over his own power.

    Rank 3 spirit animal would be a great power for anyone below rank 4, so this reward is very desired by all young talents for sure. Boe was rather interested in this reward, he wanted to obtain the spirit animal for himself since he first found out about this possibility.

    But the most valuable treasure was, without a doubt, the magic essence. In some ways, the magic essence is similar to a magic stone, but of higher level. It is something that is born in areas where battle aura is very abundant, but unlike magic stones, the essence is not born from ordinary stones, but because of some special events. For example, thunder attribute magic essence could be born when the real thunder from heavens hit and killed a living being in an area where thunder attribute aura is very rich, so thunder attribute magic essence is rare and precious. Boe practiced in shadow attribute, so he would naturally choose shadow attribute magic essence. This kind of essence is one of the rarest and most precious of them all, since it is only born when the shadow attribute living being was swallowed by the shadows of their hearts and committed suicide within an area where shadow attribute aura is dense enough. There were a lot of ways to use it, one could swallow it and purify battle aura inside of him to make their power more stable, which would help them in breaking through all further ranks. Another way to use it is to create a puppet and put the essence inside of it to make it alive. One could also use it in forging a weapon of certain attribute. It is also the part of a lot of high-ranked pills. And the most popular way to use it is to let an ordinary person swallow it to transform him into a wizard with a good attribute affinity.

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry for being too arrogant, brother Han. I will forfeit our match and hope we can become friends from now on.¡± Boe decided to swallow his pride and apologize to Han Ligu this time, but he would surely come back later to settle this debt.

    ¡°Hahahaha, I gave you a chance back then, but now the whole school knows that you offended me and my family, so there is no way out for you.¡± Han Ligu maniacally laughed and all his underlings was laughing from behind as well.

    Boe felt like a complete idiot. He regretted his decision to humiliate himself as well as the choice to listen to SV''s advise. He could not stand his own cowardice.

    ¡°Have you really decided to make me into your enemy?¡± Boe¡¯s voice was cold and his gaze was full of killing intent.

    ¡°You were the one who sealed your own fate, kid.¡± Han laughed again and walked past Boe.

    ¡°You and your family will regret this decision,¡± Boe whispered this to Han when he was walking past him, but just as he wanted to activate his demonification form to frighten Han, he heard a whisper:

    ¡°Young master of Vito family paid me a good price to cripple you in this fight.¡±

 Chapter 17 - Boe vs Han

    ¡®Harson wants to cripple me by the hands of Han Ligu?¡¯ Boe wasn¡¯t actually very shocked to hear that, but he didn¡¯t expect that Harson¡¯s hatred would already develop to such a stage.

    Han walked past Boe and whispered something to his underlings. When Boe turned around to take a look at departing Han, he noticed that those underlings were looking at him as if he was the most delicious prey they ever had. They then all laughed loudly and stopped looking at Boe.

    ¡®I guess I¡¯ll have to seriously prepare for that battle now.¡¯ Boe didn¡¯t have absolute confidence in his victory over Han Ligu, but he still had a few tricks up his sleeves so he didn¡¯t worry too much.

    ¡°You want me to exterminate him and his whole family, lil bro?¡± A charming yet frightening voice sounded in Boe¡¯s head.

    ¡°I won¡¯t need your help with this fellow, but I do hope that you will protect me from senior members of his family later on. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll let me go that easily after I¡¯ll finish dealing with him the way I planned.¡± Boe didn¡¯t hesitate even for a second when he refused Krstvinga¡¯s help, he was planning to teach Han a lesson with his own hands. While it would definitely make him a number one target for the whole Ligu family, he was the future Demon Emperor after all, how could he tolerate such a behavior toward him? All the blood inside of him was now boiling as if every cell of his body was excited because of the upcoming events.

    On the morning of his battle with Han, Boe was sitting in his room and practicing his battle teaching. For some reason, after he decided to destroy Han in their fight, he was overflowing with energy and made a rapid progress in combining his remaining twenty four moves into twelve. Within just a few hours of practice he managed to combine eight moves. And as he was contemplating each of the created moves, he understood that each of them had a specific purpose. For an example, the move he combined during his fight with Loseac was aimed to attack an enemy in close combat.

    Of the four new moves he just created, the first one was used to slightly dodge in close combat, using only his legs to do it. Boe now understood that if he were to master this move, he would easily evade most of the melee attacks from his enemies as long as he was able to react in time.

    The second move could only be used while moving at a very fast speed. It used the kinetic energy of Boe¡¯s body to boost a power of any attack he would use. While this sounds simple and pretty obvious, this move has some kind of special energy in it, which amplifies the power of any physical attack based on the speed it is used on. Boe expected that at his maximum speed, it could at least double the power of his first attack.

    But what shocked Boe the most was the fact that third and fourth moves were supposed to be used together. Third move was the combination of two separate moves using his legs in rapid succession, which allowed him to make a ¡°double-jump¡± in the air. And the last move was the most powerful physical attack Boe could produce now, whereby he had to spin his body in the air and then use the gravity and his own weight to amplify the strength upon impact to perform a powerful strike with his leg. Boe could definitely break through most of rank 1 wizard¡¯s defenses and injure an enemy with these two moves.

    *KNOCK-KNOCK*

    ¡°Come in, Kamys.¡± Boe has long expected Kamys to come looking for him, since he didn¡¯t really go out of his room for the last couple of days.

    ¡°Brother Boe, are you some kind of psychic?¡± Kamys walked in with a bright smile on his face, he was very happy these days. After he brought Ella to the infirmary, she woke up in only ten minutes and healer said that she was perfectly fine. After that, he told everything that happened to her, including the part where he carried her in his arms to the infirmary, which he narrated in the most heroic colors and yet she didn¡¯t scold him for his actions. He then stayed by her side until the healer let her go and even walked her to her room. He was now sure that he already grasped that girl¡¯s heart in his hands. While Ella didn¡¯t know that her calm reaction would make Kamys think like that, she really did approve of him a little bit more now.

    ¡°No one in this school, except for you, knocks in people¡¯s doors so loud.¡± Boe didn¡¯t smile while talking to Kamys and even gave off a barely noticeable sinister aura. This made Kamys feel a little uncomfortable so that he even felt his body slightly tremble.

    ¡°Are you here to remind me that my fight will begin in an hour?¡± Boe noticed Kamys¡¯ reaction, but he didn¡¯t really care about that right now. He was already prepared to demonstrate his demonification form in this fight, so his current aura was nothing compared to shock everyone will receive later.

    ¡°You really do read my mind, aren¡¯t you? Are you really sure you can defeat that Ligu guy? If you aren¡¯t certain, just forfeit the match and I will kick his ass for you later.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for your kind intentions, but I already decided to ruin him myself.¡± When Boe said these words, Kamys felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He glanced at Boe¡¯s eyes and was shocked to see a savage desire to kill in them.

    Boe stood up from his bed and walked out of his room, Kamys stood inside of the room for a few seconds before he managed to wake up from the daze and chase after Boe.

    ¡°HAN LIGU AND BOE NAS, PROCEED TO THE GOLDEN DRAGON SCENE, YOUR FIGHT STARTS IN ONE MINUTE.¡±

    Boe was already standing on the stage with his eyes closed, while Han has only just entered the building.

    ¡°KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!¡± The whole building started trembling from the cheers of people for the Ligu family. While killing opponents in battle ranking matches was prohibited, people of Ligu family were training in pure killing techniques so it was a very usual occurrence for their opponents to be seriously injured.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    SV was standing as close to the stage as she could, she was prepared to jump in to save Boe at any moment. Kamys was standing near her, his thoughts were in a complete mess. At the morning, he was worried about Boe and wanted to protect him from Han, but after the short talk in Boe¡¯s room, he was now a little afraid of Boe himself. He didn¡¯t understand what the feeling, but he was sure that Boe became a lot more dangerous and unpredictable.

    ¡°So you came after all? I thought you would abandon everything and flee from the school.¡± Han walked up to the stage and looked at Boe with a gaze full of arrogance and disdain. At first, he thought that Boe had something up his sleeve that could threaten him, but when Boe came to publicly apologize to him, he stopped worrying and became absolutely certain of his victory. In Han¡¯s eyes, Boe was now a mere ant under his shoes.

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, Boe didn¡¯t respond to Han¡¯s obvious provocation. He didn¡¯t even open his eyes.

    ¡°You can start a fight.¡±

    ¡°Still not opening your eyes? Well, regret this in your grave then!¡± After the referee announced the start of a fight, Han waited for a few seconds for Boe to open his eyes, but Boe didn¡¯t react to it in any way. Han was enraged by Boe¡¯s actions, he was a powerful rank 1 wizard, who wasn¡¯t too far from breaking through to rank 2 already, but Boe behaved himself like he didn¡¯t care about that at all.

    ¡®Since you want to die here so badly, I won¡¯t disappoint you and I even might get something from Harson as a bonus for this.¡¯ Han clearly knew that he couldn¡¯t kill Boe within a school, but since Boe didn¡¯t defend himself, he could just launch his strongest attack from the beginning and then blame everything on Boe¡¯s arrogance and stupidity. Han understood that he would definitely be punished, but with his family¡¯s influence he would only receive a light punishment for this.

    ¡°Karangy nur¡± Han whispered a chant for his ¡°Ray of darkness¡± technique; it was the most powerful attacking technique he mastered.

    Light in the whole building dimmed a little, and a small black ray shot from Han¡¯s hands in Boe¡¯s direction. This technique consumed almost 30% of Han¡¯s battle aura so he was sure that it would kill Boe theinstant it would reach Boe¡¯s forehead.

    ¡°KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!¡± Ligu family¡¯s cheers became even louder when they noticed what technique Han used.

    Kamys¡¯ heart stopped, he focused on Boe¡¯s movements and a ray of darkness that was moving in Boe¡¯s direction. In Kamys¡¯ mind, the whole world was now consumed by darkness of that huge black ray.

    When SV was ready to save Boe, she blinked and Boe vanished from the place he was standing a moment ago. Panic took over her heart when she realized that Boe wasn¡¯t on the stage.

    When Boe heard Han chanting his technique, he already activated his demonification form and was ready to act at any time. Then Han directed his ray in Boe¡¯s direction, he was sure it would hit the mark. But Boe¡¯s speed, strength, agility and reaction were far stronger in his demonification form, so he waited the ray to reach a distance where Han would relax his guard and then started moving.

    Han was standing still and smiling, while watching his ray of darkness reaching a point a few meters away from Boe.

    At that moment, Boe suddenly jerked his body to the left, ran few meters and jumped into the air. The speed of his movements was too fast even for an ordinary rank 2 wizard and he was hidden behind Han¡¯s ray, so Han didn¡¯t even notice Boe¡¯s sudden movement.

    After a moment, SV concentrated and noticed a shadow on the stage. Shadow was already a few meters away from Han, then she looked above and her jaws dropped.

    Han noticed that a lot of people were looking above his head so he raised his head and saw Boe spinning in the air and moving toward him.

    ¡±Kyolyokyo Kalkan¡± Han tried to activate his ¡°Shadow shield¡± defensive technique, but wasn¡¯t able to finish it in time, so it wasn¡¯t fully functional.

    *BOOM*

    *crack*

    Boe¡¯s leg hit Han right in the head, it penetrated through Han¡¯s incomplete defense and people even heard Han¡¯s skull cracking.

    Han felt pain in his head only for a moment, then all sounds disappeared and he could only hear his heart beating inside of him. Thick dark red blood dripped from his head down all over his body, he touched the blood with his hand and stared at it in disbelief. How could there be so much blood if he didn¡¯t even feel pain?

    *BUMP*

    Han lost an ability to stand and his body hit the floor. He already lost consciousness, but disbelief and horror was still reflected on his face.

    The whole building was drawn in a heavy silence. Boe was standing two meters away from Han¡¯s body, staring at his already crippled opponent with cold gaze.

    Most of the people were now completely focused on Han¡¯s motionless body, not knowing how to react.

    ¡°YOU BASTARD! I WILL KILL YOU AND YOUR WHOLE FAMILY!¡± Suddenly silence was interrupted by an enraged scream of a middle-aged man in black robe. It was Qin Ligu, Han¡¯s father and one of high ranked elders of the Ligu family. He jumped up and was prepared to kill Boe on the spot.

    *BANG*

    Qin¡¯s fist was easily stopped by SV¡¯s hand. She grabbed Qin¡¯s fist and squeezed it until cracking sounds were heard.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re currently on the territory of my school and act appropriately.¡± SV glanced at Qin and then at all other people of Ligu family.

    ¡°Sky Venom, he crippled my son! Are you really prepared to go against my family for that little scoundrel?¡± Qin knew that he is no match for SV, but he wasn¡¯t afraid of her or anyone from this school, because he had a backing of his patriarch.

    ¡°This was a fair fight between two students of my school. Your son attacked with a deadly move first, Boe had only responded in a similar way. It¡¯s your son¡¯s fault that he underestimated his opponent and didn¡¯t activate his defense before starting a battle. While Boe¡¯s actions were indeed ruthless, they were still within the school¡¯s rules, your son is still alive after all.¡± SV looked at Han, healers of the school were already making their best to stop the damage and fix everything they could.

    ¡°My son is definitely gravely injured; he might even lose some of his memories or even become a complete cripple. And you will just let him go after all that?¡± Qin wanted to chop Boe down to pieces, while he was screaming with eyes red from anger and saliva spitting all over the place.

    ¡°You should not concern yourself with Boe¡¯s punishment. I will hand this case to our director personally. He will investigate this event and will definitely come up with a fair judgement.¡± SV used director¡¯s name specifically to scare off Ligu family for at least a short period of time. Even though both Ligu¡¯s patriarch and director wereof the same rank, director was certainly a lot stronger.

    ¡°You will regret this decision, Sky Venom!¡± Qin turned around, took his son in his hands and left the building. All Ligu family members followed behind Qin, each of them taking a cold glance at Boe.

    SV was now looking at Boe with a very complicated expression on her face. She noticed a strange aura on Boe¡¯s body when he attacked Han and was very interested in its origin, but now was not the time to ponder about this.

    ¡®I hope I wasn¡¯t wrong when I decided to put my faith in this boy¡­¡¯

 Chapter 18 - Metier family

    SV was walking through school¡¯s corridors with a very grim expression on her face, Boe was following her not knowing what to say. He knew that he dragged SV into serious problems with the Ligu family after this fight. Even before the fight, when he just decided to cripple Han, he already expected that SV and the director of the school would protect him. On the other hand, SV already expected Boe to win the fight somehow if he decided to go onto the stage, but she would never imagine that Boe would actually be so brutal and cripple Han in one move.

    ¡°Wait here until I¡¯ll call you.¡± When they reached a big black door, SV entered the office, but Boe had to wait outside. SV needed to explain everything to the director and discuss their next move with him.

    ¡°Come in,¡± old, but a very domineering voice sounded from inside of the office. Boe immediately stood up and walked in calmly. A middle-aged man with long black hair, black eyes and dressed in a completely black official suit was sitting in a big chair. Aura of that man was very formidable and intimidating, but Boe didn¡¯t feel much pressure from it. After Boe met The Toxin Queen, the director of the school didn¡¯t really seem so scary to him.

    ¡°Boe Nas greets the director of the school.¡± Boe slightly bowed and looked straight into director¡¯s eyes. Director was shocked when he noticed that Boe wasn¡¯t scared or even surprised after entering the office.

    ¡°My name is Dooran Forte, I heard what you did today. Do you have anything to say or should I make a verdict based on Sky Venom¡¯s words?¡± Dooran was focusing on Boe¡¯s eyes, he wanted to see what kind of person was the genius they found in a middle of the forest. After all, the main reason they took Boe in and protected him was the fact that he had a talent and potential to help them reach their goal. Dooran and SV were both dark wizards after all, so they wouldn¡¯t help anyone out of good will. If Boe couldn¡¯t be of use to them, why would they even bother protecting him from Ligu family?

    ¡°I crippled Han on purpose,¡± Boe noticed Dooran¡¯s evaluating gaze and answered truthfully and calmly.

    ¡°Why would you do that?¡± Dooran was a little shocked with how calm and collected was Boe in this kind of situation.

    ¡°Han plannedto cripple me in that fight, so I had no choice but to answer him in a same way.¡±

    ¡°How did you know what he plannedto do? Even though he used a powerful technique to attack you, it was obviously easy for you to evade it and defeat him without causing injuries.¡±

    ¡°I met him before the fight, and he told me that he was going to cripple me because someone paid him to do it.¡± A trace of killing intent glowed in Boe¡¯s eyes, and his voice became cold while saying this.

    ¡°Ha-ha, as expected of someone whom my daughter chose to nurture! A very decisive and courageous personality with a strong killing intent too! I like you, kid. Alright, I won¡¯t punish you and even will protect you from Ligu bastards as much as I can. Now go, Aira will tell you everything else.¡± Dooran laughed heartily and patted SV on shoulders a few times.

    ¡°Aira?¡± Boe didn¡¯t understand at first, but then looked at SV and the way she looked at Dooran and figured everything out. Aira Forte was SV¡¯s real name and she was the daughter of the school¡¯s director. He now felt a little uneasy, since SV treated him rather good and he had to kill her father to pass one of his master¡¯s tests.

    When SV and Boe left director¡¯s office, she started explaining to him why she chose him as her personal disciple and what she needed from him.

    Two hundred years ago, the Forte family was one of the six ancient families of the Kayteese city, but at that time they were called the Metier family. They were the strongest among six families, which led to the envy of all others. People of Metier family all had a high level of a poison attribute affinity, which made them the most dangerous and unpredictable of all families.

    The last patriarch was a very arrogant, cruel and greedy person; this allowed Ligu patriarch to convince all others that Metiers became too dangerous and union of five families needed to eliminate them. In the end, only Carters decided not to get involved in that mess, but the strength of four families combined was more than enough to annihilate Metiers. Only one person managed to escape and survive by taking another name and leaving the Kayteese city. Dooran and Aira were direct descendants of that person, and now they wanted to bring their family back to the city. After two hundred years of preparation and growth, the new Forte family was strong enough to eliminate any of the four traitorous families, but people of Ligu were their first and main target. The plan was to eliminate Ligu and then establish Forte as a new fifth family.

    Boe already separated from SV and was walking to his room, deep in thoughts, ¡®So they want me to join their family and help them annihilate people of Ligu. That doesn¡¯t seem to be a bad thing for me, they will provide all resources I need, since they appreciate my talent a lot and even protect me from the Ligu family. I guess I will join their faction for now¡­ With this, it¡¯ll be even easier for me to kill Dooran, when I will get him to trust me by destroying the Ligu family¡­¡¯ Boe¡¯s mouth crooked in a very wicked smile and his eyes gleamed with a killing intent.

    While Boe was busy with Airi and Dooran, Kamys was preparing to fight to get a spot in a Dark Elf Kingdom¡¯s competition for himself.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°KAMYS TAD AND CHARLES KENTHY, PROCEED TO THE RED APE SCENE, YOUR FIGHT STARTS IN ONE MINUTE.¡±

    Ella, I will defeat a genius of your family and then win dark elves¡¯ competition to prove to you that I¡¯m the best match for you!¡± Kamys was passionately screaming and looking at Ella with eyes full of love and desire.

    "Charles, don¡¯t go easy on him just because I know him. Crush him and show him the difference between a genius and him.¡± Ella was absolutely calm, as if all this had nothing to do with her, she didn¡¯t even look at Kamys, ¡®To think that he would be sure that he¡¯s stronger than one of The Five just because he defeated Harson... What a fool.¡¯

    Charles jumped onto the stage and smiled at Kamys. He knew that Kamys was something important for his big sister since she visited all his fights personally. It was the first time Ella showed up at Charles¡¯ battle, so she was definitely here not for him.

    ¡°Charles Kenthy, water attribute wizard, specialize in supporting and healing techniques, so please go easy on me.¡± Charles brilliantly smiled and winked at Kamys.

    ¡°Kamys Tad, fire attribute wizard, specialize in physical strength. Will definitely try to not hurt you, little brother Charles.¡± Kamys smiled mischievously. He called Charles his little brother as if he was already married with Ella.

    "You can start a fight.¡±

    Right after the referee announced the beginning of the fight, Charles jumped back to the corner of the stage. He knew that Kamys was very fast, so he wanted to be as far from his as he could to have a chance to chant his spells.

    Kamys didn¡¯t hesitate even for a second, he didn¡¯t want to hurt Charles so he didn¡¯t use his techniques and was going to use only his bare fists.

    ¡±Suyuktuk kalkan¡± Charles first chanted his ¡°Water shield¡± defensive technique and then was preparing to chant his most powerful attacking technique. But before he had a chance to even finish his defenses, he saw Kamys already in three meters away from him. Charles had no other choice than to focus all his battle aura on a water shield and prepare for an impact.

    *PLOP*

    A soft sound of a flesh hitting a water resounded throughout an audience and everyone looked at the scene with shocked expressions on their faces. Everyone expected Kamys to hit or kick Charles, but they were actually hugging at the moment.

    ¡°Let¡¯s be good brothers from now on, sorry but I have to take your spot in Dark Elf Kingdom¡¯s competition this year.¡± Kamys moved a bit back, but his hands were still on Charles¡¯ shoulders. He was smiling from ear to ear, but Charles seemed lost at words.

    ¡°I forfeit,¡± Charles said to referee and then turned to Kamys, smiled and patted his shoulder, ¡°It¡¯s my great honor to have a big brother like you, Kamys.¡± He then turned and took a look at Ella¡¯s confused face.

    When Ella heard Charles¡¯ words, she understood that Kamys has actually easily broke through water barrier with his physical strength, but didn¡¯t hurt Charles and instead decided to befriend him to get closer to her. She was stunned by Kamys¡¯ boldness and power, her cheeks reddened a little and she turned around and hastily left the building.

    Kamys noticed Ella¡¯s reaction and grinned. His plan worked out perfectly, he impressed Ella with his strength, befriended her little brother and her family would definitely know about him now.

    On the next morning, Dooran announced that Boe Nas, Kamys Tad, Shi Ligu, Ivan Popov and Richard Carter were chosen to represent the Black Scorpio school at Dark Elf Kingdom¡¯s talent competition. All five of them would be leaving the school the next day with three teachers as an escort.

    Carter, Popov, Ligu and Kenthy families didn¡¯t react in any way, but Vito patriarch was furious that no one of his family was included. He came to the school personally and started a ruckus in a main hall, demanding explanations. Dooran showed up a few minutes later and explained his reasoning politely. Boe has already defeated the best of the Vito family and Kamys defeated the best of the Kenthy family so there was nothing wrong in his decision. Patriarch was enraged when he heard that and demanded rematch for Loseac, but Dooran declined and peacefully told him about the fight between Han and Boe. Patriarch was angry at first, but then he smiled sinisterly and left.

    ¡®Have I just created even more problems for Boe?¡¯ Dooran thought in silence, then turned around and left the main hall hastily.

    Kayteese city, Red Lotus restaurant, VIP room.

    ¡°Karl Vito, why did you call me here so suddenly?¡± An old man in an extravagant black clothes with long black hairs, deep black eyes and a lot wrinkles on a face was sitting on one side of the table. It was Rem Ligu, the current patriarch of the Ligu family.

    ¡°Old Rem, we haven¡¯t seen each other for more than two years, can¡¯t we just meet up and drink to our heart¡¯s content?¡± Karl Vito laughed as he raised his cup and toasted. Karl is the current patriarch of the Vito family and Harson¡¯s father. He looked a lot more energetic and stronger than Rem, he was obviously a lot younger. He had a very long blonde hair, his eyes were green and even more sparkling than Harson¡¯s.

    ¡°Cut the bullshit,¡± Rem said angrily while looking at Karl with eyes as cold as ice. Rem obviously didn¡¯t like Karl, he didn¡¯t show any respect to his elders. Even though they both were patriarchs, but in reality Rem was from a generation of Karl¡¯s father and was a lot stronger than him, ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Haha, as cold as always. I guess there is no reason to beat around the bush,¡± Karl stood up, closed all doors of VIP room and his eyes became cold as well, ¡°I want to help you to get rid of that new kid from school.¡±

    ¡°Do you really think my family needs any help to eliminate an ant?¡± Rem coldly laughed and started standing up to leave.

    ¡°Old Rem, I know their real route, I also can take three teachers¡¯ attention and separate that kid from everyone else. I also know that there will be four teachers escorting them, not three. The last teacher will always be in shadows and he¡¯ll be your men¡¯s problem.¡± Karl evidently had a spy in Dooran¡¯s camp and knew all his plans. While Dooran expected that Vito family would definitely dispatch their assassins to kill Boe, he didn¡¯t expect that Vito family would help them and even provide such a crucial information.

    ¡°I knew about the fake route, but an additional teacher in shadows¡­ Since when did your family started spying on Dooran Forte?¡± Although Rem was a little surprised, nothing showed on his old face.

    ¡°While we aren¡¯t as good at espionage as you are, we have our own methods,¡± Karl smiled and added, ¡°All I need from you is a guarantee that kid will vanish from this world and there will be no evidences against me.¡± Vito family could easily kill Boe themselves, but Karl was worried that there were some kind of power behind Boe¡¯s back. Talents like him didn¡¯t come out of nowhere after all. If there were no one behind him, that would be good. But if there were someone powerful associated with Boe, then it was better to let Ligu family kill him and take all the blame.

    ¡°Okay, deal with teachers, separate him from other students and leave the rest to me,¡± Rem easily agreed. His face was the same as ever, but he was coldly laughing inside. He was thinking the same as Karl, but he was sure in his men¡¯s ability to cover up a murder and he now could even shift all the blame on Vito family. ¡®There is definitely someone behind that kid, but now all the consequences will become Vito family¡¯s problems.¡¯

 Chapter 19 - Ambush

    ¡®I finally managed to combine all moves of my battle teaching. I now have a bunch of movements for dodging in fights and a few attacking moves. So now I need to practice these moves in my demonification form and direct my battle aura into them. I can definitely defeat a regular rank 2 wizard in the demonification form, but if I meet an experienced wizard then I¡¯ll have to go all out and reveal all my trump cards. I really hope that Dooran¡¯s measures are going to be enough for my safety¡­¡¯ Boe already knew that Dooran was going to send one of his subordinates to protect him from shadows. That person should be enough to deal with two powerful rank 2 wizards. By Dooran¡¯s estimations, Ligu should only send out one powerful rank 2 assassin to eliminate Boe, anything more than that would already be an overkill. But for some reason Boe felt that Dooran has underestimated the danger and he would have to fight with his own hands this time.

    On the next morning, Boe came to the main hall of the school to meet up with Kamys and the rest.

    ¡°Brother Boe, you¡¯re late, we¡¯ve all been waiting for a long time already.¡± Kamys greeted him and shook his hands with a brilliant smile on his face.

    ¡°I came on time,¡± Boe coldly answered and glanced over all present people. There were two adults and three young men Boe didn¡¯t know, but he knew one teacher very well. It was Rid Hag, professor from companions nurturing classes. Rid Hag was one of the professors, who didn¡¯t want to accept Boe into the school and later made him leave the school for his first mission. Boe had a sensation that Rid would bring troubles on this trip, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    Both other teachers smiled at Boe when they saw him, they were definitely here specifically to protect Boe from harm. Boe nodded in response and noticed a cold killing intent coming from Rid Hag for a moment.

    A young man with short black hairs, black eyes and tight black clothes was looking at Boe with a strange glimmer in his eyes. He looked similar to Han Ligu, but his aura was colder and more frightening, as if he killed many people and gone through a lot of life-or-death situations. It was Ligu family¡¯s current generation¡¯s strongest genius Shi Ligu. For him, Boe was already a walking dead man, so he didn¡¯t even look at Boe for a second time.

    ¡°So you¡¯re the one who defeated Loseac and crippled Han, eh? We should fight when we¡¯ll have a chance, I want to see your mysterious power and test you out myself!¡± A big muscular youth walked to Boe, his eyes were burning with fighting spirit. He had brown eyes, red hairs and a lot of freckles on his face. His clothes were old and simple, there were even a few patches on them. But the most distinguishing feature of this person was a big tattoo of a ferocious bear on his right hand.

    ¡°Ivan Popov? I¡¯ve heard of your power before and I wouldn¡¯t mind testing myself out against you and your bear,¡± Boe answered with a sinister and bloodthirsty look in his eyes. Ivan shivered slightly from Boe¡¯s gaze, but it didn¡¯t scare him, it made his fighting spirit flare up even more.

    ¡°Richard Carter,¡± The last young man checked out Boe from head to toe, simply said his name and then turned around unimpressed. His facial features were very sharp, his eyes grey, hairs black, but one strand of hair in a middle was white. Aura of this person wasn¡¯t domineering or frightening, but it was as sharp as a sword. If a regular person just looked at him, his mind would hurt and he could even collapse at the spot. He was dressed in a neat grey classic suit, which made him look like a dignified noble.

    ¡°Boe, I already befriended Ivan and Richard. Two of them are great guys, but Richard is as quiet and indifferent as you are and that¡¯s really frustrating to have two such people in our gang.¡± Kamys started his sentence in a very cheerful tone, but ended it in a very depressed manner.

    A journey from the Black Scorpio school to the Dark Elf Kingdom usually takes almost a week, but there were more than two weeks before the competition starts, so Boe and company were not in a hurry. Every day, before the night fell, they stopped in a nearby city or village and spent the night in hotels. This peace and tranquility lasted for four days. On the fifth day, on the road from one village to another, they had to walk through a big forest.

    ¡°Let¡¯s stop here and have a meal,¡± Rid Hag suddenly proposed and stopped moving.

    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t stop in the middle of the forest. We shall be able to leave this place in two hours, let¡¯s make a stop after that.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just an ordinary forest, there are no dangerous beasts or bandits here,¡± Rid Hag said aggressively, he was obviously not going to give up on this idea.

    *BOOM*

    Before the other two teachers had a chance to say anything else, a huge explosion blasted near them and they were both sent flying few meters away.

    ¡°Students, stay close to us!¡± One of two teachers screamed while standing up. But when he looked at his students, he saw them all fighting with people in black. He then felt a killing intent targeted on his back and quickly took out a sword from his back and clashed with a black dressed person.

    Rid Hag was lying unconscious while everyone else was fighting, he was the closest to the explosion so he received the most damage.

    ¡®They are not wizards, but body training masters. Since when has Ligu family started using mercenaries to kill people?¡¯ Teachers expected an attack from wizard assassins, but were attacked by a bunch of random mercenaries. At first they thought they could easily defeat the enemy, but then they felt that their opponents weren¡¯t trying to win the fight, but were just stalling for time. They then both started looking for Boe, but he was already gone from the battlefield.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    While teachers, Shi, Ivan and Richard were fighting their enemies to a deadlock, Boe had serious problems with his opponent. Because of enemy¡¯s unstoppable onslaught, Boe had to retreat from his position all the time. He was already three hundred meters away from teachers and could barely see them. He didn¡¯t want to use his demonification form yet and an enemy didn¡¯t let him chant even a single technique, so he didn¡¯t have any other option than to keep backing up.

    Both teachers tried to break free from the fight and find Boe, but their opponents didn¡¯t give them a single chance. They could only hope that their ally in the shadows was enough to keep Boe safe.

    Few minutes later, Boe was already very far from everyone and he was ready to call for help from his protector in shadows. But suddenly, a silhouette emerged from behind the tree and smashed Boe¡¯s opponent¡¯s head.

    *BANG*

    Boe¡¯s opponent simply crumbled to dust in front of him. Right when Boe wanted to give his thanks to an elder, who saved his life, he heard a very familiar voice.

    ¡°Brother Boe, no need to thank me for saving your life.¡± Kamys was standing on a pile of dust with a brilliant smile and arrogance all over his face. He was very pleased with himself. When he was attacked by an enemy, he panicked at first but then got serious and used his years of physical training to easily defeat his opponent. He then found out that their attackers weren¡¯t even humans, but wooden puppets. After noticing that Boe has vanished from the battlefield, he got worried and decided to find Boe to help him out.

    ¡°You.. you shouldn¡¯t be here.¡± Boe understood from the beginning, that this ambush was targeted at him. Explosion and attackers were just to separate Boe from teachers, the real enemy would only appear after his protector showed himself. But Kamys ruined Boe¡¯s plan and now he was in danger too.

    ¡°Quick, leave this place. I¡¯ll explain everything to you la-¡± Before Boe could finish his sentence, three people appeared from shadows and started walking in Kamys¡¯ direction. They were all dressed in tight black clothes and wore strange white masks.

    ¡°It seems like you expected us to come. Where is your protector? Or is he going to show himself only after we¡¯ll attack you?¡± All three men were rank 2 wizards and they were definitely not some common weak ones at that.

    ¡°Leave this place, run toward the school and don¡¯t look back. I won¡¯t be able to win or stall them for too long,¡± a green-haired middle-aged man in green clothes appeared in front of Boe and instructed him right away. He was one of Dooran¡¯s strongest rank 2 wizards, but he could only win against two rank 2 wizards. If he wanted to survive this fight, he could only slightly delay three wizards and give a chance to Boe and Kamys to run away. While Boe was an important talent to Dooran, this wizard was already a high skilled rank 2 wizard, so there was no meaning in losing him to save Boe.

    Boe and Kamys didn¡¯t even need a second to think before they turned around and ran off into the distance.

    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t run in a straight line, let¡¯s move to the left and hide in that mountain.¡± Boe knew that his ally wouldn¡¯t be able to hold their enemies for too long, so he decided to not follow his instruction and hide instead.

    Kamys followed Boe and they reached a mountain in a few minutes. They then started climbing the mountain and searching for a cave.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel like we¡¯re heroes from legends? Running away from jealous enemies while we¡¯re young and weak and then we¡¯ll get back at them when we¡¯ll bloom into powerful warriors? We will definitely encounter some rare chance in these mountains and get some kind of an ancient inheritance!¡± While Boe had a very serious expression on his face, Kamys was smiling from excitement and fantasizing.

    ¡°Concentrate on escaping, hero,¡± Boe reprimanded Kamys for his jokes and kept running up the mountain.

    ¡°You¡¯re no fun, brother Boe.¡± Kamys looked at Boe, who was running a little behind him and his expression suddenly become grave. When Boe noticed this, he turned around and saw three silhouettes catching up to them.

    ¡°They¡¯re faster than us, we have to fight. Kamys, can you take attention of two of them for a few seconds? I have a special item that can kill one of them and then we¡¯ll fight them one-on-one.¡±

    ¡°I can keep two of them busy for a couple of seconds, are you sure you¡¯ll be able to kill the last one?¡± Kamys became serious and he couldn¡¯t believe that Boe could kill a rank 2 wizard using some item.

    Boe calmly nodded and a small grey ball appeared in his hands out of nowhere. It was ¡°Medusa¡¯s glance¡±, a treasure from Thomas¡¯ treasury, which could turn an enemy into a stone statue for a short period of time. When Boe picked this treasure, he was going to use it on Tsude, but then he understood that Tsude was far too powerful for that and kept the treasure in case he would need it.

    ¡°What is it?¡± When Kamys saw runes on a little grey ball, he understood that it was some mysterious treasure with magical powers, but he had no idea what it could be.

    ¡°That¡¯s a life-saving treasure my master gave me. They¡¯re already close to us, get ready.¡± Boe and Kamys turned around and were now facing their enemies. Boe moved a bit further than Kamys and prepared to use the Medusa¡¯s glance at any moment.

    Kamys¡¯ eyes suddenly changed from the usual brown color into crimson red, his red hair became fiery and his entire aura changed. A terrifying fire burned deep inside of Kamys¡¯ eyes and his whole body was shrouded with little specks of fire. He now looked like an igneous elemental that came from the undermost depths of volcano.

    Boe was shocked when he saw Kamys change like that, but he quickly calmed himself down. It seems like he was not the only one with a big secret in the school.

    ¡°So you gave up on running and decided to die faster? That¡¯s a wise decision.¡± A person in front had a very hoarse voice, he was obviously an old man and was commanding the other two.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you try and kill me, old man?¡± Boe tried to pull that old man to himself, it would be great to eliminate the strongest person first and then fight with weaker enemies one-on-one. But the old man didn¡¯t take a bait, he only waved his hand and one of his subordinates moved in Boe¡¯s direction. When Boe saw that, he glanced at Kamys for the last time and then ran further to the top of the mountain.

    ¡°I thought you were going to fight me, but you decided to leave your friend against two enemies while you would run away alone, eh?¡± The one who chased Boe had an unpleasant female voice.

    ¡°I just needed you to be away from your comrades.¡± Boe unexpectedly turned around and activated the Medusa¡¯s glance by inserting his battle aura inside of it.

    ¡°What is that toy? Did you really thi-¡± The female assassin started laughing, but before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly stopped moving. She didn¡¯t literally transform into the stone statue, but her whole body froze. The runes on the Medusa¡¯s glance faded and Boe put it back in his ring.

    Boe didn¡¯t wait for even a second as he took out his Dark Elf King¡¯s bow, condensed a shadow arrow and shot it through theassassin¡¯s head. Arrow pierced her head smoothly and went out of it on the other side. A blood poured out of both holes in her head and her body fell onto the ground. Boe relaxed a bit after he saw the scene and started running back to Kamys.

 Chapter 20 - A bird and a demon

    Boe wasn¡¯t too far away from Kamys so in just a few breathes of time he was already close enough to see a general situation of the fight. Kamys was facing two powerful rank 2 wizard assassins, while being a rank 1 wizard with no real battle experience. Boe expected that Kamys would be in a dangerous situation, but when he saw what was happening, he froze on the spot and his jaw dropped.

    His opponents were stronger than him, but both of them were standing still, not daring to move. Kamys was standing in front of two enemies, but he wasn¡¯t scared at all. His face was calm, his eyes looked like two lakes of boiling lava and his aura was fiery and majestic. But the thing that scared his enemies weren¡¯t Kamys¡¯ aura or eyes, they were both concentrated on a vague silhouette behind Kamys. When Kamys erupted with his new aura, something started appearing behind him.

    Assassins were completely shocked when they saw an image behind Kamys, it was actually a red bird coated in flames. A majestic creature was looking at them as if they were mere ants in front of it.

    ¡°I have no idea what it is and who he is, but we definitely can¡¯t let him escape now. Even though he is stronger than we expected, he is still only a rank 1 wizard. Another kid came back, you go for him and find out what happened to Igrid, while I will deal with this one.¡± As old man commanded, the second person quickly calmed himself down and moved in Boe¡¯s direction.

    ¡°Kamys, the old one is yours, I¡¯ll take on the second one.¡± Boe glanced at Kamys and a bird with a strange look in his eyes. He never heard about other wizards who could change their appearance and aura when unleashing their power before, he thought he was the only one capable of doing that. He was studying the ¡°Demon Emperor¡± battle teaching after all, it was one of the strongest even in highest worlds. So how could Kamys¡¯ battle teaching have the same effect and even create such a thing as an image behind him? But Boe threw this thought to the back of his head and concentrated on his upcoming fight.

    ¡°Survive long enough and I will come help you after I¡¯ll finish here.¡± Kamys¡¯ voice was lower and a lot more serious than usually. When he glanced at Boe, Boe felt an immense pressure locking on him. This feeling was similar to the domineering feeling that the Toxin Queen gave off, but it was a lot weaker.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll need your help, so just focus on your own enemy and don¡¯t get injured.¡± Boe activated his demonification form, his voice was even colder and more distant than usually, his eyes became blood red, the aura resembled a bloodthirsty dreadful demon and even the air around him started trembling in fear of his presence. When Kamys saw the changes in Boe¡¯s appearance, cold sweat started appearing all over his body, but it was evaporated by his flames instantly. A light shiver ran through his fiery body and even a bird behind him slightly trembled.

    Kamys was hiding a secret of his origin from everyone in the school, except for Dooran. He had a very special background and his real power was far beyond The Five of the little Kayteese city. But he has never imagined that the friend he made in this school would hide even more astounding secret than him. He was sure that Boe was a human being, but the aura around Boe definitely belonged to a demon. Boe and Kamys were both shocked by each other, but sadly they didn¡¯t have time to discuss all of this right now. They needed to survive this tribulation first and then their bond would certainly become stronger.

    ¡°You even have guts to talk between each other in our presence, brats.¡± An old man was furious, such a little kid made him stop his movements and then said he would finish the fight fast enough to help someone else.

    ¡°Kyolyokyo Kalkan¡± ¡°Kyuchyotyu¡± ¡°Kyolyokyo Kol¡± Assassin immediately chanted the ¡°Shadow shield¡± for defense, ¡°Amplification¡± on his black blade and ¡°Shadow hand¡± to capture Kamys. As a rank 2 wizard, his chanting speed and activation of techniques were swift.

    Kamys jumped back in response, and flames all over his body started blazing stronger. He decided to activate his secret technique - ¡°Awakening of the phoenix¡±. So he whispered ¡°Ottuukush Oigonuu¡±, and scorching flames erupted from his body and covered it as a blazing shield. This technique was a Kamys¡¯ family¡¯s unique core technique, it boosted a speed of a user and created a defensive fire barrier around him.

    When Shadow hand has reached Kamys¡¯ body, it was burned down by Kamys¡¯ fire barrier. Even though assassin¡¯s shadow attribute aura was stronger than Kamys¡¯ fire attribute aura because of the difference in ranks, Kamys¡¯ battle aura was extremely pure and originated from his ancient bloodline. In addition, Kamys¡¯ technique was of a higher level than assassin¡¯s.

    Kamys felt that battle aura inside of him was depleting at terrifying rate and he had to finish the fight as fast as possible. In this desperate situation he resolved to use his strongest attacking technique - ¡°Breath of the phoenix¡±. ¡°Ottuukush Demchygaruu¡± was the chant to activate it.

    The old assassin was already a few meters away from Kamys and his black blade was covered in shadow attribute battle aura. His eyes were cold and filled with killing intent. He had a very rich battle experience, so he already expected that his shadow hand would be blocked by Kamys¡¯ shield. When he noticed that Kamys looked at him and was concentrating as if preparing an attack, he suddenly vanished into a thin air.

    Kamys was ready to send his attack toward the assassin, when he suddenly disappeared. Kamys didn¡¯t have much experience of a real life-or-death battles, but he was trained to fight from his early years by his father personally, so he was able to understand that his enemy used some kind of movement technique.

    The assassin appeared above Kamys and was brandishing his blade toward Kamys¡¯ head already. But then he suddenly felt a horrifying heat coming from Kamys, but it was too late to do anything so he could only use all his battle aura in this attack.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    When the assassin was one meter away from Kamys¡¯ head, Kamys jerked his head up and his mouth was open wide. A fire burst from Kamys¡¯ mouth and were erupting for almost ten seconds. A fifty-meter tall fiery fountain could be seen from far away, and a temperature around Kamys rose a few degrees higher. When the fire stopped coming out of his body, Kamys jumped back a few meters and something fell to the ground where he previously stood. The old assassin was burnt by Kamys¡¯ technique and only roasted bones were left after his tragic death.

    At last, Kamys could relax and deactivate ¡°Awakening of the phoenix¡± technique. The fire shield around Kamys disappeared and his aura got weaker. This technique was overwhelmingly strong, but it used up almost all of Kamys¡¯ battle aura in that short fight. Kamys needed a rest to gather battle aura into his body, but he had no time for it. He looked at the place where Boe was standing before, but there wasn¡¯t anyone now. Kamys started running up the mountain, hoping that Boe was still alive.

    When the old man started fighting Kamys, the other assassin was already running toward Boe. When Boe saw this all happening, he ran back a bit and chose a flat terrain for his fight. Since he already activated demonification form and was planning to fight with his full strength, he needed a perfect location to use his new thirteen moves. While this was a dangerous life-or-death fight, it was also a great opportunity to deepen his understanding of these moves.

    Boe stopped, whispered ¡°Kaigyruu Kalkan¡± to activate his ¡°Shield of regret¡± defensive technique, and a faint black fog covered his body. Then he took out his Claws of Enthriil and used his ¡°Amplification¡± technique on them. He took a stance of a defensive movement from his thirteen moves and was ready to go all out in this battle against the strongest enemy he faced so far.

    The assassin stopped when he was twenty meters away from Boe and hastily chanted ¡°Kyolyokyo Kyimyl¡±, ¡°Kyolyokyo Kalkan¡± and ¡°Karangy Kylych¡±, these were ¡°Shadow step¡±, ¡°Shadow shield¡± and ¡°Sword of darkness¡± techniques. First one transformed the assassin into a shadow on the ground, second created a thin black shield around the shadow and a last one materialized a pitch black sword in his hands.

    Boe knew that shadow step allowed the user to move faster and be invulnerable to physical attacks, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about it, since all his attacks were physical or too weak to injure a rank 2 wizard. While Boe couldn¡¯t attack the assassin, he could evade attacks and wait until his enemy would deactivate shadow step technique to attack him.

    The shadow started moving rapidly in Boe¡¯s direction, and he had no choice, but to dodge shadow¡¯s attacks and move backward bit by bit. The assassin was shocked when he understood that Boe could keep up with his speed and was even slightly faster than him. He was a rank 2 wizard assassin specialized in speed, but that kid was actually able to evade his each and every attack.

    After a few unsuccessful attacks, the assassin deactivated a shadow step technique and whispered ¡°Kogochto Karangy¡±, it was a chant for ¡°Blinding darkness¡± technique. This technique was meant to attack opponent¡¯s mind and create an illusion of a complete darkness. But Boe wasn¡¯t an ordinary rank 1 wizard, there was a terrifying soul inside of him, and when the small ball of shadow attribute battle aura entered Boe¡¯s mind, it was devoured and couldn¡¯t do anything to him.

    The assassin was certain that his technique would be a success and he would get a few seconds to kill Boe, so he charged at Boe with all his might and brandished his sword of darkness.

    Boe heard assassin¡¯s chant and was prepared to be blinded, he wanted to just run away in a random direction. But to his surprise, nothing happened, and the assassin was already running toward him. He had no time to ponder over reasons of that incident and swung his claws at an enemy.

    *CLASH*

    Claws of Enthriil collided with a sword of darkness, and the assassin¡¯s sword has dispersed under a power of high ranked weapon and Boe¡¯s strength. After cutting throughthe sword, the power of Boe¡¯s attack decreased, but it was still enough to leave a few bloody scars on the assassin¡¯s chest.

    *drip-drip*

    The assassin jumped back from Boe, he managed to dodge a fatal strike, but he was still injured and blood was flowing from four scars on his body. He had a very ugly expression on his face. The injury wasn¡¯t really horrible, but the assassin was shocked that a little rank 1 wizard was able to somehow suppress his blinding darkness technique and then destroy his sword of darkness with a single attack.

    When Boe saw blood on the ground and on the assassin¡¯s body, something inside of him started boiling with excitement. He has already killed another assassin before, but this was the first time when he was going to kill a person with his own hands without using external help. His entire being was now demanding to kill the enemy before him.

    ¡°Kill him. Make him bleed. Bathe in his blood. And then I shall bestow a part of my power upon you.¡± Boe suddenly heard a shrill and sinister voice in his head. His mind started trembling and his killing intent rose to an extreme level, his eyes started shining with madness and his aura became overwhelmingly demonic.

    The assassin saw the changes in Boe and started unconsciously backing up. His whole body was trembling from fear and his mind has become blank. He wanted to turn around and run as far as he could from here, but something locked him up in a place. He felt like a huge hand grabbed his body and was moving him toward Boe.

    But then something unexpected happened, a huge fountain of fire appeared in a distance and Boe woke up from his strange state. The terrifying force from the assassin¡¯s body disappeared and he started heavily panting.

    When the assassin understood, that he was freed from his previous condition, he immediately decided to leave this place and never turn back. He didn¡¯t want to have anything with this little demon and he was ready to abandon the Ligu family so he would never encounter him again. But right when he was ready to run away, Boe came to his senses too.

    Boe didn¡¯t understand what just happened, but he knew that he needed to kill the assassin. Even if it wasn¡¯t for the voice he heard, he had to kill the enemy to ensure that information about his power wouldn¡¯t spread out.

    The assassin noticed a killing intent in Boe¡¯s eyes, so he took out ten small daggers from his belt and started throwing them at Boe. Boe started moving, his speed was faster than the assassin¡¯s so he was catching up to him at a decent rate.

    The assassin already wasted all his daggers on elusive Boe when they were five meters apart from each other.

    Kyolyokyo Jebe¡± the assassin chanted a ¡°Shadow arrow¡± technique and pointed it in Boe¡¯s direction. Boe heard his chant and suddenly dropped to the ground. Shadow arrow flew above Boe, while he glided on the ground and moved even faster than before. It was one of the movements from Boe¡¯s thirteen moves of the ¡°Demon Emperor¡± battle teaching. The assassin could only watch as Boe approached him and slashed at his leg.

    The assassin¡¯s right leg was cut off by Boe¡¯s claws and he fell to the ground. Blood was streaming out from both detached leg and assassin¡¯s thigh.

    Boe didn¡¯t give the assassin a chance to even say anything as he thrusted his claws into an assassin¡¯s heart.

 Chapter 21 - Guardian clans

    ¡°Jashagychty Aloo¡± Boe chanted his ¡°Vitality devourer¡± technique and placed his right hand on the dying assassin¡¯s head. A warm stream of battle aura entered Boe¡¯s body and the assassin¡¯s body started shaking violently. Boe needed to restore his power to go help Kamys and this technique was the best way to do it. A few seconds later, Boe felt that his technique was successfully completed and he drained all remaining battle aura from the corpse. This time, Boe¡¯s demon didn¡¯t appear, but Boe was still happy. The previous contact with the demon was enough for him to gain a little understanding of the next step of his battle teaching. He needed to create a mental connection with the demon and this experience gave a great boost in Boe¡¯s confidence in breaking through to the rank 2.

    But when he stood up, he saw Kamys standing on a cliff a little higher on the mountain.Kamys¡¯ face was ashen after the battle, and his mouth was open wide from shock. He thought he had a monstrous power after he defeated the assassin, but Boe did it faster than him and didn¡¯t even look to be tired or out of battle aura.

    ¡°Brother Boe, you are just too scary¡­¡± Kamys jumped down and completely relaxed. His aura became cheerful, warm and kind again, his eyes were now brown and hairs red. He had a very relaxed and exhausted look on his face, but his eyes were burning with excitement. He knew that he could finally tell everything about himself to Boe, they now knew each other¡¯s secrets and could trust each other. He was always a very talkative person and couldn¡¯t really keep secrets, so the last few months in the school were a torture for him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m the scary one here to be honest. What was that bird behind you and was that fire fountain your job as well?¡± Boe slightly smiled and came closer to Kamys. He usually had an apathetic personality, but for some reason every time he was with Kamys, he was acting like his past self. Boe has never really considered why that was happening, but now he understood that Kamys was his first real friend in this life. When Boe was in a grave danger, Kamys didn¡¯t hesitate even for a second before jumping in to save him. As the saying goes, the true friend shows his loyalty in times of troubles. So Boe decided, that no matter what happens in the future, he would definitely never let Kamys down.

    ¡°That¡¯s a power of my bloodline. To tell you the truth, I don¡¯t really believe it, but my father always told me that I have a blood of a Phoenix and a Dragon in my veins. The bird that appears when I activate my bloodline is supposedly the result of a mixture of both bloodlines. And the battle teaching that I¡¯m training is called the ¡°Rebirth of a Phoenix¡±. But my power is nothing compared to my father. When he activates his bloodline, a huge amber-colored bird appears, flies around him and help him in battles. My bird is red and it doesn¡¯t even move, which is a first level of its evolution. A second level is when it becomes vermilion, though it still doesn¡¯t move but can attack enemies. My father is at a third level, that¡¯s why his bird is amber-colored, can fly around and assist him. A patriarch of my clan is at a fourth level, his bird is bright yellow and it has an actual physical body! He can mount his bird and fly around, can you imagine it? The records of my clan are stating that there is a fifth level of bloodline manifestation. Anyone who reaches this stage would merge with their bird and reach a level of power far beyond this world. But no one reached that level in the history of my clan although we had a few ancestors at rank 9 and even legendary rank 10.¡± Kamys was talking non-stop, he seemed to forget about their battle and his current condition. He was so happy to finally tell his story and brag about his father and patriarch. He was fifteen-year-old boy after all, he still had a childish character and dreamed about becoming a powerful being in future.

    ¡°Your clan is actually that powerful? Why are you in our little school then?¡± Boe was stunned after he heard Kamys¡¯ story. He couldn¡¯t imagine for what reason a powerful clan would send their own young talent to train in a low level school.

    ¡°My clan is one of the three guardian clans of our king. My real name is Kamys Theodore of the ancient Theodore clan.¡± Kamys felt rather guilty that he lied to Boe before, but now he was relieved.

    ¡°Guardian clans of the king?¡± Boe didn¡¯t really know much about the Shadow Kingdom, so he had no idea what that meant.

    ¡°Are you even from the Shadow Kingdom? How can you not know about guardian clans?¡±

    ¡°I was actually born in another kingdom and came here to study in our school because of my master¡¯s instructions¡­¡± Boe had no choice but to mention his master.

    ¡°That explains a lot. Well, guardian clans are the three ancient clans that swore loyalty to our king when he just unified the Shadow Kingdom under his rule. Each clan protects a different side of our kingdom. My clan is responsible for the south borders, where the Empire of demons lays. The war with demons got a lot more serious these years and a lot of my clan¡¯s people died by the hands of demons so my father decided to send me out of the clan until I¡¯ll be able to protect my own life. But he passed me the battle teaching of our clan and helps me from shadows. I¡¯m his heir after all¡­¡± Kamys¡¯ voice became soft and sad when he was talking about his clan and their current state.

    ¡°So you have a very noble background, eh? And I¡¯m just a poor little boy from a tiny village in a small kingdom. My master chose me as one of his students, gave me the ¡°Demonification¡± battle teaching and then sent me to our school to train and develop myself. Nothing interesting here, so keep telling me about other guardian clans.¡± Boe was even more depressed when he was reminded of his origins. He didn¡¯t know anything about his parent¡¯s current life. They probably think that I died right after Rak¡­ Boe hoped his parents were okay and his little brother would support them before he would be able to get back to them.

    ¡°Poor little boy? You¡¯re at least not weaker than me, and I¡¯m the current ¡°Child of Fire¡± of my clan. This title is only given to the best talent of a generation and you somehow surpassed me, do you even understand what kind of monster you are?¡± When Kamys just started training, he showed the best talent among his peers and that was exactly the reason why his clan agreed to send him out to keep him safe. He was the best candidate to become the next patriarch of his clan so the resources he was receiving were immense, but Boe managed to become stronger than him at the same age without any kind of a support. While Kamys wasn¡¯t the strongest on the continent, he was definitely one of the top ten within the Shadow Kingdom. Previously only other children of guardian clans, royal family and personal disciples of hidden powerhouses could contend against him. But now Boe claimed that he was just a beggar from the little village and yet he was evidently on the same level of strength as the best geniuses of the kingdom.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    ¡°Well, you can consider my master to be a hidden expert, I guess¡­ Better tell me about other guardian clans.¡± Boe couldn¡¯t explain his master¡¯s origins, since he didn¡¯t really understand it himself so he tried to change the topic of the conversation again.

    ¡°Hidden expert? You don¡¯t have to tell me about him if you can¡¯t, but if there will be a chance, introduce me to him.¡± Kamys¡¯ eyes were sparkling like stars in a night sky. People of this world always respected strength, so meeting a powerful expert was always a desire in young hearts. ¡°Second one is a Garcia clan. They¡¯re located in the west and protect our kingdom from Church of Light. But in reality they¡¯re doing nothing since we¡¯re on pretty good terms with them and their Grand Inquisitor since the beginning. And the last one is He Clan, which is responsible for the north borders and are doing a very good job of establishing good relationships with the Dark Elf Kingdom. It is thanks to them that we¡¯re able to participate in this competition.¡±

    ¡°If three clans are protecting our kingdom from three sides, then what about the east?¡±

    ¡°East is where the savage Empire of Beasts located, but that place is the safest one. The royal family and King Karib are responsible for that region and beasts don¡¯t even have a single emperor to rule them all, so they¡¯re not a threat to us.¡± Kamys wore a very proud expression on his face when he was talking about King Karib, as if it was him who guarded the kingdom from beasts.

    Boe was now wondering where was his little Green Plains Kingdom located on the Lin continent. He had never seen a complete map of the continent and had no idea how The Strongest moved him from his kingdom into the Shadow Kingdom.

    ¡°Ligu family might already know that their assassins failed to kill us, let¡¯s leave this place and go to the He clan or straight to the Dark Elf Kingdom as fast as we can.¡± Kamys has finished telling his story and Boe said as much as he could, so he felt that it was enough and they needed to move.

    Two days later, in a Kemon Forest on the north of the Shadow Kingdom.

    A dark silhouette in tight pitch black clothes with a black mask on a face was swiftly moving between trees. When the mysterious figure heard someone walking twenty meters ahead, it stopped moving and listened to the conversation.

    Meanwhile, Boe and Kamys were discussing the upcoming competition when Boe suddenly stopped talking and took a glance at their back.

    ¡°Someone is following us,¡± Boe whispered but didn¡¯t stop walking.

    ¡°I noticed that too, what do we do?¡± Kamys didn¡¯t look back, but he was already prepared to act.

    ¡°it might be assassins from Ligu family and they should be stronger than previous ones, so we should act decisively.¡± Boe has already activated his demonification form and Claws of Enthriil were already on his hands.

    ¡°Let me attack with my fire technique first while you¡¯ll get close to them.¡± Kamys¡¯ couldn¡¯t activate his full power yet or else the enemy would easily notice the bird near him.

    The masked person stood still behind the tree and held the breath. Kamys suddenly turned around, his eyes were crimson, hairs looked like they were burning, aura became majestic and fiery. The bird appeared behind his back and Kamys used his ¡°Falling Star¡± technique, it was his strongest long-range attacking technique. It created a fireball in his hands, which he then threw at the enemy.

    The fireball was extremely fast, but the masked person dodged it to the side and then looked at Kamys with stunned expression on the face. He then noticed that the second young man vanished and immediately jumped up.

    Boe was a meter away when he slashed his claws at the enemy, but to his surprise, his attack was easily dodged. He then brandished his weapon in the opponent¡¯s direction, but the masked person has already vanished from his sight.

    Kamys was preparing to go all out and was ready to activate his ¡°Awakening of the phoenix¡± technique, when an enemy appeared next to him. He tried to dodge an attack, but a leg was already landing on top of his head.

    *BAM*

    Kamys was kicked in his head and flew two meters away, when he landed onto the ground, he coughed and spitted out some blood.

    Boe was enraged when he saw his only friend injured by an enemy, his killing intent overshot all the limits and his blood started crazily burning. He was ready to tear his enemy to the shreds, but then he stopped in a place and his jaw dropped.

    A mysterious person took off the mask and the hood. Boe saw a gorgeous female with eyes as dark as night, a waterfall of shiny, thick black hair and absolutely perfect chiseled facial features. His heart started beating faster and his breath became unsteady. He has never seen anyone as beautiful as the girl in front of him, he even forgot that she has just injured Kamys.

    ¡°You two are now in serious problems, run away from here and leave the Shadow Kingdom if you can.¡± The girl looked to be fourteen of fifteen years of age, but her tone sounded like she was already a queen. Her voice was soft and melodic, her aura was gentle and dignified. Each and every aspect of the girl was absolutely flawless in Boe¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m ¡­ We¡¯re very sorry. Assassins are hunting us two down, and we thought you were one of them.¡± Boe¡¯s voice shook at the beginning, but he then regained his calm and it became cold and indifferent again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind it, but they will be furious when¡­ Well, it¡¯s too late already.¡± In the middle of a sentence, the girl looked behind Boe¡¯s back and her face became grim.

    Before Boe had a chance to turn around and find out what the girl saw there, someone has already landed a hit on his head and he was heavily smashed onto the ground, blood spraying out of his mouth.

    ¡°Your highness, please stop running off from your bodyguards. If something will happen to you, your father will behead me so I beg you to spare my life and stay by my side.¡± A white-haired middle aged man in black military uniform with a black crow on a chest was now standing on top of Boe, while a young man in the same uniform was already tying up Kamys.

    ¡°Ro-royal guards?¡± Kamys¡¯ voice was trembling from fear as he looked up at the uniform of two men.

 Chapter 22 - Brienne Karib

    ¡°So you know who we are, then you should understand what kind of offense you have made. According to laws of The Shadow Kingdom, you both shall be executed on a spot without a trial,¡± the young royal guard said with a look of disdain on his face. He had short blonde hairs, brown eyes and there were a lot of scars on his face. He looked to be around twenty five years old and already a rank 3 wizard, this kind of strength at his age would make him a worshipped genius in the Black Scorpio school.

    ¡°Gareth, it¡¯s not their fault so just let them go.¡± The girl¡¯s voice was overbearing and carried a very majestic power in it.

    ¡°With all due respect, your highness, The King himself created this law.¡± Gareth still insisted on his previous words, but spoke in a very restrained manner in front of the girl.

    ¡°You dare disobey my orders?¡± The girl¡¯s tone became cold, an oppressive aura burst forth from her body and killing intent focused on Gareth.

    ¡°Do you want me to kill them?¡± Toxin Queen¡¯s voice resounded in Boe¡¯s head.

    ¡°Young miss, please tell your loyal dog to let me go or he¡¯ll die before he¡¯ll have a chance to do anything to me,¡± to everyone¡¯s surprise, Boe suddenly looked at the girl and spoke in a very calm and confident voice.

    ¡°What did you say? Are you threatening me?¡± The old man was obviously enraged when he heard Boe¡¯s words. He took out his sword from his back and his killing intent locked on Boe¡¯s body. Shockingly, he was a rank 7 wizard. In any little country he would already be a king or at least a terrifying powerhouse and yet he was just a bodyguard of the little girl.

    ¡°Sir Jacob, put your sword down and let them both go.¡± The girl looked at Jacob with a warm smile on her face, and he couldn¡¯t argue with her any longer. He put his sword back on his back, stood up and released Boe. When Gareth saw the scene, he immediately untied Kamys and walked away.

    ¡°Thanks for understanding, young miss,¡± Boe said with an indifferent look on his face, but his eyes were still focused on the girl.

    ¡°Boy, I¡¯m quite interested in you. Your power back then was not something that the rank 1 wizard should be able to unleash. Who are you and what¡¯s your background?¡± Boe didn¡¯t expect that the girl would suddenly speak to him, and he was now flabbergasted.

    ¡°Your highness, I¡¯m Kamys Theodore of the ancient Theodore clan.¡± Kamys stood up and kneeled on one knee while bowing his head.

    ¡°I figured that you¡¯re from the Theodore clan when I saw your attack and aura. That¡¯s the only reason I decided to spare your lives. Is he from your clan as well?¡±

    ¡°No, he is just a friend of mine from the school I¡¯m attending at the moment.¡±

    ¡°School? So you¡¯re the ¡°Child of Fire¡± of a current generation. You, tell me your origins and your battle teaching¡¯s name.¡± The girl was acting as if she was Boe¡¯s master. She pointed her delicate finger at him and was looking at him with a commanding look on her beautiful little face. Boe has never met anyone so arrogant, strong and yet attractive before.

    ¡°Young miss, I¡¯m not a citizen of this country. So even if you are a princess or a queen herself, I have no obligations to obey your will. My background is very humble so it has no meaning to speak about it. My battle teaching is a secret I must keep or I will let my master down.¡± Boe was calm, resolute and not even a little bit arrogant when he was saying these words. He wasn¡¯t a person that could easily be bullied or humiliated.

    ¡°You¡¯re from another country? Then you can be a spy from our enemies, should I just execute you right now?¡± The girl slightly smiled, but her voice was as cold as ice. Boe¡¯s boldness sparked an interest inside of her, she was a princess of The Shadow Kingdom so Boe was the first person who dared to speak to her like that. She was used to people obeying and flattering her, so his attitude was a breath of a fresh air to her.

    ¡°I¡¯m from a small Green Plains Kingdom, so I¡¯m definitely not a spy. And you should really stop talking about my execution or I won¡¯t be able to stop a calamity from happening here.¡± Boe didn¡¯t know how the Toxin Queen would react if things would go out of hand, but he didn¡¯t want the girl in front of him to get killed. He was sincerely interested in her after all.

    ¡°You¡¯re saying this nonsense yet again. Why don¡¯t you show me what will happen if you¡¯ll get attacked then?¡± The girl smiled mischievously and nodded at Jacob. The old man immediately moved in Boe¡¯s direction with an intention of harming him.

    ¡°Eldest sister, please don¡¯t kill him, it will only create more problems for me. If you can, just scare him off.¡± Boe looked at the girl, but spoke to the Toxin Queen with a pleading in his voice.

    ¡°You owe me one now,¡± Toxin Queen¡¯s voice resounded in Boe¡¯s head again.

    Jacob was slowly walking toward Boe, but his mind was fully concentrated in case someone was actually here to secretly protect Boe.

    When Jacob was two meters away from Boe, he suddenly felt an extreme pain in his right hand. When he looked at it, his hand was already slowly melting from a strange green fire. The pain was unbearable, but Jacob immediately cut off the part of his hand that was engulfed in green flames. He then jumped back from Boe and his face was filled with shock and fear.

    ¡°I warned you.¡± Boe glanced at Jacob with an indifferent look on his face and then turned his attention back to the girl.

    ¡°You attacked the royal guard! You will not live long enough to see tomorrow now!¡± Gareth yelled and took out his sword.

    ¡°Stop it. He didn¡¯t attack, but only defended himself. Jacob should be grateful that he kept his life this time,¡± the girl glared at Gareth and he had no choice but to submit. ¡°Young man and the elder who has just acted, please don¡¯t take an offense. I, Brienne Karib, the princess of The Shadow Kingdom, ask to forgive me for my rash behavior.¡± Brienne bowed deeply and her attitude changed from the arrogant ruler into an obedient junior.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    Kamys was stunned when he saw all that, the princess of the kingdom was bowing to Boe? There was someone protecting him from the shadows this whole time? Why did they even have to fight with Ligu assassins then? All these questions were rotating in Kamys¡¯ head, but he didn¡¯t dare to ask them right now.

    Seeing Brienne¡¯s reaction, Boe admired her even more. She wasn¡¯t just gorgeous, powerful and talented. She had a very high intelligence, she managed to judge the situation in a mere seconds and then act according to the best plan to survive and maybe even create friendly relationships with Toxin Queen.

    ¡°That girl is actually not bad, you should make her your woman, little brother.¡± The Toxin Queen¡¯s voice was unexpectedly very playful while saying this.

    ¡°Apologies accepted by me, and my eldest sister doesn¡¯t really care about such a trifle matter. As long as you don¡¯t attack me again, she won¡¯t interfere with anything else.¡± Boe smiled at Brienne and noticed disappointment in her eyes.

    ¡°I still haven¡¯t heard big brother¡¯s name though?¡± A brilliant smile on Brienne¡¯s face made Boe¡¯s heart start beating faster and his mind stirred.

    ¡°Boe Nas.¡± He calmed himself down, but his voice was still a little shaky.

    ¡°So it¡¯s big brother Boe, I will make sure I remember this name.¡± Her voice was as sweet and charming as song of sirens.

    While Boe was intoxicated by Brienne, Kamys¡¯ entire body was trembling. The legendary Dark Witch Brienne was actually acting this way in front of Boe¡­ His respect toward Boe was just raised by another level.

    ¡°Alright, Jacob and Gareth, we shall leave now.¡± Brienne¡¯s voice was overbearing and cold again as she turned around and started walking away.

    ¡°Young miss, I ask you and your loyal dogs to not leak the information about me or my eldest sister, or else she will definitely be angry.¡± Boe looked at Brienne¡¯s back without blinking.

    ¡°Big brother Boe, I assure you that nothing that happened here will be known to anyone but us. By the way, please call me little Brie from now on.¡± Brienne winked at Boe and left, not giving him a chance to respond. Boe¡¯s heart stopped beating when he saw Brienne¡¯s enchanting wink and smile.

    When they were already a few kilometers away from Boe and Kamys, Brienne stopped and looked at Jacob¡¯s injury. Her face serious and voice cold, she said: ¡°What was that power and at what rank is his eldest sister?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t ever seen anything like that power in my life. If I didn¡¯t cut off my arm straight away, I¡¯m sure I would die in just a few seconds. And I didn¡¯t even see or feel where she attacked me from. This kind of strength should be at least equal to our king.¡± Jacob¡¯s expression was very grim and his voice exhausted.

    ¡°Strength equal to my father? Whoever it was, we can¡¯t afford to make her our enemy. It would be much better if we could befriend that Boe Nas and his sister. If he has someone of this level of power protecting him, then what is his background and what power is behind him? I¡¯ll have to discuss this with my father and your arm needs to be healed by my father¡¯s personal healer as well. Let¡¯s go back to the royal city for now.¡±

    ¡°Your highness, do you want me to spy on them?¡± Gareth came forth and proposed to the princess.

    ¡°Idiot, they will know you¡¯re spying on them, and it might make them hostile toward us. Jacob, when we¡¯ll get back, make your men reevaluate Gareth. He is too rash and arrogant; I don¡¯t want to see him as the royal guard anymore.¡± Brienne was displeased with Gareth¡¯s behavior, but she didn¡¯t even take a look at him as she ruined his career.

    ¡°You have a powerful protector?¡± Kamys slowly came closer to Boe and quietly asked.

    ¡°It was my eldest sister; she is my master¡¯s disciple and he asked her to look over me. But she won¡¯t be saving me anymore, I think I¡¯ll have to pay a great price even for this time¡­¡± Boe didn¡¯t know what to expect from the Toxin Queen since he now owed her a favor. What would she need from the little weak kid anyways?

    ¡°If your eldest sister is that powerful, then what is your master capable of?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what kind of power does my master wield. I only know that he¡¯s far more formidable than I can imagine. Kamys, please keep this all a secret for me, otherwise my master will be very displeased with me.¡± Boe could only awkwardly smile. He really didn¡¯t know The Strongest¡¯s real power. When he has just met his master, he thought that he was just a powerful demon hunter, but now he understood that even rank 9 wizards didn¡¯t know anything about the fact that they lived in a ¡°tiny world¡±. Was his master a rank 10 wizard or is there realms beyond rank 10? This matter was too far from Boe for now so he just threw it to the back of his head.

    ¡°I will take this secret to my grave, brother Boe. But your so-called ¡°humble¡± background doesn¡¯t seem to be as you¡¯re describing it.¡± Kamys has finally smiled and his usual cheerful attitude came back.

    ¡°Before I met my master, I was just a silly village boy who was dreaming to become a rank 3 demon hunter.¡± Boe smiled in response and his eyes were filled with sadness.

    ¡°Demon hunter? Is that some kind of profession back in your country? Did your people actually hunt the demons?¡± When Kamys¡¯ heard about demon hunters, he didn¡¯t even notice Boe¡¯s mood and showered him with questions.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let your imagination run wild, in my home country we just called wizards like that and that¡¯s it. I don¡¯t think anyone of current or previous generations of my country even met any demon in their lifetime.¡± Wizards of the Green Plains Kingdom were called demon hunters just because the king himself defeated a demon army few hundred years ago.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a bummer. My clan has fought with demons all the time since we were chosen to guard south borders of our kingdom, so I hoped that you might be from a similar family.¡± Kamys was raised to hate demons because of his clan, so anyone who opposed demons were kindred spirits for him.

    ¡°So, about that Brienne Karib¡­ Is she a princess of The Shadow Kingdom?¡± Boe was rather interested in her, but all he knew about her was her name.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you have fallen in love with the Dark Witch?!¡± Kamys¡¯ voice almost cracked in a middle of his sentence.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call that love¡­ But I¡¯m interested in her.¡± Boe felt awkward, even though Kamys was his best and only friend, he has never discussed this kind of things with anyone before.

    ¡°She is a third daughter of the King Karib, Brienne Karib. People call her the Dark Witch because her talent in shadow attribute magic is just abnormal. She has a level 4 affinity toward it. I have a level 3 affinity toward fire attribute and yet I¡¯m already called the ¡°Child of Fire¡±, can you imagine what kind of existence she is?¡± Kamys¡¯ voice was filled with fear and awe when he was talking about Brienne. Boe imagined how would Kamys react if he told that he has a level 4 affinity as well.

    ¡°So she¡¯s a successor of the king?¡±

    ¡°No, successor has to be male, so it¡¯s her older brother, but she¡¯s definitely the favorite child and her future is limitless. If you have plans on wooing her then just drop it. All the talents of our kingdom are already pursuing her and even princes and talents from other kingdoms and empires are trying their best to get her. I even heard that current Crown Prince of The Elf Kingdom wants to marry her and thus create an alliance with our kingdom.¡± Kamys was smiling and shaking his head as if Boe had no chances.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know me too well, I guess. If I want something or someone to be mine, I will eventually obtain it.¡± Boe¡¯s voice was arrogant and yet resolute. He was the future Demon Emperor after all, how could a woman he wanted elude his grasp?

 Chapter 23 - Dark Elf Kingéˆ¥æªš Trials

    After two more calm days of walking, Kamys and Boe had finally reached a border of The Shadow Kingdom.

    Boe was now looking at a huge black fortress. It was the He Clan¡¯s castle that was used as a transition point to move from The Shadow Kingdom into The Dark Elf Kingdom and back. While Boe was shocked as he looked at the castle, Kamys was moving hastily in the direction of the main gates.

    ¡°Halt! Who goes there?¡± A commanding voice sounded from within the castle. Two figures appeared out of the castle, armed with swords and dressed in cyan military armor.

    ¡°We¡¯re from the Black Scorpio school on our way to the Dark Elf Kingdom¡¯s competition,¡± Kamys answered in a loud and unhesitating voice.

    ¡°So you two are alive? Good, your teachers and companions are waiting for you near our castle on elves¡¯ territory.¡± Guard sounded indifferent, yet he remembered that people from the school passed by them and asked to look out for two young men.

    ¡°Then we will no longer bother you two,¡± Kamys said as he tried to pass through the gates.

    ¡°Little Kamys, is that you?¡± Suddenly Kamys and Boe heard a voice coming from the castle. A second later, blue-haired middle-aged man with a very solemn expression on his face appeared.

    ¡°Greetings, uncle Romeo.¡± Kamys lightly bowed toward Romeo.

    ¡°So it¡¯s really you. Why don¡¯t you come into the castle and chat with me a bit?¡± A kind smiled was on Romeo¡¯s face as he patted Kamys on the shoulders.

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, but I have to hurry and catch up with my teachers or I might miss the chance to participate in the elves¡¯ competition.¡± Even though Kamys was apologizing, his voice didn¡¯t show any emotions. That seemed rather strange to Boe, he got used to see Kamys emotional and cheerful all the time.

    ¡°Look at this old idiot. How could I forget that you¡¯re participating in the competition? Well, I won¡¯t hold you here then. My son and few nephews already left a few days ago and even your cousin passed by here yesterday. I wish you good luck then, Child of Fire.¡± Boe noticed that Romeo¡¯s voice contained a hint of mockery.

    ¡°What was that about?¡± Boe wasn¡¯t usually a curious person, but Kamys¡¯ mood greatly changed after they passed through the gates. Kamys was surprisingly quiet and pensive.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Kamys replied with just a single word. That made Boe even more interested in the issue. What could make always joyful Kamys become so serious and stressed?

    ¡°You call me your brother and help when I¡¯m in troubles, but as soon as you face problems, you¡¯re actually putting a wall between us?¡± Boe¡¯s voice was very angry and aggressive.

    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t want to involve you in my clan¡¯s internal issues.¡± Kamys was now even more dispirited than before. He would jump in to save Boe and risk his life for that without a doubt or fear, but he was now so depressed over internal affairs of his clan. This showed how serious were those issues, Boe probably could do nothing about that.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re always calling me your brother, then your clan¡¯s issues are mine too.¡± Boe wasn¡¯t very emotional, but he felt a strong respect and gratitude toward Kamys after their previous experience.

    ¡°Sigh¡­ I guess I don¡¯t have any other choice but to tell you everything?¡± Kamys finally smiled as he looked at Boe.

    ¡°Yep, if you won¡¯t tell me all you know yourself, I¡¯ll have to beat you up and get all information I need by force,¡± Boe said with a serious tone and his face didn¡¯t show even a little smile as if he would really do it.

    ¡°Alright. I already told you that I¡¯m the current Child of Fire of my clan, right? And I told you that I was sent away from my clan because of demons¡¯ threat, but it isn¡¯t entirely true. While demons are really attacking us more than usual, there is still a treaty between their emperor and ours so there won¡¯t be an actual war in near future. The real danger to my life comes from within the clan. The title ¡°Child of Fire¡± was always in hands of the main family in my clan, I¡¯m the first one to get it outside of the main branch of the clan. That¡¯s why my father was afraid that the patriarch would want his grandchild to inherit his position and harm me because of that.¡± Kamys told the entire truth to Boe and his voice was trembling at the end of it.

    ¡°Understood. Don¡¯t worry about that, whatever comes after you will have to deal with me first.¡± Boe patted Kamys on the right shoulder and tried to smile as kindly as he could.

    ¡°Now that I have your protection, I¡¯m relieved.¡± When Kamys saw an ugly face Boe made, he couldn¡¯t hold his laughter and his mood greatly improved.

    ¡°Are you here for business or tourism?¡± A tall, handsome youth with a dark-grey colored skin in a grey military outfit met Boe and Kamys before the border of The Dark Elf Kingdom.

    ¡°We¡¯re here to participate in the competition. We¡¯re from the Black Scorpio school of The Shadow Kingdom,¡± Boe answered calmly.

    ¡°Names?¡± Guard asked as he took out a huge book from the table on his right.

    ¡°Boe Nas and Kamys Tad.¡± Kamys called himself by the fake name, because he registered in the competition with it.

    ¡°Okay, here is your map. Your teachers are already waiting for you in Shkebik city.¡± Guard passed the map, and Boe saw that there was only Shkebik city on it and the way to reach it from borders of the kingdom.

    Boe and Kamys reached Shkebik after three days of walking. On the way here, Boe found out that unlike legends about them, dark elves didn¡¯t all have pointy ears and tall body. Pure blooded elves from ancient families were tall and only people of the royal family had pointy ears.

    When they entered the city, they started searching for their teachers, but the city was too vast and there were too many hotels and inns. When they finally managed to find teachers, it was already very late and the competition would start the next day.

    Boe noticed that Rid Hag wasn¡¯t among teachers, but he didn¡¯t ask any questions since he already suspected that Rid was the spy inside of Dooran¡¯s camp. Other teachers have probably already punished Rid somehow. When teachers asked what happened to assassins, Boe lied that they somehow managed to avoid meeting them and then got here using a different route. Both Boe and Kamys didn¡¯t want their true power to be known to anyone so they couldn¡¯t tell that they killed three rank 2 assassins by themselves.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    Teachers weren¡¯t stupid though, they have actually been to that mountain and saw corpses of assassins, but they would never think that two young men with rank 1 powers did that themselves. They knew that Kamys was from the Theodore clan so they naturally assumed that Kamys had a powerful guardian by his side who eliminated assassins.

    On the next morning, Boe, Kamys and the rest from the school met up at street and went to the center of the city together. The competition was going to be held in a huge stadium with ten thousand seats for spectating.

    The competition was actually called ¡°Dark Elf King¡¯s Trials¡±. Each participant would go through three trials consecutively. All tests were using illusion magic arrays.

    The first one was called a ¡°Trial of the warrior¡±. It tested participant¡¯s fighting prowess. It gave maximum of twenty points based on a speed of completion. Only people with fifteen points or above were able to move forward.

    ¡°Trial of the hero¡± was the second one and it tested participant¡¯s courage and determination. Maximum points earned in this trial were thirty points based on the time spent inside. Twenty-five points were a threshold to participate in the next trial.

    The third trial was the ¡°Trial of the leader¡± which tested participant¡¯s leadership and decisiveness. It was a very mysterious trial, where each participant would see unique illusion built specifically for them based on their thoughts and fears. Amount of points earned would appear on the magic array once participant would finish the trial.

    Final placements were determined by the sum of all three trials results. People outside of the top five would basically not receive anything, but glory and respect. Only five best participants were eligible to enter the next magic array.

    And the last one was called the ¡°Ancient King¡¯s audience¡±. Each of the best five would enter an ancient magic array, which would grant them a chance to meet a strand of the legendary Dark Elf King¡¯s soul, who has established The Dark Elf Kingdom many years ago. The king would then decide what to give to his guest based only on their short conversation. Most of people who managed to meet the king, came out with empty hands, but from time to time a genius would appear that would satisfy the king¡¯s high expectations. Genius like that would get a heaven-defying treasure or world-breaking knowledge.

    Originally, this was an yearly competition and only elves would participate in it. But in order to establish better relationships with The Shadow Kingdom and Church of Light, elves made their competition open to other races once in five years.

    When Boe and his group entered the stadium from participants¡¯ entry, they saw that the whole stadium was already filled with people. They then saw a lot of people standing at the center and started moving in that direction. When they reached the crowd, they saw a lot of different uniforms and emblems. People from all around the continent came here to compete for prizes from elves. There were close to ten thousand participants and more than half of them were dark elves.

    ¡°THE COMPETITION BEGINS IN TEN MINUTES. ANYONE WHO WON¡¯T BE ON THE STAGE BY THAT TIME, WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED.¡± A thunderous voice resounded throughout the whole stadium.

    Ten minutes later, the scene was packed with young men and women. Boe was standing calmly, not caring about anything in the world. Kamys was looking around all the time and his fists were clenched. He was obviously looking for people from his clan.

    ¡°THERE WILL BE A HUNDRED MAGIC ARRAYS AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TRIAL. WHEN I WILL NAME YOUR SCHOOL OR FAMILY, COME OUT AND ENTER ARRAYS.¡± The voice was even louder this time and Boe felt a headache starting.

    ¡°GOLDEN GRYPHON, BLACK CROW...¡± The voice named a lot of schools and hundred people came out from the crowd. All of them had different clothing and aura, but all of them entered one of arrays each at the same time. A hundred young men and women were now standing in arrays as if they were hypnotized.

    The stadium went quiet, no one knew the level of power of those students or the difficulty of the trial so they didn¡¯t know what to expect.

    ¡°Cough-cough¡± A young girl in golden uniform suddenly coughed and blood sprayed out of her mouth as she fell onto the ground. A huge ¡°0¡± appeared on the array. The girl has evidently didn¡¯t manage to make any success inside of the first trial. Right after her, few people coughed just like her as they fell and ¡°0¡± appeared on their arrays.

    When all hundred people finished their trial, only ten people managed to get ¡°15¡± points. All students present were best geniuses of their respective schools or clans and yet only ten percent were able to pass the trial.

    ¡­

    After three hours, people with ¡°16¡± points results started appearing. Apparently, elves saved stronger students for later. And at that moment, Boe finally heard his school¡¯s name. He yawned, stretched and followed Kamys in arrays¡¯ direction.

    When he almost reached arrays, he noticed that a lot of people were watching in his direction. At first, he didn¡¯t understand what was happening, but then he finally took a look at Kamys and it finally reached him. They were all waiting for the Child of Fire¡¯s performance and he was just too close to Kamys so he mistook glances to be in his direction.

    Boe stepped into the array and his vision got blurry. After a moment, he was already standing in a middle of the fighting scene and there was a person in front of him. It wasn¡¯t actually a person, but the dark silhouette without facial features. But the most important part was the fact that it was a rank 2 wizard. Only now did Boe understand why all those so-called geniuses couldn¡¯t get fifteen points. Even though it was only a weak rank 2 wizard who just broke through, it was definitely more powerful than most of the rank 1 wizard geniuses.

    Boe has already activated his demonification form and took out the Claws of Enthriil from his ring. He needed to finish this as fast as he could in order to get more points.

    Silhouette has started chanting some technique, but Boe started moving and was already two meters away from it. The opponent jumped back, evading Boe¡¯s attack while finishing its technique¡¯s chant. But before it could react, Boe suddenly changed his trajectory and ran past the silhouette. He then turned around to face the enemy and moved his right leg one step back. He concentrated on his moves as he clenched both his hands into fists, then connected them right in front of his chest; they were now engulfed in a thin layer of battle aura. He then attacked with both fists at the same time as he moved his right leg two steps forward. It was the same move that he used to defeat Loseac, but now it released a little amount of battle aura. But this little difference with an addition of the demonification form, astoundingly increased the power of the move.

    *BOOM*

    An impact forced Boe a few steps back and the silhouette disintegrate into a strange black powder on the floor.

    Boe¡¯s vision suddenly became blurry again, but when he opened his eyes he was back at the stadium again. He then looked below his feet and saw ¡°20¡± on the array. He was pleased with the result and stepped out of the array, but then he noticed that everyone was looking at him with bewildered faces and the whole stadium was deathly quiet.

    ¡°Brother Boe, I guess we shocked quite a few people with our performances.¡± Kamys was standing in front of Boe and smiling from ear to ear. Kamys got out of the illusion even faster than Boe and both of them were from rank 3 school. While some people knew Kamys¡¯ secret identity and could accept his result, Boe was completely unknown young man.

    ¡°Who is he? Do we have a dark horse in the competition now?¡± A young man with dark grey skin, white hairs, scarlet eyes and pointy ears was standing in the front of the crowd on stage with a very dignified and aloof expression on his face. But the most distinguished feature of his was a big scar across his forehead. His clothes were golden with an image of a crown on the chest.

 Chapter 24 - Trial of the Hero

    ¡°You finished it faster than I did?¡± Boe has already stopped worrying about people looking at him and wanted to discuss this trial with his friend, but he then noticed an elf with pointy ears coming toward them.

    ¡°Boe Nas, hello. My name is Dale Leviit, I¡¯m the thirteenth prince of The Dark Elf Kingdom.¡± Elf suddenly started a conversation with Boe.

    ¡°Greetings your highness, I¡¯m Kamys Theodore of-¡± Kamys politely greeted Dale with a gentle smile on his face, but he was quickly interrupted.

    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in you, Child of Fire. You can go take a walk somewhere else and let me talk with Boe Nas.¡± Dark elves of royal family always despised ordinary humans. They thought of themselves as entities of higher level than everyone else on the continent. Even other elves were nothing in their eyes. The only thing that could make someone decent in their eyes was strength. Even though they didn¡¯t think highly of most of humans, demons or beasts, they acknowledged that there were always talents even among trash. And royal family has always tried to pull the most gifted people into their subordinates list. That was the reason Dale came to talk to Boe, he would consider to make Kamys his lackey too, but Kamys was already a very important person in The Shadow Kingdom.

    ¡°How do you know me and what do you want from me?¡± Boe¡¯s voice became cold as he looked at Dale with eyes full of vigilance. He didn¡¯t really mind the way Dale treated Kamys, he just knew that person as haughty as prince wouldn¡¯t come seeking him just to befriend.

    ¡°I like those eyes of yours and your aura is cold and bloodthirsty. Why don¡¯t you stop following this little fellow and join my camp? I¡¯m the prince of the kingdom with unlimited power and wealth. And he is just a future patriarch of the guardian clan if he won¡¯t get killed before that, of course.¡± Apparently, Dale didn¡¯t think of Kamys¡¯ future highly at all. Even if Kamys would become the patriarch of the guardian clan, his status would still be much lower than the prince of The Dark Elf Kingdom.

    ¡°I¡¯m not his henchman and I will never obey anyone,¡± Boe coldly answered and turned around to leave the stage. Since he already finished the first trial, he would only need to appear at the second one tomorrow so he didn¡¯t have to stay at the stage.

    ¡°What an interesting fellow¡­¡± Dale murmured as he left Kamys without even casting a glance at him.

    ¡°Have I become some kind of side character here?¡± Kamys frowned and ran to catch up with Boe.

    ¡°Your highness, we found no information on his past prior to the Black Scorpio school. We only know that he trains in some unique battle teaching, which allows him to quickly boost his strength and his aura becomes demonic while using it.¡± Three hours later, Dale¡¯s subordinate came back with a report. He found all information about Boe¡¯s time in school, including the fight with Han Ligu.

    ¡°Nothing on his past and demonic battle teaching¡­ he might be a disciple of some hidden expert or a spy from demons. Keep an eye on him, I want to know about his every step.¡± Boe¡¯s mysteriousness sparked even more interest in Dale. Dale himself was very talented in magic, but he was thirteenth child of the king so he had no chances of receiving the crown. He was probably the most gifted child of the king actually, but his senior brothers were much older than him and he had no hopes of competing with them. So he was spending his life on training and living a life full of adventures. Every time he found an interesting mystery, he would not stop before he could crack all secrets behind it. All he really wanted from his life was to have as much fun as he could, and Boe became his new target.

    After Boe and Kamys left, the trial continued and a lot of people started getting fifteen or more points. When only three hundred people remained, young men and women from guardian clans were called. Each of the guardian clans were represented by twenty people and all other spots were taken by best schools of The Shadow Kingdom.

    A hundred best elites from The Shadow Kingdom all stepped into their magic arrays at the same time. After only a few breathes of time, magic arrays started shining and only ¡°18¡±, ¡°19¡± and ¡°20¡± scores appeared on them. Fifty-one people scored twenty, thirty-five scored nineteen and fourteen scored eighteen. That was the power of the first rate powerhouses of The Shadow Kingdom. They all wore arrogant smiles as they stepped out of the magic arrays and left the stage.

    After them, a hundred elites from Church of Light entered magic arrays and their results were no worse than people of The Shadow Kingdom. But their appearance were much more gentle and noble than savage dark wizards.

    And at last, a hundred most talented young men and women from The Dark Elf Kingdom walked into magic arrays with calm expressions on their faces. All magic arrays shined with a brilliant light and results astonished everyone present. Ninety-one magic arrays were showing ¡°20¡±, Dale was standing on one of them. Eight displayed ¡°19¡± and only one array had a ¡°18¡± score. Elf with ¡°18¡± looked like he disgraced himself and his whole family, even tears welled up on his eyes.

    At the end of the day, out of almost ten thousand people participating in the first trial, only three thousand twenty were able to make it to the second one. More than half of them were elves.

    Shi Ligu passed the trial with the score of seventeen points, Ivan Popov got eighteen and Richard Carter somehow got twenty points. A lot of people discussed that such a small and weak school as the Black Scorpio school managed to nurture three outstanding geniuses and everyone noted Richard, Boe and Kamys as dark horses of the competition.

    On the next day, Boe and company went to the stadium once again. There was now much fewer people standing on the stage compared to yesterday. As soon as Boe stepped on it, he felt a lot of gazes focused on him. His previous performance attracted a lot of people and he felt uncomfortable because of it.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°THE COMPETITION BEGINS IN TEN MINUTES. ANYONE WHO WON¡¯T BE ON THE STAGE BY THAT TIME, WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED,¡± The already-so familiar thunderous voice announced.

    In these ten minutes, Ivan was constantly repeating that he would definitely defeat the silhouette faster if he would go all out, but he decided to only use his own power without relying on his spirit animal. Shi was meditating with his eyes closed, and Richard was just standing and looking around. The only one who has actually talked to Ivan was Kamys. They even almost started a fight because Kamys mentioned that he¡¯s stronger than Ivan.

    ¡°WHEN YOUR NAME IS CALLED - COME OUT AND ENTER ONE OF HUNDRED MAGIC ARRAYS.¡± As soon as the voice resounded throughout the stadium, one hundred arrays appeared on the stage. These arrays were different from previous ones. They were exuding a lot more battle aura and more complex.

    This time, people were called out by names and at first only people who scored fifteen points were coming out. After just a minute inside of an array, first person crumbled onto the ground with an expression of fear on his face, but without any visible injuries on his body. After him, all other people from the first hundred fell onto the ground. Shockingly, none of the hundred managed to pass the trial as they all had ¡°0¡± on their magic arrays.

    Elves reacted calmly to the outcome, but most of humans had ugly faces. While most of them were stronger than those who already failed the trial, they weren¡¯t confident after what they saw. They didn¡¯t know what kind of trial was awaiting them, but it was evidently hard to finish it. When all the people who got fifteen points on the first trial has already went inside of magic arrays, all of them came out with zero points as their score.

    After this, even people with sixteen points were hesitant while entering arrays. The first one of them to finish the trial scored two points and everyone breathed sigh of relief. In the next two hours, all of them finished their trials, and a record between them was only six points.

    Shi Ligu was one of the people who got seventeen points in the first trial. When the announcer called his name, he stood up from his meditation and slowly walked past Boe into the array. Before him, two hundred people with the same score on the first trial went in and the record was eleven points. Light shrouded Shi and his eyes became empty as if he was hypnotized. Seven minutes later, Shi trembled and he fell onto the ground. Magic array beneath him displayed ¡°13¡±. When Shi stood up and saw that he didn¡¯t even qualified to enter the third trial, he clenched his fists and took a glance at Boe with eyes full of hatred. When all young people with seventeen points from the first trial came out, maximum amount of points scored by them was fifteen.

    Now was the time for eighteen points scored people to participate. Ivan was already pumped up and ready to win the competition. Surprisingly, Ivan was one of the last hundred participants to be called. Before him, the record was twenty-one points. When Ivan was finally named, he quickly ran toward array and jumped into it. Light surrounded Ivan¡¯s body and his face went blank. Ten minutes later, all other ninety-nine people who entered together with him already fell onto the ground, but he persisted for three more minutes. When he finally coughed, his legs went limp, but he managed to get a hold of himself and stood straight up again. ¡°28¡± was displayed beneath his feet and he left the array with an arrogant look on his face.

    Next were people with nineteen points on the first trial, there were only four hundred of them so they finished quickly and most of them scored between twenty-one and twenty-eight points, which made Ivan¡¯s score even more shocking than before. It seemed like he didn¡¯t brag for no reason before.

    And at last, only people with perfect score on the first trial were left, there were only two hundred of them. Boe and Richard were in the first hundred to enter the array.

    Boe calmly walked toward the array while a lot of gazes focused on him, he was one of the most interesting people from the first hundred. When Boe walked into the array, he felt his head go dizzy and a bright light shone into his eyes.

    When Boe finally felt dizziness go away, and the light disappear, he opened his eyes. What he saw next shocked him and, a cold shiver ran through his body. He was standing in a middle of a field, which was littered with dead bodies of humans and various strange creatures. Thick scent of blood attacked his nostrils, and Boe furrowed his eyebrows. When he looked around, he only saw countless corpses and weapons soaked in blood and guts.

    *ROAR*

    ¡°There is another human! Kill him, brothers!¡± Boe heard a deafening roar and then saw a two-meter-tall creature with black fur all over its body running toward him.

    ¡°Werewolf?¡± When Boe was a kid, he saw pictures of legendary werewolves in books, and the creature in front of him resembled it a lot. The difference was in fact that the creature had a savage bloodthirsty aura and its fangs as well as talons were dripped in blood.

    Boe activated his demonification form and took out his Claws of Enthriil as he faced the creature head-on. When the werewolf was a meter away, Boe vanished from his position and appeared behind it.

    *SLASH*

    With just a single attack, Boe beheaded his enemy. The werewolf¡¯s head rolled down onto the ground as it joined countless other corpses.

    *ROAR* *ROAR* *AWOOOO*

    Boe heard few more werewolves behind him, as he understood, he had to fight limitless amount of enemies in this trial. The longer he could endure unstoppable attacks from enemies, the better his result would be. He now concentrated his mind and tried to communicate with the demon inside of him. He hoped that this kind of bloody battle would let him establish a connection with it, but the demon didn¡¯t respond to any of his inquiries.

    ¡°I guess that goddamn demon is only interested in real battles, murders and blood; this illusion is completely useless for that purpose.¡± Boe guessed demon¡¯s intentions and thoughts as he stopped thinking about it and focused his attention on incoming enemies.

    Boe brandished his claws and with every swing would kill one of werewolves. His movements were sharp and decisive. He was already soaked in blood and even some guts stuck on his clothes. After he killed more than twenty werewolves, he thought that this trial was too easy since he didn¡¯t get injured even once. But right after that thought appeared in Boe¡¯s mind, he heard a strange growl from his right.

    *SLASH*

    Boe barely dodged an attack from an enemy he didn¡¯t even see clearly. When he turned around to look at his new enemy, his jaw dropped. It was a small girl who looked to be six or seven years old. She wore a strange clothes made out of animal¡¯s hide, her skin was extremely dirty, her nails were long and sharp, her hairs were covered in mud and she were walking on her legs and hands at the same time. Boe would think that she was just a pitiful victim of the war if she didn¡¯t hold a curved short blade in her right hand, which was covered in blood.

    *AWOOOO*

    Girl howled and all werewolves gathered around her as if she was their leader. Then Boe saw a few more children like her appear around him, they were all definitely humans but their auras were murderous and savage.

 Chapter 25 - Outstanding talents

    There were now more than ten savage children and a few dozen of werewolves surrounding Boe from all sides. But Boe remained calm and collected, he was playing out different strategies in his mind. This was the best opportunity for him to improve his battle experience and master his thirteen moves.

    ¡°Let¡¯s dance, kids.¡± Boe viciously smiled and his killing intent grew to the extreme levels. His eyes glowed with desire to fight and a bit of insanity. At the moment, he didn¡¯t care what these children were or how many of them he was supposed to kill. It was just an illusion created by the magic array after all, no one would judge him for killing children here.

    *SLASH* *SWISH* *SLASH* *BAM* *SLASH*

    Everywhere Boe moved, blood flowed like a river. He found that, even though children¡¯s strength was rather low, their speed was astounding. He easily killed werewolves, but children were evading his attacks and even trying to counterattack. After a couple of minutes of continuous rampage, Boe has already killed more than twenty werewolves and three children. When he chopped off the first child¡¯s head, he noticed that the blood was green.

    Boe was enjoying this massacre when he noticed that children started backing off and he now only fought against weak werewolves.

    *CLACK-CLACK*

    A huge scorpion appeared on a hill few dozen meters away from Boe. It snapped its claws a few times and started approaching Boe. It was a yellowish green scorpion covered in metallic carapace with huge yellow claws and a long green sting on its back. Green liquid was dripping from its sting onto the ground and then evaporated all bones it touched there.

    ¡°This thing is huge, has strong defense, dangerous claws and even produces acid from its sting? I guess I¡¯ll have to use my magic techniques or else it might actually injure me with just a drop of that liquid.¡± Boe was now ignoring werewolves and concentrated all his attention on the scorpion.

    Boe moved back a little, chanted his Shadow hand technique and sent it in scorpion¡¯s direction. A huge black hand appeared out of Boe¡¯s body and shot straight for the scorpion. Boe didn¡¯t wait for the conclusion of his first attack as he moved to the right and immediately casted three Shadow arrows and aimed them at the scorpion.

    When Shadow hand reached the scorpion, it didn¡¯t actually restrict its movements, but turned its body upside down.

    *SCREEEECH*

    Scorpion loudly shouted as three Shadow arrows pierced through its abdomen and a green blood flowed out of wounds. It tried to roll over back to its legs, but Boe was already in the air above it.

    *BAM*

    Boe landed a terrifyingly powerful kick onto the scorpion¡¯s head and it was ripped to shreds. Green blood and brain matter was all around, and werewolves retreated while howling with miserably frightened voices.

    ¡°Is that all?¡± Boe was standing in a middle of the horrifying battlefield, his clothes and skin were covered in green blood and his eyes shone with incredible bloodthirsty light. He now looked like a real demon in a process of massacring innocent little monsters.

    *SLASH*

    Suddenly, a shadow appeared out of nowhere, cut through Boe¡¯s clothes and left a huge bloody scar on his back. Boe felt an incredible pain. He relaxed too soon and let his enemy land a sneak attack him. It was a stupid mistake of the inexperienced kid.

    When Boe turned around, he saw the little girl from before licking his blood from her dagger. It appeared that she didn¡¯t run away and just hid somewhere, waiting for him to let his guard down.

    ¡°You¡¯re a little viscous piece of shit. I shall destroy you and all your little friends now.¡± The current Boe didn¡¯t feel any desire to battle or excitement of improving his skills, he only felt his blood boil from anger. He was furious and he didn¡¯t care about his injury at all.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I want you to feel. That¡¯s what you¡¯re supposed to desire. Destroy this creature and annihilate its entire race. My power shall only be used to kill, destroy and conquer.¡± The shrill and sinister voice resounded in Boe¡¯s head. His entire body started quivering, his mind trembled, his aura became terrifyingly demonic and his eyes turned into two pools of blood. Everything around Boe was shaking as if he was a threat to the whole world of this illusion.

    When Boe looked up at the girl, he saw that she was now scared out of her wits. But Boe didn¡¯t care, he didn¡¯t even fully control himself at the moment. He suddenly vanished from his position and reappeared right in front of the girl. Claws of Enthriil were no longer on him so he used his bare hands to grab the girl and then just tore her into two parts. A moment later, the girl¡¯s body disappeared from his hands and Boe¡¯s cold gaze turned to a different direction.

    Boe was quickly moving through the battlefield as he massacred everyone and everything he met on his way. He already annihilated all werewolves and children that attacked him before and now he found a squad of strange looking men with horns on their heads. But he didn¡¯t care about their appearance and level of power, he directly jumped into the middle of their ranks and started ripping off parts of their bodies.

    ¡°A demon attack! Call the general!¡± One of the horned men screamed before he was split into two halves by Boe.

    ¡°Who dare attack my people on my lands?!¡± A huge three horned man in a heavy armor with two meters long spear ran toward Boe.

    When Boe saw the man, he only licked his lips and shredded the last one of the squad to pieces. He then turned to look at the incoming man and rushed to meet his enemy head-on.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    The horned man saw Boe¡¯s mad eyes and blood all over the body, he slightly trembled. He quickly calmed himself down, swung his spear and pointed it in Boe¡¯s direction.

    Boe agilely evaded the spear and hit the horned man in a chest with his full strength. The horned man¡¯s armor caved in and he spat out blood from his mouth. Right when Boe was ready to deal a second strike, the horned man quickly retracted his spear and attacked Boe¡¯s hand. But Boe didn¡¯t stop his attack and his fist finally reached the horned man¡¯s head.

    The horned man flew a few meters away and his skull was already broken.

    *drip-drip*

    The spear was sticking out of Boe¡¯s elbow and blood was flowing on it and onto the ground.

    Boe felt an immense pain from the injury and his mind cleared. He looked at his bloodied body and the spear in a middle of his hand. Just a moment ago, he wasn¡¯t controlling his body and he didn¡¯t feel any pain. His hand was bleeding non-stop and the injury on his back worsened because of all his movements. But he felt insane happiness, he finally felt barely noticeable connection to the demon inside of him. He didn¡¯t know how to use it yet, but it was already a huge progress on his way to the rank 2 of his battle teaching.

    Boe understood that he wasn¡¯t in a good shape and couldn¡¯t fight any longer, but he was satisfied with his current result and the breakthrough he just made. He started to think of coming out of the magic array now, but didn¡¯t know how to do it.

    ¡°Do I have to die here if I want to get out of this illusion?¡± Boe whispered while looking at the skies above him.

    Immediately after Boe finished his sentence, light shrouded his body and he felt the familiar dizziness again. A moment later, he was standing in a middle of the magic array and he glanced beneath his feet. ¡°30¡± was his result and he calmly started walking out of the magic array.

    When Boe walked out of the array, he noticed that the whole arena was completely silent and every person inside was looking at him. Most of the people were slightly trembling from fear, but powerful men and women were looking at him with serious looks on their faces.

    ¡®Did they all somehow see my demonification this time?¡¯ Boe wasn¡¯t stupid, he understood that if they all looked at him like that, there was only one possible reason.

    ¡°Brother Boe, everyone saw your transformation just now¡­¡± Kamys was on the stage when Boe was inside of the magic array and he saw everything that happened just like everyone else.

    ¡°What exactly did you all see?¡± Boe needed to evaluate the situation first and then he would come up with plan how to deal with consequences.

    ¡°Nothing in your appearance has actually changed, but your aura¡­ Your aura became terrifying all of a sudden. It was even scarier than what I saw back in mountains.¡± Kamys whispered the last part of the sentence so no one would hear him.

    ¡°Seems like things might get complicated for me now¡­¡± Boe looked around him and noticed few extremely powerful auras locking onto him.

    A few moments later, Richard walked out of the array with usual indifferent expression on his face. He scored thirty points, which made Ivan mad. Even though Ivan long ago recognized that Richard was stronger than him, he still hoped that Richard wouldn¡¯t get more points than him. Especially after he saw Boe¡¯s horrifying transformation and score. His only hope now was that Kamys would fail to surpass him, but for some reason he felt that Kamys was not any weaker than Boe.

    When all hundred participants finished their trial, lowest score among them was twenty-six and only fourteen people, including Boe and Richard, scored thirty.

    Announcer didn¡¯t even need to name all other participants, since there were only a hundred of them left. Kamys and Dale moved at the same moment and both entered magic arrays.

    A minute later, Kamys¡¯ aura exploded with fiery and majestic power. While Boe and bunch of informed people expected the change and didn¡¯t react to it, common folks started cheering as if they saw the most interesting show play out in front of them. Kamys aura was warm and benevolent, people felt incredible pleasure while looking at him. While this very aura was terrifying for Kamys¡¯ enemies, it was absolutely harmless to random bystanders.

    Before the crowd had a chance to enjoy Kamys¡¯ transformation, on the other side of the stage Dale¡¯s aura changed as well. Extreme coldness and frightening howls radiated out of his body. Strange translucent little white balls started floating around Dale¡¯s body, it was these balls that issued sinister howls. Boe felt like something was trying to suck his soul out of his body and some ordinary people even lost consciousnesses.

    ¡°So this magic array shows any changes to the aura in a real world¡­ I got lucky that they didn¡¯t show what was happening inside, i guess.¡± Boe had enough attention because he showed just his aura, he didn¡¯t even want to imagine what would happen if people saw how he looked like on that battlefield and what he did there.

    At this moment, four more people had their auras changed. One of them had the same aura as Kamys, but it was a lot weaker, it was evidently someone from the Theodore clan. Three other people had the same sinister auras as Dale, they were obviously dark elves.

    But to everyone¡¯s surprise, a lot more people''s auras changed after that. After all, there were a lot of outstanding talents from The Shadow Kingdom, Church of Light and The Dark Elf Kingdom competing in these trials.

    Boe now understood that first hundred people with twenty points on first trial were nothing compared to the second wave. He was the only one who was able to change his aura from his wave, but now there were more than thirty people doing the same. He took note of each participant who changed their aura, since most likely they would become his real rivals in the next trial.

    In Boe¡¯s opinion, there were nine people who were worth remembering. Kamys and Dale were definitely in this list. There was also another dark elf whose aura was somewhat different compared to Dale, he didn¡¯t produce translucent balls. His aura was as cold as Dale¡¯s, but it also had a very savage feeling to it.

    Boe also noticed blue-haired youth with an arrogant look on his face, he was quite similar to Romeo He; an elder from the He clan who Boe and Kamys met when they were leaving The Shadow Kingdom. This young man¡¯s aura was cold, but not in the same way as Dale¡¯s. His aura was as cold as winter night and there were snowflakes falling to the ground around him.

    Fifth person on Boe¡¯s list was a young girl with red hairs and white clothes. Her aura was the most mysterious one out of all participants. While Boe felt that it was very powerful and even a little scary, it didn¡¯t radiate anything. Boe felt like he was looking at void when he tried to concentrate on her aura.

    Two other people were very young looking girl and boy. They both had identical appearances and auras. Their auras emanated noble feeling and dazzling light shone from their bodies. Boe expected them to be from Church of Light.

    And the last two people were two young men in golden robes with gryphons on their chests. Auras of these people were the most spectacular. They actually had two-meter wide wings of golden light behind their back and anyone who looked at them would feel reverence deep in their souls.

    Few minutes later, all hundred people stepped out of arrays and their scores were known to the audience. Shockingly, thirty-five people got thirty points. As Boe expected, all nine people he chose to observe, scored thirty points. With this, forty-nine people had perfect scores at the moment, so Boe understood that the next trial alone would determine the top five of the competition.

 Chapter 26 - A bet

    After the second trial ended, there were only two hundred fifty-two people who passed to the third trial. Ordinary people thought that most of participants didn¡¯t really have a chance against those who ignited their aura during the second trial.

    Most of the participants were now discussing that the second trial was very hard for them and it didn¡¯t actually test their combat prowess.

    A lot of people failed the test at the start because they got scared by huge werewolves. Although they were rather weak, the werewolves seemed to be fierce and powerful. Some people with weak minds crumbled from the pressure of the pack of werewolves. This part tested their determination to win no matter what they met on their way to victory.

    Even more people failed the trial because of little human kids, who didn¡¯t seem to be dangerous, but would suddenly attack and injure or even kill them. This part was a test to see if they had a decisiveness of a real hero. Initially, this trial was meant for dark elves, so killing children of a different race wasn¡¯t a crime but an act of a resolute heroism. And it also showed what the human race looked like in ancient dark elves¡¯ eyes - filthy savages who befriended demons and beasts.

    But the most mysterious part was the fact that no one, except Boe, met the squad of horned men. Did Boe¡¯s trial change because of his transformation or was there another reason?

    When Boe and company were already leaving the stadium, Dale caught up and stood in front of them, blocking the exit.

    ¡°Boe, you wield a power of demons. Humans, even dark wizards, are opposing demons from ancient times and they will definitely make troubles for you because of that. Why don¡¯t you join me in my future adventures as a companion?¡± Dale¡¯s approach dramatically changed after he saw Boe¡¯s transformation. He now wanted Boe to be his equal, not a subordinate. Even his over-the-top arrogance lowered significantly. Even though he despised ordinary humans, Boe was definitely not an ordinary being. Boe could even be a disciple of a powerful hidden expert. And the most important reason for Dale was the fact that Boe was a real enigma. Dale wanted to unveil all Boe¡¯s secrets, he now wanted to play with Boe until he would satisfy his curiosity.

    ¡°Adventures? Do you have something specific or is it just an invitation to waste my time with you?¡± Boe didn¡¯t have anything planned back in The Shadow Kingdom after this competition, so he was interested in anything that could increase his power. If Dale really had something interesting on his mind and it could help Boe in any way, Boe might actually consider joining Dale in his adventures. He wouldn¡¯t lose anything because of that and might even get some profits after all.

    ¡°Ha-ha, as expected, you aren¡¯t just a simple stupid human. If you¡¯ll agree to accompany me, I¡¯ll definitely offer you an extraordinary adventure. I already have a few things on my to-do list and one of them is even connected to the ruins of an ancient wizard Enthriil¡¯s fortress.¡± Dale¡¯s mouth was curved in a very cunning smile. He knew that ancient ruins of a powerful wizard would interest even high ranked wizards, not to mention the rank 1 wizard.

    ¡°Enthriil¡¯s fortress?¡± Boe¡¯s outer appearance didn¡¯t change as if he heard this name for the first time, but in reality he was already prepared to agree to Dale¡¯s proposal. He owned Enthriil¡¯s claws and they were a very high-class weapon, so Enthriil¡¯s inheritance would surely be impressive. Even though Boe needed to confirm that Dale¡¯s words were true, he didn¡¯t really doubt them. Dale didn¡¯t have a reason to lie, he needed Boe for some reason, so lying from the beginning would be impractical.

    ¡°It isn¡¯t really a surprise that you haven¡¯t heard anything about Enthriil since he is a wizard from the ancient times, and even records of my royal family contain only fragmented information on him. But I do know that he was at least a rank 7 wizard, who specialized in forging artifacts. So if we¡¯ll be able to enter his fortress, we will certainly obtain great harvest.¡± Previously, Boe thought that claws he used were weapons of Enthriil, but now there was a chance that they were just one of weapons he forged. If that was the case, then there was a possibility that fortress stored other artifacts Enthriil forged. Boe¡¯s battle teaching was of the highest possible level for this world, but The Strongest didn¡¯t give any artifacts to Boe. If Enthriil was really an artifacts forger, Boe would definitely not miss an opportunity to visit Enthriil¡¯s fortress.

    ¡°So, if I¡¯m getting a chance to visit the fortress, then what do you want to obtain from me?¡± Boe¡¯s gaze was as cold as ever and his tone was absolutely indifferent.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have a new outstanding ally. In this dangerous and unpredictable world, having as many powerful friends as possible is a best way to survive. And by the way, if you¡¯ll decide to become my friend, The Shadow Kingdom and The Dark Elf Kingdom will definitely forget about the matter of your strange aura. Even though I¡¯m not a crown prince, I¡¯m still the most talented child of my father.¡± A cunning smile was too obvious on Dale¡¯s face, but Boe didn¡¯t find it strange that Dale is scheming something. He was the dark wizard and Dale was the dark elf, they both knew that profit was more important than personal feelings.

    ¡°Let¡¯s discuss this one more time once the competition will be finished.¡± Boe needed a time to weight profits and losses of associating himself with a prince of The Dark Elf Kingdom.

    ¡°Competition? Ha-ha. This competition was made public just to show you humans how powerful we are. In reality, it is already a known fact that I will be the one to take the first place. While my father will easily part with a spirit animal and a spirit nurturing pill, he was going to gift me a magic essence from the start, so this competition is merely a show to establish my fame.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so certain in your victory? Then why don¡¯t we have a bet?¡± At the moment when Dale was laughing with a proud expression on his face, Kamys jumped out from the crowd and started talking with mouth crooked in a mischievous smile.

    ¡°Bet? With you? What can you offer me?¡± Dale frowned for a second, but quickly regained his calm appearance.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s bet that one of us, three brothers, will be ahead of you in this competition,¡± Kamys said while his left hand was already on Boe¡¯s shoulder and right hand was lying on Richard¡¯s shoulder, ¡°and if we¡¯ll lose, all three of us will become your subordinates for a year, but if you¡¯ll lose then you¡¯ll bring us with a few of our friends to that fortress and we won¡¯t owe you anything in return.¡±

    While Kamys was having fun and Dale was thinking, Boe was only looking at Richard with gaze full of curiosity. Both Boe and Richard were dragged in this mess by Kamys; while Boe¡¯s calm reaction was to be expected, Richard was surprisingly indifferent to all this, as if he was sure he would win this.

    ¡°One of you three will be above me in the final placements?¡± Dale already knew everything about Kamys and his strength so he was not a problem for Dale. Boe was a complete mystery and his strength was unpredictable. And Richard was just a genius of a small family from a tiny city who didn¡¯t even ignite his aura during the second trial so he was nothing in Dale¡¯s eyes. And even if one of three would be able to surpass him in the third trial, Dale didn¡¯t really care about the shadow essence. Dale only wanted to observe Boe¡¯s power and maybe even try to befriend him to get close to the mysterious master behind him. If Dale really needed the shadow essence, he could definitely obtain it from his father directly in a single day.

    ¡°Are you in or are you too scared of three country bumpkins, your highness?¡± Kamys¡¯ mocking question would be too obvious even for little children, which made Dale slightly angry.

    ¡°I accept the bet, but if I win I¡¯ll make you clean my personal toilet for a year with your bare hands and you won¡¯t be able to refuse since you¡¯ll be my subordinate,¡± Dale said these words, turned around and left without giving Kamys a chance to reply.

    ¡°Kamys, why are you so sure that one of us will win this?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m strong, you¡¯re even stronger than me and brother Richard is stronger than both of us combined.¡± Kamys¡¯ face was shining from happiness as if he was a proud father who was bragging about his genius son.

    ¡°You¡¯re stronger than me and Kamys combined?¡± Boe¡¯s eye were now focused on Richard. His fighting spirit started waking up and he really wanted to test out this fellow.

    ¡°I never said anything like that,¡± Richard coldly answered, got out from Kamys¡¯ hands and walked away.

    ¡°Brother Boe, when my father sent me to the school, he told me that the current number one genius of the Carter family is actually the strongest person under seventeen years of age. While you¡¯re definitely stronger than me, the difference between us is rather small. But my father told me that even if five of me attacked Richard at the same time, there was no way to defeat him.¡±

    ¡°Your father thinks so highly of someone from the rank 3 school?¡±

    ¡°When I tried to get more information out of my father, he only told me that Carter family has a huge secret, which he can¡¯t tell me yet.¡±

    ¡°Carter family¡¯s huge secret? That seems interesting¡­ And by the way, what are we going to do if the next trial isn¡¯t about the combat prowess, but something else? While the first trial tested our strength, the second one tested our determination and decisiveness. The third one might actually test other characteristics of our personality.¡± A mocking smile was now on Boe¡¯s face as he watched Kamys¡¯ face suddenly turn agitated and dismayed.

    ¡°Whatever it will be, I¡¯m not afraid when I have two brothers by my side!¡± Kamys was trying to sound convincing, but his voice was clearly trembling.

    ¡°The last trial begins in ten minutes. All participants, please enter the stage.¡± A voice was quiet and tranquil, but for some reason every person within the stadium heard it like it was whispered directly in their ears.

    ¡®That¡¯s the same technique my master and eldest sister are using to communicate with me. The person who spoke is definitely a very powerful being.¡¯ When Boe heard the voice, he immediately jumped up onto the stage and started looking around in search of the voice¡¯s owner.

    ¡°Good morning, little geniuses.¡± Ten minutes later, a thin white-haired old man appeared on the stage and spoke with a bright smile on his face. The old man had bright grey eyes and pointy ears, which indicated that he was from the royal family. His clothes were grey and tattered, the crown on his back was almost impossible to notice and there were no arrogance in his eyes.

    ¡°Greetings, esteemed Grand Elder,¡± All elves on the stage immediately knelt on the ground and shouted at the same time.

    ¡°Greetings, honorable elder,¡± Everyone else bowed and reacted a second later.

    ¡°He¡¯s The Grand Elder of The Dark Elf Kingdom, he is only second to the King himself. He¡¯s a rank 9 wizard and wields a lot of authority in the kingdom. Because of his good nature, even kings and emperors of other countries greatly respect him,¡± Seeing Boe¡¯s puzzled face, Kamys whispered everything he knew about the old man.

    ¡°Today, you will all enter the same magic array at the same time, but each of you will experience your own unique illusion. This trial is called ¡®The trial of the leader¡¯ and will test your leadership and decision making.¡± As the old man finished saying what he wanted, he stomped his right leg onto the ground and a huge circle appeared on the stage. All participants were already inside of that circle and their bodies started shining brightly.

    This time, Boe didn¡¯t feel any dizziness or other feelings. He only blinked once and everything around him changed. He wasn¡¯t on the stage anymore, he wasn¡¯t even in The Dark Elf Kingdom.

    Boe was standing on a huge white wall, surrounded by twenty military men. He looked forward and saw an enormous white city behind the wall with millions citizens staring in his direction. When he turned his head and looked to the other side of wall, his jaw dropped. There was countless amount of demons surrounding the city from all sides, ready to attack at any moment.

    ¡°You¡¯re a commanding general of this city. Your duty is to protect citizens from demons. There are twelve million various demons in an enemy army, five million soldiers in your army and more than twenty million innocent civilians inside the city. A demon Lord of rank 10 commands enemy forces, and you¡¯re a rank 10 wizard yourself, an attribute is up to you to choose. Find a way to resolve this issue with as few victims as possible. Good luck.¡± The old man¡¯s voice resounded in Boe¡¯s head, and then the whole world around Boe became so real that Boe felt that he was only now awaken from the dream of another life into his current real body.

    ¡°Little Boe, you petty worm, stop hiding from me and come out to fight!¡± The so-familiar shrill and sinister voice screamed from outside of the city. When Boe took a glance at the source of the voice, his body trembled, a shiver ran through his whole body and a cold sweat started pouring out from Boe¡¯s back.

    A two meters tall, red skinned demon with black hairs, five curved horns sticking out of his head and black spikes all over his body was standing in a middle of the demon army. His eyes were as dark red in color as a fresh blood, his aura was emitting tremendous pressure and Boe could feel a terrifying killing intent coming in his direction.

 Chapter 27 - Trial of the Leader

    While Boe was standing against his inner demon in his illusion, Kamys was experiencing absolutely different situation.

    After the old man activated the magic array, Kamys blinked and found himself in a middle of a dark forest. He was confused for a second, but then his mind cleared and he started looking around himself. There were nine people around him, all of them wore the same black tight uniform. But everything around him was grey and motionless as if the time stopped.

    ¡°You¡¯re a captain of a rescue squad. Your duty is to save captured people from an enemy base. Enemies captured more than thousand civilians and hundred comrades of yours. Each member of your squad is rank 1 wizard, while you are already a rank 2 wizard with an attribute of your choice. There is a rank 3 wizard commanding enemy troops in their base. You have to save as many people as you can and try not to lose your subordinates. Good luck.¡± The same old man¡¯s voice resounded in Kamys¡¯ head, and in the next moment colors returned to the grey world, and everything started moving.

    ¡°Captain, the enemy camp is already visible from here. Our scout found out that there are more than fifty rank 1 wizards, three rank 2 wizards and one rank 3 wizard there. Hostages are all stationed inside of prison, which is located almost in a middle of the camp. What are our actions from here on?¡± A burly man with big hammer behind his back was looking at Kamys with eyes full of respect and reverence.

    A stream of information poured into Kamys¡¯ head as he clenched his hands into fists and closed his eyes as if he was in unbearable pain. He now knew names and specializations of all nine people surrounding him and detailed information on his enemy¡¯s forces. He also understood why all this was happening. He and his men were from a little mountain tribe and they were now at war with a big empire, which wanted resources and lands of his tribe. There was no chieftain in his tribe, but he was the most powerful wizard so people naturally chose him to be their leader in dire times. When he and his men went to hunt, the enemy forces attacked his tribe. More than half of his tribesmen died at hands of the enemies and everyone else were captured alive to become slaves in future. He and nine men around him were the last hope of his tribe.

    ¡®Since enemies are all using shadow attribute battle aura then I¡¯ll choose light attribute for myself.¡¯ Right after Kamys thought about it, he felt his body become warm and a very dim light started shining out of his body. He now felt that he could actually control light around him, it was a rather strange feeling for him. He was used to control fire attribute battle aura and it was usually wild and hard to control. Light attribute was absolutely different, it was obedient and made Kamys experience a strange soothing feeling inside of his body.

    ¡°If we¡¯ll infiltrate their base and fight enemy head-on, we¡¯ll have no chance to save our people and most likely all die there. So I plan to first diminish their numbers using guerrilla tactics, then lure them out of their base with half of our people and at the same time save our tribesmen with another half.¡± Kamys already had a rough idea of his plan, but he was going to modify it as time would go on.

    ¡°How do we lure them out?¡± a very young man with broken nose and disgusting scar on his face asked in a very hoarse voice.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take their attention and then lead them into our trap. But before that, we need to find suitable location for our trap and prepare all of you to swiftly kill enemies, without giving them a chance to retreat or retaliate.¡± Kamys¡¯ face was resolute as he started running off into the distance in search of a good location for their trap.

    After the magic array was activated, Dale blinked and found himself sitting on a golden throne in a vast hall, which was filled with golden emblems with a dragon and a tiger painted on them. When he looked at himself, he was pleasantly surprised. He was wearing golden robes of a king with dragon on his left chest and tiger on his right chest. He had a very luxurious crown on his head and a golden scepter in his right hand.

    ¡°You¡¯re a king of a huge nation. You rule over billions of people; your kingdom is one of the most developed countries in this world. Your only duty is to preserve your position. You can start expanding lands of your kingdom or keep developing what you already have. Other countries are now too afraid to start a conflict with you, but if you will decide to attack one of them, then most of other countries will band together to move against you. Your personal army has a hundred million warriors and ten million wizards. Your most trusted general is a rank 10 wizard, while you are a rank 8 wizard. Your kingdom¡¯s army has more than seven hundred million warriors and two hundred million wizards. There are also twenty rank 10 wizard generals in your army, but they aren¡¯t loyal to you. Their loyalty belongs to people of your kingdom. Good luck.¡± When Dale heard old man¡¯s voice in his head, he finally understood that his trial is to rule the kingdom and lead it in right direction as a wise ruler.

    ¡°Men, quickly bring me full report on all our generals and all our troops within and without our kingdom.¡± Dale decided that he needed to understand the whole situation of his own kingdom and only then think any further.

    Few hours later, Dale was sitting in a cabinet with a massive wooden table and big comfortable armchair. He was reading through a few piles of documents, which contained all known information on all generals and any other wizard of rank 7 or higher. There was also a map of his kingdom hanged on the wall; there were few dozens of red marks on this map, which indicated locations of his army¡¯s battalions.

    ¡°Gregory, come in.¡± According to information Dale obtained when he was transported into this illusion, Gregory was the only person who Dale could trust.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Door to the cabinet creaked open and the black-haired middle-aged man in noble clothes entered and immediately bowed to Dale.

    ¡°I finished reading through all information you gave me. We have only one rank 10 general who is absolutely loyal to me, while twenty other generals are all loyal to people of our kingdom and would easily betray me if I would do anything that would put our citizens in danger. Besides my own personal army, I can only depend on seventy million warriors and ten million wizards of my trusted general at the moment. What do you think is the best way to expand my influence in military?¡± After Dale grasped all information on generals and army troops, he understood that he had no real power over most of the army and could only rule over mortal citizens. And after considering what the old man said, he understood that there were some people who wanted to take away his title and probably even kill him. If he wanted to preserve his position as a king, he needed more power and the best way to obtain it was to have more influence over the kingdom¡¯s army.

    ¡°We need to gain trust of as many generals as we can. All the real power over our kingdom¡¯s might lays in their hands,¡± Gregory answered as if he was ready for such a question beforehand.

    ¡°As I thought. Then I have a few tasks for you. First, find out which generals are easily swayed with money or power and prepare a meeting with them for me. Second, find me a weak spot for each of twenty generals. I want to know how I can pressure them or even remove them if needed.¡± Dale wanted to get as many points as he could, so just remaining a simple king wasn¡¯t enough for him. He wanted to obtain complete authority over his kingdom and then expand it as much as he could. He was sure that he could obtain maximum points for this trial if he could transform his kingdom into an unstoppable powerhouse of this illusory world.

    ¡°And what do we do with generals who won¡¯t show any weak spots nor willbe interested in money or power?¡± Gregory was obviously a smart person as he already understood what his king was planning to do.

    ¡°I¡¯ll find a way to crush them under my feet.¡± A cold killing intent flashed in Dale¡¯s eyes and his mouth crooked in an extremely sinister smile.

    After Richard blinked, he found himself in a middle of a huge crowd. There were explosions around him and a lot of people died because of them. Suddenly, the whole world stopped as if time and space were frozen in this exact moment.

    ¡°You¡¯re an ordinary mortal in a middle of a war of wizards. You have your wife and two kids by your side and all your friends and other family members are around you. Your task here is to survive. You don¡¯t have any affinity toward any attribute or other special characteristics in your body. Everything you have right now is your brain and people around you. Good luck.¡± For some reason the old man¡¯s voice was incredibly kind when he was talking to Richard.

    Suddenly, a streak of light passed through one of man in front of Richard and that man fell onto the ground. Richard stopped moving and his family followed his suit.

    ¡°Follow me and stay as close to each other as you can.¡± Thanks to new information that appeared in his mind, Richard knew that he was fleeing from his village because it was attacked by enemies. Allied wizards were already here and they engaged enemies in a deadly battle. Mortal people with no magic affinity couldn¡¯t do much in this war, so all of them were running from this fight as far as they could. But Richard also understood that his allies would lose this fight soon and enemy forces will continue moving in the same direction as all the fleeing people.

    At first, Richard wanted to somehow turn around and flee into enemy territory, try to blend with their people and ensure safety of his people in this way. But he later understood that he was a human being, while enemies were all half-beasts, so that was impossible. He now needed to make a plan while evading random attacks from his enemies and allies. Any of those attacks would definitely kill him or anyone near him, it was very normal for mortal people to die because of a collateral damage from fights between wizards. It would be even worse if there was a wizard above rank 3, he would be able to exterminate a whole village with just a single attacking technique.

    ¡®The best way to survive in these conditions is to move a bit further from battle and find a hiding place or create one if needed. But there is still a possibility that enemy will check each suspicious place and we will become their slaves. We can also try to pretend to be dead while hiding in a middle of a pile of dead bodies, but children wouldn¡¯t be able to do that so that¡¯s not an option too¡­¡¯ Richard was now running with both his children in hands and trying to come up with plan, but it was too difficult to think clearly while he was bombarded with magic techniques from every direction. Also, other people were running in a complete chaotic paths, which didn¡¯t let him run as fast as he wanted. Richard even considered to become a slave for the enemy, but there was a risk that he would die by their hands just because he was an adult male.

    ¡°Father, let¡¯s run into a forbidden dark forest!¡± Richard¡¯s son was always rebellious and he wanted to visit the dark forest from his early childhood, but Richard had always forbidden him to do so. The main problem with that forest was the fact that almost no mortal has ever escaped the forest alive. While it was relatively safe for wizards, common folk like Richard and his family would be in a great danger there.

    ¡°Richard, don¡¯t listen to him. That forest is far too dangerous for us. Let¡¯s just run toward a capital, royal wizards will definitely save us from those beasts!¡± Richard¡¯s wife, just like most of fleeing people, was hoping that they would reach the capital, but it was too far from their current place. They would have to run for more than a week non-stop and it was impossible task to accomplish.

    ¡°Richard, let¡¯s stay and fight while our wives and children run away,¡± A burly man on the right side of Richard said with a shaky voice. This man was evidently very scared, but he was ready to throw away his life for his wife¡¯s and children¡¯s survival.

    ¡°We won¡¯t be able to even stall them for a moment. I¡¯ll be taking my family to the dark forest, if you wish ¨C follow me.¡± Richard decided that his only choice right now was to risk everything and not follow everyone else. In his mind, beasts would definitely choose to follow most of men and run straight toward capital. There was a possibility that he didn¡¯t even need to actually enter the dark forest, as beasts might not follow them in that direction.

    *ROAR*

    At that moment, a huge green skinned creature with sharp claws pounced at one of the people close to Richard. The creature roared and teared the human into two pieces. Blood flew everywhere and Richard¡¯s daughter was covered in blood and guts. After that, creature put both pieces of the dead body into its mouth and started loudly chewing.

    Richard ran away as fast as he could, without even glancing back. He just saw a terror that just one half-beast creature could cause. He needed to survive! He needed to save his children and wife no matter what! Only now did Richard finally understand how hard it is to survive in this cruel world without power.

 Chapter 28 - A fearless king

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    In a huge dark room filled with a dim light from a few candles, eight people were sitting at a round table. A door to the room opened with a creaking sound as a young man in golden robes entered. Eight men each had a different reaction to the youth¡¯s appearance. One of them stood up and respectfully bowed, four others nodded their heads and the last three looked to be absolutely indifferent.

    ¡°Greetings, honorable generals,¡± Dale spoke in a very calm and respectful manner. Even though he was the king, these people held a tremendous power in their hands so even he had to show some level of respect toward them.

    ¡°Your highness, we all have important tasks at our hands, so tell us what you want without wasting time for a chit-chat,¡± one of indifferent generals spoke with a very haughty tone in his voice. He was two meters tall, extremely fat, bald and his whole appearance was disgusting to look at. If one would judge him just by his appearance, no one would ever think that he was a powerful rank 10 wizard with a huge battle experience behind his back.

    ¡°Crid, I¡¯ll rip your tongue out if you¡¯ll keep talking to our king in such a disrespectful way!¡± A handsome blonde-haired middle-aged man was enraged by Crid¡¯s behavior. It was Dale¡¯s only trusted general at the moment. He was actually Dale¡¯s uncle in this illusory world, so he would naturally support his nephew.

    ¡°Uncle Sher, please calm down. General Crid didn¡¯t mean to be rude to me, he is just a very busy man.¡± A refreshing and kind smile on Dale¡¯s face calmed Sher down, but Crid felt cold shiver run down his spine when he looked in Dale¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Your highness sure knows how to treat people right.¡± An elegant blonde-haired female in green wizard¡¯s robe smiled at Dale with a coquettish shine in her eyes. Even though she looked like a young woman, in reality she was one of the strongest generals in Dale¡¯s kingdom. She became a rank 10 wizard almost five hundred years ago and was one of the most respected generals in the army.

    ¡°Thanks for your kind words, General Origa,¡± Dale spoke these words and looked at the female general with a hint of interest in his eyes, ¡°I gathered you all today to discuss a few new positions in army of our kingdom.¡± Dale swept all generals with his gaze, spectating reaction of each of them.

    ¡°New positions? Are you going to nominate new generals or what?¡± An old man with face filled with wrinkles and a wooden cane in his hands reacted first. He was the oldest general of the kingdom. Even though he wasn¡¯t the strongest, every other general respected him because of his experience and merits he earned throughout his military career.

    ¡°General Odun, please allow me to finish my speech,¡± even though Dale sounded calm and respectful, all generals felt coldness and decisiveness in his voice, ¡°I¡¯m not planning to create more general positions because we already have enough talented generals in our army. I decided to slightly change titles of a few generals and give them corresponding rewards.¡± Dale finally smiled and took out eight golden boxes from his magic ring.

    When generals saw boxes Dale took out, they had finally all became interested in this meeting. Even though none of them lacked wealth and power, these boxes were decorated with images of dragon and tiger. This kind of decorations are only used for highest rewards and decrees released by the king. Each of the boxes contained a personal letter from Dale to the corresponding general and a king¡¯s decree.

    ¡°General Odun, as the wisest general of all, you were chosen to become a head strategist of our army and personal military counselor of the king.¡± Dale handed the first wooden box to the old man right after he finished speaking.

    Odun first took the box, opened it and read both decree and personal letter. When he finished reading, his face plastered in a wide satisfied smile as he said, ¡°I thank my king for your kindness and promise that I will not let your expectations down.¡± Odun¡¯s face was shining from happiness as he unexpectedly deeply bowed to show his loyalty to Dale.

    All other present generals were shocked by Odun¡¯s reaction. All of them knew how prideful and indifferent Odun usually was, they all now wanted to know what kind of benefits and conditions he received from Dale.

    ¡°General Origa, your fame as the best alchemist and healer of the kingdom is known to everyone, so I decided to make you a head alchemists of the kingdom and let you govern over our royal garden.¡± Even though royal garden was extremely important for Dale himself, he knew that it was the only thing that would guarantee Origa¡¯s full support and dedication. Royal garden was a place where all the rarest and most precious herbs of the kingdom were grown. It was basically a heaven for an alchemist, and Origa long wanted to have a permission to enter it. But now, Dale granted the authority over the garden to Origa and she couldn¡¯t be happier.

    ¡°Your highness, my gratitude can¡¯t be expressed with words, so I will prove myself at any time you will need my help.¡± Origa deeply bowed and even kissed a ring on Dale¡¯s hand.

    All other generals now understood what Dale planned to do and their eyes started burning from expectations and interest.

    ¡°Uncle Sher, as the closest and most trusted of all generals, you will become the royal guardian. My personal army is in your hands from now on.¡± Everyone already expected that to happen, so no one was actually shocked. But all generals understood that from now on, the most powerful army was in Sher¡¯s hands.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you down.¡± Sher received his box, but didn¡¯t even open it since he already knew what was inside of it.

    After that, Dale granted all other generals their boxes and each of them received benefits they desired, so everyone was happy at the end of the meeting. For example, general Crid, who always loved to live a carefree life surrounded by beautiful women and wine, received a title ¡°South Protector¡±. It meant that he was now governing southern region, which was the most secure region of the kingdom and bred a lot of so-called ¡°sin cities¡±, filled with high-class brothels and best breweries.

    ¡°Everything went smoothly as you expected, your highness.¡± Gregory was standing near Dale as he reported eight generals¡¯ responses for Dale¡¯s letters. All of them happily accepted their new titles and other rewards.

    ¡°It was the easiest part of the plan. I now only have eight out of twenty-one generals in my hands. And to ensure my plan¡¯s success, I need at least fifteen generals¡¯ support.¡± Even though Dale made a huge progress in today¡¯s meeting, he still had a dissatisfied expression on his face.

    ¡°After our investigation, we found four other generals with great weaknesses which we can use.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I will send personal letters to them and make them bow their heads to me.¡± Dale knew that while he couldn¡¯t suppress those generals with his power, he could threaten them using information he obtained. These four generals had quite a lot of dirt on them and while that information wouldn¡¯t take away their positions as generals, it would definitely ruin their reputation in army. With lost reputation, any general would slowly lose trust of his men and it was unacceptable. So Dale was sure that these four would surely decide to side with him.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°Your highness, so what are we going to do with other nine generals, all of them are righteous and remain as generals only to protect people of our kingdom.¡± The remaining generals had no desires that Dale could fulfill nor weaknesses that Dale could use.

    ¡°I already planned to create a show to impress most of the remaining generals. They¡¯re loyal to citizens of the kingdom, so it¡¯s going to be easy to manipulate them with a little performance I prepared. Get my armor and prepare a small squad of our elite warriors and mages. I will be leaving the royal capital to visit a few cities of my kingdom personally.¡±

    ¡°Your highness, it¡¯s too dangerous to leave the royal city, you absolutely can¡¯t do that. While most of the nobles, generals and common citizens are happy with you, there are still some who want someone else come to power.¡± Gregory was sincerely worried about Dale¡¯s safety and even his hands started shaking.

    ¡°Danger of outside world is the main factor of my plan, Gregory,¡± Dale said resolutely and sent Gregory out of his office.

    On the next day, the whole kingdom knew that their king was going to travel to several cities to inspect them and show his good will. The dark side of the kingdom immediately started moving with plans of assassination. Most of the king¡¯s enemies didn¡¯t understand why he would leave the safe royal city, but they didn¡¯t care. As long as they had an opportunity, they would definitely not let it slip. Only the cleverest opponents understood that it was some kind of bait, but even they decided to act while they had a chance. So while Dale was preparing to leave the royal city, all kinds of traps were getting prepared around the kingdom.

    Few days later, Dale left the royal city with a convoy of only hundred guards. He had seventy warriors and thirty wizards in this squad, but it was only the visible part of his power. His uncle, general Sher, was actually always following them in shadows.

    By the time Dale visited three cities, he was attacked five times, but all enemies were easily subdued by his guards. Those were all definitely just a small fry to test him out.

    The fourth city in Dale¡¯s schedule was the Drango town, which was located near a border with a big rivaling empire of Dale¡¯s kingdom. Dale¡¯s squad was already only half a day away from the city when he received sudden news.

    ¡°Your highness, the Drango town is being attacked by The Fang Empire and we will probably lose it. The closest general with his army is a few days away from the city, but a city¡¯s horizon will only be able to defend for two days at best. This attack is definitely targeted at you, so we should change our course and move to the next city,¡± a wizard in white loose robes reported to Dale.

    ¡°No, we will not change our course. Enemy might actually plan to ambush us somewhere on the road to the next city and won¡¯t expect us to go to the Drango town. Men, hasten our speed, we have to reach the Drango town as fast as we can! I shall lead people of the Drango town personally to defend it!¡± Dale¡¯s face was solemn as if he was actually ready to risk his life in an attempt to defend citizens of his kingdom.

    ¡°Your will is our command!¡± All warriors and wizards roared at the same time. They all were inspired by their king¡¯s attitude and their reverence toward Dale grew to another level.

    Dale chose these hundred people not just because they were elites of his men, they were all actually people related to generals in some way or another. He was planning to show off in front of them so they would tell stories of his bravery and selflessness to the generals.

    Dale¡¯s squad reached the Drango town in just three hours without a hitch, general Sher had never showed himself according to Dale¡¯s plan. When Dale entered the town and took the rule over the army of the town in his hands, everyone¡¯s morale was immediately raised to the highest level. Population of the city felt incredible veneration toward Dale, in their eyes he now was the most noble, courageous and compassionate king in the history of their kingdom. He risked his own life to try and save them. Each of his commands was now like a god¡¯s decree.

    Horizon of the town didn¡¯t have a chance against the enemy¡¯s army even with a help from Dale and his small squad, but their morale was so high that everyone forgot the word ¡°surrender¡±. Each warrior and wizard was ready to give his life for their king now as they fought unequal battle with no fear. Even when warrior was gravely injured, he would use all his remaining strength to take as many enemies with him as he could. When warrior would lose his hands, he would use his mouth to bite an enemy. When wizard would be on a brink of the death, he chose to use self-detonation technique in order to kill all surrounding enemies. Even all injured soldiers decided to leave infirmaries in order to participate in the battle with their king.

    When little children, women and old folk decided to go into the battle, Dale showed himself and stopped them by saying that he was here to save them, not to risk their lives. After people heard this piece of news, reverence toward Dale grew to an unbelievable level and even people from surrounding villages and little cities came to help defend the Drango town.

    On the second day of the battle, Dale climbed to the wall of the town and said that he would participate in the battle personally. Everyone tried to change his mind, but he said that there were not enough people now and he was a rank 8 wizard, so he could definitely achieve great results in the battle.

    When Dale entered the battle, all warriors and wizards tried to protect their king, but soon they realized that Dale was a fearless and mighty wizard himself. He fought enemies without stopping even for a second and killed many rank 8 wizards with his own hands. Respect from other soldiers, warriors and wizards he gained from his actions was so tremendous that they felt like he was a god for them now.

    On the third day, Dale entered the battle again and this time he met a rank 9 enemy wizard on the battlefield. He fought the opponent for an hour to a standstill, until the enemy used some kind of secret technique to injure Dale. When other wizards saw Dale flying through the air with blood flowing out of his wounds, the whole battlefield became filled with roars of rage, so everyone failed to notice a barely visible grin on Dale''s face. Blood of all Dale¡¯s subordinates boiled from anger as they massacred shocked enemies.

    Dale was successfully saved from the battlefield and the best healers were already working on saving his life. His injury was extremely serious, but after three hours of treatment his condition was finally stabilized and he opened his eyes.

    ¡°Is the Drango town still safe? Heal me faster, I need to go and fight alongside my comrades.¡± Dale¡¯s voice was weak and his eyes were barely opened, but his first words were about getting back to the battlefield. All healers were shocked and they quickly spread this news to everyone in the city.

    A few hours later, a huge army appeared out of nowhere and joined the Drango town¡¯s defenses. It was general Sher¡¯s personal army with him in the lead. He said that he heard the news about his nephew¡¯s reckless behavior and immediately came to rescue.

    Originally, this attack on the town was planned to capture Dale by surprise and kill him, but he turned everything upside down with his own plan. He expected something like this to happen, so he asked his uncle to secretly move his army closely behind his little squad. He planned to ¡°risk his life to save people of his kingdom¡± from the beginning, but he didn¡¯t expect his spectacle to go so perfect. Even his injury was controlled by his uncle from shadows, so it would appear to be grave, but in reality there was no risk to Dale¡¯s life at all.

    With a help from Sher and his army, the Drango town was easily defended and the enemy troops were annihilated. News of this battle spread throughout the whole kingdom like a wildfire and Dale¡¯s authority rose to a whole new level. Remaining nine generals took the initiative to meet Dale themselves, and Dale now had all generals in a palm of his hand.

    While all participants were standing still inside of the magic array, there was a sudden commotion in the stadium.

    ¡°What? Princess of The Shadow Kingdom came after all?¡±

    "Yeah, I saw her in a royal lounge."

    "I heard a rumor that she was hindered by some problems on the way here before."

    Since participants were just standing still for last two hours, people started getting bored, so Brienne¡¯s sudden appearance created a topic for everyone to discuss. And she actually had to be here from the first day, but then she met Boe and decided to talk to her father about him. After she told everything that happened to her father, he ordered her to come here, try to befriend Boe and find something out about his mysterious protector.

    After Brienne greeted dark elves¡¯ royal family, she immediately looked at the scene to check out if Boe was still in the competition. When she saw him on the scene, a smile appeared on her face as she focused her full attention on him.

    ¡®I hope you won¡¯t disappoint me, big brother Boe¡­¡¯

 Chapter 29 - A selfless protector

    Miserable screams of pain, roars of half-beasts, explosions of magic techniques, sorrowful cries after losing loved ones, and his own incredibly loud heartbeat were everything that Richard heard now. His daughter was crying and shaking uncontrollably in his right hand. Richard¡¯s son was using his both hands to wipe off blood from his sister. Richard¡¯s wife was trying to keep up with him, but she was physically weak, so he had to run slower not to lose her here.

    Disgusting odor of blood, turd and vomit was attacking Richard¡¯s nostrils, and every few steps he had to jump over a dead body of someone he knew. Even though Richard understood that it was just an illusion, his heart was in intolerable pain and he was using his full mental strength not to break down and give up.

    Richard knew that even if he came up with a perfect plan of escape, there was still a high possibility of dying just because he had no power to resist any enemy wizard or even just a wild half-beast.

    Richard knew that he didn¡¯t need to be placed in top five in this trials, but he wanted to test himself to prove that he was worthy to be a part of his great family. His elders still didn¡¯t tell him what was the truth behind his family nor what was his future, but he knew that it was a responsibility a lot more serious and heavy than anything he could imagine. His father once told him that the Carter family shoulders responsibilities that even royal family wouldn¡¯t be able to carry out. He always wanted to find out the truth, but the only answer he got was, ¡°Richard, the world around you is a mere puddle in a middle of an enormous continent. And you are destined to walk out of this puddle to conquer the whole continent.¡± He didn¡¯t quite understand what was the meaning behind these words, but he was always training diligently not to let down his elders¡¯ expectations.

    But now, in this illusory world, he had no background of a powerful family nor personal strength to defend himself. He could only depend on his own brains and courage to finish the trial with a best result he could achieve.

    As Richard has finally completely calmed himself down and started observing his surroundings, he noticed that in a middle of the chaotic battlefield was standing a white-haired middle-aged man with a sword in his hand. He understood momentarily that this person was a powerful wizard, but for some reason that man was standing still and calmly, observing the battle.

    Richard quickly decided to use that man to survive. He shifted the direction he was moving in and called his wife to follow him. When Richard was a few meters away from the man, he suddenly felt a strong force lock down on him. Richard glanced back and saw a horrifying three-meter-tall blue creature with strange fins on its back jumping in his direction. He didn¡¯t have any time to properly react so he could only throw his children in middle-aged man¡¯s direction, push out his wife and then cross his hands at his chest to defend against the half-beast.

    *BOOM* *CRACK* *CRACK*

    In the next moment, Richard felt a tremendous power of half-beast¡¯s attack as all bones in both his hands were shattered. Richard¡¯s hands became numb and he spat out few mouthfuls of blood. He heavily fell onto the ground and his mind started shutting off.

    ¡°Mortal, your plan of using me as a shield was splendid! It¡¯s a shame that I don¡¯t give a single fuck about you or any other mortal in this world.¡± Richard barely managed to raise his head to take a look at the middle-aged man and then his face was pushed back into the mud of the ground.

    ¡°RICHARD! Senior, please let my husband go,¡± Richard¡¯s wife begged and the middle-aged wizard turned his head to look at her.

    ¡°Wow. You¡¯re actually not half-bad. Come, forget about your husband; I will take you out of this mess and make you one of my beloved concubines.¡± The wizard licked his lips and waved his hand. Richard wife¡¯s clothes and skin immediately became clean and her body flew up in the wizard¡¯s direction.

    ¡°You¡­ you will save me?¡± Richard¡¯s wife¡¯s voice was slightly trembling and she immediately glanced at an injured Richard and her children lying on the ground, ¡°I¡­ I will go with you, but please save them too.¡±

    When Richard heard his wife¡¯s words, his heart broke and his soul felt like he just lost part of it. He was trying to get up, but his hands were now non-existent and he had almost no strength left.

    ¡°Save them? Honestly, you aren¡¯t worth me wasting my time on saving that many people. If you want, then follow me without any conditions.¡± Wizard¡¯s tone was cold and indifferent.

    ¡°Go, I will take care of children myself.¡± Richard mustered his all remaining power and barely stood up. His legs were shaking, hands were hanging limp and cold sweat was dripping from his forehead. Wizard¡¯s face changed slightly when he saw Richard¡¯s decisiveness and braveness.

    ¡°I like your determination and fearlessness. I will grant you these two pills. First one will heal all your current injuries and second one is a very special demonic medicine. If you will swallow that pill, your power will be boosted to the level of those half-beasts, but in exchange you will have to endure unbearable pain in both your body and soul. You won¡¯t die because of this pill though; it will only continuously torture you. After a few hours you will either commit suicide because of the pain or go crazy and completely lose your mind. A lot of people who ate this pill obtained great power but eventually killed their loved ones with their own hands.¡± The wizard took out two pills from his magic ring and showed them to Richard. First one was white and sweet fragrance was emitting from it, while the second one was red in color. Richard was shocked when he felt immense killing intent coming from the second pill.

    *BOOM*

    A streak of violet lighting flashed before Richard¡¯s eyes as he fell onto the ground once again. A second later, a loud explosion resounded throughout the whole battlefield.

    When Richard finally managed to lift his head up, he saw a shocking scene before him. The wizard was holding his sword with both his hands above his head blocking an attack from a three-meters tall muscular man with body of a human and head of a lion.

    A violet lighting was dancing around the lion and the middle-aged man was covered in a barely noticeable translucent snowy white aura.

    ¡°So you¡¯re a leader of these humans, little old man?¡± the lion-headed half-beast said with a vicious smile on his face.

    ¡°So they really sent you this time, Kayir. My name is Bazyl and I¡¯m here to kill you.¡± The middle-aged wizard¡¯s aura suddenly changed and a tremendous power burst out of his body. The lion now understood that he underestimated his enemy and the wizard in front of him was concealing his real power before. The wizard¡¯s sword was now shining brilliantly as it was slashed at the lion-headed half-beast.

    But all of that had nothing to do with Richard. He was now trying to reach his children to protect them. His wife was lying on the ground unconscious and he was the only hope of the family to survive.

    As Richard was crawling in his son¡¯s direction he suddenly stopped. He noticed that there was a chilling killing intent emanating from nearby. He looked in the direction of the killing intent and saw two pills lying on the ground right where Bazyl was standing before. Apparently, when Kayir attacked him, Bazyl had to take his sword with both his hands so he dropped pills he was holding with his free hand.

    Richard changed his direction and started slowly crawling in the direction of the battle of two powerful beings. Streaks of violet lightning and slashes filled with white energy were flying everywhere, but Richard had no fear at the moment. He understood that those pills were the only hope he had, so he couldn¡¯t afford to ignore them.

    When Richard finally reached the area where he saw two pills, he stopped moving and concentrated on trying to feel the dreadful aura of the red pill. After a few moments, he finally located the aura, but he didn¡¯t see the pill there. As expected, pills were already buried deep in the mud because of the battle of two powerful wizards.

    Richard¡¯s both hands were severely injured so he couldn¡¯t use them to dig out the pill, so he braced himself and started using his teeth to bite and gather dirt into his mouth. Then he had to thoroughly inspect everything with his tongue to check if the pill was already in his mouth and spit everything out if he didn¡¯t feel the pill. Richard had to be extremely careful not to swallow red pill right now, if he did, then the result would be unpredictable. That pill was dangerous enough for a healthy person, Richard didn¡¯t know what would happen to him if he took it in his current condition. Richard¡¯s hope was to find the white pill first and swallow it to hastily recover himself and then search for the red one, but when he previously saw them, they were very close to each other so Richard didn¡¯t dare to be rash in swallowing anything.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    After Richard has already gathered and spat out seven mouthfuls of dirt, he felt a sweet scent in his mouth. Richard¡¯s eyes started glowing from joy as he spat out most of his mouth¡¯s contents. When Richard made sure there was almost no dirt in his mouth, he resolutely swallowed the pill and focused his mind on changes of his body.

    As a warm soothing feeling flowed throughout his body from his stomach, Richard felt his broken bones recovering at a noticeable rate. His mind started clearing up, strength started reappearing and he finally could slightly move his hands.

    A few second later, Richard could already move both his hands freely and he started searching the ground for the red pill. Effect of the white pill was astoundingly fast and efficient, while it wasn¡¯t anything special for a wizard, it was definitely a miracle medicine for a common mortal. By the time Richard found the red pill, his full strength was regenerated and his mind was even a little clearer and concentrated than before.

    Richard immediately turned and took both his children in his hands and ran toward his wife. Even though she was ready to leave him earlier, he could understand her decision and on top of that, the first thing she asked from the wizard was his and their children¡¯s safety. And most importantly, his duty here was to survive and ensure safety of his family, so he didn¡¯t even hesitate to try to rescue his illusory wife. When he finally managed to wake her up, she momentarily broke out into tears and started apologizing for her betrayal. Richard didn¡¯t have time to bother about it, so he just said he understood everything and told her to follow him.

    Richard and his family was running through the battlefield again. At first, they didn¡¯t meet any enemies nor allies; everyone on the battlefield understood that they would be obliterated by the collateral damage from the battle of two powerful wizards so they were all trying their best to stay as far away from it as they could. But after a few minutes, first half-beast appeared in Richard¡¯s line of sight. A strange creature with four hands and a head of rat was ripping a middle-aged woman to pieces and throwing these chunks of flesh into its mouth.

    Richard changed his direction in order to not attract rat-headed creature¡¯s attention. His wife followed him closely as they ran as fast as they could while trying to avoid corpses on the ground and half-beasts eating humans.

    ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH¡± Richard heard his wife¡¯s sudden scream and he turned his head to look at her. She was standing still a few meters away from Richard and her right leg was held by a strange hand, covered with gray fur, sticking out of the ground. Richard put his kids down and decisively popped the red pill into his mouth.

    A terrifyingly demonic energy flowed through Richard¡¯s body as he felt the power equal to a rank 1 wizard again. Richard felt his strength increase at least tenfold, but he obviously didn¡¯t get any attribute affinity, so he wasn¡¯t actually a wizard. But with a tremendous power, Richard also felt a terrible pain in each cell of his body and sharp throbbing pain in his mind. He felt like a million little demons were piercing his soul with little blades without stopping. While he could endure physical pain rather easily since he was a well-trained wizard, the pain of his soul was already driving him crazy.

    Richard clenched his fists and gathered all of his willpower to calm himself down and focus on the enemy before him. The ground beneath Richard¡¯s wife collapsed as a one-meter-tall creature appeared out of it. The creature had gray fur all over its body and a head of a mole. While it was small, it had a tremendous power in its body so Richard¡¯s wife had no chance to break out of its grasp.

    Just as the creature prepared to slash at Richard¡¯s wife with its claws, Richard ran toward it and tried to punch it with his bare hands. The half-beast noticed the danger coming off Richard¡¯s body, so it immediately released Richard¡¯s wife and jumped a few meters back.

    ¡°Take children and run toward dark forest!¡± Richard¡¯s wife wanted to say something, but when she looked into his eyes, she understood that there was nothing she could say. She took children and started running away.

    The half-beast coldly looked at the leaving woman and a killing intent burst out of it. Richard braced himself for a fight and started moving in creature¡¯s direction. The half-beast suddenly jumped high into the air and Richard prepared to dodge the attack and then counterattack the mole. But to Richard¡¯s surprise, the mole missed the attack and heavily fell onto the ground behind Richard. He was ready to attack the mole after its failed attack, but then noticed that the creature has already vanished from his sight into the ground.

    Richard¡¯s heart stopped beating for a second as he understood that he wasn¡¯t a target of the mole from the beginning. The mole attacked Richard¡¯s wife and its killing intent was focused on her the entire time. He then remembered that moles were extremely fast underground and he rushed to try to save his family.

    With his strength boosted by the demonic pill, Richard¡¯s running speed increased as well, so he caught up to his wife in just a few seconds. He quickly took children from her and put them away from her.

    Right when he was ready to fight the mole to save his wife, he saw the four-meters tall humanoid creature with a head of a bull walking in his direction. Richard¡¯s face darkened and his eyes became serious. While he was confident in taking on a single half-beast with his current strength, he knew that he needed a miracle to stand against two of them. And on top of that, mole wasn¡¯t even focused on him, so he had to split his attention to protect his wife.

    The mole apparently felt an ally coming so it showed itself and coldly glared at Richard and his wife. The bull came close to the mole and they said a few sentences to each other in a strange mumbling language. After that, the bull focused on Richard while the mole licked its lips as it looked at Richard¡¯s wife.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move far away from me,¡± Richard said to his wife and took a fighting stance.

    *MOOO*

    The bull screamed and moved in Richard¡¯s direction. At the same time, the mole was trying to evade Richard and attack Richard¡¯s wife. As Richard didn¡¯t have time to actually plan his movements, he jumped in the mole¡¯s direction and threw a heavy punch at it. The mole viciously smiled and immediately slashed at Richard with its claws.

    *SLASH* *BOOM*

    The bull stopped moving and shocked expression appeared on its face. Contrary to its expectations, Richard didn¡¯t evade the mole¡¯s attack and let it injure him.

    The mole¡¯s body trembled and fell onto the ground, its head was smashed by a single attack from a mere human. The mole¡¯s skull now had a fist-sized dent on a right side and huge amount of blood was flowing out of it. Richard managed to kill the mole in a single hit, but his condition wasn¡¯t good either. While his strike was faster and reached the mole first, he was still heavily injured and had four deep scars on his chest.

    Richard looked in the dark forest¡¯s direction and made sure there wasn¡¯t any half-beasts on the way, ¡°Take children and run into the dark forest, but don¡¯t go too deep before I¡¯ll catch up to you,¡± Richard said without even taking a look at his wife. She didn¡¯t hesitate to turn around and do as he said.

    The bull was looking at Richard with a different look in its eyes now. Just a few seconds ago the bull was sure that Richard was an easy target, but now it understood that Richard was a worthy opponent and his decisions were fast and fearless. The huge half-beast was actually a little scared standing against a tiny human with a serious injury.

    Richard understood that he didn¡¯t have much time since he swallowed that demonic pill and aftermath of that would soon be evident, so he charged toward the bull without even thinking about his injury for a second.

    *BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

    The bull¡¯s speed was far inferior to Richard¡¯s, but its body was very hard, so even though Richard managed to land a few hits on the bull¡¯s body, he didn¡¯t inflict any serious damage to it. The bull was frustrated because of it, but he kept on swinging his fists in Richard¡¯s direction in hope of hitting him at least once. They were in a stalemate for a few minutes and it was a great thing for Richard as it allowed his family to retreat into the dark forest.

    Suddenly, Richard felt an extremely sharp pain in his mind and he lost his footings for a moment. The demonic pill¡¯s side effects suddenly increased and the already unbearable pain became even worse. And that moment of Richard¡¯s weakness was enough for the bull to land a solid hit on Richard¡¯s back.

    *BAM*

    Richard flew through the air and heavily landed a few meters away. He spat out a few mouthfuls of blood and his entire body trembled from pain. Richard felt that a few of his ribs were now broken and it was harder for him to move. The bull used that moment and jumped into the air in an attempt to use its full strength in one attack and kill Richard instantly. Richard barely managed to evade using his all remaining powers and started running away from the fight. He delayed the bull for enough time for his family to enter the dark forest and he was in no condition to fight the bull now. His only hope was now that the bull would decide to not chase after him.

    Richard ran as fast as his broken body allowed him to; even though his speed was noticeably slower than before, he was still a lot faster than the huge bull. When Richard was already a few meters away from entering the forest, he turned around to check if the bull was still behind. To Richard¡¯s joy, the bull was nowhere to be seen, so he sighed a breath of relief. Richard entered the forest and started looking for his family.

    After a few minutes, he saw his trembling wife and sleeping children hiding in a shadow of a huge tree. When Richard saw them, he finally relaxed his body and mind. Unbearable pain was pressuring Richard this whole time, so the moment when he saw that he successfully saved his family, he fell onto the ground. His wife saw it all and ran toward him. When she saw deep bloody scars on his chest and blood flowing out of his mouth, her body shivered, but she still came close to him and hugged his trembling body.

    ¡°Richard, you saved us. You escorted us to safety. Our children will be able to see the light of the day again thanks to you. They will remember you and your today¡¯s actions for the rest of their lives. You can sleep peacefully now¡­¡± When Richard heard his wife¡¯s words, something inside of him clicked. The pain was gone and his mind was as clear as day. For some reason Richard felt like he successfully accomplished the mission of his entire life and tranquility spread throughout his mind and body. He looked at his wife, smiled and closed his eyes.

 Chapter 30 - A true leader

    ¡°This place is perfect.¡± Kamys stopped moving when he reached a middle of a forest. All around him were tall trees and he couldn¡¯t see anything even ten meters away from him. It was a great spot to ambush his enemies. Other nine people of his squad caught up to him and started looking around to find a hiding spot for themselves. ¡°Bern, I¡¯m leaving to lure our enemies here immediately, so you will be in charge of setting up traps and arranging our people here. When you will see me coming, prepare to fight, but engage enemies only when you will see the perfect opportunity.¡±

    ¡°Yes, captain,¡± An old man with a sword on his belt reacted instantly. Bern was the most trusted and experienced man of this squad so Kamys chose him to take the lead over other men.

    ¡°Captain, please take at least couple of us with you. It¡¯s too dangerous to go to their camp alone!¡± A burly man with a big hammer behind his back stood out and clenched his hands into fists.

    ¡°Sarugin, even though you¡¯re all strong and brave, I will be a lot faster alone. You all should be prepared to fight an unequal battle against our enemies when I¡¯ll lead them here.¡± Kamys smiled and patted the burly man on a right shoulder.

    ¡°Yes, captain.¡± Sarugin had to follow Kamys¡¯ orders even though he still thought that it was a bad idea to go alone against the enemy army. While Kamys was far stronger than any of other men in the squad, the enemy could still easily capture and kill him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, I¡¯ll only attract their attention and immediately run away as fast as I can.¡± Kamys seemed calm and collected as he gave final instructions to his men, turned around and left.

    Kamys was running through the forest as he was pondering over his plan and chances of the victory.

    ¡®I¡¯m not really familiar with light attribute battle aura and techniques, so I¡¯ll have to practice fighting on my first opponents. It seems like I¡¯ll be able to hold out against an ordinary rank 3 wizard, but I won¡¯t be able to win or kill him. And I don¡¯t even need to consider a situation where he¡¯ll be getting help from his allies. So I need to stay away from the enemy commander and try to lure out at least one rank 2 wizard and a few rank 1 wizards to lessen our problems when we¡¯ll infiltrate the enemy camp. Also, our plan with traps and luring enemy out will only work once or twice before they¡¯ll notice that something is wrong. And I have to remember that there are lives of civilians and my comrades at stake so I have to do everything extremely fast.¡¯ Kamys was using his light attribute battle aura with every move he made to get used to it. Kamys¡¯ each step sent a little of light energy out of his feet into the ground and every move of his hands created a few specks of hazy white light in the air.

    Kamys looked through his new memories and found a few light attribute techniques, he recalled how to use them and what they were used for. Previously, Kamys thought that light attribute was mainly used to heal and support allies, but now he understood that there were actually quite a lot of offensive techniques and great amount of illusory techniques. But the most shocking thing was that he didn¡¯t need to chant anything to cast techniques, in this illusory world it was enough to say a name of the technique to use it.

    ¡°Sword of light.¡± Kamys decided to try out the simplest attacking technique from his memories and targeted it at a random tree he was passing by.

    *SLASH* *SLASH* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

    A brilliant crescent of light flew from his right hand, and Kamys felt like this light was too soft and weak to destroy or kill anything. But in the next moment, Kamys¡¯ jaw dropped as he was watching a seemingly harmless light fiercely strike the first tree. Kamys stopped moving from shock when he saw results of his casual attack. The first tree was cleanly cut in half, but the white crescent didn¡¯t stop moving. Tree after tree were cut by Kamys¡¯ attack and the crescent disappeared only after it travelled more than a hundred meters and destroyed almost twenty trees.

    ¡®Just a casual attack with a weakest technique, which consumed only a little bit of my battle aura, managed to deal that much damage¡­ Is that a the light attribute power of the true rank 2 wizard or is there a difference between this illusory world and a real world¡¯s laws?¡¯ Kamys was a fire attribute wizard so he always thought that his attacks were incredibly powerful for his rank. Shadow attribute was the best for stealth and assassinations, death attribute was the best for soul attacks and control over dead souls, earth attribute was the best for defense and his fire attribute was undoubtedly the best for offense. Kamys now didn¡¯t know what to think about all this, so he quickly decided that everything in here was just an illusion and stopped doubting his knowledge of the real world.

    ¡°Have you seen how many new slaves our chief brought yesterday?¡± An ordinary looking black-haired man in a green military uniform was standing on guard of the gates of the village.

    ¡°Yeah, there are even a hundred captive wizards. Our chief is truly an overlord of the area and we¡¯ll probably dominate over all surrounding villages soon.¡± A second guard was a thin man with a scar on his face.

    ¡°I wonder if I¡¯ll be able to get myself a beautiful female slave¡­¡±

    ¡°No chances, brother. Only people who fought in a war against the enemy are eligible to receive slaves for free. If you want one, then you¡¯ll have to pay for it and I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll have enough money for a beautiful female. And even if you would have money, your wife would beat the shit out of you for thoughts like this. Hahahahha.¡±

    ¡°Shut it, idiot! She¡¯s my woman and I do what I want in my house!¡±

    ¡°Try saying it to her fa-¡±

    *BOOM*

    Before the guard had a chance to finish his sentence, a huge ball of white light suddenly flew in their direction. Guards wanted to react and defend themselves, but it was already too late to do anything. A huge explosion burst their bodies into nothingness and gates behind them crumbled to pieces. A huge hole appeared in a middle of great gates of the village.

    ¡°ALERT! ENEMY ATTACK!¡± A thunderous voice resounded throughout the whole village, all soldiers and wizards grabbed their weapons and ran toward the explosion.

    Kamys was standing a couple of hundred meters away from the gates with a provocative smile on his face. When people of the village saw him calmly standing there, they were all infuriated as they ran toward him.

    ¡°Beams of annihilation,¡± Kamys slowly said these words and pointed a finger at incoming enemies. A few hundreds of rays of light shot out from his finger with an incredible speed.

    When enemies saw Kamys¡¯ attack, they all stopped moving and used all they could to evade or defend against it. Numerous cries of pain sounded and a few bodies dropped onto the ground. All people who attacked Kamys were rank 1 wizards, but most of them couldn¡¯t defend themselves even from a single attack from Kamys. More than half of enemies were now lying dead on the ground and almost everyone else was gravely injured. Only two people managed to successfully dodge Kamys¡¯ attack and both of them immediately turned around and ran into the village.

    Kamys started finishing off the injured enemies using the simplest attacks, he needed to kill as many enemies as he could to make it easier for his squad in a future battles. When only two enemies were left alive, he heard a terrifying roar coming from the village. Kamys¡¯ senses told him that a danger was coming his way, so he immediately backed off as far as he could.

    *ROAR*

    A few moments later, Kamys saw a huge horse-like beast running at him. Even though the beast was similar to horse, it was three times bigger than an ordinary horse and had a very muscular body with a strange red spike sticking out of its head. And there was a rank 2 red-haired female wizard in a primitive clothing sitting on top of that beast.

    ¡°Speed of light¡± Kamys now had a startled expression on his face as if that female wizard¡¯s appearance has actually surprised him. He turned around, used his best movement technique and ran toward the trap he prepared.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let him escape!¡± The female wizard was followed by almost thirty other wizards as they chased after Kamys.

    ¡°Katelynn, this might be a trap.¡± Another man riding a similar horse-like beast approached the female wizard and tried to persuade her to not recklessly follow Kamys.

    ¡°Bob, He killed Dennard, I will rip his spine out of his body and eat his heart.¡± Katelynn didn¡¯t even glance at the male wizard as she hastened her mount.

    ¡°Men, follow Katelynn closely and be prepared for an enemy¡¯s ambush.¡± Bob had no choice but to follow Katelynn and try to protect her.

    Kamys was constantly looking back to make sure that the enemies haven¡¯t caught up to him and haven¡¯t lost a sight of him at the same moment. Katelynn was attacking him from her mount all the time, so Kamys had to dodge a lot of her technique and his physical endurance was already at its limits. When they were almost at the place of his trap, Kamys started showing weaknesses as if his battle aura was already exhausted from constant usage of his movement technique.

    *BAM*

    A ray of black light hit Kamys¡¯ back and he fell onto the ground. Kamys got up and started running away, but his speed was noticeably slowed down. Katelynn was sure that she finally hit the enemy with her previous technique, so she jumped off her mount and launched a ferocious attack with her sword at Kamys.

    *CLANK*

    To Katelynn¡¯s surprise, when she was a meter away from Kamys, he turned around and met her attack with his sword. Two swords clashed, and ripples of energy were sent flying into all directions around them. Katelynn wanted to jump away from Kamys, but it was already too late.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Purifying palm,¡± Kamys said these words calmly, and a gentle white light formed around his left palm. Katelynn¡¯s attack was too fierce and swift, so she couldn¡¯t immediately retreat; she could only try to meet Kamys¡¯ attack with her technique. But before she had a chance to gather her battle aura, Kamys palm had already reached her abdomen.

    Bob and other wizards were trying to catch up to Katelynn and Kamys, but they were still a little behind. When they finally caught up to Kamys, they saw clash of Kamys¡¯ and Katelynn¡¯s swords. Bob immediately reacted and used his best movement technique to help Katelynn defend, but when he reached her, she was already dead and Kamys continued running off into the distance. Bob didn¡¯t waste even a moment as he put Katelynn¡¯s corpse onto the ground and hastened in Kamys¡¯ direction. But before he could do anything to Kamys, he heard a series of miserable screams behind him. Bob turned around and saw more than half of his men dying by the hands of Kamys¡¯ people. Those rank 1 wizards were shocked by the death of one of their leaders and lost their focus for a second; Kamys¡¯ men used that second to annihilate their enemies.

    Bob¡¯s squad didn¡¯t have a chance to defend themselves simply because most of them were too shocked by the sudden deaths of their leader and comrades. In just a few seconds Kamys¡¯ men killed all their opponents and all of them turned their gazes at Bob.

    Even though Bob was the strongest rank 2 wizards of his village, he was now surrounded by nine rank 1 wizards and a powerful rank 2 wizard. But Bob was a seasoned warrior, so he didn¡¯t lose his demeanor as he took out his weapon and decided to at least take as many enemies to the grave with him as he could. He used his all battle aura to attack closest rank 1 wizard, since it was too hard to instantly kill Kamys. But before he could reach his target, Kamys has used a restricting technique, which slowed Bob¡¯s movements. And in a next second, ten different attacking techniques were sent flying in his direction.

    *BOOM* *CLASH* *BOOM*

    Bob managed to evade three techniques and defend against four more, but the last three techniques hit his body. He was still standing straight with his sword in hands, but there was already a huge hole in his stomach, his left hand was cut off and his chest was burning with crimson flames.

    ¡°Ge-general Khristof¡­ Cough-cough¡­ Will fi-find you¡­¡± Bob¡¯s voice was incredible frail as he spoke his last words before his eyes became empty and his body fell onto the ground.

    ¡°Great work. Now rest, we will attack their base in a few hours.¡± Even though Kamys understood that they had low chances of success and even lower chances of survival, they had to act as soon as possible. While they could use guerilla tactics and destroy enemy forces little by little, by the time they would finish, all their friends and family would already be dead.

    ¡°Yes, captain!¡± All men shouted at once as they started gathering items and weapons from dead bodies of their enemies.

    Three hours later, Kamys restored his condition to almost perfect state. He stood up and all his men immediately followed his suit.

    ¡°Bern, Sarugin, Xerx, Sulp, Hunter and Shik will follow me to charge into the enemy camp. Everyone else will go around their camp and enter it only when we will attract enemy¡¯s attention.¡± Kamys deliberately chose six older men to accompany him into the battle and decided to let young ones live.

    ¡°Captain, I¡¯m stronger than any of them! I shall go with you!¡± The young man with a scar on his face came up to Kamys with a fearless expression on his face.

    ¡°Grogg, you are indeed the most talented wizard in our tribe and that¡¯s exactly why you have to go with a rescue team.¡± Kamys¡¯ eyes were filled with sincerity and kindness. Everyone understood that Kamys was prepared to die in that battle and everyone who would go with him would have almost no chances to survive. Grogg was the best candidate to become a future protector of their tribe, so he had to survive no matter what.

    ¡°Little Grogg, listen to your captain¡¯s orders or I¡¯ll have to beat your ass like I did a few years ago.¡± Sarugin patted Grogg on the shoulder and smiled at him.

    ¡°Yes, uncle.¡± Sadness was written all over Grogg¡¯s face, but he had no way to object both Kamys and Sarugin.

    *BOOM*

    A huge ball of white light crashed into a squad of wizards. Kamys¡¯ technique killed two more rank 1 enemy wizards. Mortals of the village started running away, wizards gathering into groups and people already ran to inform their leader of the situation.

    ¡°There are less than thirty enemy rank 1 wizards now. Each of you just have to kill three or four enemies and I have to kill the remaining rank 2 wizard and their rank 2 leader. Sounds easy, eh?¡± Kamys¡¯ brilliant smile and confident voice gave a slight boost of morale to his men.

    ¡°Was a pleasure to fight alongside you, captain!¡± Sarugin took his big hammer into hands and a crazy smile appeared on his face.

    ¡°See you all on the other side!¡± Xerx¡¯s face was as serious as usual when he took out his crimson saber.

    ¡°I bet I¡¯ll get more heads than any of you, old fucks.¡± Hunter already held his two short blades as he licked his lips in anticipation of incoming battle.

    ¡°So you all came to rescue your comrades?¡± A thunderous voice resounded throughout the whole village. A tall white-haired man walked out of one of the buildings. Even though he looked to be extremely old, his aura was terrifyingly powerful and domineering. ¡°With just this bunch of trash you hope to defeat me and my men?¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re Khristof?¡± Kamys looked at the rank 3 wizard in front of him with no fear in his eyes. He took out a bag from his magic ring and tossed it onto the ground before Khristof¡¯s legs. When the bag hit the ground, two heads rolled out of it.

    ¡°So you were the one who killed Kate and Bob? And you think their deaths should scare me or something?¡± Khristof only laughed as he kicked two heads flying off into the distance, ¡°But I guess I still have to kill you and your men to show that no one can offend me without consequences.¡± Right after Khristof finished speaking, a majestic aura started radiating off his body.

    Even Kamys felt pressure from Khristof¡¯s pressure. Kamys¡¯ men were already trembling and terrified expressions were on all their faces. Even though they were all brave and weren¡¯t afraid of dying, fear of such a strong enemy was imprinted in their souls, so they couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    ¡°Purifying domain!¡± Kamys concentrated his full might as he used his defensive technique to protect his men. A translucent barrier appeared over him and his men.

    ¡°Ho-ho. What a wonderful technique, it¡¯s a shame that it¡¯s going to be completely useless in front of me.¡± Khristof simply extended his right arm and his battle aura shot from his hands into the barrier.

    *BOOM*

    The barrier shattered and Kamys¡¯ face instantly paled. The difference in strength between him and Khristof was obviously huge.

    ¡°Run!¡± Kamys exclaimed through clenched teeth. His men had no chance of holding off Khristof for even a second.

    ¡°Run? I want to see them try doing it.¡± Khristof¡¯s lips curved up into a menacing smile. Kamys looked back and saw that they were already surrounded from all sides and half of his men were kneeling from Khristof¡¯s pressure.

    Kamys closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them there was an unbreakable determination in them. He clenched his both hands into fists and blinding white light started shining out of his body.

    ¡°RUN!¡± Kamys focused his full might into one ball of light and threw it in the direction of broken gates. The ball landed near four enemy wizards and all of them disintegrated without a chance of evading. There was now a clear path of retreat for Kamys¡¯ men, so Kamys turned around and jumped into the air in direction of Khristof. He planned to hold off this rank 3 wizard to create an opportunity for his men to survive. Even though he understood that there was a very low possibility of them actually surviving, he had to at least create that chance for them.

    ¡°Heaven¡¯s rage!¡± Kamys used his strongest attacking technique from the start and it depleted almost half of his battle aura. A huge blurred face made out of brilliant white light appeared out of Kamys¡¯ body. The face was ten times bigger than Kamys, it opened its mouth and moved in Khristof¡¯s direction with an intention of swallowing him.

    ¡°That was such a sweet move you¡¯ve made to save that trash. Sadly, none of you will be able to walk out of here alive.¡± Khristof put his palm if front of him and a barely noticeable black translucent barrier appeared.

    *BOOM*

    When the face reached Khristof¡¯s barrier, it didn¡¯t even create a single crack on the barrier as it vanished into the thin air. A moment later, Khristof waved his arm and a tiny rock flew into his palm.

    ¡°Shadow meteorite.¡± As Khristof¡¯s voice fell, the rock in his hand was enveloped by the black battle aura. He then simply tossed it in Kamys¡¯ direction.

    Kamys felt an incredible sense of danger at that moment, so he tried to jump back to dodge the meteorite. But to Kamys¡¯ shock, he couldn¡¯t move because two little black hands were holding his legs in a place. Kamys immediately understood in what kind of situation he was, so he calmly accepted it and closed his eyes.

    *BOOM*

    Kamsy heard a loud explosion, but didn¡¯t feel any pain. He expected that he already died in the illusion and would open his eyes to see the stadium in The Dark Elf Kingdom.

    ¡°Don¡¯t give up.¡± Were the words that woke him up from his state. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Sarugin¡¯s body falling onto the ground in front of him. As shock and sorrow started growing in his heart, Kamys saw his other five comrades standing by his side.

    ¡°We came here together, so we will either leave together or perish here together.¡± Hunter¡¯s eyes were filled with killing intent and his usual playful personality was nowhere to be seen.

    Kamys wanted to yell at them for not listening to him, but then he saw resolution in eyes of each of his comrades, so he shut his mouth. Kamys¡¯ aura burst out even brighter and more powerful than before. Even sword in Kamys¡¯ hands was now glowing with a brilliant white light.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do it for Sarugin.¡± Kamys¡¯ concentrated every bit of his remaining power into his next attack and all his men did the same. Six people were burning their last bits of energy at the same time and all of them were determined to kill the person in front of them.

    ¡°HEAVEN¡¯S RAGE¡±

    ¡°ERUPTING VOLCANO¡±

    ¡°SUPERNOVA¡±

    ¡°GODS¡¯ SLAYING FIST¡±

    ¡°DEATH¡¯S SCYTHE¡±

    ¡°ICE CAGE¡±

    Six magnificent techniques used at the same time were a terrifying concept and even Khristof became serious when he saw what was coming at him. ¡°Silent annihilation,¡± Khristof silently said these words and a barely visible black skull appeared out of his body. This skull radiated horrifying power of a powerful rank 3 wizard.

    *BOOM*

    A huge explosion shook the whole village and energy undulations from it swept away all weaker rank 1 wizards and a few of them even died on spot.

    When all the energy ripples stopped, Kamys was standing on one knee a few meters away from his original spot. All his comrades were lying a few dozen meters away from him, some of them dead and other barely alive. Khristof was standing in a same place, but blood was flowing out of many wounds all over his body.

    Even though Kamys and his men managed to injure Khristof, it was not enough to kill him and Kamys had no power left in him. Kamys¡¯ only hope now was that his remaining men managed to rescue other villagers.

    Kamys¡¯ vision was already blurry and he felt his body going numb. His legs lost all the remaining power they had and he fell onto the ground. In a last second before closing his eyes, Kamys took a final look at the beautiful sky above his head.

    ¡°SCREEE¡±

    At that moment, a majestic snow-white bird was flying high in the sky right above his body. Even though bird¡¯s feathers were white in color, Kamys felt a scorching heat coming off from its aura. When Kamys tried to focus his last bits of strength to look at the bird, he suddenly saw the bird rapidly dropping from its height right into his body.

    Kamys felt a soothing warmth run through his whole body. After a few moments, an immense strength started flowing inside of Kamys. He immediately opened his eyes, but to his shock, he was already awakened from the illusory world and was standing in a middle of the magic array.

 Chapter 31 - The Demon Emperor

    ¡°Commander, what¡¯s wrong?¡± The voice of his subordinate finally woke Boe up from his shocked state.

    ¡°Nothing, I¡¯ve just decided to fight their commander head on in one-on-one battle.¡± As Boe said these words, he took out his Claws of Enthriil and jumped down from the wall.

    ¡°Commander, wh-what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Commander!¡±

    All the people on the wall were shocked by Boe¡¯s action. He was their leader, hope and a ray of light in a middle of darkness of a huge army of demons.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let them break this wall no matter what.¡± Boe didn¡¯t even look back as he dropped his last commanding words before flying straight into the middle of the enemy army, ¡°Give me the power of the shadow attribute!¡± Boe chose his own attribute because he wanted to feel what was his future.

    ¡®Ability to fly and this feeling of immense power hidden inside of my body is intoxicating.¡¯ In this illusory world, Boe was a rank 10 wizard. In the real world, the strongest people of his continent were only at rank 9 and even they were able to rule over huge kingdoms and they wielded power to destroy continents with a single attack. Then what kind of existence was a rank 10 wizard?

    Boe clenched his fists and thunderous cracking sounds resounded throughout the whole battlefield. Space around his fists cracked open and tiny black holes started sucking in everything around them. Boe waved his hand and a torrential wave of a suffocating black energy surged forth. It was a rank 10 attacking technique called ¡°Tsunami of sorrow¡±, Boe found out that he didn¡¯t need to chant anything in order to use techniques now that he was a rank 10 wizard. Thousands of demons were drowned by the wave as it continued travelling into the horizon without stopping, wherever wave went only complete emptiness was left behind. The land was dried out of water, the vegetation perished and the mountains pulverized to the fine dust. And only barely visible shadow energy specks remained behind. Even rank 9 demons couldn¡¯t do anything in front of a casual wave of Boe¡¯s hand. That was only a tip of 10 rank wizard strength.

    Suddenly, another black wave of the same height and power crashed into Boe¡¯s attack and they both disintegrated.

    ¡°Have you had enough fun, little Boe? Shall we proceed to our battle?¡± The terrifying rank 10 demon from before stopped Boe¡¯s attack only after more than a hundred thousand demons died. He obviously didn¡¯t care about this war or any of the demons around him.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Even though Boe already guessed who was in front of him, he wanted to confirm his thoughts.

    ¡°I¡¯m your Lord. I¡¯m The Source of your power. I¡¯m The Great Demon Mastema.¡± Each of demon¡¯s words echoed with a voice inside of Boe¡¯s soul and it made Boe slightly tremble. With each word, the demon in front of him was growing bigger and scarier in Boe¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°You¡¯re merely a dead soul trapped inside of me. You have no control over me. I will use your power as I desire. And you will obey my commands.¡± Boe used his soul¡¯s full power to suppress the demon inside of him and the chilling black light emitting out of his body was fighting against demon¡¯s murderous aura outside.

    ¡°Na?ve child, you have no idea who you¡¯re talking to.¡± The demon stopped leaking out any aura as he flew high into the air. Boe immediately flew after the demon, he decided that the fight against his demon was a lot more important than a trial. They both only stopped when they were high in an atmosphere. They didn¡¯t care about anyone underneath them and this war meant nothing to them, but they needed more space for their upcoming fight.

    ¡°You¡¯re nothing without my power boosting your strength.¡± Mastema¡¯s mouth was crooked in a vicious smile as he took out a pitch black sword and pointed it at Boe.

    Claws of Enthriil appeared on Boe¡¯s hands as he took a first movement¡¯s stance from his battle teaching. Boe could materialize any weapon he wanted in this illusory world, but he was used to fight with only claws on his hands already. Boe quickly scanned through all new memories he acquired in this illusion and came up with a battle plan. A terrifying black thick fog started pouring out of Boe¡¯s body, it was a pure shadow attribute battle aura. High rank wizards didn¡¯t need to chant or name anything to use techniques, but they needed to prepare their battle aura beforehand. Boe moved his hands in a strange manner so fast that only Mastema could follow his movements. He was preparing to use his defensive and attacking techniques at once.

    Mastema stood motionless all that time. It seemed like he didn¡¯t care that Boe was preparing for a fight. But once Boe started moving, Mastema¡¯s aura suddenly changed. His usual wild and bloodthirsty aura became bone-piercingly cold. The already pitch black sword in Mastema¡¯s hands was shrouded in dense black battle aura.

    While Boe¡¯s aura and techniques gave off a feeling of a horrifying wild beast, Mastema was like a soul-devouring devil from the deep abyss of hell. Even though both of them used the same shadow attribute battle aura, the way they used it was absolutely different.

    When Boe stopped moving, a strange armor appeared around his body. It was an ancient spell ¡°Shadow God¡¯s protection¡±, which created the most perfect defense of a shadow attribute wizards.

    When Mastema saw what was Boe¡¯s first move, he sneered and suddenly vanished from the spot he stood at a moment ago, ¡°Defending won¡¯t help you kill me.¡± Mastema appeared behind Boe and his sword was already close to Boe¡¯s neck.

    When Boe saw Mastema disappear, he prepared to defend from any angle, so when he heard Mastema¡¯s words, he focused most of his battle aura at his neck. He then brandished his left hand to defend against Mastema¡¯s sword.

    *CLANK*

    When Mastema¡¯s sword clashed with Claws of Enthriil, Boe felt an astounding pressure pushing him down. After their first collision, Mastema was standing at a place where Boe stood a few moments before, but Boe flew a few kilometers down. When he finally managed to stop his body from falling down, Boe felt an immense pain in his neck. Blood was flowing from Boe¡¯s neck and his soul hurt as if Mastema¡¯s strike was coordinated with his inner demon¡¯s attack. To Boe¡¯s shock, even though he stopped Mastema¡¯s sword from reaching his neck, a strange cold aura from Mastema¡¯s sword has actually went through Claws of Enthriil, all Boe¡¯s defenses and injured him.

    Before Boe had a chance to prepare any other defenses, Mastema had already waved his sword and shadow attribute battle aura condensed into a lifelike eagle, which was then sent flying in Boe¡¯s direction. Boe had no choice but to meet Mastema¡¯s attack head-on, he focused all his might in the right hand and a huge sphere of shining black energy flew out from it.

    *BOOM*

    When the eagle met the sphere, a huge explosion spread throughout the skies. Energy ripples from the explosion slashed numerous ripples in Boe¡¯s clothes and even his skin was cut. Strange little specks of shadow energy were eating away Boe¡¯s skin and flesh. Boe used his battle aura to destroy these little unknown things, but to his shock, he couldn¡¯t do anything about them.

    While Boe and Mastema were fighting in the sky, the war beneath them had already started. Countless demons were besieging the walls of the city, colorful rays of light from different magic techniques were flying to and from the city.

    But then a huge explosion was heard from the skies and everyone looked in the direction of it at the same time. All of them understood that the most important fight was now happening somewhere far from their sight. When all of them were ready to get back into the fight, they suddenly felt that temperature around them dramatically dropped.

    Just a moment later, thousands of screams of pain were heard throughout the battlefield. None of humans or demons understood what just happened, but a lot of them felt an incredible pain on their skin and then something started eating their flesh. Demons and wizards of high ranks tried to help their comrades, but nothing they did could do anything the strange specks of energy. Even though Boe¡¯s fight was happening tens of thousands kilometers high in the sky, collateral damage still created a lot of casualties from both sides already. And that was just the beginning of the life-or-death battle of two rank 10 beings.

    Mastema was standing in the same place with a mocking smile on his face, while Boe was trying to get rid of results from their previous clash. When Boe saw Mastema¡¯s face, he was infuriated. Boe decided to ignore little specks of energy on his body and his aura exploded. A pitch black battle aura around Boe started boiling and he now looked like he was being burned by the black flames. Boe¡¯s figure blurred and he appeared right next to Mastema in a next moment.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    *CLANK* *BAM* *CLANK* *BAM*

    Boe was striking at Mastema with his Claws of Enthriil at an incredible speed, but each of his attacks were easily blocked by Mastema¡¯s sword. After each encounter, a wave of the shadow attribute battle aura was sent in all directions.

    After more than a hundred clashes, Boe had finally backed off. Even though he used his full strength, Mastema wasn¡¯t even scratched. Boe was heavily breathing and his mind was in complete chaos.

    ¡°That¡¯s all you¡¯ve got?¡± Mastema said as his sword vanished back into his magic ring. Just when Boe wanted to reply, Mastema moved again and Boe had to concentrate his mind on defending against his opponent.

    *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

    Mastema only used his bare fists to hit Boe, but the pressure from each strike was unbelievably high. Boe was using all his power and knowledge he got from entering this illusory world to defend, but he couldn¡¯t do anything to stop Mastema.

    *BOOM*

    A streak of blood was left behind by Boe when he was sent flying through the sky by Mastema¡¯s ruthless attacking technique.

    Boe¡¯s body was in pain, his mind was trembling from anger and even battle aura around him started fluctuating as if it was a paper kite in the wind.

    A moment later, a towering killing intent broke out from Boe¡¯s body. All shadow attribute battle aura in a radius of a kilometer was suddenly sucked into Boe¡¯s body. Boe¡¯s eyes became crimson red, his hair started crazily floating and his aura became similar to Mastema¡¯s. He dropped his defenses, stopped caring about protecting himself and focused his whole strength, hatred and anger on increasing his attacking abilities to the maximum.

    When Mastema saw Boe¡¯s transformation, his lips curved up into a sly smile. He released his full strength out and the pitch black sword appeared in his hands yet again.

    Boe moved to fight Mastema in a close combat without a care for his own life. He clashed his claws against Mastema¡¯s sword dozens of times. Boe felt a sharp pain from each clash, but he didn¡¯t care about that at all. Even though Mastema wasn¡¯t injured by any of Boe¡¯s attacks, he started backing off little by little.

    *BOOM*

    Boe used ¡°Wrath of the Shadow¡±, which was one of the strongest attacking techniques he knew and Mastema had no choice but to use one of his mysterious techniques in response. When two powerful techniques of rank 10 wizards met, a huge blast of black energy pushed them both away. In a middle of that blast, huge cracks in the space appeared and all the clouds around were blown away. Boe¡¯s clothes were already ruined beyond repair and his body was covered in bloody scars. But when Boe stopped his body from flying away, he glanced at Mastema. A smile appeared on Boe¡¯s face and a bloodthirsty glimmer in his eyes as he finally managed to injure his seemingly invincible opponent.

    Tens of thousands demons already died in the war and humans lost thousands of their brave warriors. Blood, guts and dead bodies were everywhere and a suffering screams of pain were resounding throughout the whole battlefield.

    But all of a sudden, each and every creature on the battlefield heard a thunderous explosion up in the sky and all of them trembled as they felt a deadly danger coming their way. Before anyone could react and somehow defend themselves, a pitch black energy wave hit right into the middle of the battlefield. Anyone who was touched by the energy crumbled to pieces on the spot and only rank 9 wizards and demons could barely survive.

    *BOOM*

    The energy wave reached the walls of the city and they just crumbled. Thousands of people were buried underneath the collapsed walls. When demons saw what happened, all of them roared as they charged into the city. Civilian people of the city lost their hope as most of them crumbled onto the ground and started crying from despair.

    Blood was dripping from Mastema¡¯s mouth, but his face was full of happiness and delight. Boe¡¯s eyes were even darker than before and his aura started becoming more terrifying than before. If Boe could calm himself down and inspect his aura, he would notice that it was extremely similar to Mastema¡¯s.

    Boe didn¡¯t waste even a moment to check his condition before rushing in to continue his battle. Mastema met him with his sword¡¯s chilling attack and their weapons clashed. Each of their clashes created cracks in the space around them and energy undulations were flying off into the distance.

    With each strike, Boe¡¯s aura was becoming colder and his killing intent was growing at an inconceivable rate. Mastema already lost the upper hand in the battle and was now retreating from each encounter of their weapons.

    After a few minutes of non-stop battle, Boe was covered in blood and there was no clarity in his eyes. After a few more attacks, Boe¡¯s left claw was shattered and Mastema¡¯s sword started cracking. Boe didn¡¯t even notice that he lost one of his two claws as he kept on attacking Mastema without a care for his own health.

    ¡°BREAK FOR ME!¡± Mastema shouted and swung his sword at Boe.

    *CLANK* *BOOM*

    Boe¡¯s right claw shattered and Mastema¡¯s sword was broken into countless pieces. A horrendous energy waves were created from the impact and explosion of two high level weapons. Hundreds thousands of demons and humans were disintegrated in the battlefield, most of the wall and few dozen buildings were destroyed. All the sky around them was clear from clouds as Boe and Mastema were staring at each other.

    Boe clenched his hands into fists and charged straight into Mastema. Mastema¡¯s smile was even more happy as he saw Boe¡¯s current condition.

    Mastema used back of his hand to defend against Boe¡¯s fist, but when they collided, Mastema hand was caved in and he flew a few hundred kilometers away. Before Mastema had a chance to align his posture, Boe¡¯s fist had already reached his chest. Mastema was sent flying even farther than before and a streak of dark-red blood was flowing out of his mouth.

    ¡°Annihilation.¡± All Mastema¡¯s remaining battle aura condensed around him as he straightened his body and charged to meet Boe¡¯s next attack.

    When Boe saw that Mastema was using his last bits of power to struggle against his onslaught, he sneered and shouted, ¡°EMPEROR¡¯S WRATH!¡± A terrifying killing intent broke out of Boe¡¯s body and his aura tremendously changed. It was now extremely domineering and cold. When two strongest attacks of Boe and Mastema met, there was no explosion, nor there were any energy ripples. Boe¡¯s domineering technique swallowed Mastema¡¯s technique, but it was greatly weakened in exchange. Mastema used his all remaining battle aura to defend against Boe¡¯s Emperor¡¯s wrath. When Mastema finally managed to subdue all the energy of Boe¡¯s technique, he was ready to gather more battle aura into his body to continue the fight, but he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest.

    Right after Boe used his strongest technique, he used the cover from collision of two techniques to quickly move out of Mastema¡¯s sight. Boe circled around and gathered his all remaining power to strike at Mastema¡¯s chest from behind.

    When Boe¡¯s hand penetrated Mastema¡¯s last protecting battle aura and flesh, he didn¡¯t stop. Boe¡¯s hand was already inside of Mastema when he clenched it and grabbed Mastema¡¯s heart.

    Mastema slowly turned around, Boe was standing right before him with a still-beating heart in his hand. Boe expected to see terrified or shocked expression on Mastema¡¯s face, but Mastema was unusually calm and his mouth was crooked in an extremely satisfied smile.

    ¡°Demon Emperor never defends. Demon Emperor continuously attacks with his domineering might and crushes any foe under his feet. You now deserve a part of my power, little Boe.¡± When Mastema was saying these words, his body was slowly falling apart and when he finished his speech it completely shattered and transformed into a crimson fog. Before Boe had a chance to say or do anything, the fog moved in his direction and entered his body. Boe felt a scorching hot energy flowing inside of his body and his connection with his inner demon became stronger than ever.

    A few moments later, Boe¡¯s body started radiating out a terrifyingly cold aura and killing intent. Boe felt like he was a true emperor of this world and he was intoxicated by this feeling.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let him control you.¡± A so-familiar voice of The Toxin Queen resounded in Boe¡¯s mind as he suddenly snapped out of his trance-like state.

    ¡°Thank you, eldest sister.¡± Only now did Boe notice that the previously little soul inside of him was becoming bigger with every second of his previous condition. Boe focused on his mind and started attacking the little demon soul until it became smaller again.

    ¡®That fellow can actually devour my soul if I will depend on his power too much¡­¡¯ Boe quickly realized what happened and decided that he will use the demon¡¯s power only if he won¡¯t have any other choice.

    Even though the battle in the sky was already finished, the war of demons and humans didn¡¯t stop even for a second. Millions living beings died in the war already and the battlefield was drawn in blood.

    ¡°Kneel.¡± A voice resounded throughout the battlefield and even though it was calm, each and every person felt their soul tremble from fear.

    All demons and humans stopped their battles as they all looked up into the sky at the same time. Young man with eyes as black as night, pitch black hairs flattering in the wind was standing high in the skies with a beating heart of the demon in his hand. When demons saw the heart, they all felt their legs shake and their bravery shattered. One by one, most of the demons started falling to their knees, but there were still some of them that kept their heads high.

    ¡°KNEEL.¡± This time, the voice carried a cold killing intent and an overwhelmingly domineering aura of the Emperor inside of it. Furious Boe clenched his hands and the heart of the demon was shattered into pieces that rotated around Boe''s hand a few times, then transformed into the crimson fog, which instantly entered Boe''s body. All the rebellious demons immediately knelt and those who somehow managed to withstand the voice, suddenly exploded into nothingness.

    With all the demons kneeling in front of their leader, humans started cheering and crying from pure happiness. But before they had a chance to shout out their leader¡¯s name, they heard a thunderous voice, ¡°I SAID, KNEEL!¡± All humans were shocked, but after a moment of thoughts, all of them kneeled and didn¡¯t dare to look up to the skies.

    With millions of demons and humans kneeling before him, Boe felt like he was in a spot he was supposed to be in a first place. This feeling of power was intoxicating and Boe wanted to enjoy it a little longer, but when he opened his eyes, he was already standing in a middle of the magic array and everyone around him were looking at him with shocked expressions on their faces.

    ¡°Brother Boe, why can¡¯t you be normal at least once?¡± Kamys was standing right next to Boe and his eyes were full of worry and fear.

 Chapter 32 - Results

    Boe looked around him and saw countless gazes locked onto him. At first, he thought everyone was shocked by his demonification yet again, but then he felt immense power running inside of him. Boe only now realized that he somehow became a rank 2 wizard! He clenched his hands into fists and felt like he could destroy mountains with his bare hands. He felt like source of his new power was still rampantly flowing through his veins and he would become even stronger after absorbing all of it. Even though Boe was immensely happy after this sudden breakthrough, he was even more shocked because of it. He clearly remembered requirements to advance from rank 1 to rank 2 given to him by his master and he definitely didn¡¯t fulfill them yet.

    ¡®Was it because of that strange illusion I had just now?¡¯ Boe was trying to come up with any kind of explanation, but it didn¡¯t sound too convincing. Everything that just happened was just a part of an illusion after all, how could it change anything in the real world?

    ¡°Brother Boe? Are you alright?¡± Kamys¡¯ voice was filled with worry and uneasiness. Just a few moments ago, he woke up from his illusion and all eyes were focused on him, but then an overwhelming power started emanating from Boe¡¯s body. As everybody was looking at Boe, he suddenly had a breakthrough so Kamys didn¡¯t even have time to understand why people were looking at him previously.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Boe¡¯s voice was as cold and indifferent as usual, but the power behind it became incredibly stronger. He then calmed his mind and tried to smile at Kamys, but before he had a chance to do so, he suddenly realized that Kamys wassomehow different. ¡°Kamys, congratulations.¡± Boe¡¯s mouth crooked into a strange smile. He was surprised and overjoyed at the same time. Just a moment ago, he was in deep thought about his breakthrough, but now it seemed like it was a normal occurrence in this trial.

    ¡°Why are you cong-¡± Kamys stopped mid-sentence as he felt something was different inside of him. ¡°I am a rank 2 wizard too?!¡± Only now did Kamys finally focused on himself and realized why audience was previously looking at him the same way they were looking at Boe now.

    ¡°You two sure are outstanding talents even among elites of this world!¡± Dale¡¯s voice interrupted Kamys¡¯ and Boe¡¯s conversation. ¡°Never have I heard of anyone breaking through in a middle of the trial before. I guess I will be losing thebet. Brother Boe, I am now even more interested in you. Aura you were emanating was domineeringly powerful and mysterious, I am very happy I¡¯m not your enemy. Kamys, even though your breakthrough wasn¡¯t as overwhelming as Boe¡¯s, it was still glorious!¡±

    ¡°You were so arrogant before and now you¡¯re actually kissing our asses in front of everyone, what a cunning fox you are,¡± Kamys said with an obvious disdain in his voice.

    ¡°I¡¯m a smart person, even though I do think humans are lowly beings, you two are evidently not just regular talents and I always respected strong people.¡± Dale obviously didn¡¯t care about Kamys¡¯ provocation, his only thought right now wasto befriend Boe and try to do the same with Kamys, if possible. Before this trial, Dale didn¡¯t think much of Kamys, but just now Kamys¡¯ aura suddenly soared to incredible heights and he had broken through to rank 2. Now Kamys was on the same list as Boe, Dale needed both of them for his future plans.

    ¡°Dale Leviit, Richard Carter, Gareth Ziegler, Boe Nas and Kamys Theodore stay on the stage. All other participants, please leave.¡± A calm voice interrupted all conversations and the audience was silenced in a moment. The grand elder of The Dark Elf Kingdom appeared in a middle of the stage with the same smiling expression on his face.

    A moment later, audience and all participants suddenly understood that the grand elder had just casually announced top five of the trials. Even though, people didn¡¯t yet know actual placements of these people, but it was already a shocking result. There was only a single dark elf in top five! It was the first time in the history of trials that four out of top five were taken by humans.

    It took more than a minute before participants calmed themselves down and left the stage. Now there were only six people standing on the stage.

    Dale¡¯s face was ugly to the extreme, he was always sure that only couple of humans would end up in top five and now he was blaming his own clansmen for their incompetence and weakness.

    Kamys was overjoyed and full of pride. Even though it was still not enough to make sure he would safely return to his clan, it would still give a great boost to his status there.

    Both Boe and Richard were as calm and cold as ever. Boe didn¡¯t actually expect that he would be in top five since he didn¡¯t actually lead anyone in his trial, but he didn¡¯t show any sign of joy or excitement on his face. And Richard was deep in thoughts about his future.

    Gareth Ziegler was a young man from The Church of Light, Boe previously saw him and took a note of him because of is aura in second trial. He was one of two people who had wings of light on their back and golden robes with gryphons on their chests.

    ¡°Usually, results of this trial are decided by points, but this time our The Great Ancestor spoke to me personally and said that he had already decided everything. Except five of you, everyone else got zero points from this trial, so you are our

    top five this year.¡± When people heard The Grand Elder¡¯s words, they were all shocked to the extreme. How was it possible that only five people managed to get points from the trial? Was everyone else absolutely worthless? All the remaining participants felt their hearts boil from anger, but they didn¡¯t dare to question The Grand Elder¡¯s words.

    The Grand Elder swept his gaze over all other participants as he added, ¡°It is not that all other participants were particularly bad or anything. It¡¯s just that five of you are too preeminent to be placed in the same category as others. The Great Ancestor has done so to emphasize how incredible were your results. Well, you will hear everything else about it from him personally later.¡± The Grand Elder smiled as he looked at five young men before him.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    ¡°Fifth place, one point, Boe Nas. Fourth place, five points, Gareth Ziegler. You will both have a permission to select a weapon from our weaponry and the opportunity to meet The Great Ancestor.¡± The Grand Elder looked at Boe with an interest deep in his eyes when he was announcing his name. Audience started discussing that it was strange to grant only a single point for the fifth place. Did it mean that difference between Boe and the first place was that great?

    ¡°Third place, thirty points, Richard Carter. You will have the same benefits as two previous men and in addition will receive the Spirit Nourishing pill.¡±

    ¡°Second place, thirty-one points, Dale Leviit. You will have same benefits as first two men and a rank 3 spirit animal of your choice.¡± After people heard that Dale was only second in this competition, audience started loudly discussing it.

    Dale¡¯s face was ugly to the extreme, he could accept losing to Boe or that talent from The Church of Light, but he actually lost to Kamys¡­

    ¡°The winner of the Dark Elf King¡¯s Trials of this year is Kamys Theodore with forty-nine points. The magic essence of your choice, the weapon from our weaponry and audience with our Great Ancestor are your prizes.¡± Even though Kamys understood that he won even before The Grand Elder announced it, he was still shaken by these words. Kamys was already ecstatic when he placed in top five, but now he found out that he had actually won.

    When the audience heard the final results of the trials, everyone was utterly shocked. Even though many of them noticed that these four humans were talented, none of them expected that they would actually place higher than dark elves.

    At the moment when the top five were announced, in the royal lounge of the stadium, the current king of The Dark Elf Kingdom was standing there with an ugly expression on his face and hands clenched into fists. The results were complete humiliation to his kingdom and he was the first king in the history of the kingdom who managed to lose eighty percent of the top five places to humans. He wanted to kill all those useless young elves who lost. Even his most talented son wasn¡¯t able to get the first place. This event was meant to show his kingdom¡¯s dominance over humans. He knew that he was weaker than The Demon Emperor, The Grand Inquisitor and King Karib, but he was always sure that his kingdom¡¯s talents were of higher quality than of any other kingdoms¡¯.

    At the same time, on the right side of the king, was sitting a black-haired young girl with eyes as black as night. This girl was obviously Brienne Karib. When she saw Kamys and Boe make a breakthrough in a middle of the trial, her eyes started shining with mysterious light, and as the results were announced, she almost jumped from joy. Her gaze was concentrated on Boe. It was the first time in her life when she was genuinely interested in someone. Even though his breakthrough and placement impressed her, what really interested her was Boe¡¯s aura. His aura seemed cold and ruthless to others, but for some reason, Brienne felt like Boe was a perfect hero, who would become a dazzling star in the future. She didn¡¯t quite understand what was so special about him, but his indifferent eyes seemed to be filled with an unexplainable majesty and every movement he made sent waves of uncontrollable shiver through her body.

    ¡°Five young heroes, The Ancestor King told me to let you all in one by one in order of your placements. Kamys, ancestor is already waiting for you.¡± The Grand Elder made a few incantations and a blue glowing door appeared out of nowhere.

    Kamys hesitated for a second, but then calmed himself down and entered the door. When he crossed through the door, his eyes were blinded by bright light and when he got used to it and opened his eyes, his jaw dropped and his eyes became wider than ever. He was now standing in a middle of the huge palace made out of strange glowing black stones, Kamys couldn¡¯t even see the end of the palace on any of his sides. All he could see were countless pitch black pillars all around him that seemed like they were holding heavens.

    ¡°Kamys Theodore.¡± A hoarse voice resounded in Kamys¡¯ ears. Even though Kamys couldn¡¯t see anyone near him, he heard the voice as if person speaking to him was standing right next to him. In a next moment, in a few meters from Kamys an extremely old looking man appeared. That man was dressed in a simple loose black robes and didn¡¯t give off any kind of aura. If Kamys didn¡¯t know that he was standing in front of The Great Ancestor of The Dark Elf Kingdom, he would be certain that this person was just a regular mortal old man.

    ¡°I greet The Ancestor King.¡± Kamys humbly bowed.

    ¡°I feel a faint bloodline of the phoenix and the dragon inside of you. I have a great gift for you, child.¡± As the ancestor said this, he waved his hand and a small bottle appeared out of nowhere. Inside of the bottle was a single drop of golden liquid, but Kamys felt terrifying pressure coming out of it. ¡°This drop of blood of a true dragon is my gift for you. Fuse it into your veins and it will definitely boost your strength.¡±

    ¡°I thank The Ancestor King for your kindness.¡± Kamys¡¯ hands were shaking when he caught the bottle, but he suppressed his excitement and deeply bowed.

    ¡°You are a fearless and mighty leader with a kind heart and pure thoughts. You are actually the best ¡®leader¡¯ I ever met in these trials throughout all these years. But in future, all your best characteristics will become your greatest weaknesses. If you won¡¯t learn to differentiate between good and evil, you will end up dying miserably.¡± Before Kamys could react, he was sent out of the mysterious palace.

    Kamys was now standing in a middle of the stadium with a strange expression on his face. He was supposed to be happy that he got such a great gift, but last words of the ancestor king was now echoing in his head.

    The next to enter the palace was Dale. When he appeared in the grand palace, he wasn¡¯t actually shocked. His father told him everything about this place long ago.

    ¡°Junior Dale greets The Ancestor King.¡± Dale immediately knelt on one knee and didn¡¯t dare to lift his head. He was truly ashamed that he lost.

    ¡°My child, you are undoubtedly talented and your goals are great, but your methods aren¡¯t always good. You are far too arrogant and supercilious. If you will keep acting the same way, all your cobwebs and betrayals will turn against you.¡± Dale didn¡¯t even have a chance to say a word before he caught a strange red sphere and was sent out of the palace.

    With a flash of light, Dale appeared on the stage with a frowning expression on his face. His ancestor didn¡¯t even want to speak to him and only lectured him. Dale was obviously not satisfied.

    The Grand Elder didn¡¯t even need to say anything as Richard went and calmly entered the door. When Richard opened his eyes and saw the grand palace, he didn¡¯t react in any kind of way.

    ¡°Hello, young Carter.¡± The Ancestor King appeared in front of Richard with a barely noticeable smile on his face.

    ¡°Junior greets the esteemed elder.¡± Richard slightly bowed.

    ¡°Your will is strong and your mind is clear, your ancestor would be proud of you.¡± The Ancestor King nodded his head approvingly.

    ¡°You knew my ancestors?¡± A trace of shock appeared in Richard¡¯s eyes. Even though he knew that his family was an ancient one, he never expected that such a grand character as The Ancestor King of The Dark Elf Kingdom would know of his family.

    ¡°You are perfectly suited for your future duties. And I hope today¡¯s lesson will teach you that you won¡¯t be able to do everything alone. Keep improving yourself, but don¡¯t forget that there are people in this world who you can trust in.¡± As The Ancestor King finished speaking, he waved his hand and a sword appeared in front of Richard. The sword was silver colored without even a speck of any other color on it. It gave off a cold feeling as if it was made out of some kind of celestial ice. Before Richard had a chance to thank the ancestor king, he was sent out of the palace.

    The next to enter was Gareth Ziegler of The Church of Light. No one knows what happened to him inside of the palace, but when he got out, his aura became even more majestic. Right when he calmed himself down, he controlled his aura and blinding-bright wings appeared on his back. Wings were even more dazzling than before and weaker people around him unconsciously knelt in praise.

    And the last man to enter the door was Boe. When Boe opened his eyes, he saw the same majestic palace and immeasurably huge pillars around him. In the next moment, the old man appeared in front of him. But just as Boe wanted to bow and greet The Ancestor King, the old man suddenly knelt on one knee.

    ¡°Junior greets the esteemed elder.¡± At first Boe was shocked and couldn¡¯t react, but then he glanced to his right and understood everything.

    ¡°Impressive, you could actually sense me.¡± A voice of The Toxin Queen was as pleasant as always, but this time it contained an immense pressure and magnificence to it. The Ancestor King shivered and didn¡¯t even dare to stand up.

 Chapter 33 - Count me in!

    Krstvinga was looking down on The Ancestor King of The Dark Elf Kingdom as if he was an ant in front of her. Boe wanted to say something, but he quickly understood that he had no right to intervene in this strange encounter of two old powerhouses.

    ¡°You can stand up and say what you intended to say to my little brother.¡± Krstvinga crossed her arms in front of her chest and closed her eyes, all that was happening clearly didn¡¯t mean anything to her.

    The Ancestor King had finally lifted his head and took a look at Krstvinga. Previously, he only felt someone unfathomably strong entering his palace, but now that he could see Krstvinga in front of him, his whole body was immediately drenched in cold sweat and his knees were trembling from fear. The Ancestor King wasn¡¯t scared of Krstvinga scales or any other aspect of her outer appearance, he was someone who had been to higher worlds after all. The thing that scared him was the fact that he couldn¡¯t even feel a level of Krstvinga¡¯s power. The Ancestor King was someone who reached incredible heights for someone from the lower world, but he still was nothing compared to the legendary Toxin Queen.

    ¡°This junior¡¯s name is Byron Leviit, my real body had already left the world and went to adventure in the higher worlds. I was left here to guide young people of this world on the road of magical arts, but seeing that little brother Boe is someone close to esteemed elder, there is nothing I can help him with.¡± The Ancestor King was as courteous as he could be, but he was still glancing at Krstvinga with fear deep in his eyes.

    ¡°Even though I¡¯m his eldest sister, I¡¯m not helping him in any way, so you can do whatever you wanted to do before you noticed me.¡± Krstvinga vanished right after she finished saying what she wanted. In fact, if Krstvinga wanted, there was no way Byron could detect her. But she genuinely didn¡¯t expect that there was someone in this lower world who could sense her when she just casually hid her presence.

    ¡°Little brother Boe, I feel my aura on you. Do you happen to have some item of mine?¡± Byron quickly calmed himself down and was now looking like a dignified senior yet again.

    ¡°I think senior sensed this.¡± Boe took out his Dark Elf King¡¯s bow and showed it to Byron.

    ¡°Oh, you have actually found my old bow¡­ This was once my favorite weapon, but I lost it ages ago.¡± For a few moments Byron looked like he was reminiscing his long forgotten youth. ¡°Considering that you already have this bow, I think I should grant you appropriate arrows to use.¡± Byron waved his hand and a quiver appeared out of nowhere.

    ¡°Thanks you, senior.¡± Boe slightly bowed and received the quiver. When he inspected the quiver, he was surprised that there were no arrows within.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look so disappointed. This quiver is a special supportive type magic treasure. You¡¯ll have to inject your battle aura inside of it and magic arrows of the highest quality will automatically appear for you to use. The stronger your battle aura will be, the more powerful arrows will be summoned inside.¡± Byron was smiling as a kind old man instructing his dear grandson. ¡°In addition to that, I will grant you a shadow attribute magic essence.¡±

    When Boe caught a small bottle filled with dense black liquid, he was overjoyed. But soon he understood that he already received more than even a winner of trial would probably get. And of course, Boe realized that all of it was because of Krstvinga¡¯s appearance. Before Boe could say anything to thank Byron, he was already sent out of the palace.

    When Boe appeared on the stage, the trials were finally officially concluded.

    ¡°Five young heroes, according to our promise, you will all be granted a permission to enter our weaponry and choose one weapon each. And since our main weaponry is located in a Fordothrond City, you¡¯re all invited to be our guests for the time being.¡±

    Fordothrond City was the largest city of The Dark Elf Kingdom where the royal family was usually residing. It was basically the central city of the entire kingdom, where all the best talents were training and the strongest powers were located.

    Just as The Grand Elder wanted to escort the five to walk out of the stage, a group of people walked onto the stage. In the middle of the group, a white-haired middle-aged man with dark grey skin, scarlet pupils and an extremely sharp ears was walking toward them. Boe immediately noticed that the middle-aged man looked almost identical to Dale. If that man wasn¡¯t a lot older than Dale, Boe would think that they were twin brothers. After a moment of thought, everybody realized that it was probably the king of The Dark Elf Kingdom. And as Boe looked through people surrounding the king, he noticed that most of them somewhat resembled each other. But right when Boe was ready to take his gaze away, he noticed that in the middle of the group was the young gorgeous girl, looking at him with a mysterious smile on her face.

    ¡°Brienne,¡± Boe blurted out unconsciously as a strange feeling arose inside of him. He quickly took control of his emotions, but that moment of delight, embarrassment and excitement was noticed by all present people.

    ¡°Big brother Boe, congratulations on your outstanding result.¡± With a smile as brilliant as stars in the night sky and eyes sparkling brighter than diamonds, Brienne quickly walked to stand right in front of Boe.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Boe tried to look calm, but for some reason his throat became dry and he couldn¡¯t speak on the first try.

    ¡°Considering your ¡®humble background¡¯ this result was expected. To be honest, I expected you to be first, but who would think that your best friend would outperform you.¡± As Brienne spoke to this point, she suddenly turned her body around and looked at Kamys. ¡°Big brother Kamys, congratulations on your victory. I will definitely tell my father about the glory you grasped for our kingdom!¡±

    While Brienne was talking to Kamys, Boe was standing still with no emotions on his face. But in reality, when she came so close to him, he felt an insanely pleasant fragrance enter his nostrils. Boe closed his eyes as the aroma captivated his mind, but a moment later he snapped back to reality.

    When Boe opened his eyes again, Brienne was already looking at him and her mouth crooked into the mischievous smile as she started slowly moving closer to Boe. But before Brienne had a chance to do anything, she heard a voice behind her.

    ¡°Four young heroes of humanity, I congratulate you all on your exceptional performances.¡± The king¡¯s voice was cold and overbearing, all four young talents felt pressure just from hearing these words. The king swept his gaze across all four youths, briefly stopping on Kamys, before focusing on Dale. At that moment, Dale felt like his intestines would explode and his brain was boiling. Dale had almost puked out blood before the king removed the pressure and looked at Brienne. ¡°Miss Carib, I thank you for your attendance today, but right now I¡¯m planning to take these four young men to the Fordothrond City personally, so I can¡¯t spend any more time with you. But since you just came, let my son, Remed, escort you to take a walk through the lands of my kingdom.¡±

    Remed Leviit was the Crown Prince of The Dark Elf Kingdom. Even though he wasn¡¯t as talented as Dale, he was already more than a hundred years old and he reached the rank 5 long ago. His appearance was almost identical to Dale, but his aura was significantly different, it was magnificent and domineering. Anyone who saw Remed, would immediately understand that he was from the royal family, while Dale¡¯s aura was a lot more bloodthirsty and cold. Remed¡¯s was the oldest son of the current king and he was raised as a future king from the day of his birth, so he naturally gave off the aura of the ruler. And since he was the future king, he needed an appropriate wife, but he still haven¡¯t found anyone good enough for himself. But that was all before he heard about the most beautiful and talented daughter of king Carib. When Remed found out that all the rumors were true and Brienne was, indeed, extremely beautiful and talented, he decided that he had to make her his wife. Even though, their children wouldn¡¯t be pure elves and they couldn¡¯t obtain throne in the future, he still wanted the most dazzling female of the continent to be his woman. And to make kids to inherit the throne, he could easily take in a few more wives in the future, but his first wife had to be Brienne!

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for my rudeness, but I was instructed to accompany Boe Nas and Kamys Theodore for the time being and invite them for a visit to my father¡¯s place. So I have to decline your invitation as I will be staying by their side before we¡¯ll be able to get back to The Shadow Kingdom.¡± Brienne was surprisingly serious and elegant as she spoke to the king.

    Boe had already saw her cold and domineering the first time he met her, and later on he only watched her being rather childish and mischievous, so this side of Brienne was something new for him. And the more time he spent with Brienne, the more attracted Boe was to her.

    ¡°Since it was instructions of the king Carib, I have no power to do anything about it. I will instruct my men to treat you as my personally-distinguished guest.¡± The king reacted calmly as he looked at Boe and Kamys once more before turning around to lead everyone out of the stadium.

    To Boe¡¯s surprise, he suddenly felt an immense killing intent concentrated on him. When he traced where it came from, he saw Remed looking at him with deep hatred in his eyes. At first he didn¡¯t understand why he would attract Remed¡¯s attention, but then he remembered that Kamys once told him that the current Crown Prince of The Dark Elf Kingdom was planning to pursue Brienne. As Boe realized everything, he glanced back at Remed and the power of his demon reflected in his eyes for a moment. When Remed noticed Boe¡¯s eyes, a cold shiver ran through his spine and he unconsciously reverted his eyes off Boe. Even though Boe was a lot weaker than Remed, the demon inside of Boe was a terrifyingly powerful existence, so it could mentally suppress almost anyone on this continent if they didn¡¯t prepare beforehand. After that, Remed immediately caught up with his father, left the stage and didn¡¯t look back at Boe anymore.

    Brienne didn¡¯t go with the royal family this time, instead, she chose to stay by Boe¡¯s side. Seeing this, Kamys¡¯ face was glowing from excitement as he barely managed to stop himself from mocking Boe over the matter. Dale followed his father and joined the group of the royal family. Gareth Ziegler was moving by himself, immersed in his own thoughts. And Boe was now walking side by side with Brienne. Kamys chose not to bother the pair, so he walked back and started talking to Richard.

    ¡°Did your father really invite me to the Royal Capital?¡± Boe didn¡¯t know how to start a conversation, so he simply chose the most appropriate topic he could come up with.

    ¡°Do you think I would dare to lie to the king of elves?¡± Brienne had an offended face as she questioned Boe.

    ¡°So it¡¯s true¡­ Sorry, but I can¡¯t go there right now, I have some things I¡¯m interested in this kingdom.¡± Boe¡¯s voice was cold, but Brienne noticed that he was trying not to look at her and chose every word he spoke very carefully.

    ¡°Big brother Boe, you are no fun. You don¡¯t even look at me when you speak to me. Am I that ugly? If you¡¯re so disgusted by me then I will wear the veil and try to stay as far from you as I can.¡± Boe couldn¡¯t believe that the current Brienne and the arrogant girl he fought in forest were the same person.

    ¡°No need to do any of that. But I really do have some things I have to do here before going back to The Shadow Kingdom.¡± For some reason, before Boe had a chance to think everything through, he already spoke out to calm Brienne down.

    ¡°If you¡¯re talking about our adventure with Dale, then since we won the bet, we can bring miss Carib with us. But miss Carib have to understand that it¡¯s going to be a dangerous expedition. And even though I¡¯m sure that my brave brother Boe would give his life to protect you, we still can¡¯t guarantee your safety there.¡± Kamys appeared out of nowhere, put his hand on Boe¡¯s shoulder and spoke with a brilliant smile on his face.

    ¡°Adventure? Whatever it is, count me in!¡± Brienne didn¡¯t give Boe a chance to say anything as she hastily agreed for Kamys¡¯ proposal.

 Chapter 34 - A friendly duel

    During their journey to Fordothrond City, Boe and Kamys spent most of their time sparring against each other to grasp the new power they possessed after their breakthroughs. Each of their clashes created shockwaves that would severely injure any ordinary rank 1 wizard. Dark elves were looking at these spars with utter disbelief on their faces, they were sure that ordinary rank 2 wizards had no chance to block even one attack from those two monsters.

    At the second night, when everyone was already sleeping, Kamys and Boe sneaked out of the camp and found themselves a deserted area far away from their camp. For two previous days, they were just sparring without using any of their actual power, but both of them felt a burning desire to battle it out with their full might for once. They agreed to go all out and stop only if opponent¡¯s life was in danger.

    As two young men arrived at a secluded little field within the dark forest, they stopped moving and suddenly glanced back at the same time.

    ¡°As expected of my two big brothers, you knew I was behind you the whole time.¡± Brienne walked out of shadows with a dazzling smile on her face.

    ¡°The technique you used to hide in shadows is spectacular, but I¡¯m the shadow attribute rank 2 wizard now so there was no reason for you to even try that.¡± Usually Boe was happy to see her, but right now he was only interested in the upcoming battle. And the last couple of days gave Boe an opportunity to become used to her being close to him, so he was no longer losing his composure because of her appearance.

    ¡°I won¡¯t disturb you, you can fight to your hearts¡¯ content.¡± Brienne didn¡¯t back down even a bit as she slowly moved closer to Boe and Kamys by happily jumping from shadow of one tree to shadow of another one.

    ¡°Brienne, you should go back now or your guard will disturb us during the fight.¡± Boe tried to come up with anything to try to make Brienne leave him and Kamys alone to enjoy their fight.

    ¡°This time I warned them and they let me go after they heard that I would be with you, big brother Boe.¡± Brienne¡¯s eyes were sparkling as she tried to look as honest as she could.

    ¡°Brother Boe, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to change miss Carib¡¯s mind anyway, so let¡¯s not waste our time on that and start our duel?¡± Seeing that both of them didn¡¯t want to give up, Kamys had no choice but to intervene and stop this useless talk.

    Boe looked at Kamys for a moment and then simply nodded.

    ¡°Miss Carib, please stay a few more dozen meters away from us as to ensure your safety.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Brienne hurriedly agreed and jumped back a few times before stopping and sitting down on a huge boulder.

    ¡°Brother Boe, please go easy on me.¡± Kamys¡¯ mouth was crooked in a kind and simple smile, but there was a scorching flame burning in his eyes. Right after he finished his sentence, Kamys¡¯ eyes and hair changed in color, but this time they weren¡¯t completely red like they used to be. After Kamys finished Dark Elf King¡¯s Trials, strange specks of white light appeared in his pupils and a pure white strand of hair was mixed in with his crimson hairs. Previously, Kamys¡¯ aura was fiery and majestic, but now it became a lot softer. But even though Boe felt that pressure coming out of Kamys weakened, he saw an immense power building up in Kamys¡¯ body. And the image of the bird behind Kamys was now a lot more realistic and there was a strange sphere of white light in the area of bird¡¯s heart.

    ¡°It¡¯s the first time we fight each other using our real strength. Let¡¯s have some fun.¡± Seeing Kamys¡¯ transformation and confidence, Boe immediately activated his demonification form. An ominous aura exploded out of Boe¡¯s body and air around him immediately started shaking. Boe¡¯s eyes now looked like two pools of blood as he looked at Kamys with a cold look on his face.

    ¡°It¡¯s even more terrifying than before¡­¡± Brienne felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she looked at Boe¡¯s back from the distance.

    Young men were standing in front of each other in a middle of the forest as a full moon shone down through the leaves of the surrounding trees, illuminating the upcoming battle of two opposites - one who blazed brighter and warmer than the sizzling sun, and the other, whose aura was colder and darker than the winter moon.

    ¡°Ottuukush Oigonuu¡± Kamys activated his ¡°Awakening of the Phoenix¡± technique to boost his speed and create a burning shield around his body. He was planning to use his advantage of a physical training to fight Boe head-on.

    Seeing Kamys chant the technique, Boe didn¡¯t wait even a moment before launching his body in an arc to attack Kamys. Boe decided not to use any weapons or techniques for now, he wanted to depend only on his demonification form and thirteen moves of his battle teaching.

    When he saw Boe coming at him with an incredible speed, Kamys smiled and took a fighting stance he learnt from his father. Just a couple of meters away from Kamys, Boe suddenly twisted his body at an unpredictable angle; he was now descending toward Kamys with a terrifying momentum. Seeing Boe flying at him at a such strange angle, Kamys braced himself and decided to meet his opponent with a kick of his own.

    *BOOM*

    An explosion of energy created shockwaves that destroyed all surrounding trees within a radius of twenty meters and a crater appeared beneath the place of an impact. Scarlet flames were burning on the ground, but they were quickly extinguished by the cold black energy of a shadow attribute.

    Kamys was standing just a meter away from the place he was initially at, but Boe was actually sent flying off into the distance. When two young men exchanged their first blows, Boe miserably lost. Boe¡¯s leg was slightly trembling, but his face was as calm as always. He was prepared for such an outcome because he knew beforehand that Kamys¡¯ main advantage was in the well-trained powerful body.

    But to Kamys, that first exchange was actually a surprise. Kamys was trained by his father from his childhood and he also activated the secret technique of his clan, but Boe had actually fought without using any techniques.

    A few moments later, energy undulations disappeared and Boe¡¯s leg was no longer trembling. Kamys took an offensive stance and was prepared to attack now. Regeneration abilities of two rank 2 wizards were astonishing and all these minor injuries were nothing but tiny scratches to them.

    As soon as Boe noticed Kamys¡¯ attitude change, he knew that it was time to get serious. Boe¡¯s eyes flashed with a chill light as he moved toward Kamys. The illusion he experienced before taught him that he had to fight against his enemies without holding anything back.

    Kamys was moving quicker than Boe and each of his movements was polished to the extreme, he didn¡¯t make any superfluous movements. And Boe¡¯s movements were all according to his battle teaching, which was one of the highest ranked magical arts in the entire world, so even though Boe was slower, he had an advantage of technique.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

    In just a few seconds, Boe and Kamys exchanged more than ten blows before they both retreated a few steps back from each other. After this small encounter, it was obvious who held an upper hand. Kamys¡¯ ¡°Awakening of the Phoenix¡± exhausted itself after it defended him from six Boe¡¯s attacks, but he himself was not injured at all. On the other hand, Boe¡¯s fists were already bloodstained and there were quite a few visible injuries all over his body.

    Boe looked at his body and his fighting spirit burned even stronger. He lost to Kamys even when he used his mysterious thirteen moves of the battle teaching! Boe now had only one thing he could use to win this battle, so he calmly closed his eyes.

    ¡®Mastema!¡¯ Boe shouted in his mind. He was planning to use his final trump card right now. He wanted to experience what kind of strength he would gain from using Mastema¡¯s power.

    Brienne was standing on the boulder, calmly watching the battle unfold. Her eyes were sparkling from seeing Boe¡¯s strange movements. In her opinion, the technique Boe trained in was an extremely high level one for sure. She tried to analyze and repeat those movements, but for some reason they seemed impossible to copy. Even though she saw that Kamys¡¯ movements were stronger and his combat experience was far richer, she had already saw all of that before when she visited Theodore clan with her father.

    She was now interested in what kind of ability would Boe use after that two continuous losses in previous exchanges.

    Suddenly, the world around them became darker and temperature of their surroundings rapidly decreased. A look of disbelief appeared on Brienne¡¯s face when she saw Boe¡¯s aura becoming even colder and more sinister with each passing second. She previously saw his strange aura on the stage of trials, but it was dozen times weaker than what she was feeling right now. She was called a ¡°Dark Witch¡± because of her talent in the shadow attribute and she always considered herself to be a powerful shadow wizard. But now she saw the shadow attribute battle aura gathered around Boe as if he was a dark king of this world and even the nature had to submit to him.

    Boe¡¯s eyes snapped open as he stared at Kamys with his blood red eyes. Kamys felt a cold sweat on his back just from a single gaze of Boe. Even though Kamys was looking at his friend in front of him, he couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that it wasn¡¯t Boe standing before him, but some kind of an ancient demon. Boe¡¯s body was the same as usual, but there was a strange black mist around him. Kamys concentrated on that mist and noticed that it was shaped in form of a strange silhouette with five curved horns on its head.

    ¡°Since you decided to fight with your full strength, I shall accompany you, brother Boe.¡± Seeing Boe¡¯s terrifying aura, Kamys understood that in his current condition he had no hope of winning the battle, so he decided to try out the new technique, which appeared in his mind after he left the illusion of the trial of the leader.

    ¡°SCREEE¡±

    A high-pitched voice of a bird resounded from within Kamys as his aura soared up to the skies all of a sudden. The sound of that screech was exactly the same as the voice of the snow-white bird from Kamys¡¯ illusion at the trial of the leader. Inside of the bird¡¯s image behind Kamys, a white sphere of light suddenly erupted. Bird¡¯s body grew and its color slowly changed from scarlet red to bright crimson. Flames around Kamys¡¯ body also kindled with the crimson shades and his hairs now became as white as snow. But the strangest thing was the change to Kamys¡¯ eyes, they had already transformed from his regular brown to lava-like red after he called upon the power of his bloodline and now inside of each of his eyes were a silhouette of a little snow-white bird. The birds in Kamys¡¯ eyes were moving non-stop inside of his pupils as if they were taking baths in lakes of lava.

    Just a few seconds ago, everything around them was dark and cold because of Boe¡¯s aura, but after Kamys¡¯ transformation it all changed. Invisible ripples were appearing everywhere as the shadow attribute battle aura fought against the fire battle aura. A hundred-meter radius around Boe and Kamys became the battlefield of eerie black chilling energy against the fiery bright crimson flames. Right in a middle between the two young men, two opposite battle auras clashed against each other, creating countless tiny explosions. Each of these explosions would tear apart a body of a mortal, but here it was nothing more than a collision of two auras.

    Seeing Kamys¡¯ sudden transformation, Boe¡¯s eyes were blazing from desire to battle. He immediately charged at Kamys without even thinking for a second.

    Kamys activated ¡°Awakening of the Phoenix¡± technique and prepared himself to clash with Boe. Fiery crimson flames were burning around Kamys as everything under his feet momentarily burned into nothingness.

    *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

    Boe¡¯s each attack created waves of thick black energy, which penetrated Kamys¡¯ defenses and made him tremble all the time. As a response, burning heat from Kamys¡¯ attacks scorched Boe¡¯s clothes and even a few burns appeared throughout Boe¡¯s body.

    Watching all of this unfolded, Brienne¡¯s jaw dropped. She was the most talented daughter of her mighty father and during her entire life, she had never met anyone who could be her match at the same age as her. But right now, after witnessing the duel between these two friends, she felt that she would at most be equal to them and there was even a possibility that she might lose. Thinking that both of them had just became rank 2 wizards, while she was already not too far away from breaking through to rank 3, she felt like she was far too inferior. She even had to use her defensive technique to create a shield around her body to protect herself from the energy undulations of the fight.

    After more than five minutes of constant battle, Kamys jumped back a little and Boe did the same in response. The area of their battle became a desolate land with no signs of life whatsoever. Some trees were burned down by bright crimson flames, other withered because of cold shadow attribute and the rest were just disintegrated by the power of explosions from Boe and Kamys¡¯ battle.

    Kamys¡¯ body was uncontrollably shivering because Boe¡¯s shadow attribute battle aura had already penetrated every part of his body. Kamys felt like he was a regular mortal standing in a middle of the snow field at night with no clothes on his body. Even his flames couldn¡¯t get rid of this coldness in a short amount of time.

    But Boe wasn¡¯t in a much better situation either. Most of his clothes were already burned down into nothingness and there were a few serious burns all over his body. Even though all this damage would be healed over time, right now Boe¡¯s body was in a very bad condition.

    Boe and Kamys looked each other in the eyes and both understood that the next attack would be the deciding one. Kamys once again used his ¡°Awakening of the Phoenix¡± and a fiery crimson burning shield appeared around him. Boe didn¡¯t waste any time as he quickly ran toward Kamys.

    Boe¡¯s all remaining power was concentrated in his right fist as he was prepared to use his full might to defeat his friend. Kamys, on the other hand, concentrated half of his power on the shield and another half on his right leg.

    Just a meter away from Kamys, Boe suddenly changed trajectory of his movement and attacked Kamys from the lower position. Even though Kamys was surprised by Boe¡¯s sudden change in tactics, he was an experienced fighter, so he quickly reacted and transferred all of his power into the shield.

    A fist covered in eerie black battle aura penetrated the bright crimson shield and Boe¡¯s attack landed on Kamys¡¯ body.

    Right before his shield was broken, Kamys gathered all his remaining battle aura and crossed his arms on his chest.

    *BOOM*

    Kamys was sent flying back a few dozen meters before he was smashed into a huge rock.

    *cough-cough*

    Kamys coughed out a few droplets of blood before he raised his eyes to look at Boe.

    ¡°As expected, you won.¡± There was a regular brilliant smile on Kamys¡¯ face even though he was experiencing a tremendous pain at the moment.

    Boe barely was standing straight in the same location where he landed a hit on Kamys¡¯ body. The sinister aura had already vanished and Boe was back to his usual cold self.

    ¡°Kamys, you¡¯re far stronger than me. I won only because you were holding yourself down and I went all out. You didn¡¯t even try to actually attack me the entire time, you were always wasting most of your strength on defenses.¡± Boe was looking Kamys straight in the eyes as he was saying all of this.

    ¡°Brother Boe, don¡¯t say all these things to comfort me.¡± Kamys tried to stand up, but he had no strength left in his body.

    Boe slowly walked up to Kamys and helped him to get up.

    ¡°That was awesome! You two are incredible!¡± Brienne¡¯s overjoyed voice woke two friend up from their thoughts about the battle. She was already walking toward them with a bright smile on her face and obvious excitement was emanating from her.

    ¡°Next time, I will make you fight seriously,¡± Boe whispered without even looking at Kamys.

 Chapter 35 - Departure

    At the same time as Boe and Kamys were moving back to the camp, a dark shadow appeared in a middle of the Dale¡¯s tent.

    ¡°Young master, I followed them, as you commanded, and watched them fight each other,¡± A hoarse voice belonging to the now kneeling dark shadow reported to Dale.

    ¡°Excellent. Tell me everything in details.¡± Dale¡¯s eyes sparkled as he sipped wine from the glass and listened to the shadow¡¯s report.

    On their way back to the camp, Brienne never stopped talking about the fight she just witnessed. With a cunning smile on her face, she praised Kamys for his extraordinary achievements in his clan¡¯s battle teaching and tried her best to find out the name of Boe¡¯s battle teaching.

    Kamys¡¯ hands were lying on Boe¡¯s shoulders because he still didn¡¯t have enough strength to walk on his own. He was glad to discuss the battle with Brienne and smile never left his face throughout the entire walk. Boe, on the other hand, was quiet and his face looked grim. Seeing Boe¡¯s mood, Kamys tried to lighten up the atmosphere, but he was completely ignored.

    When they reached the camp, Brienne left two friends and went to her own place to sleep. Boe and Kamys were staying in the same tent while Richard was placed together with Gareth Ziegler, but when they reached their camp, Boe silently turned around and left without uttering even a single word. Kamys was left alone in the tent, thinking back to the fight and Boe¡¯s strange behavior.

    ¡°Eldest sister, when will master get back?¡± Boe was standing alone in a middle of nowhere and talking to an empty air.

    ¡°Little Boe, if you need anything, you can always ask me.¡± Krstvinga appeared in front of Boe in the same bright green tight dress she was wearing when they first met. The green-haired beauty with sparkling green eyes and green scales all over her body was looking at Boe with a kind smile on her face, so Boe didn¡¯t know how to react. He didn¡¯t actually understand what kind of person Krstvinga was nor what should he expect from her. She was really an unfathomable existence that didn¡¯t seem to belong in this lowly world.

    ¡°I just wanted to consult on how I could get stronger and what path should I take further.¡± After the fight with Kamys, Boe understood that even though he had an amazing master and an extremely powerful battle teaching backing him up, he was still inferior to geniuses of this lowly world. Kamys and other geniuses all over the universe were training from their childhood and Boe had only stepped on the path of wizardry mere few months ago.

    ¡°In my opinion, your strength is fine for your level and the time you spent on training. The problem is that you have almost no real life-or-death situation experience. What you need right now is not new techniques or weapons, but the experience in fights where your life is at stake to temper your spirit as a warrior. Also, you are training in a demonic magical art, so you need to bathe your hands in blood of enemies to strengthen your affinity toward demonic path of cultivation.¡± Each Krstvinga¡¯s word was thoroughly thought through and had a profound meaning to it.

    ¡°Thank you, eldest sister.¡± After a brief period of thinking, Boe slightly bowed to Krstvinga and turned around to leave without saying anything else. He slowly walked back to the camp, reflecting on Krstvinga''s words. But his face wasn¡¯t grim anymore, there was now only a cold resoluteness to become stronger in his pitch black eyes.

    On the morning of the next day, Kamys and Boe both healed up most of their injuries, but they didn¡¯t spar anymore. Even though Boe¡¯s behavior was the same as usual, Kamys felt that something changed about his friend.

    Boe now spent most of his free time alone, practicing thirteen moves of his battle teaching while Kamys was now spending most of his time with Richard. Boe was already a rank 2 wizard, so he started training to break through to the rank 3. There were three major steps to become the rank 3.

    The first step was to reach a certain level of control over the shadow attribute battle aura. Boe had to release a small amount of battle aura from his body, then control it to create a thin line over his entire body and maintain it for a brief period of time. Even though Boe already knew how to release battle aura in small amounts, he had no control over it after it was released. So the first step was basically to gain the most basic control over his battle aura.

    To reach the second step, Boe had to control the battle aura to create different forms and shapes. If he could achieve the level of creating any form he imagined, that would be a medium level of control over battle aura.

    The third step of the battle teaching¡¯s breakthrough to the rank 3 was to control the battle aura to attack his enemies. In reality, any rank 3 wizard was able to do this, but each battle teaching was using its own unique method to do it. When the wizard would achieve the rank 3, he could use any technique without the need of chants as long as he knew the technique¡¯s secrets.

    At the end of the sixth day of their journey, Boe had finally saw the Fordothrond City on the horizon.

    ¡°Brother Boe, we¡¯re finally near my hometown. I invite you, Richard and Kamys to my palace to stay there for the time being.¡± Dale came up to them after he exchanged a few words with Brienne.

    ¡°You¡¯ve finally made a breakthrough during this trip?¡± Kamys had always thought that it was strange for such a talented youth from the royal family to be only at a rank 1.

    ¡°I could¡¯ve made a breakthrough long ago, but my father forbade me to do it so I could participate in the trials. Even though you¡¯ve managed to win the trial, it doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re stronger than me in an actual combat.¡± Dale¡¯s voice was full of arrogance and burning fury as if it was Kamys¡¯ fault that he failed his father¡¯s expectations.

    ¡°You want to try me out right now?¡± Kamys¡¯ eyes were already burning bright with a fighting spirit. Apparently, the wild fire attribute battle aura influenced Kamys¡¯ character on a rather deep level.

    ¡°I have no time to waste on you. Just follow me to my palace and then I¡¯ll show you the glory of the Fordothrond City.¡± Dale didn¡¯t even try to conceal his unshakable pride of the city he was born and raised in.

    ¡°Calm down, you¡¯ll have more than enough chances to fight him during our adventure to the ruins of the ancient wizard Enthriil¡¯s fortress.¡± Noticing that Kamys was about to say something, Boe had no choice but to interrupt him not to waste any more time here.

    At the entrance to the city, Boe beheld enormous black gates made from an unknown metal. Just looking at them made Boe feel a pressure, they were five kilometers high and he couldn¡¯t see the end of them on either sides. This city was far bigger than anything that Boe saw in his life. There were more than a hundred armored dark elf soldiers guarding gates and anyone who wanted to enter the city had to go through a thorough inspection and pay fees.

    Due to the fact that they were escorted by the royal guards, Boe and company didn¡¯t have to go through the regular procedures. They calmly walked past people who were lined up in queue the entire morning.

    The scenery of the city hidden behind those gates was truly amazing. Vast streets, constantly brimmed by crowds of people, stretched across the entire city in a beautifully-designed infrastructure. City architecture composed of lithic buildings that rose hundred meters tall to the sky and immense strongholds that belonged to nobles.

    The majority of people, naturally, were dark elves, however, despite a certain level of ill-will coming from indigenous population, Fordothrond City harbored all other races too, with humans being the second most common race. Half-beasts, dwarves, goblins, giants and other strange creatures that Boe had never heard of before even in books..

    Dale led Boe, Richard and Kamys for almost four hours before they finally reached his palace. On the way there Boe saw quite a few big houses, manors and palaces, but Dale¡¯s palace was a lot bigger than any of them. The whole palace was made out of a shiny grey rock. A giant stature of a red dragon was standing right next to the entrance of the palace.

    ¡°This palace is called ¡®The Fire Dragon Nest¡¯ and it¡¯s one of the biggest private buildings in the whole city,¡± Dale proudly bragged about his house. Just by looking at this palace, Boe understood how highly does the king think of this son of his.

    ¡°Greetings, young master.¡± A deep loud voice sounded from within the palace as a three-meter-tall brown-furred minotaur with two spiral horns on its head came out of the palace and knelt down on one knee upon seeing Dale.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°Kreoz, these are my guests. Escort them to the guest rooms and then prepare a feast for us,¡± ordered Dale nonchalantly to the minotaur before walking past him and entering the palace.

    Boe went in without even thinking, while Richard and Kamys silently looked at each other before following Boe.

    ¡°Was that a real minotaur? I¡¯ve never heard of a half-beast in form of a minotaur before!¡± Unlike Boe, Kamys was born in a high-class family and he knew a lot more about this world than Boe and yet even he had never heard of anything like minotaurs.

    ¡°Half-beast? Minotaurs aren¡¯t half-beasts, they¡¯re monsters. Half-beasts are dirty spawnings of magical beasts and humans or elves. Monsters, on the other side, are the genuine race that were created the way they are now. My father caught Kreoz on one of his adventures and brought Kreoz here to serve him long ago. When I turned twelve, my father gifted me the monster, so I¡¯m the master of Kreoz now. He¡¯s bound by the magical contract, so he has to obey all my orders and will easily give his life to protect me.¡± The minotaur behind Dale clearly heard each Dale¡¯s word, but he didn¡¯t even flinch.

    Boe was looking at the minotaur with an interested look in his eyes. He clearly felt that Kreoz was unfathomably powerful, but he didn¡¯t feel any energy fluctuations from it.

    ¡°How strong are you?¡± Boe¡¯s interest piqued, so he decided not to hold himself down and asked the question while looking straight at Kreoz.

    ¡°I would crush you with a single finger, if we were to fight.¡± A deep voice of the minotaur pierced right into his head as Boe¡¯s body crumbled onto the floor with no power to resist the pressure from Kreoz.

    ¡°Kreoz, he¡¯s my guest!¡± Dale¡¯s shout resounded throughout the palace and the invisible force that pressured Boe vanished without a trace.

    *BAM*

    ¡°My apologies, young master. My savage nature took control over me when I saw the fighting spirit in the guest¡¯s eyes.¡± Minotaur dropped on both of his knees and smashed his head onto the ground right after it heard Dale¡¯s voice.

    Dale came close to the minotaur while Kamys and Richard helped Boe to get up. Boe¡¯s body was still shaking from the natural fear it felt toward such a strong opponent.

    ¡°Slice off your right hand.¡± Dale¡¯s voice was as cold as ever and his eyes were full of killing intent as he stared at the kneeling Kreoz.

    ¡°Yes, young master.¡± Without even standing up, Kreoz used a talon of his left hand¡¯s index finger to slowly slice off his own right hand. Even though he easily cut through the skin and muscles, slicing off the bone was far too hard, so Kreoz spent more than a few minutes slowly grinding down his own hand.

    *drip-drip*

    A huge amount of blood was splashing out of the minotaur¡¯s shoulder as he finally cut his right hand off his body. Kreoz finished his self-punishment without uttering even a single sound.

    ¡°Now clean up this mess and prepare rooms for my guests.¡± Dale shot a last chilly glance at Kreoz before turning around and escorting Boe, Richard and Kamys into his palace.

    ¡°That was too much. Boe is already fine, but that poor minotaur lost an arm for that.¡± Kamys was shocked by Dale¡¯s cruelty, but he couldn¡¯t say anything to the owner of the house, so he silently complained to Boe and Richard.

    Even though Boe thought that it was a harsh punishment, he didn¡¯t care about the minotaur, so he didn¡¯t answer to Kamys.

    Richard shared Kamys¡¯ opinion, but he chose not to involve himself too much in that matter so he only slightly nodded.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that, Kamys. Minotaurs are monsters after all, so they have an extremely powerful regenerative ability. In just a few hours, he will grow a new hand for himself,¡± Dale calmly explained everything to Kamys as they finally reached the huge hall with a table in a middle of it. ¡°Let¡¯s eat and then we can go for a walk around the city.¡±

    Kamys and Boe looked at each other and then took their places around the table. All the food on the table was breathtakingly luxurious and even drinks were of the highest quality. Boe had never enjoyed the meal as good as this one, so he ate twice more than usual.

    When they finished eating, Dale invited Boe, Richard and Kamys for a tour around the city, but all of them declined as they wanted to rest and patiently wait for the time to enter the weaponry. Dale was rather upset, but he understood everything and let them do as they pleased.

    On the next morning, Boe woke up because the sun was already shining right through the window to his face. He quickly dressed up and went down to the hall to meet up with everyone else. Dale, Kamys, Gareth, Richard and even Brienne were already waiting for him there.

    After some brief greetings, Dale escorted everyone else straight to the weaponry. Before entering it, Kamys received the fire attribute magic essence and Richard got his spirit nourishing pill as it was promised.

    As a winner of the trials, Kamys entered first and spent an entire hour inside of the weaponry. As he walked out of it, Kamys¡¯ face was brimming with joy. He got himself a high ranked protective treasure in form of a simple-looking red robe.

    Even though Dale was the prince of the kingdom, it was only his second time entering the weaponry. But just a few minutes after entering, Dale came out of it with his usual cold face and refrained from commenting.

    Even the usually solemn-looking Richard revealed a rarely seen smile as he exited the legendary weaponry of the Dark Elf Kingdom. After a few minutes of nagging, Kamys had finally managed to see that Richard picked an icy blue sword for himself.

    Gareth didn¡¯t say a word nor did he show any emotion as he entered and walked out of the weaponry. Kamys wanted to know what Gareth got, but he managed to restrain himself, so his treasure remained unknown as well.

    As, at last, Boe entered the huge building of the weaponry, he looked around himself and was deeply astonished to find himself in some kind of illusory array. Endless rows of words appeared around Boe that described all the weapons and treasures conquered throughout a number of wars in The Dark Elf Kingdom¡¯s history. Boe only needed to name the item he was interested in and he would immediately receive it. But after thoroughly scanning through the information, Boe was rather disappointed. Although all items in possession of dark elves could be ranked fairly high, their value would fade before any random item from the Thomas¡¯ mansion¡¯s treasury. In the end, Boe casually picked the set of dual short swords and went out of the building.

    Boe and company spent the whole next week strolling through the city and enjoying best places of entertainment. Due to Dale¡¯s influence as the prince of the kingdom, they didn¡¯t have to pay for anything and could enjoy the best treatment possible, so that even usually cold and indifferent Boe and RIchard liked such sort of pastime.

    On the morning of the seventh day, Boe, Kamys, Dale and Brienne left the city and moved out for a journey to the ruins of the ancient wizard Enthriil¡¯s fortress, as per agreement. Kamys tried everything he could, but Richard still rejected the invitation, mentioning an indisputable order he received from the patriarch of his clan, and left alone to get back to his hometown.

    ¡°Fordothrond City is incredible! Mark my word, one day i''ll live in the city of the same caliber, and definitely will be an important figure in it!¡± Kamys casted the last gaze in direction of the city as they left it far behind them.

    ¡°The Royal Capital of our kingdom is even bigger and a lot more beautiful.¡± Brienne lived her whole life in the biggest city of The Shadow Kingdom, so there was nothing new in Fordothrond City for her.

    ¡°HALT!¡± A middle-aged man, riding a huge wolf, hastily ran toward Boe and company, and pulled up before them as to stop them from moving any further.

    ¡°On your knee, soldier.¡± Dale revealed himself, stepped forward and looked at the soldier as if he was looking at an ant under his feet.

    ¡°Your highness.¡± After seeing Dale¡¯s appearance, the soldier immediately jumped down from his mount and dropped to his knee with a loud sound. It was easy to understand that Dale was a part of the royal family because of his pointy ears.

    ¡°What kind of urgent matter could happen that you dared to interrupt my travel?¡± Dale¡¯s voice was even colder than usual and a killing intent broke out from his body.

    ¡°I beg your forgiveness, your highness.¡± The middle-aged man¡¯s voice was noticeably trembling and he didn¡¯t dare to look up.

    ¡°You better have a good reason for your prior behavior.¡± Dale¡¯s frigid and frightening aura broke out of his body, white translucent white balls appeared out of nowhere and started sinisterly howling. The middle-aged man¡¯s eyes went wide from shock and his body started shaking from fear.

    ¡°My-my nephew¡­ He was kidnapped by the demon that appeared as the heavenly maiden.¡± Even though the middle-aged man was a rank 4 wizard and could easily dispel Dale¡¯s aura, he didn¡¯t dare to do so. So he had no other choice, but to withstand the pressure from the translucent spheres surrounding his body.

    ¡°Demon who changed his appearance?¡± After hearing about the involvement of demons, Kamys momentarily joined the conversation.

    ¡°Yes. the demon appeared in our village out of nowhere and then kidnapped my nephew, who was the most talented kid of my family for the last thousand years. Even though the demon looked like a 16-17 years old otherworldly beautiful maiden with blonde hairs, green eyes and a long green tail, she used some kind of mysterious magic that I¡¯ve never even heard of. And after...¡± Before the middle-aged man could finish his sentence, he suddenly felt an enormous pressure and a thick killing intent focused on him that was far more terrifying than what Dale previously unleashed.

    ¡°Where is she now?¡± Before Dale and everyone else had a chance to realize what was happening, Boe startedslowly walking toward the middle-aged man. A previously never-seen horrifying madness was bursting out of Boe¡¯s body. His aura was as cold as death itself and his eyes were like two infinite pools of blood created from slaughtering millions of living beings. Without even using his demonification form, Boe was already radiating an unstoppable aura of the demon and anyone looking at him would certainly took him for a real demon.

    ¡°B-brother Boe?¡± Even Kamys felt a tinge of fear as he looked at the current Boe.

    ¡°That¡¯s interesting...¡± mumbled Dale, thinking about something deeply. There was an obvious gleam of excitement in Dale¡¯s eyes as he saw the current version of Boe.

    ¡°Big brother Boe, what happened?¡± Brienne¡¯s voice was slightly trembling as she tried to understand what was happening. She was already used to the cold and indifferent Boe, but the current situation was a bit scary even to her.

    Boe didn¡¯t react to any of the three friends behind him as he kept stepping toward the middle-aged man, who was already covered in cold sweat all over his body.

    ¡°Sh-she vanished into the thin air right after she snatched my nephew. We used all our resources, but couldn¡¯t find even a single trace of her. That¡¯s why we¡¯re now searching for her all over the place.¡± The middle-aged man was now prepared to flee for his life if Boe would come too close to him. He didn¡¯t understand what he did or said wrong, but he had no desire to lose his life here because of a foul mood of prince¡¯s friend.

    ¡°Lith!¡± Boe¡¯s voice almost cracked from all the anger built up inside of him as he clenched his fists so hard that a fresh blood started dripping out of his palms.

 Chapter 36 - A New Journey

    ¡°It¡¯s already been three months since we left Fordothrond city to go adventuring, but because of Boe¡¯s unnatural desire to find some nymph, we have yet to actually move toward the Enthriil¡¯s fortress!¡± Each time Boe would suddenly leave them without explanation, Dale would complain non-stop. Even though he wasn¡¯t actually scared of Boe, he still had some hope that Boe would come back to his senses without the need of Dale¡¯s interference.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened between that Lith and brother Boe, but even when we were in a life-or-death situation before, he wasn¡¯t in such a state.¡± Kamys¡¯ face was filled with a worry, and a slight tinge of fear was obvious in his eyes.

    Brienne was sitting silently on her chair and looking toward the nearby forest with a rather complicated look on her face.

    ¡°Because of his unhealthy obsession and unstoppable baleful aura we already fought more than five times against some random wizards. And today I had to use one of my protective treasure, which my father personally forged and bestowed upon me. Do you even realize how expensive that treasure was?¡± Dale was holding a strange black disc in his hands, which had an easily noticeable crack on top of it.

    ¡°Stop whining. Our previous battles helped you to break through to the rank 2 and brother Boe saved your puny ass on multiple occasions.¡± Kamys¡¯ aura now wasn¡¯t as gentle and unremarkable as it was before. A few battles that he fought in previous three months helped him to grow significantly as a wizard. He now looked like a sharp weapon, ready to battle at any given moment.

    ¡°He¡¯s coming.¡± Brienne¡¯s gaze was focused on a slender black-haired youth with dark, gloomy eyes and tattered dark grey clothes.

    Just a few months ago, Boe was always cold and indifferent, but now each and every bit of his body and aura was giving off a feeling of deep hatred and thirst for blood.

    When Boe came closer to the camp, Brienne, Kamys and Dale noticed fresh drops of blood on Boe¡¯s clothes. For the first few weeks, they were shocked each time they saw Boe fearlessly fight and ruthlessly interrogate people, but now they got used to it.

    On the third day after receiving news about nymph, Boe slaughtered a whole squad of rank 1 wizards. On that day, Boe noticed seven young people walking by, so he came up to them and asked a few questions. He just wanted to find out if they saw or heard anything strange in recent days, but in response they only laughed in his face and told him to fuck off. Before Kamys and Brienne could even react, Boe unleashed his demonification form and annihilated the entire squad without giving them even a chance to redeem themselves.

    After the first incident, Kamys tried to always be close to Boe, whenever they met other wizards, but even after that, Boe managed to start quite a few fights. And just a few hours ago, they encountered two powerful rank 3 wizards. Boe moved toward wizards without a second of hesitation and both Kamys and Brienne quickly followed him. After a brief exchange of words, one of rank 3 wizards got infuriated because of Boe¡¯s impudent behavior. As a result, they had to fight against two mighty rank 3 wizards. Boe and company were quickly overwhelmed and Kamys was heavily injured. But before anything too serious happened, Dale had no choice but to step in and use his treasure to instantly kill both enemies.

    <hr>

    Once Boe entered the camp, he went straight to his own tent without even looking at anyone and fell asleep.

    ¡°Kamys, you know him far longer than me and Brienne. Do something about him or I¡¯ll simply leave you all here to die and continue my business without you.¡± Dale was sitting and scratching the scar on his forehead as his white hairs were swaying from the wind. It wasn¡¯t the first time when Dale threatened to leave them, so Kamys simply ignored him. Even though Dale truly wanted to visit the fortress of Enthriil as fast as he could, he really improved at an astounding rate while spending his time with Boe and company, so in reality he wanted to keep adventuring alongside them.

    <hr>

    ¡°Kid, it seems to me that you allowed that puny demon to take control of you while I was away.¡± An overwhelmingly pressuring male voice resounded in Boe¡¯s mind.

    *BOOM*

    Boe immediately coughed out blood and fell from his bed onto his knees.

    ¡°It is good for your growth to feel hatred, bloodlust and fury, but you can¡¯t let negative emotions control you or that demon inside you will definitely use that opportunity to gain full control over your body.¡± This time the voice was a lot more relaxed and a soothing feeling immediately spread throughout Boe¡¯s body and mind. Boe felt like clarity was brought back to his mind. For the last few months, he felt like his rage has misted his mind and he¡¯s made quite a few rash decisions. He couldn¡¯t even clearly remember some of the time he spent in that strange condition. Boe¡¯s body shivered from a thought that he was actually partially controlled by Mastema without even noticing it.

    ¡°Thank you, master.¡± Boe had an unpleasant look on his face. He was extremely disappointed in himself. He was supposed to be The Demon Emperor! How could a mere soul of a dead demon take control of him?

    ¡°What happened while I was gone that made you so weak-minded?¡± Even though Boe couldn¡¯t actually see The Strongest, he could easily notice the discontent in his master¡¯s voice.

    ¡°The nymph. She appeared near me a few months ago and that drove me into my previous condition.¡± Boe¡¯s head was lowered and his voice was unusually quiet.

    ¡°Nymph? Are you talking about that little girl who killed your brother? If so, then you¡¯re mistaken. I sense no trace of her aura anywhere in this kingdom, so she definitely didn¡¯t appear here for the last few decades.¡± A figure suddenly appeared in front of Boe. It was a stately red-haired middle-aged man with ruby colored eyes dressed in mysterious silver clothes.

    Before Boe could do or say anything, The Strongest lightly tapped on Boe¡¯s head. Boe felt dizzy for a moment as The Strongest easily obtained all Boe¡¯s recent memories.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ So that¡¯s what was happening here¡­¡± The Strongest seemed to think about something of his own for a few seconds and Boe didn¡¯t dare to disturb him. ¡°The nymph that appeared here three months ago wasn¡¯t the one who killed your brother.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t her?¡± Boe¡¯s face showed apparent disappointment, but the killing intent in his eyes didn¡¯t dim at all. ¡°I need to capture and interrogate her anyway.¡±

    ¡°She fled to her continent long ago. She only spent a few hours here before using the teleportation array.¡± After hearing The Strongest¡¯s words, Boe felt anger boil up inside him. But a second later, Boe calmed down and felt like a heavy weight was lifted from his shoulders.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°Thank you for the information, master.¡± Boe obediently bowed. His mind became crystal clear and he quickly decided to keep training in order to become strong enough to hunt down Lith. His current goal was to visit the Enthriil¡¯s fortress in order to temper himself and obtain as much treasures as he could.

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you understand what is important to you right now.¡± The Strongest slightly nodded, he was evidently glad to see his pupil act in a right manner. ¡°By the way, you now have a junior brother.¡±

    ¡°A junior brother? Did you take in a new disciple? Was that a reason why you suddenly disappeared and I was left in care of eldest sister?¡±

    ¡°Exactly so. That kid isn¡¯t alike to any of my other disciples. He¡¯s my first true successor. And he¡¯s actually a lot older and far stronger than you are. I¡¯ll be leaving you in your eldest sister¡¯s hands from now on. I will come back to visit you only when you will finish all the tests I gave you previously.¡± The Strongest vanished as soon as he finished speaking without giving Boe a chance to reply.

    <hr>

    ¡®A true successor? I wonder if that little brother of mine is lucky to be called so or is it his greatest misfortune?¡¯ High up in the skies was standing a scaled maiden clothed in bright green dress. There was a strange look in The Toxin Queen¡¯s eyes as she looked at her teacher departing from this lowly world.

    <hr>

    It was a cold and dark winter night in the Dark Elf Kingdom. A bonfire was quietly burning in a middle of an unnamed forest and three figures were sitting around it.

    ¡°Brother Kamys, when do you think big brother Boe will calm his heart and become himself again?¡± A black-haired young girl with eyes as dark as night wasn¡¯t looking like her usual self right now. The peerless beauty was clothed in tattered, blood-stained dirty clothes and there were several scars all over her body.

    ¡°Brienne, should we just-¡± Just as Kamys started talking, he heard something move behind him, so he turned around and saw Boe walking out of his tent. ¡°Brother Boe, come and eat with us.¡± For the last few weeks, Boe rarely responded to anything and almost never talked even to Kamys. So even though he called Boe, Kamys didn¡¯t held any hope of his words reaching Boe.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Boe calmly answered, came up to bonfire and sat down near Kamys. Only now did Kamys, Dale and Brienne noticed that there was no longer any baleful aura around Boe. He was now the same cold and indifferent Boe they used to know.

    ¡°Big brother Boe, are you feeling better?¡± Brienne hesitantly asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Sorry for all the troubles I created.¡± Boe clearly understood that he caused quite a few problems for his companions. Both Kamys and Brienne risked their lives in numerous fights to help him out, while Dale even used up his precious treasure earlier today. Treasures like that are simply too hard to obtain even for Dale. The current king of the Dark Elf Kingdom had to personally forge the protective treasure for his most talented son to ensure his safety.

    ¡°No worries, brother Boe. I¡¯m glad to hear that you¡¯re fine now.¡± Kamys¡¯ brown eyes were brimming with happiness as his usual cheerful nature burst out of his body. Even though his clothes were a complete mess and his red hairs were dirtier than ever, it didn¡¯t spoil his perfect looks at all.

    ¡°Good to see you back.¡± Brienne¡¯s enchanting smile and the sparkle in her eyes made Boe feel something warm inside him yet again.

    ¡°You owe me big time, Boe.¡± Dale didn¡¯t even try to conceal his dissatisfaction as he jumped up and started walking up to Boe. The greed imbued his red eyes and his strange dark grey skin was flickering because of the fire. ¡°When we¡¯ll reach the fortress, you will have to split your part of treasures with me.¡±

    ¡°Dale, shut up and stop bothering brother Boe. Let¡¯s eat now, then sleep and talk about the fortress tomorrow.¡± Kamys momentarily flared up and shouted at Dale; visible sparks of flame were already appearing around Kamys¡¯ body, he was actually infuriated by Dale¡¯s words. He was already too tired of Dale¡¯s arrogance and haughty attitude. Even a kind person like Kamys had his own limits of patience and Dale had long ago broken past them during their three months long journey.

    ¡°Kamys, no need to intercede for me. Dale is right, I owe him for that treasure and I will pay it back for sure.¡± Boe didn¡¯t react to Dale¡¯s behavior at all, his calmness and coldness was obviously getting back to him.

    Kamys seemed to calm down and the company chatted and ate for half an hour and then everyone went into their own tents.

    On the next morning, the four had finally sat down and discussed their plan. They decided to not haste toward the fortress, but take their time to slowly walk there and temper themselves on the way.

    <hr>

    It was a regular sunny day, the third day of the Harvesting month of the 10765th year of the Heavenly Calendar. Today, Kamys, Brienne and even Dale were in an excellent mood. Boe became sixteen years old, but none of his companions knew about it. All of them were happy because they finally reached the place that was marked on Dale¡¯s map as an entrance to the Enthriil¡¯s fortress. They traveled for five full months after Boe came back to his senses and they encountered numerous bandits and traps on their way. All four young people were now used to each other and each of them became far stronger than before. Any one of the company was now a lot stronger than regular rank 2 wizards and they even had a good chance to win in a battle against some weak rank 3 wizards.

    ¡°So, where is it? I only see the mountain in front of us. There is nothing here.¡± Kamys was eager to enter the fortress, but he couldn¡¯t find any kind of entrance.

    ¡°Compose yourself. I have to use my key to open the gates. How could it be so easy to enter such a place?¡± Dale waved his hand and an odd looking medallion appeared in his hands. It was shaped in form of a thick tree with countless branches. Even just the medallion was giving off an aura of majesty and holiness.

    ¡°Master Gron.¡± Dale lifted the medallion up and loudly pronounced the words he was taught to say. A dim verdant light started shining out of the medallion as it flew off Dale¡¯s hands. As the medallion moved closer to the stone wall, the whole mountain started shaking and the light of the medallion was becoming brighter.

    When Boe looked at the light of the medallion, he suddenly felt an extreme calmness as his eyes slowly closed. Without realizing it, Boe was dragged into an illusion. He was now standing in a middle of nothingness. There was a only pitch black darkness around him and he couldn¡¯t even feel his own body.

    Suddenly, a little seed appeared in an empty space. Before Boe could even realize what was happening, the seed started radiating with a holy and bright verdant light. A moment later, the seed cracked and a tiny sprout appeared out of it. The sprout started growing at an astonishing speed in a middle of the empty space.

    Soon, the sprout became a magnificent tree, which shined brighter than anything else in an entire universe. After a few moments, the tree grew so large that Boe had finally understood that the seed wasn¡¯t small at all, it was just extremely far away from him. Just a few breaths of time later, the tree became enormously huge. Countless branches were growing out of the tree and each of them was bigger than Boe could have ever imagined. Even just a single smallest leaf was greater than a continent where Boe lived.

    The tree became so big that it took up all the space in previously empty nothingness until it finally stopped growing. At that moment, the tree had finally stopped illuminating the emptiness of this strange dark world and only a single barely noticeable spark of verdant light was shining right in the middle of its body.

    ¡°Hmmm...¡± A thunderous voice resounded throughout the world as an enormous eye opened in a spot where the last spark was a moment ago. The eye seemed to be puzzled as it looked around. Boe was already trembling from shock, but he understood that everything around him must not be real, so he was trying his best to control his mind. But then, the eye focused on him and Boe felt like the eye could see right through him.

    *BAM*

    Boe fell onto the ground and his body was uncontrollably shaking. Even though he already woke up from the strange dream he saw, he couldn¡¯t calm himself down as blood was oozing out of his mouth and cold sweat was streaming out of every inch of his body.

    When Boe had finally stopped shaking, he lifted his head up and looked around him. He saw Brienne, Kamys and Dale shaking on the ground, but he still couldn¡¯t stand up to help them because his whole body ached from an insufferable pain. His mind was on a brink of slipping into a dream as Boe saw a strangely shaped entrance into the mountain appear right where the medallion was just a few moments ago.

 Chapter 37 - The lonely mountain

    Pain¡­ Stabbing pain throughout the whole body woke Boe up. He tried to sit up, but before he could muster enough strength to do so, another wave of pain washed away his thoughts of recovering. It was incredibly hard to keep his mind clear while suffering such a torture and Boe was ready to give in, but he knew he couldn¡¯t give Mastema another chance to control his body. Boe felt like he had already endured centuries of this torment before the waves of pain finally vanished.

    When Boe had finally sat down and opened his eyes, he first saw Kamys staring at him with his usual kind and worrying gaze. Then Boe turned his head and saw both Brienne and Dale lying on the ground; their bodies were trembling from time to time, both of them were covered in sweat and blood was oozing out of their mouths. Seeing that scene, he wiped blood off his own lips and stood up.

    A frail looking girl with shiny thick black hair was lying on the ground as pale as fresh snow and each time her body trembled there was the same expression of suffering on her face. But each time there was a break between the waves of pain, Brienne was opening her eyes. Boe could clearly see the determination to endure the pain and absolutely no fear in these eyes.

    On the other hand, Dale¡¯s face was terrifyingly calm and both Boe and Kamys would even think that waves of pain were of no issue for Dale if he didn¡¯t clench his fists so tight that streams of blood were flowing out of each of his palms.

    Ten minutes later, Dale opened his eyes and immediately sat himself up. Boe saw that it was extremely painful for him, but Dale¡¯s pride didn¡¯t let him show any kind of weakness before his peers. Just a few moments after that, Brienne slowly stood up and smiled. Three men quickly got up right after they saw Brienne standing up.

    ¡°Wh-what was that?¡± Brienne¡¯s voice was weak and shaky.

    ¡°Did we all see the same scene of a gigantic tree growing in a middle of nowhere?¡± Kamys was noticeably in a much better shape than everyone else.

    ¡°Why the fuck did an owner of this fortress had to torture us like that before we even entered the god damn place?!¡± Dale was infuriated; he was a prince of the kingdom after all, it was an embarrassment for him to be lying on the ground just because of some kind of illusion.

    ¡°I think whoever did this to us wasn¡¯t trying to hurt us¡­ We were just too weak.¡± Boe¡¯s cold and detached voice poured freezing water onto the Dale¡¯s head. It was obviously the truth. Seeing that Kamys wasn¡¯t affected as much as Brienne showed that enduring the pain was a matter of personal strength.

    After a few moments of awkward silence, Boe moved in the direction of the entrance. Without saying anything, everyone else silently followed behind him and they all almost simultaneously stepped into the entrance of the Enthriil¡¯s fortress, which looked like an ordinary mountain to anyone who saw it from outside.

    For a few seconds, Boe felt like an invisible force was trying to tear his body apart and bright light was attacking his eyes. And as the mysterious force disappeared, Boe could finally open his eyes and see what was around him. He was now standing in a middle of a simple and yet awe-inspiring huge room. All the walls of the room were grey as if they were made out of an ordinary stone and they were all filled with incredibly realistic paintings. The floor was covered in grass and strangely shaped white flowers. The whole room smelled like a meadow, which made Boe and company feel a very refreshing feeling and all their injuries were rapidly healing. But the main thing that the company noticed was the fact that there were no doors and no windows in the room, which meant that there was no way out of here.

    Before anyone could utter a single word, they suddenly felt an immense pressure weighing down on them. All four wizards tensed up and prepared themselves for a fight, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t pinpoint the source of the pressure.

    ¡°It¡¯s a painting.¡± It wasn¡¯t the first time Boe felt this kind of pressure, so he reacted calmer than everyone else, so he was the first one to understand that the source of the strange sensation was the biggest painting in the room, which was hanging all by itself on the wall right before them. Only now did everyone noticed that all other paintings were a lot smaller and were all clustered on three other walls, while that strange one was separated from the rest as if it was the ruler of an entire room.

    Each and every painting of the room were unique and held an image of a different scenery. One was a painting of a house, another depicted an ocean, third was a portrait of some kind of a monster. But even amidst all this diversity, the biggest painting was definitely a special one even if you didn¡¯t think about the pressure it was giving off. An enormous shining grey mountain was hanging in a middle of an empty nothingness of the universe. There were no stars, nor there were any kind of objects other than the mountain in the painting. It was as if it was the only thing that existed in the entire universe. Without even realizing it, all four were thrown into trance-like state and the only thing in their minds was that mountain.

    "I shall forewarn you, whatever you are, for I''ve raised this stronghold to escape from the chaos, scale of which you would never be able to perceive. Neither could I..." A frighteningly pressuring voice thundered in minds of Boe and company as they were released from their trance-like state. As the voice spoke the last sentence, it sounded deadly sorrowful. "You can still opt to return, and never will this world open to you again. Yet, should you choose to persist through the path filled with fatal dangers, you shall be rewarded tremendously. No matter the choice, you are forbidden to tell anything about my world to anyone beside your current companions." And at the same moment, all four felt some kind of knot appear deep inside their souls; they felt that if they dared to speak of anything about this place to anyone, their souls would simply shatter and there would be nothing left of them in this world.

    Stolen story; please report.

    <hr>

    ¡°I¡¯m definitely going for that so-called ¡®tremendous reward¡¯, what about you?¡± Dale was the first to break the silence with his resolute decision to grab any chance he had to become more powerful than he already was.

    ¡°I¡¯m in,¡± Boe answered without hesitating.

    ¡°Why would I back down if came here for this exact reason?!¡± Kamys¡¯ eyes were already burning with unstoppable desire to rush forward.

    ¡°I shall accompany you all in this reckless adventure, but we should stick together and be extremely careful. Considering that a mere painting was already that scary, whatever comes at us further will surely be dangerous even if we¡¯ll join our hands.¡± Brienne was the only one who calmly analyzed the situation and tried to cool down three hot-blooded young men.

    <hr>

    ¡°Boe, get out of there! Wherever you are, don¡¯t you dare to do anything rash. Just come out or you¡¯ll most definitely die in there!¡± Suddenly, the alarmingly nervous voice of The Toxin Queen resounded in Boe¡¯s head. It was the first time Boe heard Krstvinga in such a state; she was a powerful being of the higher worlds, what could happen in this lowly world that would cause her to be as nervous as she was now?

    ¡°Eldest sister, what¡¯s the matter? I just entered the fortress of the ancient wizard.¡± Boe was rather shocked by Krstvinga¡¯s sudden change of character.

    ¡°An ancient wizard? That place was definitely created by someone of the higher worlds. It has the incredibly powerful barrier around it and even I can¡¯t enter the damnable place! Quick, get out of there! If you¡¯ll die there, master will harshly punish me for not being able to protect you.¡±

    ¡°Eldest sister, please don¡¯t worry about me, I¡¯ll be able to handle this kind of danger even without your help. I feel that the owner of this place didn¡¯t harbor ill intentions toward anyone, I will definitely be able to come out of here stronger than I am right now.¡±

    ¡°Stupid kid! Don¡¯t overestimate yourself. Whoever created this fortress was countless times stronger than you are. He was at least as strong as I am. You can¡¯t even comprehend what¡¯s a difference between that kind of power and you.¡± Krstvinga¡¯s voice started becoming angry already.

    ¡°Trust me, I¡¯ll be fine. If I¡¯ll die here, then it¡¯ll be my own fault. Master wouldn¡¯t choose me if I wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to overcome dangers with my own strength, right?¡± Boe wasn¡¯t overconfident in himself, he just felt like something was calling him from deep inside of the fortress and someone was watching at him since he entered the room. And the person who was watching over him gave off the feeling of warmth and calmness, there was no enmity in that invisible gaze that Boe felt on himself.

    ¡°Hmph¡­ Young, stupid and reckless. Do whatever you want. I guess I will just join eldest brother in case our master will be really infuriated¡­¡± Just like that, the link between Boe and Krstvinga suddenly disappeared. Boe¡¯s life was now only in his own hands. He would have to be responsible for anything that would come at him further on his own. ¡®No matter what, no one of this lowly world would be able to create a barrier this powerful. Is it really that Enthriil? If it is, then what was he doing in here? Why bother? I¡¯ll just ask big brother about it.¡¯ Krstvinga¡¯s silhouette started fading into nothingness and a thoughtful look on her face looked more serious than ever before.

    <hr>

    ¡°Boe, are you alright?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s find a way to our ¡®tremendous rewards¡¯, shall we?¡± Boe¡¯s heart started beating faster just from a thought that he was finally under his own protection and there was no one who would save his life in even the most life-threatening situation. A devilish smile appeared on his lips for a moment before he suppressed all these feelings and moved toward the painting of the mountain.

    ¡°It feels like he¡¯s somehow different from a moment before, but I couldn¡¯t figure out what had changed about him¡­¡± Kamys was the closest person to Boe out of three, so he immediately noticed the slight changes in Boe¡¯s behavior.

    ¡°Don¡¯t know and don¡¯t care what it is, but I like the current him even better.¡± A charming voice of the young gorgeous maiden rang out as Brienne hurriedly jumped forward so she wouldn¡¯t be left behind by the man she was interested in.

    ¡°For some reason, it feels like he suddenly became the leader of this group¡­¡± Dale didn¡¯t even try to hide an unpleasant look on his face. He was used to be the leader wherever he went in his life, but with these three outstanding talents around him, he didn¡¯t feel superior at all.

    ¡°So, how do we leave the room?¡± Kamys asked as he started moving toward the biggest painting.

    ¡°There are no obvious exits, so I guess we have to work around with these paintings or find some kind of a hidden passage.¡± Brienne started attentively investigating everything around her.

    ¡°Mister painting, can you give us some clues?¡± Kamys started joking around as his mood was improved a lot by the opportunity that awaited him in this fortress.

    ¡°Kamys, stop running around aimlessly and do something useful.¡± Dale was already pissed off and Kamys¡¯ behavior only worsened his mood.

    ¡°I¡¯m already doing stuff, unlike you. This painting, for example, looks like it has a hidden message for us.¡± Kamys approached the painting of a strange forest, filled with grey trees. There were seemingly countless trees and each one of them was unique. The only common thing of these trees was the fact that they all looked to be dead.

    ¡°Kamys, be careful. Don¡¯t set off some kind of trap there,¡± Brienne said without even looking at Kamys.

    ¡°That¡¯s definitely strange. Trees here look like they¡¯re made out of stone! And even the grass is grey and has a texture of a stone. Why would anyone paint such a thing?¡± Kamys could finally peer into the painting and he was astonished by the realism of it.

    ¡°For some reason, the biggest painting is the only one that¡¯s giving off the pressure, but it doesn¡¯t look as realistic as any of others.¡± Boe was already standing in front of the biggest picture as he started investigating every bit of it.

    ¡°That strange forest looks interesting¡­¡± Kamys¡¯ voice suddenly broke off and his body vanished from the room.

    *WHOOSH*

    ¡°That damn idiot!¡± Dale was the closest to Kamys and he was the only one who saw what happened. Right after Kamys said his last words, the painting in front of him glowed with a bright light and Kamys¡¯ body disappeared.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Boe turned around and noticed that Kamys wasn¡¯t where he was just a moment ago.

    ¡°That idiot triggered something off and I¡¯m pretty sure that painting of the forest sucked him inside of it¡­¡± Dale¡¯s voice was angry and at the same time concerned. He wasn¡¯t worried about Kamys, he only cared about himself right now and with that alarming phenomenon, he started worrying about his safety.

    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to follow his steps. He found a way out of this room, after all.¡± Boe chuckled and started confidently moving toward the painting of the forest.

 Chapter 38 - The stone forest

    *WHOOSH*

    *WHOOSH*

    *WHOOSH*

    One after another, Boe, Brienne and Dale all touched the painting of the stone forest and were immediately teleported out of the room. The moment all of them opened their eyes, blinded by the bright verdant light that shone all around them as they teleported, they saw the forest of grey trees, identical to the painting, unveil before them. The trees seemed to be fully made of stone and varied in heights and volumes. No living beings around were seen as far as Boe''s eyes could reach, and only frightening silence enveloped this forest domain. While the ashen-brown ground was littered with tiny stones of different sizes, the skies were clean and not even one cloud could be seen. The atmosphere in the forest was rather surreal and the company felt like they were standing in a middle of the museum. Even though the trees looked like they were just grave statues, Boe felt that there was vigorous lifeforce within these trees.

    ¡°Uhmm¡­ It¡¯s really not my fault¡­ I just touched the painting to inspect it¡­¡± Kamys was already standing in front of the three with guilt written all over his face.

    ¡°Relax, we had to leave that room anyway.¡± Boe didn¡¯t even spare a glance at Kamys before he started looking around himself.

    ¡°That was so damn stupid¡­ Well, I guess it is to be expected from someone like you.¡± Dale didn¡¯t lose a chance to humiliate the one who took the victory from his hands in trials of his own people and lowered his status back at home.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind him. We all make mistakes.¡± Seeing Kamys¡¯ depressed face, Brienne tried to console him. She had a much higher opinion on Kamys than Dale; first of all, Kamys was someone from her kingdom and secondly, she simply liked Kamys¡¯ personality a lot more.

    Kamys silently glanced at Dale, turned around and left without uttering a single word. He knew he was at fault right now even without Dale¡¯s vile words so he decided that he will redeem himself with actions rather than words.

    Seeing almost no reaction from Kamys, Dale decided to drop the matter for the moment. Even though Dale disliked Kamys and wanted to use this opportunity to insult Kamys a lot more than he already did, he understood that it wasn¡¯t important right now. He immediately started looking around him without touching anything as he walked through the forest. Dale was afraid that there might be traps hidden in here, so he paid attention to every move he made.

    Brienne thought about consoling Kamys a little more, but after she saw Kamys¡¯ eyes full of determination, she understood that there was no need to feel pity toward him. With a barely noticeable smile on her face, Brienne began to inspect the forest as well.

    ¡°Try not to set off any traps and if you notice anything out of the ordinary, call us all before doing anything.¡± Boe¡¯s voice suddenly rang out from the forest. While Brienne, Kamys and Dale were slowly inspecting the area, Boe had already moved deeper into the forest so they couldn''t see him anymore behind the lithic thicket.

    ¡°Big brother Boe, you shouldn¡¯t move alone in here. Wait for someone to reach you before you¡¯ll walk any further.¡± Brienne¡¯s voice was filled with nervousness, but she still didn¡¯t dare to move rashly toward Boe¡¯s location.

    ¡°Let me guess, that ¡®someone¡¯ you mentioned will be you, eh?¡± Dale chuckled as he made fun of another kingdom¡¯s princess.

    ¡°Why do you have to be so-¡± Right as Brienne started turning toward Dale, she noticed something move high up on the trees with a corner of her eyes. Without even thinking, Brienne activated her technique - ¡°Kyolyokyo kyimyl¡±. Brienne¡¯s whole body was now veiled by black specks of battle aura and her movement speed tremendously increased. Just a moment later, Brienne was already standing right in-between Kamys and Dale.

    Seeing Brienne¡¯s sudden reaction, both Kamys and Dale instantly activated their techniques. Kamys¡¯ whole body was radiating a blazing aura, his burning eyes were focused on the trees above him and the bird behind him appeared to be even more realistic than ever before. On the other side, an extreme coldness and horrendous howls burst out of Dale¡¯s body. With soothing burning flames of Kamys behind her and frighteningly freezing Dale in front of her, Brienne felt a rather strange feeling deep inside of her.

    Without anyone noticing, Boe suddenly appeared right next to Brienne. She was ready to see the terrifying side of Boe again, but to Brienne¡¯s surprise, he didn¡¯t activate his demonification.

    ¡°What exactly did you see?¡± Boe¡¯s voice was calm and he behaved like everything was under his control.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. It wasn¡¯t really big, but it moved at an incredible speed.¡± Seeing Boe¡¯s indifferent reaction, Brienne understood that she might have overreacted.

    ¡°Now that we know that we¡¯re not alone in this forest, it¡¯d better be for us to move together. Kamys, since you have the best physical training, you should be in front. I will be moving behind all of you and protecting your backs. Brienne and Dale, be ready to react to any threat coming from either side.¡± At the start of his speech, Boe looked like he always did but with every word he spoke, his aura was becoming colder and his eyes were slowly turning into two pools of blood.

    Seeing Boe¡¯s transformation, all three his companions felt shiver running down their spines. No matter how many times they saw Boe¡¯s strange power, they couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that it was the most sinister aura in this world. Even air around Boe was trembling as if trying to run away from him, so it was no surprise that people would react in that kind of way.

    ¡®Fascinating! I saw that transformation quite a few times already, but I still can¡¯t keep my body from feeling instinctual fear toward it.¡¯ Brienne focused all her attention to Boe and her eyes were sparkling with interest. Right after Boe finished his transformation, Brienne grinned and closed her eyes. ¡°I guess it¡¯s time for you guys to see the real power.¡±

    Seeing that Brienne was about to finally reveal her strength, all three boys turned to look at her. But to their surprise, even after Brienne opened her eyes, they didn¡¯t see any changes in her appearance or aura.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°What? Did you expect me to burst out with fire or howling spirits like you? The real power needs nothing like that. Let me prove it to you.¡± With a playful smile on her lips and strange grey mist in eyes, Brienne simply clenched her right fist.

    Before any of the three could react, all of them felt something grabbing their feet. The scorching fire, freezing coldness and eerie howls immediately radiated out of the three young men. All of them managed to easily destroy shadow shackles that attacked them a moment ago and right after that all of them turned their heads toward the location where Brienne stood just a second ago, but to their shock they saw nothing but a void. Kamys started looking around himself with astonishment written all over his face, while Dale was infuriated by Brienne¡¯s actions. Boe was the only one who reacted calmly and kept looking at his shadow under his feet.

    ¡°So, what do you boys think about the ¡®real power¡¯?¡± chuckled Brienne as she materialized in the same place where she stood before.

    ¡°So that¡¯s how the King Karib¡¯s legendary ¡®Shadowmerge¡¯ looks like¡­¡± Dale was a prince of The Dark Elf Kingdom after all. He had the information about the power of Brienne¡¯s father, so he easily guessed what she had just used.

    ¡°Formless body that merges with and controls shadows around it. Legends say that it¡¯s the strongest shadow attribute transformation that exists in this world.¡± Kamys was looking beneath him and thinking back to all stories about the invincible king he heard from his father. He was raised in complete belief that King Karib was the strongest wizard in this world and no one could challenge his authority, but now that he met Boe he was suspecting that there were far stronger people that his father simply never heard of. Just thinking back to Boe¡¯s ¡®eldest sister¡¯ and strange power she used was enough to convince him that she was definitely someone out of this tiny world he used to believe was everything that exists in universe. And such a freakily strong person was just another pupil of Boe¡¯s mysterious master¡­

    <hr>

    ¡°We won¡¯t achieve anything by standing here and looking around. Let¡¯s move out and slowly inspect the forest. Kamys shall be our vanguard and three of us will be ready to save him when he triggers something again.¡± The party of four was standing on their guard in the same place for more than five minutes without anything happening, so Dale was already irritated and bored.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already scouted the area in front of us and there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything there. Let¡¯s go to the right.¡± Even though Boe was calm on the outside, even he was disappointed by Dale¡¯s behavior. Without saying anything further or waiting for response, he moved out first in direction he chose.

    ¡°Brother Boe, let me go in front of you. I¡¯m better suited to face sudden dangers.¡± Kamys wanted to rebuke Dale, but after hearing Boe¡¯s response, he managed to calm himself down. He knew better than anyone else that he was very well trained physically unlike Boe who was basically newbie in the world of wizards and pair of prince and princess who weren¡¯t even used to actual combat.

    The party of four were slowly advancing deeper and deeper into the stone forest. The deeper they trod, the more marvelous trees they met. Some of the trees even had some kind of fruits, albeit all of them were made of stones. They¡¯ve already been walking for almost an hour and their transformations were depleting their battle aura bit by bit.

    ¡°Look!¡± Kamys suddenly stopped and pointed toward the crown of an oak-like stone tree. When Boe looked up, he saw a small creature sitting on the branch high up on the tree.

    ¡°Is it a squirrel?¡± Brienne¡¯s voice was hesitant because what she saw looked similar to ordinary squirrel, but it had a few distinct features that differentiated it from anything she saw in her life. First of all, the creature was made out of brown colored stone similar to agate in its appearance and it was already enough to make sure that Brienne questioned her sanity. Secondly, even though the creature was ¡®small¡¯, it was at least twice bigger than squirrels. And lastly, eyes of the creature were of verdant color and they were glowing so bright that their light was actually blinding to eyes of an ordinary human being. Luckily, all four people of the party were no ordinary humans, so they could easily look past the light of creature¡¯s eyes and see that those eyes didn¡¯t look like unintelligent eyes of an animal.

    ¡°Can you speak? Do you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡± Boe was the first one who pulled himself together and tried to communicate with the creature.

    The creature turned its head toward Boe and glanced at him as if it was inspecting him. A moment later, the creature turned back to continue what it was doing without uttering a single sound.

    ¡°Why would you think that such a lowly creature could understand our speech? But even though it doesn¡¯t look to be intelligent enough for communication, it¡¯s still a rather interesting creature. My father happens to love collecting peculiar existences of this world, so if you all don¡¯t mind, I will capture it and take it back to my father as a gift from this trip.¡± Dale¡¯s haughty nature came out yet again as he suddenly leapt high up into the skies without even waiting for anyone¡¯s response.

    ¡°Stop! You don¡¯t know how powerful it might be.¡± Boe tried to reason with Dale, but it was already far too late.

    Dale was already approaching the creature when he whispered, ¡°Orokchu k¡¯apas¡±. Dozens of white specks of light suddenly burst out of Dale¡¯s body and surrounded the creature in form of a cage. Each speck of light was howling as if it was tormented by its own existence.

    ¡°He used ¡®Reaper¡¯s imprisonment¡¯ straight from the beginning. That¡¯s one of the strongest rank 2 death attribute techniques used to isolate and bound your opponent.¡± Seeing that Boe and Kamys didn¡¯t know what happened, Brienne stepped in to explain everything to them.

    ¡°Hahaha. It was even easier than I expected.¡± With a sinister smile and smug look on his face, Dale quickly moved close to the cage he just created.

    *BOOM*

    Verdant light of such a brilliance that all four members of the party had to close their eyes suddenly shone out of the creature¡¯s body and the next thing they heard was the sound of Dale¡¯s techniques shattering.

    ¡°Strike one. The child of darkness failed the test of caution.¡± Thunderous voice resounded in minds of all four members of the party.

    *BOOM*

    Boe barely managed to open his eyes to see what happened and whom the sound he just heard belonged to when he saw Dale¡¯s bloodied body lying right before his feet. Dale¡¯s eyes were closed, there was a hole in Dale¡¯s clothes the size of a fist of a newborn right in middle of his chest and blood was still flowing out of his mouth. When Boe looked up at the place where the creature was just a moment ago, he saw nothing but branches of the oak-like stone tree.

    ¡°He¡¯s alive. A few of his ribs are broken, but no vitals were fatally damaged. Given enough time, he will recover to his best condition easily.¡± While Boe was staring up into the sky, thinking about what just happened, Kamys had already inspected Dale.

    ¡°So this world of stone trees was just a test for us¡­ I wonder how many such tests are we supposed to pass before we¡¯ll be able to escape this place¡­¡± Brienne was looking down at badly injured Dale and fear was evident in her eyes.

    ¡°It said ¡®Strike one¡¯. I wonder how many strikes do we have before it will act against us?¡± Even usually calm Boe was nervous facing such mysterious tests.

    ¡°I only hope that those strikes are for individuals and not for us as a group...¡± Kamys was pouring healing potion into Dale¡¯s mouth as he spoke his thoughts out loud. Hearing his words, both Boe and Brienne looked at Dale and Kamys as they thought about the temper of former and sluggishness of latter and cold sweat flowed down their spines.

 Chapter 39 - Futile attempts

    ¡°So what do we do now?¡± Brienne¡¯s hesitant voice disturbed the long silence that was created after Dale¡¯s rash actions.

    ¡°Find an exit from this realm of the painting.¡± Boe believed that since the test was already over, they would easily find a way out.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we wait for Dale to completely recover before we move? What if there will be another danger waiting us after we leave this place?¡± Kamys was still treating Dale¡¯s injuries.

    Boe looked at Dale lying on the ground with torn clothes and fresh blood still leaking out of his mouth, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll go as soon as he¡¯ll be able to walk by himself; we can¡¯t afford to carry him around right now anyway.¡±

    ¡°Who would think that such a small creature might be so powerful, I wonder if that was its true form or was it just an illusion¡­¡± Brienne settled a few meters away from Dale and stared toward the place where the stone squirrel was before it vanished.

    ¡°My father always told me that there are far scarier creatures than demons in this world.¡± Just a thought of home and his family back there made Kamys¡¯ mood plummet down. He wanted to go back and help his father in his struggles against opposing clan members, but he understood better than anyone else that he would only burden everyone there at the moment. Without a proper strength, he was nothing more than a harmless child in front of people of the main family of the clan.

    ¡°Creatures scarier than demons?¡± Boe immediately thought about his eldest sister¡¯s appearance. Even though she was humanoid, the green scales all over her body and three horns sticking out of her head were definitely features of a race he never heard of. His teacher was a complete mystery as well; Boe didn¡¯t actually know anything about him except for his ¡®name¡¯.

    ¡°Nymphs are a great example of this. There is no detailed information on them or their strength in any of our archives. All we know about them right now is that they live outside our continent and yet they can easily infiltrate our lands and kidnap people right under our noses. How can they appear in any place they wish and then vanish as if they never were there in the first place? Even my father couldn¡¯t find their whereabouts¡­¡± Brienne sent all the information she got from Boe to her father right after they first heard of nymph kidnapping someone from the lands of Dark Elf Kingdom. And after an investigation, her father told her that there were more than fifty known accidents involving nymphs all over the Shadow Kingdom in last ten years. ¡°But big brother Boe, don¡¯t worry. My father promised me that he will definitely find them! They dared to attack his lands and his people so he will certainly punish them for that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in no rush to go after them right now. I¡¯m far too weak to confront nymphs currently. But as soon as I¡¯ll become strong enough, I will crush her and her family under my feet.¡± When Boe were saying last sentence, hatred was boiling inside of him and his eyes were already becoming red without him noticing it.

    ¡°Boe! Control yourself. We have enough problems even without your fits of anger.¡± Kamys immediately noticed changes in Boe¡¯s aura and yelled to calm him down.

    ¡°Big brother Boe, I already know about your brother and I¡¯m very sorry that it happened to you. But¡­ Why didn¡¯t you visit your family even once after the incident? Wasn¡¯t your country not too far from the Fordothrond city where we received our prizes from the trials?¡± Brienne wanted to find out Boe¡¯s feelings about his family for a long time now, but couldn¡¯t find the right moment to ask a question. She thought that right now was a perfect opportunity to finally ask it, but the moment she did, she regretted it.

    ¡°It is none of your business.¡± Boe¡¯s ice-cold stare pierced right through Brienne as she felt terrifying killing intent coming toward her. She was already used to Boe¡¯s cold demeanor and even liked it, but the feeling he was giving off right now was something that she had never experienced in her entire life before. Brienne tried to say or do something, but her throat couldn¡¯t make a sound and her entire body froze.

    ¡°Boe! What is it with you today? Enough!¡± Kamys jumped up from his position and quickly reached Boe. He grabbed Boe¡¯s shoulders and looked right into Boe¡¯s eyes. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m afraid of that ¡®stare¡¯ of yours?¡± Seeing that Boe¡¯s eyes were almost as red as in his demonification form, Kamys slapped Boe¡¯s left shoulder and added, ¡°If you want to fight someone, fight me, but don¡¯t bully our princess, alright?¡±

    *plump*

    Right when Kamys took Boe¡¯s attention to himself, the pressure that was weighing down on Brienne disappeared and she could finally move. But right as she tried to take a step forward, she felt that there was no strength in her knees and she fell onto the ground. Even though Brienne was extremely talented and was stronger than any of three boys, she didn¡¯t have any experience in life-or-death situations, so when Boe accidentally unleashed his killing intent toward her, her whole defenses just crumbled down. And it was at this moment that Brienne had finally understood what her father meant when he told her that being talented wouldn¡¯t help her in times of real danger. She was like a flower that was nurtured by an experienced gardener inside of his house. She never had a chance to experience neither coldness of winter, nor floods of autumn, nor drought of summer, nor danger of being eaten by animals of spring. So even though she was indeed beautiful and grew up to be higher and healthier than other flowers, she was still extremely fragile in front of dangers that life could bring upon her. While Boe was struggling to survive and become stronger to avenge his brother, she was enjoying a carefree life of a princess. While Dale was living his whole life scheming under the shadow of his elder brother, she was doted on by an entire nation. And while Kamys was striving to prove that he was worthy to become the leader of his clan, she had everything she pleased from her father.

    ¡°Sorry.¡± After Kamys¡¯ actions and Brienne¡¯s fall, Boe had finally cleared his mind. Although he apologized for his reaction seemed far too rough, Boe never actually considered he was unreasonable since he didn''t actually attack anyone and what Brienne asked definitely had nothing to do with her. The killing intent that engulfed Brienne wasn¡¯t actually targeted at her, but rather was just a natural reaction of Boe when he got angry. He quickly freed himself from Kamys¡¯ hands, walked away and sat himself down a few meters away from Dale.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind him, Brienne. As you can see, this topic is Boe¡¯s soft spot, so please don¡¯t bring that up anymore. When he¡¯ll be ready to talk about it, he¡¯ll surely tell you everything you want to know, but right now is not the time for it.¡± Kamys walked over to Brienne and helped her up.

    <hr>

    ¡°Mhhhmmm. Wh-what happened?¡± After more than three hours of silence, Dale had finally woken up. When he looked around himself, he instantly noticed the tension hanging up in the air. Boe was sitting with closed eyes a few meters away from him, Kamys was sitting next to him with eyes locked onto the sky and Brienne was sitting on the other side of him as far from Boe as she could.

    ¡°You failed the test of caution and was sent flying by that freaky squirrel.¡± Kamys stood up and walked away from Dale toward Boe right after he saw Dale waking up.

    ¡°If you¡¯re able to move, we leave right away. If you need to heal yourself, do it quickly.¡± Boe didn¡¯t even bother to open his eyes as he spoke.

    ¡°Alright, enough of that mood. Everyone gather here and let¡¯s eat something before we¡¯ll head out.¡± Brienne jumped up and already took out the table and food from her magic ring. She spent the whole time of awkward silence thinking and came to conclusion that there was no reason to be sad or anything like that. She decided to become stronger and not waste any of her precious time to pity herself.

    ¡°That¡¯s better! I was starving for a long time already, but three of you ruined the mood for me this whole time.¡± Kamys eyes brightened up as soon as he saw that Brienne was back to her former self. He was always a cheerful fellow, so he felt a lot more comfortable in this kind of mood rather than gloomy hell that he had to go through for the last few hours.

    ¡°Wait, I failed the test?! The squirrel sent ME flying?! What the fuck are you talking about?¡± Dale¡¯s pride was already stomped by Kamys recently and now he was the only one who failed some kind of test? Dale hated it the most. He hated the feeling of failure, feeling of being worse than someone else. He lived being number two prince of the kingdom his whole life after all.

    ¡°The squirrel was the test of caution. I guess we weren¡¯t supposed to do anything to it or at least probe its strength before taking any actions. And by the way, Kamys was the one who healed you up with his potions.¡± Brienne didn¡¯t miss an opportunity to pay back to this sharp-tongued prince with his haughty mockeries.

    Dale looked at Kamys, but Kamys didn¡¯t react at all, ¡°I will compensate you with double the price of potions you used up on me.¡± Dale immediately pulled out some potions out of his magic ring and moved toward Kamys.

    ¡°No need.¡± Without even turning around, Kamys cut off Dale¡¯s pitiful attempts to ¡®thank¡¯ him.

    ¡°Listen here, Kamys. When I¡¯m showing my goodwill, you accept it!¡± Dale grabbed Kamys¡¯ shoulder and tried to turn Kamys¡¯ body toward himself, but Kamys was far stronger physically so he didn¡¯t even react to it. ¡°What the fuck is wrong with you? Alright, I will pay you five times more than you used.¡±

    ¡°Dale, he clearly doesn¡¯t need your items. Thank him and move on.¡± Boe had finally opened his eyes, stood up and started moving toward Brienne¡¯s table.

    ¡°Thank him? For what? He only spent a few potions on me. It¡¯s not like he saved my life or protected me from that attack!¡± Dale knew that he was unreasonable and childish right now, but he simply couldn¡¯t make himself thank Kamys. It could be anyone, but Kamys.

    ¡°Just shut up and eat then.¡± Kamys shrugged Dale¡¯s hand off his shoulder and started silently eating food.

    ¡°Idiot. He actually insulted his helper instead of thanking him. Good thing that you couldn¡¯t become the crown prince of your kingdom.¡± Seeing Dale¡¯s idiotic behavior, Brienne couldn¡¯t hold herself back as she spoke out.

    Dale wanted to answer her, but he understood that Brienne was right, so he simply acted as if he didn¡¯t hear what she said. He drank two healing potions his father gave him, took out some food of his own from his magic ring and ate it.

    <hr>

    Twenty silent minutes later everyone finished their preparations and the party of four finally moved out to explore the forest further. No matter where they went, they only saw grey stone trees and nothing else. After an hour of walking, they saw a soft verdant light coming from somewhere. They carefully followed the light and found a strange ¡®door¡¯ made out of verdant light right in between a pair of the largest trees they¡¯ve seen in this forest. None of them could even see crowns of these trees, but the ¡®door¡¯ was only two meters tall and a meter wide.

    Three young men and the beautiful maiden exchanged glances as they boldly stepped into the ¡®door¡¯.

    *WHOOSH*

    *WHOOSH*

    *WHOOSH*

    *WHOOSH*

    Boe felt a familiar feeling of blindness due to the bright light and then found himself standing in a middle of luxuriously furnished room. The room was the same size as the previous room and it was filled with paintings too. And just like in the previous room, there was one big painting in a middle and a lot of paintings on three other walls. While this room was made out of the same grey stone as the previous one, there were four elegant brown armchairs standing right before the big painting as if alluring the visitors to rest and enjoy the painting.

    Boe was the first to start walking toward the big painting and a moment later three others joined him. As he reached the armchair, Boe suddenly felt the familiar pressure coming from the painting. But this time, it was pressuring him to sit on the armchair. Boe didn¡¯t see the reason to fight back, so he just sat down and the pressure vanished. Seeing Boe¡¯s actions, three others followed his suit and settled themselves onto the free armchairs.

    And yet again, after a moment of looking at the painting, all four members of the party felt that they were drawn inside of the painting. Looking around them, they realized that they were at the same empty place in a middle of nowhere where they were before. But then all of them looked in direction where they saw the huge lonely mountain and they could finally see the difference between this and the previous paintings.

    What was used to be an enormous lonely mountain without a single star around it hanging in a middle of the darkness of silent space was now a mountain of much smaller size with countless planets, stars and other cosmic objects spinning around it. Even though Boe saw that mountain was now surrounded by all of these, he could still feel the solitude and sadness coming off the mountain.

    ¡°Sacrificed my own lifeforce in an effort to create a life, alas none of my attempts beared any fruits. Had I only known what awaited me, I would¡¯ve stopped wasting time and lifeforce for such a useless task. Had I only known¡­¡± The thunderous voice was filled with sorrow as it spoke these words filled with meaning that none of the four members of the party could grasp.

 Chapter 40 - The monster

    ¡°What do you think is the meaning behind those words coming from the paintings?¡± All four members of the party opened their eyes at the same moment and the room was filled with utter silence for a few moments before Brienne decided to speak.

    ¡°At first, the voice said that it built this fortress to hide from some kind of ¡®chaos¡¯ and now it says that it tried to ¡®create life¡¯¡­ Is that even possible?¡± Kamys¡¯ was rather skeptical toward the words he just heard.

    ¡°Judging from what we saw, I think that this ancient wizard tried to associate himself with the strange mountain from paintings. I guess all of it is just a strange metaphor we don¡¯t quite understand.¡± Dale started analyzing everything he saw and heard as coldly as ever.

    ¡°It might actually be the mountain itself speaking to us¡­¡± Before meeting his master, Boe would never even imagine such a thing, but now he could expect this theory to be true.

    ¡°Living mountain that levitates in a middle of an empty space and attempts to create ¡®life¡¯? Boe, did you hurt your head and we didn¡¯t notice it?¡± Dale started loudly laughing while mocking Boe¡¯s words.

    ¡°You should never underestimate how big this world is and how many unknown creatures exist out there.¡± Seeing Dale¡¯s reaction, Boe coldly answered and immediately changed the subject, ¡°Let¡¯s split up and inspect all painting around us.¡±

    ¡°Brother Boe, don¡¯t mind him. I think that your theory is a lot better than his idea of an ancient wizard who compares himself with the mountain.¡± Kamys hurried to catch up with Boe and tried to console him while Brienne quickly moved toward another wall. Even though she wasn¡¯t afraid of Boe, nor was she mad at him, she still felt mixed emotions after the incident that happened in stone forest.

    <hr>

    After inspecting all three walls, the party gathered together again and started discussing what they found, ¡°There are a total of twenty-four paintings on my wall. All of them are different, but I don¡¯t seem to find anything special among them¡­ Well, it¡¯s better to say that all of them are special. Each painting represents a new unique world and none of them look like anything from our world.¡± Brienne was the first one to report results of her inspection.

    ¡°My wall also has twenty-four paintings and all of them are as strange as the stone forest was.¡± Dale already looked like he was completely healed.

    Unique worlds that were different compared to their own was a rather weak statement if you would really try to describe what they saw on paintings. An endless field devoured in purple flames, a city, larger than the entire continent, that was teemed with bizarre creatures, a simple-looking wooden hut that was covered by menacing red eyes, a gruesome monster that looked like it could easily consume an entire house, a world with iridescent rain pouring on it and an ominous bloodied arena with countless seats for spectators were just a few examples of the worlds depicted on these paintings.

    ¡°Interestingly, our wall had only twenty-three paintings. But we noticed odd empty space between the paintings that looked like something disappeared from the wall. We think that it could be the painting of the stone forest.¡± Kamys voiced conjectures that he and Boe made earlier.

    ¡°So you think that every time we pass through the painting, it will disappear from the wall? Then is it possible that we have to go through a total of seventy-two tests before leaving this place?¡± Just thinking about going through seventy-two tests gave Dale a headache.

    Seeing faces of all his friends tensing up, Boe added, ¡°We can be wrong though. Don¡¯t forget that this room is different from the previous one, so it¡¯s entirely possible that each room has its own paintings.¡±

    Before anyone had a chance to relax, Dale quickly responded, ¡°Pretty sure that our hot-headed friend is right this time. I found a few paintings on my wall that I saw in the previous room.¡±

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s true that we remove paintings by completing their tests, we still don¡¯t know how many of them are we supposed to finish to get to the treasure we were promised.¡± Boe didn¡¯t believe that the master of this fortress would make people go through so many tests.

    After a brief moment of silence, Brienne was the one to break it, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s not think about something we can¡¯t control. What painting do we go into this time?¡±

    ¡°Do we vote or just let Kamys fall into one of them?¡± Dale chuckled and looked at Kamys, who was trying to stand as far from paintings as he could.

    ¡°Don¡¯t laugh too much or your wounds might open again and i don¡¯t have that much potions on me, Your Highness the ¡®Strike¡¯.¡± As Kamys retorted his aura exploded with scorching heat and his eyes were burning with desire to fight Dale.

    ¡°Enough. Since none of us can decide, let¡¯s just enter the one that is closest to the painting of the mountain.¡± Boe stepped in front of Kamys and his cold aura immediately cooled down air around them. Unlike Kamys, who lost control of his temper and released his power on accident, Boe controlled the amount of power his aura excluded so it wasn¡¯t enough to intimidate anyone and only helped Kamys calm down.

    Right after Boe started moving, Kamys took himself into his hands and followed his friend. Dale only shrugged his shoulders and followed the two with mocking smile on his face. Brienne was the last one to move as she still tried to keep some distance from Boe.

    ¡°This one, eh?¡± Dale recognized the painting to be one of the few paintings that actually left a rather deep impression on him after he inspected his wall.

    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Kamys was trying to understand what he was looking at, but there was nothing in his mind that resembled the thing on the painting. That creature looked like it was created by just mixing up parts of different animals. It had a head of a bear, a torso of a tiger, wings of a bat, hands of a human and legs of a horse.

    ¡°Are we going to fight that¡­ thing?¡± Brienne¡¯s voice got shaky as she thought about fighting such an abomination.

    ¡°I¡¯d rather not to, but if it will all come down to battle, be prepared to use all you got.¡± Even usually ice-cold Boe felt his heart beat faster just from a thought of fighting that thing.

    Before anyone else could say anything or stop him, Boe had already touched the painting.

    *WHOOSH*

    Boe¡¯s body simply vanished into thin air, but nothing changed on the surface of the painting.

    ¡°And just like that, he went inside without even thinking about possible consequences.¡± Brienne¡¯s mind was filled with different thoughts as she saw Boe¡¯s bold actions and just a moment later she followed his steps.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°After you, my friend.¡± Dale¡¯s smile was as devilish as ever as he extended his hand to invite Kamys into the painting. Seeing Dale¡¯s behavior, Kamys only glanced at Dale and proceeded to touch the painting.

    ¡°Should I just let them fight the monster while I wait here or should I enter a different painting?¡± Dale glanced at the other paintings on the wall as he slowly stepped away from the portrait of the monster. But just as he started inspecting other paintings, he suddenly heard a strange sound coming from all directions around him. ¡°The room is¡­ shrinking?¡± To Dale¡¯s shock he figured out that the room started slowly shrinking from the opposite side and right into the corner where the monster was. ¡®It¡¯s too dangerous to go alone into another painting. I guess I¡¯ll have to follow those three after all.¡¯ Dale had no choice but to get back to where he came from and touch the portrait of the disgusting monster.

    <hr>

    *WHOOSH*

    ¡°So sorry, I had to tie my shoelaces. I hope you didn¡¯t miss me too much?¡± Dale appeared in a middle of an ordinary looking field and immediately looked around. But before he could see the reaction of his three companions, he saw the scene which made his legs shake from fear.

    *ROAAAR*

    A hundred-meter tall, two-hundred-meter long towering creature was standing a few kilometers away from Dale. An obsidian colored body of a terrifyingly enormous rhinoceros slowly turned toward Dale and as he faced the monster, Dale''s whole body started trembling. Shockingly, the face of an innocent human child was greedily devouring meat, guts and blood of an unfortunate creature whose body was now lying at the behemoth''s feet. Just as Dale prepared to stealthily move as far as he could away from the monster, it suddenly stopped its gaze on Dale''s body. The hideous face suddenly stopped chewing as the eyes of the creature started glowing red. In the next moment, before Dale could even react, the abomination started galloping through the field toward his location. A sharp killing intent broke out from the menacing crimson eyes of the creature and a thick cloud of dust was filling the air after each step of the monster shook the ground beneath its feet.

    ¡°What the fuck is that thing?!¡± Dale¡¯s aura suddenly burst out of him. Coldness that killed all plants around him and shrieking howls resounding out of the translucent white spheres, which were circling around Dale¡¯s body, appeared out of nowhere. Dale might be haughty, but he never was an idiot, so he immediately turned around and fled as fast as he could. But running away from such an enormously big creature across a plain field was as useless as it could be, so Dale used everything he got to search for his companions. He might not have a chance against the creature alone, but with three people assisting him, he was confident in his abilities to slay the abomination.

    ¡°Just turn around and use your attack on the creature¡¯s neck,¡± Brienne voice resounded out of nowhere.

    Hearing Brienne¡¯s words, Dale quickly turned around and sent one of the white spheres that usually coiled around his body flying toward the monster. ¡°Jan jaryloo,¡± Dale whispered the chant and the ¡®Soul explosion¡¯ technique blew the sphere up right next to the creature¡¯s neck.

    *BOOM*

    An explosion was amazingly spectacular as the sphere let out its final exhausted howl and then dispersed into countless specks of mysteriously eye-catching white light. The creature¡¯s neck burst open and green blood splattered everywhere around it. The huge body of the creature fallen onto the ground and after a few final twitches, the monster had finally died. A disgusting smell attacked Dale¡¯s nostrils as the abomination¡¯s insides flowed out of its body onto the ground and right at this moment, Dale quickly ran toward the dead body of the creature and whispered, ¡°Jan tartyp aloo¡±. Countless white specks started escaping the creature body and then gathering into the translucent white sphere in Dale¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Death attribute wizards are disgusting. Using souls of their enemies to feed their power¡­¡± Brienne, Boe and Kamys appeared a few meters away from Dale.

    ¡°So all those white howling spheres around Dale¡¯s body are souls of living beings he killed?¡± It was the first time Kamys saw anything like that.

    ¡°It¡¯s a ¡®Soul capture¡¯ technique, which is unique to royal family of dark elves. All death attribute wizards can manipulate souls of fallen enemies, whether to improve their weapons or own strength. For example, demons are able to directly absorb souls of their enemies to become stronger physically. But only Dale¡¯s kin can command souls of fallen directly at their will.¡± Brienne was daughter of the King Karib, so she knew a lot more about other races and kingdoms than Kamys, who was raised inside of his clan.

    ¡°By the way, demons are only able to feed on souls of other beings; they can¡¯t use souls of other demons. And that is the exact reason why humanity always considered demons to be their natural enemies.¡± When it came down to demons, Kamys definitely knew at least the same amount of information as Brienne.

    Hearing all this information, Boe started wondering to himself, ¡®Demons use souls to get stronger and I¡¯m using the soul of a demon to gain strength¡­ I wonder if it¡¯ll have any negative side-effect on my personality¡­ And how am I even able to do that if only death attribute wizards can do that?¡¯

    ¡°Hahaha, have you all seen how easily I beat that little monster?¡± Dale¡¯s cheerful voice disturbed Boe¡¯s train of thought.

    ¡°Where have you been? We¡¯ve been here for a whole day already and you just came?!¡± Kamys was infuriated as he came close to Dale with his palms clenched into fists.

    ¡°A day? Stop joking around, I only lingered for a few minutes in the room before coming here.¡± Dale was evidently not pleased with Kamys¡¯ attempts to tarnish the former¡¯s reputation.

    ¡°What the fuck are you talking about?! We fought these creatures for a full day already!¡± Kamys become even angrier after he heard Dale¡¯s stupid excuse.

    Before Dale had a chance to respond, he looked at his three companions and noticed that all of them had torn clothes, noticeable wounds all over their bodies and tired looks on faces. ¡°I swear I only lingered there for a few minutes. I have no idea what happened¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop fucking-¡± Kamys had already started spewing out of his mouth and swinging his hands around from anger.

    ¡°Enough. No matter what happened, the important thing right now is to find a way out of this place.¡± Boe stopped Kamys mid-sentence and quickly changed the subject. ¡°The creature you just killed is one of the weakest we met here. Any one of us can easily kill it single-handedly, but there are creatures far stronger than that. For example, a few hours ago we met a humanoid lizard and barely managed to kill it by using up all the trump cards we had. With you on our side, we might kill that kind of creature easier, but there still might be creatures stronger than what we encountered so far.¡±

    ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH¡± A childish voice suddenly rang out from the nearby forest.

    ¡°Was that a human voice? A voice of a child?¡± Kamys took his sword out.

    ¡°Kamys, stop. That might be a trap set up by monsters. We don¡¯t know how smart can they be yet.¡± Brienne was the first one to notice Kamys¡¯ reaction, so she immediately tried to stop him from doing anything stupid.

    ¡°Brother Boe.¡± Kamys cast a last glance at Boe and charged toward the voice he heard.

    ¡°Kamys¡­¡± Boe hesitated slightly before taking out his Claws of Enthriil and following Kamys¡¯ footsteps.

    ¡°That noble idiot¡­¡± Brienne clenched her fists and followed her partners.

    ¡°What? What¡¯s happening?!¡± Dale was extremely confused, but followed his companions just because he didn¡¯t want to be left alone in this strange world. ¡°Brienne, why are we running toward the voice? Isn¡¯t it obvious that it¡¯s a trap?¡±

    ¡°The humanoid lizard we met earlier¡­ We heard another similar voice before we met it. When we finally reached the location of the voice, we saw the lizard holding a human child. We all assumed that it might be a trap and child was some kind of illusion, so we waited for the next step they¡¯d make. But before we could react, the lizard ripped off child¡¯s head¡­ After that, Kamys immediately jumped into the fight and we barely managed to kill the monster... And inspection of the headless corpse showed us that it was a real child.¡± Brienne¡¯s voice slightly trembled when she described these events.

    ¡°And that¡¯s the reason why Kamys is ready to fight unknown enemy? Is he an idiot? Why does the life of a single child matter?!¡± Dale¡¯s voice was filled with genuine shock.

    ¡°I guess you¡¯ll never understand him¡­¡± Looking at confused Dale, Brienne realized what a huge difference was between two of her companions. And then she wondered, to which one of them Boe was closer¡­

 Chapter 41 - A bitter battle

    *BOOM*

    A thunderous explosion rang out right before Dale could even reach the place where they heard the scream from. Dale saw an enormous cloud of dust appearing several meters ahead of him and a moment later, Kamys¡¯ body flew out of the dust cloud.

    *BOOM*

    Kamys'' was thrown few dozens meter away, smashing trees apart on his way until he heavily hammered into the ground. A trail of fresh blood was flowing out of his mouth; most of his clothes were already torn to pieces and only a simple-looking red robe was in perfect shape even after such a serious clash. If Kamys¡¯ didn¡¯t have this protective treasure he obtained from the dark elves¡¯ treasury, he would definitely be in much worse state right now.

    Seeing Kamys¡¯ poor condition, Dale finally turned his head toward the source of Kamys¡¯ injury. As dust started fading, a towering figure appeared with its fists clenched and its eyes were radiating astonishingly menacing killing intent. The humanoid creature had jade green scales all over its three-meters tall sturdy body, its black feline pupils divided its crimson eyes and its face resembled that of a lizard; Dale felt cold shiver run down his spine by just looking at the monster. Even though Dale didn¡¯t feel any battle aura coming out of the monster, he was sure that just its physical body was enough to crush any one of their company under its feet.

    ¡°I got her.¡± A moment later, Brienne appeared next to Kamys with a little girl in her hands.

    ¡°Good. Protect her.¡± Without saying anything further, Kamys¡¯ aura exploded and he immediately shot toward the lizard. The charging young man with an illusory bird behind his back looked just like a fiery phoenix as he flew past Dale at an incredible speed.

    Dale didn¡¯t have a chance to react as he felt a frightening cold aura suddenly pervaded the surrounding area next to the creature. Evidently, it was Boe activating his demonification form for the fight. After a moment of thoughts, Dale gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as his own aura broke out of his body. Since both Kamys and Boe were already going all out against the enemy, he couldn¡¯t let those two fight the enemy alone.

    ¡°Kaigyruu Kalkan¡±

    ¡°Ottuukush Oigonuu¡±

    ¡°Ajal Kylych¡±

    Three young men unleashed their techniques at the same time and even the air around the lizard slightly trembled. Boe¡¯s ¡°Shield of regret¡± was merciless defensive technique, which divided any damage taken between the user of the technique and anyone who attacked him evenly. Kamys¡¯ ¡°Awakening of the phoenix¡± boosted his speed and created a protective shield around his body. And finally, Dale¡¯s ¡°Death¡¯s sword¡± manifested a sinister black-red sword in his hands.

    *ROAR*

    The lizard was evidently enraged by the fact that some little humans interrupted its meal. Its sharp gaze was now fixated on Kamys and his companions.

    *SLASH*

    But before the creature could decide who to attack first, Kamys had already charged at the enemy. His sword strike was perfectly executed and he poured all of his strength into that attack, but he still failed to catch the monster off-guard.

    *BAM*

    Another heavy blow landed onto Kamys¡¯ body as he was sent flying into the distance yet again. Blood sprayed out of his mouth, but he still stood up right as he landed and without even a moment of hesitation, Kamys ran toward the lizard again. Everywhere he moved, the grass would burn and the smell of bonfire would fill the air. Even cold-blooded monster was slightly taken aback by Kamys¡¯ ferociousness.

    *CLANG*

    Seeing that the creature was focusing its all attention on Kamys, Boe stealthily approached it and attacked it using his claws of Enthriil. But right as a sinister smile appeared on Boe¡¯s face, he suddenly froze. The expected piercing sound and blood spurting out of the creature, in fact, didn¡¯t happen. Instead, the sound as if his claws hit the iron plates resounded in Boe¡¯s ears.

    *ROAR* *BAM*

    Enraged, the lizard immediately threw a punch toward Boe casting him off into the distance. Even though Boe managed to block the attack with his hands and he had his defensive technique activated, a tremendous pain still pierced through his body. He flew a dozen meters away before he heavily smashed into the tree. Boe¡¯s aura dimmed and he coughed out a mouthful of fresh blood blood.

    *ROAR*

    The monster slightly trembled when it felt half of its own attack hurting itself. Its crimson eyes stared at Boe in shock. Lizard¡¯s blood started boiling from the anger and hatred. One of the little humans snatched away its food and another one had actually injured it. The lizard had never in its life felt such a humiliation before. It suddenly lifted its head toward the sky and roared. To Boe¡¯s shock, the scales all over the lizard¡¯s body started glowing with barely noticeable verdant light. The ground beneath its feet trembled as the lizard swiftly jumped toward Boe.

    ¡°Brother Boe.¡± Seeing the unexpected scene, Kamys felt that the lizard before him was definitely much stronger than the one they met earlier. They barely managed to defeat the previous such creature with Brienne¡¯s help and now they had to fight against even stronger foe. And right at that thought, Kamys¡¯ gaze landed on Dale¡¯s body. ¡°Do something!¡±

    After he saw infuriated lizard flying toward Boe, Dale felt his whole body shivering. It was the first time when he met such a scary enemy. Throughout his whole life, Dale always only worried for his own life and right now he was evidently in danger.

    ¡°If we¡¯ll die here, you will be left alone in this world full of monsters.¡± Brienne saw hesitation in Dale¡¯s eyes and she quickly understood what he was thinking at the moment.

    After hearing Brienne¡¯s remarks, Dale clenched the sinister looking sword in his hands and without uttering a sound charged to intercept the lizard in its way toward Boe. He wasn¡¯t stupid after all, so he knew that he would have even harder time in here without his companions. And he could always run away if situation would become grim.Stolen novel; please report.

    *BAM*

    The monster met Dale¡¯s sword with its bare hands. Dale¡¯s attack didn¡¯t even scratch the lizard, but it was enough to stop the monster from approaching Boe for a moment and let Boe recover some of his power back. Just as Dale was preparing to step back from the creature, it suddenly jolted its entire body toward the former. Dale¡¯s face momentarily went pale as the lizard¡¯s fist swang toward him.

    *SLASH*

    Just as Dale prepared to use everything he got to defend, a fiery silhouette appeared next to the lizard. Kamys gathered all his battle aura and injected it into his sword. The pitch black sword was now engulfed in bright red battle aura. Using his years of physical training, Kamys easily approached the lizard from an unexpected angle and thrusted his sword into the monster¡¯s body.

    Green blood sprayed out of the lizard¡¯s back and its movement came to a halt. Even though the cut wasn¡¯t too deep, it had successfully created an opening between the monster¡¯s scales. Dale heaved a sigh of relief as he swiftly drew away from the enemy.

    *ROAR*

    The mighty roar of the lizard was now filled with boundless hatred and tinge of pain. The already maddened eyes of the creature were now radiating a thick killing intent. The monster turned around and in a blink of an eye was already approaching Kamys.

    *BAM*

    A heavy punch landed onto Kamys¡¯ chest as he was sent flying yet again. Among the three young men, he was the best trained physically and he was the only one who possessed a high ranked protective treasure, so he was always in front of the battle.

    *SLASH* *SLASH*

    Boe used the chance created by Kamys¡¯ sacrifice and threw his dual short swords right at the newly formed wound on lizard¡¯s back. Even though the lizard had a great instincts and superb reaction, it couldn¡¯t detect soundless thin swords, so they easily penetrated into the body of the monster. The lizard¡¯s scales might be extremely tough, but since Kamys¡¯ had already created a space between them with his previous attack, there was nothing that could stop Boe¡¯s swords from entering deep into the lizard¡¯s body.

    *HOWL*

    A strange soul-piercing howl resounded amidst the battleground. It was filled with agony and was much louder than all the previous roars. But the three young men had no time to think about that as all of them swiftly launched their attacks toward their foe.

    ¡°Boe!¡± All of a sudden, Brienne scream resounded in ears of young men and Boe instantly turned his head toward her. As he saw what was happening, Boe¡¯s face became extremely grim and killing intent exploded out of his body. To Dale and Kamys¡¯ shock, Boe turned around and left them fight against the lizard by themselves. Just as Kamys¡¯ wanted to shout something to Boe, he saw that Brienne and the girl were now surrounded by five humanoid lizards. Even though these lizards were a lot smaller than the monster they were fighting, Kamys saw that Brienne couldn¡¯t fight all of them at the same time as protecting the child.

    Boe was running toward Brienne, while she was using all her strength to defend the girl behind her from the monsters. Kamys halted for a brief moment as he got distracted by the sudden appearance of the smaller lizards, and because of that, all attacks of the enraged monster rained onto Dale, who happened to be the closest one to the lizard at the moment. In just a moment, the battlefield turned upside down and everything was now in chaos.

    Even though he already used his Shadow step technique to boost his speed, Boe needed some time to reach Brienne, so he could do nothing more than just watch her fight against five enemies by herself while he ran as fast as he could.

    While Brienne was not so experienced in life-or-death battles, she was a renowned genius of an entire continent, so she put up a great fight against her enemies. A slender figure of a frail looking young maiden was gracefully moving according to some mysterious technique as she deployed attack after attack. Even before Boe reached her, Brienne had already managed to injure one of the lizards, but she was evidently having a hard time keeping that kind of rhythm up.

    *SLASH*

    When Boe was only a few meters away from her, Brienne¡¯s body was penetrated by talons of one of the lizards. Scarlet blood poured out of the newly formed wounds on Brienne¡¯s thigh as she silently groaned. The injuries weren¡¯t looking too serious, but it was still enough to decrease her speed drastically.

    ¡°DIE.¡± A cold voice resounded next to Brienne and even she felt chills on her back after she heard it. An incomparably spine-chilling killing intent broke out from Boe¡¯s body as he rushed past Brienne and attacked the lizard which injured Brienne just now. The claws of Enthriil easily penetrated the small lizard¡¯s body and green blood covered Boe¡¯s hand. Just as other lizards wanted to step in and save their brother from Boe¡¯s hands, Boe swung his second hand and decapitated the lizard. Without even a moment of hesitation, Boe flung the lizard¡¯s headless corpse away and charged straight toward his next victim.

    Boe¡¯s savage attack made Brienne¡¯s heart skip a beat, but she quickly calmed herself and hastened back to the girl. But just as she took a step forward, she suddenly felt a sudden sharp pain in her leg and her body started falling onto the ground. Evidently, the injuries she got earlier weren¡¯t as light as she thought they would be.

    At that exact moment, Kamys was heavily breathing as he stood on top of the dead body of the big lizard and Dale was vomiting blood a few meters away from it. Two of them fought a bitter battle against the big monster. Even though they won, that victory came at a great cost. As the saying goes, a cornered dog will leap over a wall. The heavily injured lizard knew that it would die if it didn¡¯t kill all the humans in front of it, so it summoned all of its own offsprings and exert every drop of its power to struggle for the life. But in the end, all of it was still not enough to ensure its survival. Kamys¡¯ last powerful attack had successfully penetrated monster¡¯s chest and pierced its heart. But just a moment before that, the creature used up its all remaining strength and attacked Dale. Even though Dale had somehow managed to avoid it hitting any of his vital organs, that attack still landed on his stomach.

    Boe was like a god of death as he clashed against the small lizards. After he decapitated the first one, he easily killed a second lizard by thrusting his claws into its chest. He was already fully covered in sticky green blood when he slashed the third monster into pieces and just as his claws were slicing off the right hand of the fourth lizard, he heard a sound that he would never forget in his entire life.

    ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH¡± Brienne¡¯s scream resounded throughout the whole battlefield.

    Boe¡¯s face paled as his mind cleared up and he remembered that the fifth lizard disappeared from his sight. Without hesitating for even a moment, he used up all he had to charge toward Brienne. Both Dale and Kamys looked at Brienne from afar and they saw that she was lying on the ground and a small lizard was ruthlessly sending attack after attack while standing on Brienne¡¯s body. Cold shiver ran down their spines as they looked at that horrifying scene. And just as Kamys started moving toward Brienne, he suddenly felt appallingly baleful aura exploding from the Boe¡¯s direction. When that aura appeared, the whole world seemed to be sunk in complete silence.

    A sinister power suddenly swallowed the lizard up and as a result it couldn¡¯t move a single muscle. Brienne was lying on the ground with numerous scars and bruises all over her body and the lizard¡¯s paralyzed body was still standing right above her.

    Amidst the silence, fast paced quite steps suddenly started resounding throughout the battlefield. The lizard couldn¡¯t turn its head toward the sound, but it felt that something terrifying was quickly moving toward it.

    *BAM*

    A powerful kick landed onto the monster¡¯s body as its body was blown up into countless pieces; blood and guts rained down onto the ground right next to Brienne¡¯s body as a vomit-inducing smell filled the air. Brienne¡¯s mind was already in mist as she was losing consciousness when she saw the so familiar cold looking face getting closer to her. A moment later, her mind fell into the darkness.

 Chapter 42 - A discord

    ¡°How is she?¡± Kamys¡¯ worried voice resounded from the distance.

    In response, Boe quietly took Brienne¡¯s hand and tried to feel her pulse. As soon as he touched the gentle hand of the young maiden, Boe¡¯s face immediately turned grim. Even though Brienne was still alive, her lifeforce was almost extinguished. Boe quickly reached into his magic ring with his mind and took out a few high level potions that he got from Alfred. He chose all potions that was supposed to be used externally and applied them onto Brienne¡¯s badly injured body. And then, without slightest hesitation, he gently opened Brienne¡¯s soft lips and poured all the remaining potions into her mouth one by one. After he finished the treatment, Boe took out a big blanket out of his ring and carefully covered Brienne with it. Only after he finished everything he could do to help Brienne, did Boe turn his head toward Kamys and said, ¡°Her wounds are serious, but given enough time, she should be fine.¡± Boe had finally exhaled softly as he stood up. His gaze quickly inspected his surroundings before it stopped on the little girl¡¯s body. Boe unceremoniously examined the child they just saved by paying such a high price. After a few seconds, Boe¡¯s eyes slightly narrowed, but he didn¡¯t say anything as a usual cold and indifferent demeanor returned to his face.

    ¡°Dale¡¯s injuries are serious too. He didn¡¯t suffer as much as Brienne did, but he needs some time to rest as well.¡± Kamys slowly walked up to Boe with a strange look on his face. By Kamys¡¯ ashen face and unsteady steps, Boe could tell that, even though Kamys was in a rather good state, he was still far from being in condition to fight any more enemies.

    ¡°No need to worry about me. Give me a good meal, a few hours of sleep and I¡¯ll be better than ever, you fucking white knight.¡± Dale¡¯s cold voice was filled with venomous hatred toward Kamys right now. He was evidently extremely angered by Kamys¡¯ illogical actions that got him such serious wounds. Dale slowly stood up and started walking toward Boe and Kamys. No matter how hard Dale tried to hide it, Boe could see that he was in an awful condition. Obviously pale face and shaky footsteps were enough to see that Dale couldn¡¯t fight even against an ordinary human right now. And just as he walked over to Kamys¡¯ side, Dale suddenly coughed out yet another mouthful of blood and his body fell onto the ground.

    Seeing Dale falling down, Kamys hastily reacted and caught the former right before the latter hit the ground.

    Seeing Dale and Kamys right now, Boe came to conclusion that his departure from the fight against the big lizard left a huge burden on his companions¡¯ shoulders. And by the looks of things, Boe was now the only one who could fight if any enemies would show up.

    ¡°Brother Boe?¡± Kamys called out. He had just laid Dale onto the ground next to Brienne and was now standing next to Boe.

    ¡°We need to leave this place right now. The commotion we created will definitely attract another monsters and possibly something even scarier than them.¡± Boe coldly glanced at the child as he said these words. ¡°Will you be able to carry one of them and run?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I will carry Dale and you take Brienne,¡± Kamys answered at once and then he slightly hesitated before asking, ¡°Did you just make a breakthrough in a middle of the fight?¡± After Kamys saw the strange outburst of baleful power from Boe earlier, he suspected that Boe had already became a rank 3 wizard, so he couldn¡¯t restrain himself from asking the question.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± Boe coldly answered.

    ¡°Oh, ok.¡± Seeing Boe¡¯s aggressive reaction, Kamys decided not to ask any further questions. Everyone had some secrets hidden deep inside and Kamys guessed that what happened before was one of Boe¡¯s such secrets.

    At the same moment, Boe was tightly clenching his fists as he thought back to what just happened. ¡°Let me help you, kid.¡± These were the last words Boe heard before his mind went blank for, what seemed to him, a moment. After his consciousness came back to him, Boe realized that he was already next to Brienne and the last lizard was lying dead far off in the distance. He gave in to his emotions yet again and Mastema didn¡¯t miss the chance to take over his body. Boe didn¡¯t know how would it impact him in the future, but he was sure that every time he let Mastema influence him even a little bit, something deep inside of him was getting stronger. And this time, Boe had actually let Mastema control his body. Just a mere second of weakness from Boe was enough for Mastema to strengthen his own soul. Boe now felt that something that was hidden deep within him became a lot more real and threatening. After a few moments, Boe¡¯s hands slowly relaxed as he decided that he won¡¯t ever let emotions control him anymore. And on this exact thought, Boe¡¯s gaze focused on the ashen-faced maiden lying before him. A complicated expression hung on Boe¡¯s face before he shook his head and turned toward Kamys. ¡°Let¡¯s move out.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Kamys promptly answered. He then slowly took Dale onto his shoulders as if he was carrying a bag of potatoes. Kamys glanced toward the girl and said, ¡°Follow us-¡±

    ¡°Kamys, she isn¡¯t going with us. We already helped her enough by saving her from the lizard.¡± Boe¡¯s cold voice interrupted Kamys¡¯ speech.

    ¡°Wh-what? Why? We can''t just leave her here. Let''s at least escort her to the nearest human village.¡± Shocked expression was all over Kamys¡¯ face when he heard Boe¡¯s words.

    ¡°Two our companions are seriously injured and you are in an awful shape yourself, we have no time to wander around this world.¡± Boe¡¯s line of thoughts was clear and logical.

    ¡°Then let''s take her with us!¡± Kamys didn¡¯t want to give in even though he understood Boe¡¯s reasoning.

    After a brief silence, Boe glanced toward the child and silently answered to Kamys, ¡°We can¡¯t trust her just because she looks innocent. Look at this damned world. How on earth do you think she survived up to this moment?¡±

    ¡°Boe, you can''t be serious...¡±

    "Kamys, be reasonable. We won¡¯t make it out alive with another weight on our shoulders." Boe tried to persuade Kamys in the same whispering manner.

    Kamys clenched his hands into fists and remained silent for a few seconds before he said, ¡°I will escort her myself then.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    ¡°And I will have to carry both Dale and Brienne myself and protect them too?¡± Boe¡¯s voice started rising as coldness in his eyes intensified.

    ¡°Boe, I can''t-¡±

    ¡°KAMYS!¡±

    ¡°WHAT? We spent so much strength and all nearly perished to save her just to leave her to die here now?!¡± Two young men was standing against each other in a middle of deserted lands of an unknown world as their eyes were brimming with fury.

    In response, Boe didn¡¯t continue yelling at Kamys, but silently shook his head and lifted Brienne onto his left shoulder. Then, Boe walked over to Kamys and with a gesture of his right hand indicated to the latter to pass Dale onto the former¡¯s right shoulder.

    Seeing Boe¡¯s reaction, Kamys¡¯ entire body shivered and a lump formed in his throat. He knew that both Dale and Brienne were heavily wounded because of his decision to save the girl. As he thought about all of it, Kamys slowly unclenched his hands and guilt washed all over his mind. He knew that saving the girl was the right thing to do, but he couldn¡¯t neglect his companions as well. So he came up with the only choice that would satisfy his companions and help the girl out at the same time. Kamys put Dale down onto the ground, walked up to the child and touched the ring on his finger as a small crimson token appeared in his hands.

    As Boe saw Kamys¡¯ putting Dale down, he laid Brienne onto the ground as well. A strange glint flashed past Boe¡¯s eyes as his hands moved in a rather peculiar manner.

    ¡°Little girl, i¡¯m really sorry, but we can¡¯t take you with us. Here is a protective treasure; although it isn¡¯t very powerful, hopefully it will be enough to ensure your safety on your trip to your village.¡± Kamys gently smiled as he looked over the child. The girl before him was incredibly thin and seemed to be so weak that even wind would be able to blow her away. ¡°I think that you will need this far more than me.¡± Kamys kindly laughed as he took out a deliciously smelling chunk of chicken out of nowhere. After the chicken, Kamys took out a few more meals as he looked at the girl in front of him with a genuine worry on his face. ¡°Here, take it.¡± Kamys passed the food onto the girl, but before he could make a contact with child¡¯s hand, he suddenly felt a horrifyingly cold aura burst out behind him. Kamys didn¡¯t even have time to react to Boe¡¯s sudden actions as he saw a thin silver dagger in girl¡¯s hands moving toward him.

    *SLASH*

    Already prepared, Boe activated newly created move of his battle technique and dashed through the air toward Kamys. But just an instant before Boe''s kick reached the girl, the cold steel pierced through Kamys'' flesh and the time seemed to freeze.

    ¡°Strike one. The child of light failed the test of reason.¡± To Boe¡¯s surprise, the already familiar voice suddenly resounded from above. And after the voice faded, the mysteriously frozen time has finally resumed.

    *BOOM*

    Boe¡¯s right leg landed right where the girl was standing as crazy undulations of battle aura spread out from the point of contact. A deafening explosion rang out and even Kamys was thrown a few meters away from his previous location. But even though the power of Boe¡¯s attack was immense, he didn¡¯t hit anything besides the ground with it. After realizing this, Boe¡¯s face became grim as he finally understood that the child they saved was far from being a weakling. He immediately moved to stand right next to Kamys, Brienne and Dale to protect them.

    When Kamys saw all of it playing out, his severely wounded body trembled and he suddenly vomited blood onto the ground. In the next instant, Kamys lost consciousness.

    Boe¡¯s gaze was focused on the girl¡¯s body as he tried to understand what was standing in front of him. And just as he thought of asking something, girl¡¯s eyes moved and concentrated on him. Boe felt like his entire being and all his secrets were transparent in front of the mysterious child; his whole body was immediately drenched in cold sweat and his head started hurting as if he was cruelly tormented.

    After a few moments of such a miserable state, Boe could finally feel refreshing wave of relaxation wash all over his body. But before Boe could say anything, the girl¡¯s body suddenly vanished into thin air and all the questions he had remained unanswered. When he saw the girl disappear, Boe didn¡¯t ponder on the matter anymore as he quickly ran toward Kamys to check the latter¡¯s condition. But just as he reached Kamys¡¯ body, he felt the ground beneath him shake.

    *CRACK*

    All of a sudden, a huge crack appeared across the sky and with every moment it grew larger, slitting the heavenly expanse apart like a glass. The entire world began crumbling and with a rampant rumble, countless fissures enveloped these wretched lands. Boe stood beside his fainted friends and gazed closely at the shattering skies. Just a moment later, a glassy piece tore off the sky and provoke the chain reaction as the skies fractured into pieces.

    Once the shards detached from the skies, they became translucent as if all the hues were washed away. Boe watched at a breath-taking scenery as the myriad of glassy shards were slowly raining down onto the ground. In those specular shards, he could see the images of his friends and this decaying world, creating an impression like infinite number of worlds were unfolding before Boe''s eyes and shattering to the oblivion. Suddenly, Boe felt strange pressure enveloping his body and his vision became blurry as he started passing out. The last thing he saw before the darkness devoured his sight was a small shard falling in front of him. And in this shard, he saw familiar face of the monster he saw on the painting in the stone room. The abomination¡¯s cold remorseless eyes were staring right back at Boe. A strange thought flashed across his mind, but in the next moment Boe¡¯s eyes finally closed and the next time he opened them, he realized that he was no longer in the world of monsters.

    <hr>

    Boe was now standing in a middle of the stone room. The room looked almost identical to the previous one, except for the fact that a few shelfs with houseplants on them appeared and the painting of the monster mysteriously vanished from the wall. And just like Boe expected, he saw a new huge painting on the wall in front of him.

    The new painting depicted the same area in a middle of nothingness. All the stars and other cosmic objects were still rotating around the mountain. But this time, the mountain shrinked even more than before and to Boe¡¯s surprise, countless flickering lights appeared on top of the lonely mountain. Boe felt a desire to sit himself onto the armchair and dive into the painting arouse inside of him, but he quickly suppressed it as he needed to check the state of his friends before doing anything else.

    Boe hastily took out a few potions out of his ring and fed them to Kamys. Ashen faced, Kamys was holding onto his stab wound and his hands were noticeably trembling. After he swallowed Boe¡¯s potions, some color came back to Kamys¡¯ face, but he was still extremely weak and blood was slowly flowing out of his wound.

    ¡°The girl¡­ She pierced through my high grade protective treasure so easily¡­ And even my magic ring was lost¡­ How pathetic am I?¡± Kamys¡¯ grieving voice sounded hoarse and weak.

    Boe didn¡¯t even know how to respond to Kamys¡¯ words. He wanted to reprimand Kamys but had no desire to beat the already lying friend, so he just silently listened to Kamys¡¯ next words as he took out another potion that was meant to be used externally.

    ¡°Brother Boe, let me do it myself. You should just go and help those two out.¡± Kamys smiled as he took the potion out of Boe¡¯s hands, but Boe saw melancholy filling Kamys¡¯ eyes.

    After a brief moment of thoughts, Boe silently nodded, stood up and started walking toward Brienne. While Kamys was applying medicine on his wound, Boe¡¯s face slightly twitched as he thought to himself, ¡®We look at the same world, but I guess we see entirely different pictures before us.¡¯

 Chapter 43 - Parasites

    The barely decorated dimly lit grey room was submerged into odd silence for a long time as four people were slowly recuperating. The lonely figure of the seated young man in torn clothes with messy red hair, gloomy amber colored eyes was immersed in his thoughts. Kamys¡¯ unfocused gaze was directed toward one of the walls, but deep in his mind he reflected upon the recent fight and the sudden attack of what seemed to be a little girl. The battle he just had helped him improve some of his techniques and even slightly advance in his battle teaching.

    On the other side of the room, Brienne was lying with her eyes shut and on§ãe in a while, her whole body trembled as if she was experiencing tormenting pain in her sleep. Meanwhile, Dale was calmly sleeping as if nothing happened, but his formerly white hair were dirtied from the bitter battle and his usually dark grey skin was noticeably paler. And in between them, Boe was sitting still just like a meditating monk while his shoulder-length black hair fluttered as if wind actually appeared in the calm stone room. The heavy atmosphere hung in the room for a long time and no sound was uttered for more than ten hours.

    Then, Dale¡¯s body started moving as his scarlet eyes slowly opened. Before saying anything, Dale looked around himself in amazement. ¡°We¡¯re already in the next stone room?¡± The first thing he noticed was a strange mood in the room and a moment later he suddenly remembered something as he started yelling, ¡°You goddamn moron! I, the noble prince, was actually seriously injured because of your stupid attempts to be a knight in shining armor!¡± Saliva was splashing out of Dale¡¯s mouth as he stared at Kamys with eyes full of killing intent.

    ¡°He knows he made a mistake and he already paid for it heavily.¡± Boe¡¯s indifferent voice resounded behind Dale.

    Hearing Boe¡¯s words, Dale instantly turned around and looked at the former. But before he could say anything, Dale saw the ashen-faced Brienne lying next to seated Boe. ¡°By the looks of things, she got it even worse than me, huh?¡± Dale¡¯s enraged face slowly calmed down as he stared at Kamys yet again. ¡°What will happen when your clan and her father will find out that your precious princess was wounded under your care, eh, little guardian?¡± asked Dale with apparent mocking smile on his face.

    ¡°You need not worry about me. Anything that will happen to me has nothing to do with you,¡± to Boe¡¯s surprise, the usually hot-tempered Kamys answered quite calmly.

    After that exchange of words between Dale and Kamys, Boe had finally remembered that Kamys was from the guardian clan of the Shadow Kingdom and one of duties of these clans was to protect the royal family. The aftermath of this adventure might worsen the already grim situation of Kamys¡¯ family in the clan and all his hopes of becoming the next patriarch of the clan might shutter just like that.

    Seeing Kamys¡¯ calm response, Dale muttered something to himself and finally sat himself down. ¡°Another painting of the mountain awaits us and the monster portrait disappeared as expected. Good thing we didn¡¯t have to actually fight that gruesome thing.¡± Dale lightly chuckled as he drank a potion that he took out from his magic ring. As soon as he finished the painting, he quickly took out some food and drinks for himself. After Dale finished his meal, the room sunk into silence yet again.

    <hr>

    Boe managed to create the new move of his battle teaching right in a middle of the fight by releasing a bit of his battle aura out of his body to strengthen his attack. By doing it, he had finally understood how he was supposed to manipulate a tiny bit of battle aura outside of his body and it was a first step he needed to take to advance to rank 3. And in the last twenty hours, besides sleeping and eating, he spent all his time wholeheartedly training. A small deep black sphere was levitating above Boe¡¯s right hand as he was focusing his mind in attempts to change the sphere¡¯s shape. But no matter how hard he tried, the only thing he could do right now was to create the sphere for a brief moment before it gradually dissipated into nothingness. It seemed like the next step of forming different shapes out of released battle aura was still too hard for the current Boe.

    Boe softly exhaled as the sphere in his hands gradually vanished. In the next moment, determination flashed across his mind and, although exhausted, Boe formed yet another sphere of mysterious black light. And just as Boe started trying to manipulate the sphere to change into the cube, a barely noticeable shadow flew past him toward the sphere. When Boe concentrated his vision on the shadow, he saw that it was actually a hand-sized sword made out of shadow attribute battle aura. The shadow sword rotated around the sphere a few times before its shape suddenly changed into hammer. The small hammer shaped shadow moved toward Boe¡¯s face and, before he could react, appeared right before his right eye, then the hammer suddenly turned around and fiercely smashed into Boe¡¯s dissipating sphere. To Boe¡¯s shock, the hammer easily torn the sphere into pieces.

    ¡°It seems like your barbaric strength can¡¯t help you with that?¡± A melodious voice resounded behind Boe as the hammer suddenly transformed into the shape of a flower with thorns all over its stem and flew past Boe toward the already seating pale-faced Brienne. The flower gently placed itself right onto the ear of the beautiful maiden.

    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Boe¡¯s cold voice had a hint of worry as he asked the question, but he quickly suppressed it.

    ¡°It feels like someone dropped a mountain on my body.¡± Boe heard cracking sounds ringing out as Brienne stretched her body. And after an awkward pause, Brienne said, ¡°I noticed that you¡¯ve finally made a little progress?¡± Brienne chuckled as the shadow flower flew up from her ear toward Boe. The distance between Boe and Brienne was only a couple of meters and the flower flew rather quickly, but in that short amount of time, it actually managed to transform into sword, spike, cube, sphere and back into flower as it stopped right before Boe¡¯s face. Boe¡¯s attentive gaze was focused on these transformations the whole time as he was trying to understand how Brienne did that. And at last, right before Boe¡¯s eyes, the flower started changing its shape yet again as it slowly took shape of a person. To Boe¡¯s surprise, the tiny shadow person in front of him was actually himself. Seeing all the little details of his own face and body copied by Brienne into the shadow before him, Boe¡¯s jaw almost dropped down from shock.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Teach me.¡± Boe¡¯s voice suddenly resounded throughout the room. Even though he got the battle teaching from the Strongest, there were no detailed instructions on how to progress between ranks.

    As Boe¡¯s voice faded, both Dale and Kamys jerked their heads toward Brienne with interest. Kamys silently glanced at Brienne with apologizing look in his eyes. Seeing this, Brienne quickly understood what Kamys was thinking as she said, ¡°You were not at fault. A true guardian protects people no matter the cost.¡± Brienne¡¯s mouth curled into gentle smile as she shook her head. ¡°Anyway, how did we end up in the stone room? Did we pass the test or did we get another strike?¡±

    ¡°After you were attacked, Brother Boe jumped in to save you while me and Dale finished off the big lizard. Then-¡± Kamys started describing what happened in the world of monsters as his head gradually lowered.

    ¡°Then I killed all the little lizards and all of us were suddenly teleported into this room.¡± Boe interrupted Kamys as he decided not to tell the full story to Brienne and Dale. Hearing this, Kamys lifted his head up and stared at Boe who didn¡¯t show any signs of reaction to his gaze.

    ¡°So we successfully passed the test? Did we get any rewards?¡± Brienne¡¯s weak voice was full of excitement.

    ¡°No rewards whatsoever. Only the new big painting.¡± Boe shook his head and pointed toward the pressure inducing painting in the middle of the wall.

    ¡°I see. Then let me heal myself up before we decide what we¡¯ll do further.¡± Brienne smiled as she took out three potions out of nowhere.

    <hr>

    In the next few hours, all four member of the party spent in silence as Kamys and Brienne were recuperating while Boe and Dale were training. Dale¡¯s injuries were the lightest out of everyone except for Boe, who basically suffered almost no damage, so Dale was the first to heal up completely. When Dale felt that he was already in his top-notch shape, he sat himself down and his cold aura suddenly burst out of his body. Previously, there were only several translucent little dull white spheres floating around Dale¡¯s body, but now there appeared two unique spheres. While original spheres were completely white and approximately five centimeters in diameter, these two new spheres were both ghastly white and their diameters were seven and ten centimeters. All the smaller spheres were obediently floating according to Dale¡¯s wishes, but the two new ones still had souls of monsters struggling inside of them. The biggest sphere, in particular, gave a headache to Dale. He already tried everything he could to subdue the soul of the lizard, but there were still remnants of the monster¡¯s will. When Boe first saw the silhouette of the lizard inside one of Dale¡¯s spheres howling miserably, he immediately understood that Dale somehow managed to swallow the soul of dying monster while being seriously wounded.

    While Dale evidently struggled to control his new power, Boe was still concentrating on changing shape of the sphere that hovered on his hand. Every time he felt like he made some progress, the sphere in his hands would slightly tremble before dissipating into nothingness. Throughout the hours of Boe¡¯s training, Brienne would give some remarks and advices from time to time, but they were of no use to Boe. Evidently, he needed to understand the principle of controlling battle aura by himself because he felt like anything Brienne said didn¡¯t apply to his power at all. Brienne was flabbergasted by this fact as well, since she helped out quite a lot of people throughout her life and all of them deemed her to be a superb mentor.

    And just like that, three more days passed in a rather peaceful state for the three young men and the maiden. During these days, Kamys fully recovered his strength and even made significant advancements in his battle teaching. Even though Dale didn¡¯t increase his strength directly, he had finally subdued both new souls he obtained recently, which would definitely boost his fighting prowess. Boe made a rapid progress in his training as he could now easily change the shape of his external battle aura into anything he wished. Spheres he was forming on his hands were far denser now and even though the size of spheres didn¡¯t change, everyone around Boe could feel that his power was raised significantly. Although he couldn¡¯t do it as fast and masterful as Brienne, it was still a great achievement considering how little time he spent on training. And Brienne was the only one who didn¡¯t actually improve during that time since she only had enough time to heal up her wounds.

    ¡°Shall we?¡± Brienne''s cheerful voice broke the silence as she stood up and swept three young men with her gaze.

    ¡°Finally.¡± A lazy hoarse voice sounded out from Dale¡¯s throat as his usual haughty demeanor revealed itself.

    Kamys silently stood up and was the first one to walk up to the armchair and sit himself down into it.

    And finally, Boe, who was lying in the corner with his eyes closed, heavily exhaled as his thin body stood up. His sharp eyes suddenly opened and chilliness brimmed out of them. ¡°Let¡¯s hear what that mountain has to say to us this time.¡± Boe leisurely walked up to the last free armchair and directly plopped his body into it. And just as he sat down, he looked at the painting and felt the so familiar feeling of being moved into the world of the painting.

    <hr>

    As the company expected, they were now standing in a middle of the empty space and there was the mountain in front of them. What used to be a majestic mountain of unthinkable sizes now became a foundation to the civilization. All the cosmic objects were still floating around the mountain, but the mountain itself condensed in size considerably, and countless living beings were now dwelling on top of it. Boe could see numerous lights, flickering all over the land, that represented civilizations molded on the the body of the mountain.

    And as Boe expected, the thunderous voice resounded throughout the whole world of the painting, ¡°Wanderers of nothingness found me in their search for a haven. At first, I rejoiced at their emergence but soon enough I came to realize that they were no friends of mine, but leeches that fed on my lifeforce. I wanted to communicate with them, but the language they spoke was something I couldn¡¯t replicate. I could¡¯ve annihilated them if I wished to, but they were so fragile and foolish¡­ The decision I made on that day became simultaneously the end of my existence and the start of the life.¡±

 Chapter 44 - The Tranquil Beach

    When the deafening voice faded, Boe casted a final glance toward the flickering lights on top of the mountain as he gradually closed his eyes. In the next instant, Boe opened his eyes to see the huge painting hanging in front of him. As he thought back to words he just heard, for some reason, Boe felt a trace of excitement from the voice. It was extremely unexpected to hear such an emotion from the usually gloomy voice of the ancient existence.

    ¡°The further we go, the more mysterious speeches we hear.¡± Brienne lightly shook her head as she stood up from her armchair.

    ¡°Nothing mysterious there. Isn¡¯t it obvious that the mountain was populated by humans and they started destroying it? Then, the mountain decided to spare those filthy humans. And I guess, the next painting will depict the mountain becoming a living organism?¡± Dale chuckled as he jumped up from the armchair.

    Hearing Dale¡¯s words, Boe slightly frowned as all of it was exactly what he thought of, but Dale presented it as some kind of silly joke. For a moment, Boe had an urge to say something but then he quickly suppressed it as he calmly stood up and walked to the middle of the room.

    A moment later, Kamys followed his friends silently. There was still noticeable melancholy in his eyes when he came up to Boe.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not pick the random painting this time, ok?¡± Even though Dale tried to make it sound like he was joking, everyone could easily hear an apparent nervousness in his voice.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we enter the safest looking painting then?¡± Brienne immediately suggested as she extended her slender hand and pointed at the painting on the wall.

    Three young men followed Brienne¡¯s gesture as their eyes were focused on the picture she considered to be safest. A tranquil scenery unfolded before their eyes as three of them saw a mesmerizingly pure sandy beach guiding their sight to an endless azure ocean with almost no waves disturbing its surface.

    ¡°That place seems to be too good to be true in my opinion.¡± After a few moments, Boe¡¯s voice broke the silence.

    ¡°Agree. We¡¯re in the middle of tests of an ancient wizard after all, so how can something that good be an option for us?¡± Dale shook his head as he scratched his chest; he still remembered the weak looking squirrel¡¯s attack from before.

    ¡°But it might really be a test that holds no mortal threat, isn¡¯t it?¡± Brienne hesitantly asked.

    Boe pondered for a moment, before answering, ¡°I guess there is such a chance as well¡­ So, do we go into this painting in hopes of it being safe or does anyone have other suggestions?¡±

    In response to Boe¡¯s question, Kamys silently shook his head as if the choice of the next test didn¡¯t bother him at all.

    ¡°We might as well check that painting out. How unlucky can we be to pick another life threatening test, eh?¡± After a few moments of consideration, Dale shrugged as he lightly chuckled.

    ¡°In we go, then.¡± Boe was the first one to walk up to the painting and press his finger onto it.

    *SWOOSH*

    After Boe disappeared, Dale was the next to reach out to the painting as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t linger in the room, the time here seems to move differently compared to worlds of the paintings.¡±

    As Dale¡¯s words faded and his body vanished into thin air, both Kamys and Brienne remembered that Dale came into the last painting a whole day later than them and they hastily pressed their hands onto the painting.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    *SWOOSH*

    *SWOOSH*

    *SWOOSH*

    <hr>

    A blinding light, smell of salty water and refreshing gentle wind were the first things Boe felt the moment he appeared on the tranquil sandy beach. A moment later, sounds of Boe¡¯s companions appearing around him disturbed the soothing silence of the mysterious world within the painting.

    ¡°Mhhhmmm¡± A soft sound came out of Brienne¡¯s mouth as she stretched her tired body.

    ¡°Our little princess is already so relaxed. I wish i had such a luxury, alas I don¡¯t have a powerful guardian by my side.¡° Dale chuckled as he threw a ¡®random¡¯ glance at Kamys.

    ¡°You know that i can easily beat your petty ass up if i wished to, the second-in-line prince of elves¡¯ throne?¡± Brienne¡¯s face was shining with a kind smile as she stopped stretching and looked at Dale. Although, her face was epitome of innocence, the cold and dark aura was slowly being released out of her body.

    Seeing actions of his companions, Kamys chose to ignore both of them, silently sat himself down and immediately closed his eyes like none of it had anything to do with him.

    ¡°I would love to witness the real power of the so-called ¡®Dark Witch¡¯ of The Shadow Kingdom.¡± Dale¡¯s voice suddenly became cold and his eyes were brimming with fury. Even though he knew that Brienne was probably stronger than him, he still had his own trump cards in case he needed to defeat Brienne. As the most talented son of the current king of the The Dark Elf Kingdom, Dale was always treated as an untouchable entity in this world, so Brienne¡¯s harsh words lit the flames of anger deep inside of him.

    With two auras exploding out of Brienne¡¯s and Dale¡¯s bodies, Boe had no choice but to step in, ¡°Calm down, both of you. We have no idea where we are and what will happen in the next moment.¡±

    ¡°Shut up, it¡¯s none of your business!¡± Dale suddenly shouted as he unexpectedly threw a punch toward Boe.

    *BAM*

    Before Dale could land his fist onto Boe, he was stopped by Kamys¡¯ palm. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± Kamys¡¯ voice was much louder than usual and his fiery aura was already breaking out of his body as translucent silhouette of the bird appeared behind his back.

    ¡°There is no reason to talk with someone like him.¡± Brienne¡¯s voice resounded as she mysteriously appeared behind Dale.

    *BOOM*

    With a heavy kick filled with shadow battle aura, Brienne easily sent Dale flying more than twenty meters away.

    Right before smashing into the huge tree, Dale¡¯s body strangely arced and he gracefully landed his body onto the ground. ¡°That was a mistake.¡± Dale¡¯s eyes started emitting a chilling white light as numerous spheres started appearing around him.

    While all of this was unfolding, Boe was standing with hands clenched into fists and eyes tightly shut. ¡°Something seems wrong...¡± Boe clearly felt fury burning within him. Usually, Boe could easily suppress such a feeling and not show any signs of it on the outside. But right now, he felt like something was kindling all his emotions. The feeling was similar to the state when he was under Mastema¡¯s control. ¡°This whole place¡­ Is it the test we must pass?¡± Boe¡¯s eyes slowly opened and his normal coldness was already regained by him. He once experienced the terror of being controlled by the horrifying demon from the higher worlds, so this kind of influence had no effect on him.

    *BOOM*

    A terrifying energy wave created by the clash of the sinisterly cold battle aura of Dale and igneous hot attack created by Kamys¡¯ technique destroyed everything within five meters around the point of impact. Two shadows flew off into opposing directions and without even a second of thought, both Kamys and Dale instantly shot toward each other. Seeing the fierce fight before him, Boe shook his head as he glanced to the side where the barely noticeable shadow was already advancing toward Dale.

    ¡°Kogochto Karangy¡±, Boe murmured as he used his ¡®Blinding darkness¡¯ technique to temporarily blind all his companions. ¡°Kyolyokyo Kol¡± Without waiting for their reaction, Boe chanted the ¡®Shadow hand¡¯ technique to entrap Kamys, Dale and Brienne. Even though Boe couldn¡¯t actually hold off three people of the same power for a long time, he didn¡¯t care as he only needed a moment of their attention. ¡°All of you are being toyed by someone or something. Get grip of yourself or you¡¯ll completely lose control over your mind,¡± Boe barked at his friends as if he was scolding little children.

    Hearing Boe¡¯s words, bodies of all three of his friends suddenly stiffened and they slowly started realizing how they acted just now. A moment later, shadow hands created by Boe vanished but none of Boe¡¯s companions continued their attacks; they closed their eyes, clenched their hands into fists and were visibly struggling to take full control over their emotions as they sat themselves down in attempts to calm down.

    ¡°Hehe, you¡¯re quite interesting, child.¡± A melodious voice suddenly softly sounded from the calm ocean.

 Chapter 45 - Rao

    Boe jumped up from his previous position and distanced himself from the ocean. The dark and cold aura started emanating from Boe¡¯s body and his eyes gradually turned blood red. Hearing Boe¡¯s sudden movements, Kamys, Dale and Brienne opened their eyes abruptly and looked at him in surprise.

    ¡°Get ready to fight.¡± Boe already activated his ¡®Shield of regret¡¯ and used ¡®Amplification¡¯ technique to strengthen himself. His three companions still didn¡¯t understand what was happening, but that didn¡¯t stop them from preparing themselves for a battle as their powerful auras erupted out of their bodies at the same time. All four young wizards were ready to fight as they searched for the enemy, but there was no movement around them at all.

    ¡°Looking for me?¡± An alluring voice was suddenly heard by all member of the company as they turned toward the source of the sound. A three meters tall woman stood just a few centimeters away from Boe. The woman was almost completely naked; only her private parts and face were covered by strange azure colored leaves. Her huge vertical azure pupils were focused on Boe as she stretched her graceful hand toward him. At the same time as the hand moved, a bizarre energy wave spread throughout the area. As the energy slowly spread throughout the entire area, Boe tried to evade it but just a few moments later he realized that it couldn¡¯t be avoided no matter how he struggled. Boe¡¯s next move was to concentrate his battle aura outside of his body in attempt to create shield that would stop the energy wave from entering his body. The pitch black translucent battle aura quickly covered Boe¡¯s entire body as he kept retreating as far from the giant woman as he could. Right when Boe thought that he successfully defended against the energy wave, the gentle looking azure wave untraceably reached Boe¡¯s battle aura cloak and, to his shock, it simply penetrated through the shadow attribute battle aura as if it didn¡¯t exist at all. The moment the giant woman¡¯s attack reached Boe and his companions, they all felt like an endless amount of chains slowly crawled into their bodies and shackled everything within their reach. The bloodstream congealed within an instant. All their organs stopped functioning and the entire nervous system became paralyzed. Even their battle aura suddenly froze.

    The giant woman chuckled as her palm finally landed on Boe¡¯s forehead. After a brief moment of silence, the woman¡¯s eyebrows furrowed and she murmured, ¡°Poor child... Who would do such an atrocious thing to an innocent child like you?¡±

    Before Boe could even realize what was happening, woman suddenly released a thin thread of azure colored battle aura out of her finger and inserted it right between Boe¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°A puny mortal dares to attack me?!¡± A furious roar thundered from within Boe¡¯s body when the woman tried probing Mastema¡¯s soul with a shred of her battle aura.

    *cough-cough*

    The giant woman staggered a few steps back and coughed out fresh blood out of her mouth. To her shock, just a natural pressure from Mastema¡¯s existence was enough to obliterate the woman¡¯s control over Boe¡¯s body and even slightly injure her. The woman¡¯s whole body was visibly shaking as she focused her all in attempts to calm the storm inside of her created by a mere sentence from Mastema. She was sure that she could easily suppress the aftershock of Mastema¡¯s attack, but a moment later she understood that it wasn¡¯t just a mental attack she received earlier; there were countless specks of pitch black battle aura relentlessly attacking her body from within. Only after a full minute of struggling did the woman finally got rid of the last remnants of Mastema¡¯s attack and there was now apparent fear on the woman¡¯s body as she looked at Boe.

    While the giant was busy, the company of four young wizards felt that they were freed from the strange freezing magic of their opponent, so they swiftly retreated as far as they could from the giant and gathered together in case they had to fight.

    ¡®He possesses the soul of the powerful demon cultivator who practiced the shadow element inside of him¡­¡¯ The giant woman¡¯s face was filled with shock and fear as she wiped off blood from the corners of her mouth. ¡°I¡¯m Rao, the first inspector and the guardian of the upper crown.¡±

    Boe, Brienne, Dale and Kamys were all quite surprised when they saw the sudden change of attitude from the giant woman who, evidently, could easily kill all of them if she wished to.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I mean no harm to any of you, I was just curious when I felt unusual energy undulations from within his body.¡± Rao pointed at Boe as she softly spoke and slowly moved closer to them. ¡°May I inquire what the young master of the Haultice clan doing in such a lowly world?¡± Rao¡¯s voice was noticeably gentler as she stared at Boe and asked.

    ¡°Haultice clan?¡± Dale was the first one to react to Rao¡¯s words. He always suspected that there was some kind of mysterious powerful background behind Boe, but it was the first time he heard of the so-called ¡®Haultice clan¡¯.

    While Dale was pondering over the matters of ¡®Boe¡¯s clan¡¯, Boe himself felt shiver run down his spine. Even though it was the first time he heard of Haultice clan, he clearly understood that The Toxin Queen¡¯s worries turned out to be true. And even though he already knew that the master of this fortress was someone from higher worlds, Boe still felt pressure on him tremendously increase. ¡°Boe Nas greets elder Rao.¡± Boe slightly bowed and immediately retracted all battle aura back into his body. He knew that he had no chance of surviving in front of someone from higher worlds, so he chose to be as polite as he could. ¡°In response to elder¡¯s question, I¡¯m a mere citizen of this lowly world and definitely have no relation to the Haultice clan you mentioned.¡±

    Rao¡¯s face displayed apparent surprise when she heard Boe¡¯s response but a moment later she swept her gaze over Boe¡¯s companions with a brilliant smile on her huge face. Then, before anyone could react, Rao waved her arm.

    *thud* *thud* *thud*

    Brienne, Kamys and Dale suddenly lost their consciousness and fell onto the ground.

    ¡°They can¡¯t hear us now. So, my little friend, can you speak truthfully now?¡± Rao¡¯s enormous azure eyes were now fully concentrated on Boe¡¯s body as if she was trying to see through him.

    Despite Rao¡¯s sudden actions, Boe remained unusually calm. He glanced at his companions and when he saw that all of them were just sleeping, Boe turned toward the giant woman in front of him and calmly said, ¡°Elder Rao, all I said before is truth.¡±

    Rao was attentively watching over every Boe¡¯s movement and even his heartbeat and breathing were inspected by her, so she was sure that he didn¡¯t lie to her just now. ¡°How can it be?¡± Rao didn¡¯t even try to hide her shock as she started pondering over Boe¡¯s words. ¡°What do you know about the soul within you?¡±

    ¡°His name is Mastema and he is of the demon race,¡± Boe answered after a few moments of silence.

    ¡°Is that really all you know?¡± Rao narrowed her eyes as she shot a cold glance at Boe.

    Under the pressure from Rao¡¯s gaze, Boe could only clench his teeth and nod.

    ¡°Boe, isn¡¯t it?¡± Rao suddenly retracted her eyes off Boe¡¯s body and she started leisurely walking around him. ¡°Even though I¡¯m not yet immortal, I¡¯m a cultivator of high rank from the Kremb race. My race has two unique characteristics granted since birth. The first one is incredibly long lifespan and the second one is ability to see through all lies.¡± When Rao finished saying these words, she gently smiled and bent down so her face was just a few centimeters away from Boe¡¯s. ¡°With that being said, I won¡¯t force you to tell anything else to me. I only hope that you harbor no ill intentions in coming into this place and will be able to pass through all tests. If you will, then I beg you to turn the wish of my master into reality.¡±

    ¡°Wish of your master?¡± Hearing Rao¡¯s words Boe understood that she was some kind of guardian of this place and served Enthriil.

    ¡°As long as you will be able to pass all tests and reach the last room, you¡¯ll find out everything you need to know.¡± Rao¡¯s attentive gaze was still slowly inspecting Boe as if she tried to find something out about him.

    ¡°I can¡¯t promise you that I will accomplish it, but if it¡¯s within my capabilities, I will do my best,¡± Boe politely answered.

    ¡°I saw your earlier performance and out of four people who entered this time, you have the highest chances of succeeding.¡± Rao softly chuckled and before Boe could ask anything else, she suddenly transformed into the squirrel that injured Dale in the first test. ¡°I¡¯m the first guardian and inspector of first three tests.¡± The squirrel suddenly leapt up a few meters away from Boe and when it landed it transformed yet again.

    ¡°All four candidates passed the test of will.¡± The familiar thunderous voice suddenly resounded in Boe¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Which means that you managed to pass my area, so rewards are awaiting you in the room.¡± The ill looking pale girl that stabbed Kamys in previous test sinisterly smiled. A moment later, the world around Boe started fading into nothingness and his mind started falling into slumber but right before he lost the last remnant of his consciousness, he heard Rao¡¯s voice, ¡°And if you¡¯re really have no relation to Haultice clan then I advise you to never cross your path with any member of it or the existence of that soul within you will bring endless troubles upon you.¡±